See Part 1 for warnings and info...
Copyright © 2013 Geonn Cannon
Part V
"He threw it in the trash?"
Kathryn nodded, on the verge of tears from recounting the awful experience. "It was like a slap in the face."
Eva looked down at her hands. She would have slapped him. Hell, she'd have done a whole lot worse if she had been there. She put her hand on top of Kathryn's and held it there, waiting until Kathryn turned her hand around and linked their fingers. It was their most public display of affection yet, sitting at one of the light tables in class, the other students separating into cliques to look over their "comfort zone" pictures. Kathryn had developed her final shot that morning, crying when she saw how utterly broken she appeared in the picture.
"I'm sorry," Eva whispered.
"It's not your fault."
"No, I'm sorry that I can't do anything to help you. If you need a place to stay..."
"No. I can't leave him."
Eva started to argue that there was nothing keeping her there, but she didn't want to push Kathryn anywhere she didn't want to go. They examined their photos, trying to find the best arrangement for them. Kathryn was embarrassed to have hers out in public, but Eva seemed fine with them. She looked at Eva's pictures and settled on the one taken when she'd been overrun by the escaped clients of a dog-walker. The canines had swarmed around her like a river, and Eva had captured her in the middle of a carefree laugh.
She put the dog picture next to the self-portrait. How could that be the same person? How could the company she kept make such a monumental difference in her entire demeanor? She looked up and saw Eva watching her.
"You make me happy."
Eva blinked. "I'm just... regifting it."
Kathryn looked down at the pictures again. A minute or two later, the class was brought to order by the teacher's arrival. Kathryn warned him her photo set was risqué, and he assured her they wouldn't be seen by anyone else in class. Several people had chosen erotic art as their "comfort zone" project, so he wasn't surprised. He assured her he would be professional and she handed them over.
After class, Eva sat with her on the bench to wait for Joseph to arrive. Kathryn put her camera case on her lap, resting her hands on top of it. Eva crossed her legs and linked her fingers on the outside of her knee. The parking lot cleared out quickly, and soon they were alone. Eva tilted her head back and looked at the stars.
"If you weren't married, I'd take you home right now."
Kathryn flexed her fingers. "My home or yours?"
"Mine. I'd take you to my home. And I'd undress you. I would undress you right in the foyer, and I would kneel in front of you."
Kathryn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I would... put my leg. Over your shoulder." She coughed into her fist. "And push your head forward. I'd hold it there."
"How long?"
"Until you'd done your job."
Eva smiled and Kathryn chuckled to hide her embarrassment. Joseph's familiar truck appeared and their demeanor shifted to stoic again. Kathryn stood up and looked down at Eva.
"I love you."
Eva didn't want to risk Joseph reading her lips and simply nodded. "Ditto."
Kathryn signaled that she understood with a nod. Joseph pulled up and Kathryn stepped through the headlights again. Eva stood up, adjusting the strap of her camera case as she stepped forward.
"Hello, Mr. Tramonto."
He looked at her with suspicion. Beyond him, she could see Kathryn half-in and half-out of the truck, staring at her in horror and confusion.
"Do I know you?"
"I know your wife. I'm in her photography class. I'm Eva."
She held out her hand, but he just stared at it.
"Oh. Well, hey."
"Your wife is very talented."
"Sure. Look, not to be rude, but we should get going."
Eva nodded. "I just wanted to meet Kathryn's husband. You're a lucky man."
"Yeah." He chuckled. "Some days it's more obvious than others."
Eva looked past him. "See you Thursday, Kathryn."
Kathryn just nodded. Joseph lifted his hand in a dismissive wave and pulled away from the curb. Eva watched him go, adjusted the strap of her camera again, and walked to where her truck was standing alone in the middle of the parking lot.
#
Kathryn waited until Joe was in the shower before she dialed Eva's number, going out into the backyard so he wouldn't hear her voice through the wall and ask who she was talking with. Eva answered on the second ring and spoke before Kathryn could. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. I had to speak with him."
Kathryn's anger evaporated as if sucked out into the night sky. She closed her eyes, one arm across her stomach. She tilted her head back and looked at the moon. "It's okay."
"No, it's not. It put you in a horrible position. I wanted to apologize immediately, but I know that would have just made it worse."
"Nothing you could do could ever make my life worse," Kathryn whispered. "It's been better since you arrived. Every second of it, even when you're away. I'm better because I know you're out there. I hear your voice when I fall asleep. I wake up happy because for those first few seconds I don't remember if it's a day I'll see you or not. You make me remember what it was like to have hope, Eva."
Eva was quiet for a long few minutes and then said, "You have no idea how you make me feel, Kathryn. I was drawn to you because you're beautiful, but you're also so kind, and so loving, and so creative. You have a beautiful soul. Sometimes I'll look at you and wonder what you're thinking because you're so deep in thought. I want to know you, Kathryn. And I think it would take a lifetime to say I know you. And I'm willing to take the time."
Kathryn turned to the house and slapped her hand against the brick until her hand stung.
"Kathryn? What was that?"
"Nothing. It's... I'm just..." She shook her head. "Sometimes I wish I'd never met you, Eva. It would be so much easier." She wet her lips. "But I would be so much worse off without you in my life. I don't know how I got by before I had you as a lifeline. You make me remember what it was like to be Kathryn Latimer instead of Mrs. Tramonto."
"Is that your maiden name?"
"Yes."
"Then that's what I'll call you from now on."
Kathryn smiled. "Thank you."
"I really am sorry for what I did."
"I'm not. I love you, Eva."
"I love you, too. Sleep well, my heart."
Kathryn whispered, "My heart," and disconnected the call. She went back into the house seconds before the shower shut off.
#
The next morning Kathryn and Eva were in bed within an hour of Joseph leaving for work. Their kiss hello at Eva's front door had transformed into something hungrier, more desperate, and Kathryn walked her into the bedroom and began peeling the clothes off her body. Each piece of skin was a new territory that Kathryn explored in full before allowing herself to move on. She circled Eva's nipples with her tongue before her bra hit the floor, gripping her by the hips and hauling her onto the bed to move down to her hips, her thighs, the inside of her knees and then back up to nuzzle between her breasts.
Eva was naked except for her panties and socks, and she gripped Kathryn's head with both hands and forced her to look up. Eva was flush and breathless, and Kathryn's hair had fallen across half her face like a raven wing. Eva brushed it aside and smiled, circling her thumb on Kathryn's cheek. "I have a surprise for you."
"Oh?"
Eva twisted and stretched for the nightstand, opening the top drawer to receive something that seemed both insubstantial and heavy at the same time. It took Kathryn a moment to recognize the leather straps as what they were, the realization helped by the dildo dangling from one end of it. She sat up, drawing her legs up under her and watching with wide-eyed wonder as Eva untangled the straps and held it up.
"You want to use that on me?"
"No," Eva said. "It's yours. I want you to use it on me."
Kathryn's eyes widened.
"Your husband... granted, I only know what you tell me and what I gleaned last night, but I get the impression that sex with him isn't like sex with me. He uses you like a sex toy. He uses his cock to exert his dominance over you. Sex is a mind game with your husband, all because he wields the sword." She held out the harness. "I'm giving you the sword. Use it on me."
Kathryn lightly brushed her fingers over the shaft of the toy. She'd never even considered wearing a cock before, never thought of herself in that position. But with Eva...
She pushed herself off the bed and stood up to undress. Eva watched with interest, wetting her fingers and idly stroking the cock as Kathryn did the most utilitarian striptease in history. She stepped out of her panties, tossed aside her bra, and then took the strap-on from Eva and examined it before she bent down to step into the nylon hoops. She dragged it up her hips, and Eva scooted to the edge of the bed to help her make the proper adjustments.
"Is that too tight?"
"No, it feels fine... h-have you used one of these before?"
Eva nodded. "I have. On both sides."
Kathryn gulped and nodded, grateful at least one of them would know what they were doing. Once it was secured, Eva said, "Now we have to make it wet, since... well, it won't do that on its own." She wet her lips and before Kathryn could ask how they were going to do that, she took the tip of the toy into her mouth and began to suck. Kathryn pointed her toes and parted her lips in shock, leaning back and watching as Eva worked her mouth to take the dildo deeper into her mouth. She thought of all the times Joseph had made her do this, how humiliated it had made her feel, but Eva... God, Eva looked so gorgeous.
Eva looked up at her and Kathryn managed a weak smile. She didn't know what to do with her hands, so she crossed her wrists behind her back and began to thrust gently. Eva's cheeks were hollowed, her tongue a pink flicker that occasionally slipped along the edge of the shaft before her lips overtook it again.
Kathryn exhaled and pushed Eva back. "I want to now."
"You want to what?"
"I want to fuck you."
Eva smiled evilly, holding eye contact as she twisted her lower body to get her panties off. She also took a second to peel off her socks and toss them aside, retreating toward the headboard as Kathryn joined her on the bed again. The cock slapped against Kathryn's thighs as she walked on her knees toward Eva. Eva spread her legs, her sex pink and wet, ready for her, and Kathryn felt the blood rushing to her face as she took the unusual position. Eva rubbed herself and then spread the juices over the tip of the dildo.
Kathryn put her hand against the headboard, looping the thumb and forefinger of the other around the base of her cock. She looked down and tried to remember how Joseph did it. She didn't have any experience with anyone else, and she didn't want the moment to be anything like how it was with Joe, but she also didn't want to screw it up. She hesitated and then whispered, "I... I don't..."
"Here... let me." Eva took the toy and drew it forward, rubbing herself with the blunt tip before letting it push into her. She sucked in a breath through her teeth and stretched out her neck, rolling her shoulders as she angled her hips to complement Kathryn's position.
"Slow?" Kathryn whispered.
"At first." Eva's eyes were closed, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. "Then whatever you want."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't."
Kathryn sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and looked down, rolling her hips forward. Her toes curled as she watched the lips wrap around the toy, and she pulled back to see the length of it streaked with moisture. She figured out the right combinations of muscles to flex to push inside, how to pull back without moving her entire body, and her hand slid down from the headboard to Eva's shoulder. She was fully aware of the bed's voice as she moved on it, the creak and sigh of the springs as her weight shifted back and forth.
"This is amazing," she whispered.
"Feels amazing," Eva confirmed.
"Can you open your eyes?"
Eva kept them closed for a long moment but then they fluttered open and her lips curled into a smile. Kathryn experimented with moving a little faster, and Eva's eyes closed and she tilted her head back with a sigh of pleasure. Kathryn dropped her hand from Eva's shoulder to her chest, sliding it up to the curve of her left breast. She felt Eva's heart pounding and closed her eyes, thrusting faster. Eva brought her legs up on either side of Kathryn and, when Kathryn looked down, she saw that her entire toy was pushing into Eva before she pulled it out again. "Oh, God, I'm fucking you."
"So good..."
"I'm fucking you."
"I know, baby."
Kathryn laughed and rolled her head back. The strap between her legs was rubbing her clit every time she drew back, and she wrinkled her nose and bit her lip as she tried to build a proper rhythm. She got an idea then and put her feet together for a solid base, then leaned back to give herself a lap. She pulled Eva up, shifting her center of gravity until she was seated on her with the cock holding her in place.
"Ride me," Kathryn said, her voice shaking as she said the two simple words that had such large meaning. She wet her lips as Eva held her gaze and began to rise. Kathryn felt the toy about to fall out and then Eva dropped back into place. Kathryn cried out and leaned forward, burying her face in Eva's cleavage. Eva cupped her back of her head, her thighs tightening around Kathryn for every upward rise and then relaxing when she dropped.
"I'm coming, Kathryn..."
Kathryn squeezed her eyes shut and moved her hips to meet Eva's movements. Eva cried out and ground her hips against Kathryn's, rolling her lower body with the cock deep inside of her, gasping as she sagged against Kathryn for support. Kathryn held her up and kissed whatever skin she could reach as she carefully lowered Eva to the bed and pulled her hips back. The toy slipped free, and Eva cupped a hand over her sensitive sex, bending her knees as she twisted to look at Kathryn.
"How was it?"
"Indescribable."
They were lying on their sides, facing each other, and Kathryn reached up to push the hair out of Eva's face. Eva's eyes drifted sleepily, and Kathryn would have been content to just watch her sleep. She realized with a start that they were in Eva's bed, and she moved just a little closer and whispered that fact in Eva's ear.
"We seem to be. Yes."
"I just wanted... to acknowledge it."
Eva smiled.
Kathryn looked down at the toy. "Do you use this often?"
"Mm-mm. That one is new. I bought it just for you."
"You did?"
"It's yours." She kissed the corner of Kathryn's mouth, and Kathryn turned her head to make it a full kiss. Their tongues tangled and Kathryn wrapped her fingers around the shaft. She pulled on it, using the cock as a handle to guide the center strap against her clit. Eva looked down and realized what she was doing. She gently brushed away Kathryn's hand, wrapped her fingers in their place, and began to stroke.
"Want me to jerk you off?"
Kathryn whimpered. "I'm close. Harder."
Eva kissed her face as she stroked. Kathryn rocked her hips in a mockery of what she had just done, opening her eyes to focus on Kathryn's face as she came, trembling in silence for a moment before she gave in and let Eva know. Eva released the cock and pushed two fingers under the harness, pressing them against her as the muscles seemed to vibrate of their own accord. Her legs went rigid when she came, and she dropped her head to Eva's breast.
"I love you," Eva whispered.
Kathryn closed her eyes. "I love you, too. Thank you."
"It's my pleasure. Literally."
"Not for the toy. For everything." She lifted her head and rested it on the pillow, her nose almost brushing Eva's. They were so close that it was hard to focus, but she didn't care. She traced the line of Eva's jaw and let her fingers linger on her lips. "For reminding me I'm a living thing. I have a heartbeat. I can feel... happiness and pleasure." She smiled and kissed Eva, then brushed their noses together. "I get the same thrill hearing your voice as I do when you're kissing me."
"I know how you feel."
Kathryn stared at her for a moment before she brought her hand up. She sucked the third finger of her left hand around her wedding ring and then grimaced as she pulled it off. Eva watched, knowing what she was doing but unwilling to accept it was real. The ring slid off easily once it was past the middle knuckle, and Kathryn lifted Eva's left hand.
"You don't have to do that," Eva said, trying to stop Kathryn from doing something she would regret.
Kathryn slipped the ring onto Eva's finger. "I want to." She bent down and kissed it. "I wish I could put this on you for real."
"You've only known me for five weeks."
"But I know you."
Eva stared at her for a moment and then took off the twisted sterling-silver ring off her thumb and put it on Kathryn's so-recently bared ring finger.
"This doesn't mean anything," Eva whispered. "But I wish it did."
"Me too."
Eva scooted closer and put her leg over Kathryn's hip. "You said you wanted to sleep with me. Sleep. I'll wake you in a little while."
Kathryn curled against Eva and closed her eyes.
She dreamt of walking down an unfamiliar country road, strolling without exhaustion or destination. Her hands were in her pockets, and everyone she saw on the streets smiled when she passed. Occasionally she would look back to make sure she could see a landmark that would lead her home. The tall tower was obscured by clouds and haze, but she knew she could find her way back home if she needed to. Up ahead the road ended suddenly. There was emptiness, and she knew that crossing into that unknown territory would obscure the landmarks and cast her into confusion. The last thing she remembered from the dream was the sound of her shoes on the pavement as she ran toward the unknown.
#
They parted ways at sundown again, waiting until they were showering together to swap rings again. Eva washed Kathryn's hair, and Kathryn washed Eva's legs and feet. There was something undeniably subservient about it, but with Eva she didn't care. She would kneel for Eva without hesitation because she knew that Eva would kneel for her as well. It was only then that she realized the reason she had been so open with Eva. There was no power struggle. Neither of them was trying to top the other. She looked up at Eva and smiled.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just love you."
Eva reached down and cupped Kathryn's cheek as the shower cascaded down onto them both. "That's a good reason to smile."
Afterward Kathryn dried her hair and watched her face in the mirror as Eva dressed behind her. She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes.
"He has to know."
"Who? Joseph?"
"Look at me. I'm a completely different person than I was five weeks ago. I look alive now. How can he miss that?"
Eva embraced her from behind. "If he wanted to see how much you've changed, he would have to look at you first."
"True." She wet her lips and reached back to stroke her hand over Eva's hip. "Tomorrow? In class?"
Eva pecked Kathryn's cheek. "It's a date, my heart."
Kathryn smiled and looked down at her ring. She could barely stand wearing it now that she knew where it truly belonged. She ran her thumb over the band, covered her left hand with her right, and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't know who that woman was, not yet, but she already liked her far more than the woman she was used to seeing. She smiled, and the expression looked easy and natural on this woman's face. She bit her bottom lip and chuckled softly, picking up the hairbrush to finish preparing herself for her return to the real world.