Over a week elapsed before Arthell could keep her promise to have lunch with Laura in the city. By then, it was difficult for Laura herself to arrange it. When she had initially invited Arthell, she had known what free time she had coming up, but the following week was a hell of meetings and events. Finally, they were able to agree on a day, and Arthell arrived at Laura's office shortly after eleven a.m.

About two weeks had passed since Laura's visit with Amber to the campus, and although she had easily remembered that Arthell was lovely and sweet, she apparently had forgotten how lovely. Arthell wasn't conventionally gorgeous but instead so fresh and wholesome and pretty and healthy looking, with a broad, open smile displaying her even, blinding white teeth, that Laura's heart filled with happiness as she saw her waiting by the guard desk in the lobby, where they held visitors.

"God, I'm so glad to see you!" she blurted out, then felt guilty that she had been too exuberant or obvious in her joy.

She glanced over to see if the guards were looking at her oddly, but they had their hands full with other guests. Arthell did not seem taken aback. She beamed at Laura as if she were happy to see her too.

"I'm so nervous," she said, looking around the lobby. "I've never been to a place like this before."

Laura took her arm. Though it was unseasonably warm outside, Arthell was wearing a thick, ivory-colored, cable knit turtle neck sweater which—unfortunately for me, Laura reflected—covered up a lot of her but also looked enchanting against her smooth dark brown skin and made it look even darker. The sweater was not especially tight but it also emphasized Arthell's lovely jutting young breasts. Laura was swimming in mild lust and happiness as she escorted the girl up to her office.

In order not to seem—to herself, at least; and certainly not to send out veiled hints to Arthell or others in the office—that she was only interested in fucking the lovely, fresh, wholesome young girl, Laura bent over backward to acquaint Arthell in detail with the business and Laura's role in it. She took her everywhere and introduced her to many fellow workers, explaining the point of Arthell's visit, even suggesting to her friends in personnel that they might like to take her name for future reference. Arthell was deeply flattered and grateful.

The more open and flattered and attentive she was, the more Laura wanted her. For lunch they went to a trendy restaurant where the most stylish office workers in the city gathered, and the noise level was so high that you could barely understand your table mate's conversation. Laura gazed into Arthell's dark, unsuspecting eyes. Good thing I'm already in love, she told Arthell in her deep mind fantasy, because if I wasn't I'd be in real danger of losing my heart to you, you sweet, gorgeous thing.

Back to work. Laura took her to a meeting. Arthell sat in a chair back along the wall of the conference room and actually took notes.

"I saw you writing," Laura teased her when it was over, nudging her elbow. "What were you writing? How could you find anything to write down? It's so boring. I have to go to those things all the time."

"I saw you writing too," Arthell beamed.

"Only to save my ass," Laura said under her breath. "And to have something to do so I don't look bored."

"I didn't think it was boring at all," Arthell said, totally honest. "I thought it was exciting."

"Wait till you have to sit through three or four of them a day," Laura said.

She looked at her watch. She had been self-disciplined so far, but it was getting harder. She wanted to grab Arthell and kiss her hungrily, every minute she was with her. For a few seconds she lost sight of the fact that Arthell had displayed no inordinate affection for her, or sent any other overtly sexual signals, so that an embrace would probably be sharply repelled. Still, she could hardly bear the urge to do it.

"Look, it's almost three," she said. "I'm not going to get anything else important done today. Why don't I take you to my place, so you can see where I live? Then we can hit the bridge and get you back home, before the true rush hour crunch gets going."

Oh god, please say yes! she thought. I want you so much! But I promise not to make a pass at you if you just give me one little sign that it won't work. Promise. I don't need the ego pain, and I wouldn't have you think ill of me for the world.

"Sounds cool to me," Arthell smiled, flashing Laura with her perfect white teeth.

Arthell's legs were long and thin and dark brown and smooth. Laura had never noticed her legs, unbelievably, until now when she was sitting next to her in the car. During her visit to the college, Arthell had been wearing baggy pants. Now she was wearing a skirt, but Laura had kept her eyes discreetly away from her legs, not wanting to appear too obviously interested in any part, especially an exposed part, of Arthell's delicious young body.

But now, as she drove, she could hardly keep her eyes from darting down to them. They were not really well-shaped, the part from the knee down anyway, but very thin, and yet she wanted desperately to rub her cheek against them. She controlled herself by scrutinizing the traffic, and soon they arrived at her condo. She prayed that neither Joy nor Carmela would be waiting outside, or peeking up the street in her direction from Joy's house. She tried to remember if today was cheerleader practice but couldn't.

Safely inside, she threw her coat and purse on a chair and heaved a sigh, really a sigh of relief though she tried to disguise it as being merely a sigh of weariness after a day in the office. "How about a glass of iced tea?"

Arthell smiled. "I could use one. It's a little hot out there today."

"You must be hot in that sweater."

Arthell grinned ruefully. "I thought it was always cold in the city."

Laura nodded. "Usually. This heat is weird. I could get you something to wear if you want to take it off. Something a little lighter."

Oh god! she thought. She could feel her pussy pulsing and itching and creaming a little. Don't get ahead of yourself, Laura.

Arthell shrugged. "I guess we won't be here that long."

"You could just keep it and give it back the next time I see you." Laura tried not too obviously to press her advantage. "Really . . . why not."

"Oh . . . okay. I guess it is a little hot."

"Come with me."

Laura took her into the bedroom. As soon as she did, she thought better of it. Oh damn, if I try to kiss her or anything in here, it will look so planned. It will look like the only thing I want is her pussy. Like I invited her here just for that. So I could make a pass. What a horny old devious shit you are, Laura.

They looked through her drawers and found a thin, blue, ribbed cotton sleeveless top for Arthell to wear.

"We're about the same size," Laura said, taking the opportunity to look at Arthell's marvelous young body, as if gauging their similarities. "You have a little more umphhh up here, that's all," she smiled, making a playful little shelf with her fingers under her own small breasts. "I think it'll fit."

"Me too," Arthell nodded. "God, I love your bedroom." She looked around. Laura smiled, having tidied it up purposefully this morning before leaving for work. "You live here all alone? What about your cat? I haven't seen her."

"My cat?"

"You know, Rhonda. The one you said would scratch your eyes out if you didn't get home to feed her. I'm allergic to cats, but I don't seem to be having a reaction. I was a little worried about it when you invited me here."

"Oh . . . the cat," Laura stammered awkwardly. God, the cat. I forgot completely about telling her that. "I had to give her away. I . . . wasn't home enough to keep her company. She kept getting lonely. And fat. I had to give her away."

"That's sad. I love cats. You must've had professional cleaners. I don't smell any cat dander around anywhere."

"Oh . . . yes . . . I did," Laura stammered again, wanting desperately to change the subject. "Well . . . just put this on. I'll wait for you in the living room. In fact, I'll get us some iced tea."

Laura wanted to hang around and watch her change and was hoping that Arthell would say: Don't bother to leave. I'm not the modest type.

In a way she couldn't help being reminded of her first girl, Karen, and how Laura had unintentionally glimpsed her naked body when Karen was changing into a bathrobe Laura had offered her, after they had both been caught in the rain and Karen's clothes were soaked. It had been the beginning. She had never looked back, and here she was hoping to look at Arthell's naked body, or near-naked body anyway, and feeling more and more like a disgusting voyeur.

This feeling of revulsion and anger at herself propelled her quickly into the kitchen, where she mixed up a pitcher of iced tea in a fit of concentration, willfully expelling from her mind the thought of the darling Arthell half-naked in her bedroom, slipping into one of her own tops. Arthell reappeared moments later, carrying her thick white sweater in one hand. The cotton top Laura had loaned her clung much more to her body and emphasized the thrilling curve of her breasts. Again Laura could see the outline of her bra straps through the thin fabric.

"I'll bet that feels better," Laura said, handing her a tall glass of iced tea. "Just put it over there on the chair where we won't forget it."

They sat and talked. Laura felt very odd. She realized how weird it was when two people had completely different agendas and yet were pretending to be on the same wave length. Arthell had nothing on her mind but absorbing Laura's external life style, probably fantasizing about how one day soon she too would be a single working girl, happy, surrounded by nice things, living in her own neat condo, pulling down some respectable bucks working for an exciting business firm.

Laura, on the other hand, was looking for a moment of opportunity. She didn't want to let this moment pass, as the last one had when she had dropped Arthell at home after first meeting her at the college, without trying to bend their relationship in the direction she herself was seeking. I want her, she thought. I don't necessarily have to have her right now. I can wait. I'm patient. But I want to nudge it that way. I guess I want her to know, before I take her home, that I want her, and that I'm willing to take it as slowly as she wants to.

"Have you ever been married?" Arthell asked her at one point.

Laura shook her head. "Never."

"I've got this guy who wants to marry me." Arthell sighed in such a way as to indicate that he was a gigantic pain, which made Laura's heart flutter excitedly.

"I take it you don't want to."

Arthell made a sour face and shook her head. "It's nice to be asked, though. I have two friends who got married because they were sure no one else would ever ask them." She smiled enchantingly at Laura, the smile that made Laura's blood shriek happily and started prickly little beads of moisture oozing deep inside her pussy. "I'm glad you're not because it gives me courage to stand up for what I want and not just give in to what everybody else is doing."

There's a reason why I'm not, Laura wanted to say. But she quickly thought better of it. "Can I get you another glass?" she asked, noticing that Arthell was down to the ice cubes.

"I better not have another," Arthell laughed softly. "I'll have to pee before I get home. What if there's a traffic jam on the bridge?"

"I have an idea," Laura said, getting up and retrieving Arthell's nearly empty glass, taking it with her own and heading for the kitchen. "Why don't we just hang out and go to dinner here in the city and drive back later after the rush hour traffic has thinned out a bit?"

Oh god, please say yes! I can't think of any way to move this forward, and I need a little more time with you!

But Arthell shook her head. Laura's heart sank, and it was all she could do not to let her face sink too.

"I have a study group tonight. I really need to be there. They sort of depend on me, if you know what I mean."

Laura's shoulders sagged, but she took a deep breath. "Maybe next time."

Arthell had followed her into the kitchen while talking. Feeling her close behind, Laura turned suddenly and with her elbow knocked over one of the iced tea glasses, which fell to the tile floor and shattered at their feet. Cold ice cubes and water splashed their ankles.

"Oh shit!" Laura gasped. "God, how could I do that!"

Arthell, looking down, backed up a little. She bent down at picked up a couple of the larger shards of glass as well as an ice cube. "Where do you want me to put these? Is there a trash can around here somewhere?"

"Under the sink," Laura said, trying to figure out what to do next. "Just step back. I'll get a broom and a mop."

Arthell leaned around Laura, not wanting to step in the mess, but also reaching for the cupboard knob on the door to the trash can. Her breasts brushed Laura's leg. Laura reached behind to open the cupboard door for her, and their fingers met on the knob. Laura pulled the door open, and Arthell deposited the shards of glass in the can. She still held a half-melted ice cube in her palm and looked up at Laura, their faces only inches apart now.

"Don't want me to put this in there," she said. "It'll melt."

"Put it in the sink. Here."

Laura took the ice cube from Arthell's palm, which was still wet. But her eyes never left Arthell's face. This lovely girl. Her smooth dark brown cheek. She smells so good. I've got to kiss her. Oh god, Arthell, please understand. Don't push me away.

This was a moment of suspended animation. It was like a slow-motion scene in a movie, each movement painfully arrested and agonizingly delayed. Arthell's eyes did not leave Laura's either. Laura moved her face closer, closer, letting her eyes drop to Arthell's thick, sensual lips, glimpsing Arthell's pink wet tongue behind her gleaming white teeth. In another split second her own lips were brushing Arthell's, then pushing into them, curving sideways to make their two mouths fit together better, and she was trying to pour all of her throbbing emotion and desire into this one sweet kiss, not knowing if she would ever have the chance to do it again.

Arthell did not try to stop Laura immediately, but neither did she kiss back. After a few seconds, she pulled away.

"That was nice," she smiled politely. "But I'm not that way."

Oh god, Laura thought, mortified and pierced with shame and sorrow. The same words Amber had predicted. I'm not that way. Sorry.

Laura smiled with regret, pulling back too. She shrugged. "Couldn't help myself," she confessed. "You're too much for me. Too . . . wonderfully sweet and pretty."

Now that Arthell knew that there was more to this visit than mere friendship, she seemed instinctively to back away from Laura, but not with any hostility. This hurt Laura probably more than having the girl reject her kiss.

"You want to tell me where the broom is?" she asked. "I can get it."

"No. I'll get it. Just go in and sit down so I can clean this up."

A few minutes later everything was back in place, the floor dry, the broken glass disposed of. Arthell, following Laura's request, had returned to the living room and sat silently while Laura finished. She was calm and seemingly unruffled by this experience when Laura returned. But her appearance pinched Laura's heart more than ever. Arthell sat sweetly in the chair, but her body was somehow more alluring to Laura than ever since she was wearing Laura's own ribbed cotton sleeveless top, which accentuated her lovely breasts and showed off her long, bare, brown arms and exquisitely shaped shoulders.

Laura caught herself looking before Arthell appeared to notice. She was avoiding Laura's gaze with a studied indifference.

"I'm really sorry about what happened in the kitchen," Laura said, vowing to herself to face this rejection head on.

Arthell smiled. "I break glasses all the time. I'm so clumsy."

"I mean the other."

Arthell looked at her with her limpid black eyes, her face a blank. Laura couldn't tell if she were upset or daydreaming or completely abstracted from the experience. Finally she shook her head and came into focus.

"Don't worry about it. It was nice, like I said. I just don't go for it, I guess. I'm flattered that you . . . wanted to do it, though," she added politely.

Laura didn't know if she meant it or was simply being polite. Arthell was very polite.

"I guess you want me to take you home now," Laura said, glumly.

"Any time you're ready. I just have to be there by seven."

God, I've ruined everything, Laura thought. Now she's so distant. So reserved and on guard. I guess I really blew it this time.

"Okay, let's go."

It was the most painful drive Laura had ever made, she thought. At least in years. The silence was excruciating. Arthell looked out the passenger side window constantly, making no effort to break the silence. Laura was too chagrined and sorrowing to do it herself. On the lower deck of the bridge, heading east, the radio reception was impossible, but once they emerged from it she could pick up a jazz station she knew they both would like.

Arthell even swiveled her head and smiled at her when she turned it on. Laura smiled back but only a nervous half-smile. She felt so guilty and embarrassed she hardly knew how to behave.

"I'm really sorry, Arthell," she said again, instantly hating herself for giving in and bringing it up again.

"Will you quit saying that?" Arthell said impatiently. She didn't raise her voice, but she didn't quit looking out the window either. "I'm glad you like me, Laura. I like you too. Just not that way."

When they arrived at Arthell's house, Laura noticed two cars parked in the driveway which had not been there on the night she had given her a ride home from the college. It was only dusk so the lights were not on, but the windows in the living room were open. I guess we won't be listening to records this evening, Laura thought. Or any time, ever, from now on. Oh god, Arthell, I'm so sorry. I pushed it too soon!

Arthell smiled tightly at her. "If you want to wait here, I'll pop inside and take this off and give it back to you." She plucked at the thin cotton top Laura had loaned her.

Laura smiled, feeling tears come to her eyes. She shook them away, knowing how she had a weakness for cheap manipulation at a moment like this. Anyway, she was sure Arthell would see through a minor crying fit. Arthell was sweet but not stupid.

"Please keep it," Laura said. "My gift. Think of me when you wear it."

"You sound like we're not going to see each other again," Arthell said matter-of-factly.

Laura sniffled. "I thought you wouldn't want to."

Arthell beamed at her, the white teeth megawatt smile. "I do want to. I just don't have a thing for girls, that's all. Can't you spend time with me without that?"

Laura made a resigned half-smirk. "I don't know, frankly. I can try."

"Then try." She opened the door and got out of the car. Laura tried to keep her eyes from roaming over Arthell's bottom as she scooted off the seat. Arthell closed the door and looked back through the window. "Are you going to try?"

Laura nodded. "I'll try."

Arthell stood by the curb and waved to her as she drove off, but Laura was certain that she would never see her again.

Nearly a month went by before she did. It wasn't such a bad month for Laura. Bad, but not too bad. She ached for Arthell, and yearned for her, and fantasized about her, and felt a crushing sense of loss for having destroyed their budding relationship before it could even blossom. But she had Joy and Carmela, both individually and together, now that they had got used to each other's right to Laura, and she had Sara on most weekends. Amber had flown off to Paris to see her French 'sweetie pie,' but Laura did not miss her much since she knew Amber would not be able to resist good-natured taunting about Laura's failure with Arthell.

One evening she was leaving work and exited through the main lobby since she wanted to stop at a drug store on the corner before going to her car. She rarely did this, usually preferring to leave through a back exit to the parking garage. And so she was truly shocked to discover Arthell leaning against one of the city's composite gravel curbside trash cans, as if waiting for her.

It was, as it had been last time, an unseasonably warm day, and Arthell was wearing white shorts, white socks, white sneakers, and a sleeveless yellow top. She looked like she had just wandered off the tennis court, fresh, wholesome, athletic, her long thin dark brown legs glossy and smooth.

"Hi," she said brightly, as if this meeting had been arranged. As if to say, Well, you finally got here. I've been waiting for hours.

"Hi," Laura drawled more slowly, a half-smile spreading over her face, unable to believe this was happening. What did it mean? "You know, I hardly ever leave this way. I usually go out the back."

Arthell was unfazed by this. "My lucky day, I guess. Why did you come this way today?"

"I . . . have to stop by that drug store," Laura pointed.

"Mind if I walk with you?"

"I would consider it a terrific pleasure." She glanced boldly down at Arthell's long bare legs. "Dressed for the weather today, I see."

"I checked the weather report first."

They walked to the store, where Laura purchased some cosmetics. As they left, she was wondering whether to make some sort of invitation when Arthell spoke up.

"Suppose I could get you to drive me home? I know it's a long way. I promise to be nice. I could even pay you for the gas. I just can't get home from the BART station because I don't have a car. And I hate taking the bus, it takes so long. You have to wait forever."

"Arthell. Stop. You're babbling. Of course I'll drive you home." Laura looked long into her shiny black eyes. "And I won't make a pass at you either."

Arthell frowned. "You didn't have to say that."

"I said it for my sake, not yours. Come on, my car is parked in the garage around back."

"So," Laura asked when they were finally underway, "what would you have done if I didn't show up? If I took the back exit, as I usually do."

Arthell seemed unconcerned. "Oh . . . taken the BART train home, I guess." She fiddled with the hem of her yellow shirt. "Or maybe called you. Remember, you gave me your business card and scribbled your cell phone number on the back?"

Laura smiled, this time to herself. Were things changing? However, she was terrified of getting ahead of herself and having things end up as they had last time. Also, Arthell lived at home with her parents. Whatever her motives might be in crossing the bay to see Laura, they would not include letting Laura make love to her.

Still, Laura was happy enough just to see her. And those long, dark brown legs were there next to her where she could glance over at them from time to time as she drove. She didn't have to be so surreptitious about it now, either, since Arthell knew she was 'that way,' as she had put it, and would obviously be interested in Arthell's lovely though thin bare legs.

When they pulled up in front of her house, Arthell did not immediately get out. Laura noticed that there were no cars in the driveway, as before.

"If you want to come in, I'll get that top you loaned me last time," Arthell said.

Laura smiled. "Maybe I better not. I can just sit here and you bring it out to me."

Arthell pursed her lips in annoyance. "You can come in. I don't think you're going to attack me or anything."

"How do you know?"

"Because I told you I don't like it. You'll respect my wishes."

Laura sighed. "You're right. I will. Okay, just for a few minutes."

Arthell's parents were again not there. "Back to Fresno," she explained. "Probate. My uncle had more money than anyone else in the family, so they have to quarrel endlessly about it with the other relatives. Want to listen to a few more Sarah records?"

They spent another enjoyable half hour listening to Arthell's father's record collection. Arthell disappeared for a moment and returned with the blue top Laura had loaned her.

"See," she said, as she handed it to Laura. "We can be friends without having . . . that other stuff . . . get in the way."

"Maybe you're right," Laura said, though she knew Arthell was not right.

It had been torture for her the whole time, looking at Arthell, looking at her bare brown legs, her deliciously shaped bare arms, her gleaming shoulders, the thrust of her fine young breasts through the thin yellow top she wore. Smelling her, being blinded by the glint of her even white teeth, falling into her flashing black eyes, enchanted by her conversation. It was impossible to keep 'that other stuff' at bay for Laura.

They were standing by the front door. Laura was getting ready to leave. Without skipping a beat, or changing her expression, Arthell said,

"You remember in the kitchen . . . when you broke that glass?"

"How could I forget?"

"I thought about it a little bit. When you kissed me. I thought about that."

Laura tilted her head to the side a little, waiting.

"Do it again?" Arthell said, in a softer, more tentative voice this time. "Nothing else. Just that? Before you leave?"

"Are you sure?" Laura asked softly back, wondering whether to believe it herself.

Slowly, Arthell nodded. Her eyes even fell to Laura's mouth briefly before she raised them again self-consciously.

"I would be so happy to . . ." Laura whispered, bringing her lips closer to Arthell's sensual mouth.

Again Arthell's eyes dropped, and Laura's too. Their mouths brushed, then tilted and flowed together, Laura's lips seeking the curve of Arthell's large, pillowy lips, melding into them slowly, with agonizing tenderness. It was almost a sacrilege, Laura realized, to be feeling this way since for her the pinnacle of perfection was Sara's mouth, Sara's exquisitely plump and pillowy lips curving into hers, and yet she felt almost the same way about Arthell's. The true problem for her was how to restrain herself from fiercely ravishing this adorable mouth, and instead keep exploring it patiently and tenderly, as she was doing.

They kissed slowly without parting their lips, and Laura, who was absolutely in no hurry now that she had caged her desire to rape Arthell's mouth hungrily, let the full range of her kissing skill emerge, content to love the girl as the girl was willing to be loved and not an iota more until it was permitted. After a while, Arthell's lips began to part almost of their own accord, and her teeth too. Laura's followed close behind, and before long she was insinuating the tip of her tongue into the opening, hoping to find Arthell's tongue meeting hers.

But this was the moment Arthell chose to stop. Abruptly she pulled back, but Laura noticed that she was breathing a little more rapidly than before.

"There," Arthell said in a hushed voice, almost to herself, as if that was task she had finished. But her eyes were a little glassy.

Laura put a hand on each of her shoulders, which were bare and wonderfully smooth and round under her palms, the first time she had ever actually touched Arthell's flesh apart from her fingers. Arthell pulled away. Her eyes were suddenly streaked with faint alarm.

"No," she said. "Just that."

Laura's arms fell to her side. Her face fell too, she knew. "Sorry. Didn't mean to do that."

A sudden smirk of self-satisfaction crossed Arthell's face. "Did too," she grinned.

Laura shrugged. "I really enjoyed it. The kiss, I mean."

Arthell nodded slowly, as if hypnotized by the after effects. Laura pressed her advantage.

"How about another?"

Not grinning any longer, but simply staring blankly at Laura, as if she were having difficulty coming to terms with her own feelings, Arthell shook her head. "You're a good kisser," she whispered.

"So are you," Laura smiled. "This time, at least."

Arthell opened the door, a not so subtle hint. "Thanks for the ride."

Laura left graciously, hurting fiercely, feeling her pussy juices almost trickle down her thigh. She knew Arthell had to be feeling the same thing. "Thanks for the visit. And the music."

"I'll . . . be seeing you," Arthell said through the screen door.

"Okay," Laura smiled, not trusting herself to say anything more.

"Drive carefully!" Arthell shouted after Laura as she got to the curb and unlocked her car.

Laura waved. I could come back, Arthell. We could continue that kiss. Nobody home. I could kiss you all over that lovely young body and make you pant. I could. Make you whimper.

But I won't. Not unless you ask. Bye. She waved and drove off.

And nearly another month passed. Arthell made not the slightest effort during this time to get in touch. Amber returned, then left again for another long distance rendezvous. Laura and Sara cocooned on weekends. Weekdays in the evenings when possible Laura spent exuberant and carefree moments in bed with Carmela and Joy. Life went on. She mooned a little over Arthell when alone, wishing things had worked out, but she could not afford to worry too much about it. She had given the girl every chance, and even been very respectful of her feelings, so that if Arthell didn't want to take the final step, that was up to her. Laura was proud of herself for being so philosophical about it.

Maybe I'm growing up, she thought.

She thought this until Arthell left a voice mail message for her at home, when her heart suddenly went all aflutter.

"Hi, Laura. Sorry I haven't called. [Arthell acted as if it were just an oversight, that she had fully intended to sooner, though it had been a month.] Busy busy. My parents are away. Monterey Jazz Festival. They go every year. Thought you might want to drop by and listen to more music. I know it's a long way to drive. But maybe if you're not too busy in the next day or two. Let me know. 645-7651. Miss you bye."

Laura was so excited she had to sit down. She ran the message through two more times. She had played the seduction game before with several girls, but she wasn't sure her nerves were up to another ordeal. She wanted to snatch up the phone and call Arthell immediately, but she knew she couldn't seem too eager. Arthell already knew she had Laura in her power, even though she acted nonchalant. Perhaps precisely this nonchalance was the signal to Laura that she herself was completely vulnerable to this lovely girl, and Arthell knew it.

She waited until the next day. She reasoned that Arthell would know she had got the message when she arrived home from work but had been too busy to call. On the other hand, she didn't know how long the parents might be staying down in Monterey and didn't want to wait too long.

It took three tries to reach her, but finally, at quarter to five, Arthell was home. "Hi, Laura," she said brightly. "You coming over?"

"I can be there in thirty minutes, if the traffic isn't too bad."

"Good. I got a pizza. You can share it with me. See you soon."

It took her nearly an hour. The traffic was fiendish. By the time she got to Arthell's house, her nerves were frazzled and her flesh tense with anxiety. She hated to say it, but she needed a drink.

"I don't drink myself," Arthell smiled calmly as she let her in the door, "but my Dad has a cupboard full of liquor, if you want something."

"I'm sorry for needing it," Laura apologized, "but the traffic nearly drove me insane. Maybe just a little one. Vodka, if you've got it."

Arthell went to the cupboard and took out a half-full vodka bottle. She handed it to Laura as if it were nitroglycerin. "You better make it yourself," she said. "I don't know anything about liquor."

Laura followed her into the kitchen to get a glass. She knew in the back of her mind half of her, at least, had been expecting that Arthell had planned this and would be wearing some sort of seductive outfit to tempt Laura, even if she planned ultimately to refuse again. But she was wrong. Not this girl, Laura, she told herself. This girl is smart. Whatever she intends, if she even knows she intends something, she won't telegraph it to you that obviously.

Arthell wore the same loose, baggy black pants she had worn when Laura had first met her, and a baggy orange sweatshirt that made you guess about those wonderful boobs Laura knew were under it. She seemed totally loose and relaxed as she led Laura to the kitchen and got a glass down from the cupboard.

"Don't break it," Laura teased.

Arthell smiled over her shoulder, acknowledging Laura's reference to their first kiss, but not picking up the cue. Oh shit, how can I drink when she isn't? Laura asked herself.

"Look, I think I've changed my mind," she said suddenly. She placed the vodka bottle down on the counter. "I don't think I need one after all. It was just . . . that moment when I got out of the car. I felt shaky and completely nuts."

Arthell beamed. "You feel better now?"

Laura nodded. "It's so good to see you."

Arthell grew serious. They were still lingering in the kitchen, Arthell leaning against the large island in the middle, Laura back against the counter where she had put the vodka bottle. Arthell's initially friendly smile grew a little mysterious.

"You want to have our little kiss right now, so we can just relax and go listen to some music?"

Laura gazed, mesmerized, into her eyes. "Something about kitchens, isn't there," she cracked softly, more to get over her own nervousness than anything.

Arthell continued to look at her expectantly since Laura had not really answered her question.

"I really would like that," Laura murmured. "I would like that so much."

"Good. Me too. I thought about last time a lot."

"Me too."

Laura took a step toward her. Arthell was so receptive she could hardly believe it. She raised two fingers and caressed the girl's smooth dark brown cheek with her fingertips. She looked deep into Arthell's eyes, trying to detect her motives, but also trying to communicate the yearning she had for her.

Their lips touched, then melted together. Laura's fingertips had not left Arthell's cheek, but now they descended to her neck. Their kiss started slowly as before, but this time it blossomed more quickly. Arthell's lips parted, her tongue met Laura's. Their breath quickened but they did not accelerate the pace. Laura now dropped her hand under Arthell's arm, encircling her with her own arm and pulling her closer, the first time she had ever really embraced her. Their breasts pushed together under their clothes.

Arthell let herself be embraced, and kissed more ardently than before. Her wet tongue coiled with Laura's outside their mouths, and then she pulled it in, almost an invitation for Laura's to follow it into her mouth, which Laura's did.

"Oh damn . . . this is getting me too excited!" Arthell gasped suddenly, pulling back, though not completely out of Laura's embrace.

Laura brushed her smooth cheek with her lips. "Me too. Is that bad?"

Arthell looked vaguely puzzled. "I . . . don't know. I didn't plan on this. I thought . . . just one kiss. Like before."

Slowly, Laura dropped her arm from Arthell's waist, not abruptly but slowly, letting it slide down. "Okay. You want to stop?"

"Maybe we'd better."

"I love your mouth," Laura confessed. "I don't know if I can stop."

This made Arthell smile and even sparkle. "Maybe just one more. No further, though."

"You mean I can't touch you?"

"No," Arthell shook her head dreamily, looking at Laura's mouth, her face coming closer as she spoke. "I don't mean that."

This time their kiss began to smolder after only a few seconds. Arthell began to kiss Laura back as never before. Laura encircled her with both arms, holding her tightly. She felt Arthell's arms begin to close around her back too. Oh honey, you better be careful or you won't be able to turn back, Laura thought.

"I didn't know this would feel so good," Arthell murmured against Laura's lips. "All I could think of was you."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"Afraid. I guess."

"Nothing to be afraid of," Laura whispered to her, now letting her lips slide across Arthell's marvelously smooth dark cheek and down to her long lovely neck. "I've wanted to kiss your neck since I first saw it."

Arthell let her do it for a minute. She panted softly into Laura's hair. Laura could feel her fingers digging spasmodically into her back, through her blouse. Touching Arthell's smooth dark brown neck with her lips was pure heaven.

"Okay. I think that's enough," Arthell finally said, again pulling back but not out of Laura's loose embrace.

Laura kissed her mouth again before she could speak. But she did not elevate the intensity. Instead, she modulated it backwards, making the kiss more tentative and tender, as the first one had been, instead of redoubling the heat. Let's slow this down, honey, she thought, so it doesn't go too fast for you and you don't panic.

Arthell responded again. She seemed to love kissing, and Laura loved kissing her. She drew the girl closer again, again feeling their breasts press together, though there was still a lot of clothing in the way. Arthell wore a bra under her sweatshirt, and Laura was still dressed in her work clothes.

Laura made no effort to slip her hand under Arthell's shirt. She desperately wanted to do it but felt it would push things too fast.

"Why don't we just sit down in the living room on the sofa and listen to music and do a little more of this?" Laura suggested softly. "I mean, it feels so good . . . and we don't have to go any farther."

Arthell gave her reluctant smile. "You're right, it does feel good."

She and Laura went into the living room and sat down next to each other on the sofa. "Aren't you going to put on some music?" Laura asked.

"Maybe . . . in a minute," Arthell said. She stretched out her open arms to Laura. "Let's do that some more first."

"Mmmm, I would be delighted," Laura grinned.

They kissed and hugged, stroking each other through their clothes, Laura stroking Arthell more than vice versa. Finally, they had wriggled together so much that Arthell's sweatshirt rode up a little on her back, exposing some of her smooth warm skin, and Laura's fingertips accidentally brushed it. Arthell acted as if she did not notice.

Laura did not remove her fingers. She caressed the warm, taut skin of Arthell's lower back and slipped her tongue deeper into Arthell's mouth. Arthell began breathing even harder.

"Oh!" she finally gasped, breaking off the kiss. "I . . . I'm getting too excited. We better stop."

Laura smiled and nodded. "I am too," she murmured. "I wanted to kiss this part of your back that I'm touching."

Arthell seemed both embarrassed and pleased. She sat up a little and smoothed her sweatshirt back down into place. "Guess maybe you'd better not. We might get carried away."

Laura giggled softly. "Right."

"Maybe we should stop kissing for a while and just listen to music."

"Anything you want." My darling.

"You know, I got that pizza. Are you hungry?"

Not for food, darling. "Not yet. Let's wait."

"One more kiss. Then I'll put on the music."

"Okay."

This time Arthell became more ardent without Laura's encouragement. From the very instant their lips met again she was pushing forward, squirming her body into Laura's, opening her mouth, stabbing Laura's tongue passionately with her own. It was hard for Laura to mistake her physical transformation.

She had her hand up under Arthell's sweatshirt before she even knew it. Again she was caressing and stroking the bare warm flesh of Arthell's lower back. She kissed her ear and sucked her earlobe, inhaling the fresh, beguiling scent of her body. Arthell was panting and squirming. On the other hand, Laura knew she might pull back at any second, as she had done every time up to now.

But she didn't yet. She kissed Laura's neck. Laura dug her fingers into the resilient flesh of Arthell's back. She found Arthell's mouth again with her own and devoured it.

"Oh god, I love kissing you, honey," she panted, letting her hand rise up Arthell's back under her sweatshirt until her fingers grazed the strap of her bra.

"Laura . . . you kiss so good . . ."Arthell panted back. "I never kissed a guy who could kiss like you."

"I want to kiss you all over."

Arthell's body stiffened, but only a little. She stopped kissing Laura's neck. "Maybe we . . . better put on that music. I love doing this but . . . it's a little overboard."

"One more kiss?"

Arthell made a face. "It's always one more kiss," she said, feigning exasperation.

"You said one more last time," Laura reminded her. "This time it's my turn."

"Okay. One more. No touching. Take your hand out."

Laura removed her hand from under Arthell's sweatshirt. She slapped it with her other hand, looking at it crossly. "Bad hand. Don't do that again."

Arthell laughed softly. Then she tilted her parted lips up to Laura. Her eyes caught Laura's and held them as Laura's face came close, somehow letting Laura know that she knew precisely what was happening between them and yet enjoyed this teasing game of stall and delay. Laura kissed her slowly, pushing her back into the rear of the sofa, again caressing Arthell's velvety cheek with her fingertips. Arthell kissed back and even slid her tongue deeper into Laura's mouth than ever before.

Again they were both panting when they broke it off. Arthell's eyes were glazed, and Laura knew her own were too. Arthell pushed her away and stood up.

"Now I really will put some music on."

Laura smiled up at her. "Good. It's about time for music."

She waited, trying to control her sexual excitement, while Arthell went over to the record player and put on one of her father's old Dinah Washington records. This Bitter Earth. Not exactly the most romantic of tunes, Laura thought, with a small ironic smile. But we can make do.

Arthell returned to the sofa. Immediately, without saying a word, she opened her arms and came into Laura's, who had opened hers as well. Their mouths came together as if they had both been about to die from the interruption, and their kiss was hungry and feverish, more so than any earlier kiss. Laura wondered how much more of this she could take. Her pussy was oozing and throbbing. Her pulse rate went from frantic when they were kissing to a low, lugubrious thump when they stopped, after Arthell turned briefly reluctant before yielding once more to her stronger needs.

This time when Arthell pulled back, Laura found herself thinking she ought to slap her. Oh god, toying with my feelings like this! she thought. Let alone my body. God, honey, I want you! My body is getting so confused. First I'm all hot and sizzling, then you stop and I'm all drooping and clogged and sad. Then you come back into my arms and I'm all happy and thrilling again, and my pussy just sings. Can't you make up your mind? You know you want it.

But Arthell had her own agenda, and Laura by her actions had let her know that she wouldn't press the issue any harder than Arthell wanted to allow.

"Tell me how you got into liking girls," Arthell whispered against Laura's cheek during a pause in hungry kissing. "I mean, did you just decide one day? Or was it something that happened accidentally, and then you realized you liked it?"

Laura understood that this might be how Arthell was attempting to come to terms with her own feelings. This might be a good sign, a sign that Arthell was seeking help, trying to persuade herself that it was okay to go to bed with Laura.

"I guess you could say it was an accident," she said softly, stroking Arthell's reddish brown hair, running her fingertips over the girl's marvelous high forehead. "I . . . sort of saw this girl . . . naked . . . by accident. She saw me looking. We both . . . kind of got excited and were shocked by it. Then we just . . . sort of got together." She smiled warmly at Arthell. "Make sense?"

It was actually a great relief to Laura that she could say all this with complete authenticity since it was genuinely true. That was how it had happened. Arthell listened to her intently.

She nodded slowly in answer to Laura's question. "I guess. I never even thought of it before. I mean until this. Kissing and everything."

"There hasn't been any 'everything' yet," Laura teased her affectionately. "Just kissing."

"I know. I like it, though."

Laura shrugged, resigned. "We don't have to go any further, if you don't want to. I'm not trying to push you."

"Oh, I know you aren't," Arthell said quickly. "God, you've been so sweet and patient with me. I think maybe you'd better go, though. I'm not sure I really want to go any further, and with you here . . . it just makes it harder."

"But we didn't even get to eat that pizza yet," Laura laughed indulgently. "You're going to send me out on that freeway with an empty stomach?"

Arthell softened and grew kittenish. "Oh, I wouldn't do that." She lay her head almost submissively on Laura's shoulder.

The music had somehow modulated to fit their mood. From This Bitter Earth Dinah Washington had segued into I Remember You.

You're the one who made my dreams come true
A few kisses ago . . .

They did not move, Laura thrilled to have Arthell cuddling with her like this, and Arthell apparently yielding to deeper feelings for Laura than she had yet expressed. After the song was over, and another began, Arthell looked up into Laura's eyes.

"Is Miss Grant . . . I don't know how to say this—"

Laura smiled. "I guess I shouldn't be talking about her. She's a friend and might want to answer for herself."

Arthell nodded. Again without a word, she pushed her face up into Laura's and caught Laura's mouth with hers. Laura held Arthell's face in both her hands and kissed her searchingly.

Arthell's fingers dug into Laura's back. She kissed Laura back more urgently than ever. Laura sucked her smooth neck and breathed into her ear.

"You know how I want you . . ." she breathed.

"Yes," Arthell panted.

Laura decided to go for broke. She figured she had nothing to lose since Arthell was so close to yielding that if for some reason she did refuse Laura, she would not hold it against her. Kissing her again, she slid both hands under Arthell's sweatshirt and moved them quickly up her back to her bra strap, then around to the front, cupping Arthell's breasts in her palms, even though they were still encased in her bra cups. She squeezed the full globes, not hard but passionately.

Arthell did not stop kissing her. Laura took this for a sign to continue. She slid her hands around Arthell's back again and adroitly unfastened her bra clasp. Then she moved them back to the front, slipping them under the now-loose bra cups and filling her palms with Arthell's lovely naked breasts. She could feel the stiff bumps of Arthell's thick nipples rasping against the skin of her palms.

She sucked Arthell's thick, sensual lips and murmured against her cheek. "I want to kiss these too."

"Oh Laura . . . I don't know whether we should . . ." Arthell panted, trying to keep up the fiction that they could still stop.

But Laura had already pulled her sweatshirt part way up, from the bottom, pushing the loose bra up too. Just one more small upward push was enough to let Arthell's young, beautiful breasts spill out, and Laura was all over them, not too eagerly, but very passionately, squeezing and kissing them in a happy fever of desire.

"Oh god, honey, they're so beautiful," she panted, burying her face happily between the two gorgeous dark brown mounds she held in her hands, kissing the warm valley between them.

She moved her lips to one of Arthell's thick dark brown nipples. The wide areola was already covered with small bumps of excitement, and the center was protruding, swollen. Slowly Laura began to lick it, running the tip of her tongue around the areola, feeling the tiny bumps, then drawing the wet flat of her tongue directly across the protruding center before taking the entire bulb into her mouth and sucking it gently.

She thought Arthell was going to swoon. Her eyes rolled up, and she gasped and gurgled, her fingers fluttering around Laura's shoulders as Laura mouth-mauled her luscious young breast. Without a warning, she groaned and growled in a loud voice,

"Ohhh . . . fuck!"

This was a little startling to Laura, who had never heard sweet Arthell utter a word stronger than 'damn,' and yet it meant that she was touching the right nerves. Arthell could not help herself. Laura smiled and purred to her.

"Mmmmm, you like that, don't you."

Arthell's eyes opened. They were glazed and throbbing, already streaked with red, and she looked at Laura as if she could not believe the heaven that was happening to her. Her own eyes still locked with Arthell's, Laura moved her lips to the girl's other breast, treating the bulging brown nipple in the same way, watching Arthell's eyes slide up into her head again as Laura took the wet, swollen bulb into her mouth.

"Unnhhh . . . unnhhhh . . ." Arthell moaned, gnawing her full lower lip this time, even arching her back a little as if to push her breast into Laura's face. "Ohhh fuck!"

Knowing they were both enjoying this immensely, Laura was in no hurry to move past this moment. She held Arthell's lovely young naked breasts in her hands and moved her mouth from one nipple to the other and then back again, sucking them gently but insistently, also licking and pinching them lovingly, stimulating Arthell's breasts in ways she believed the girl had never experienced before. It was all heaven to her since Arthell's breasts were masterpieces of round, resilient flesh, upswept and springy, her dark brown nipples now rigid and sensitive as Laura curled her tongue around each one in turn.

"Oh . . . oh god . . . oh fuck!" Arthell panted, twisting under Laura's mouth, the long smooth muscles in her stomach tightening and flexing, making Laura lust even more for her beautiful young body.

Holding Arthell's saliva-wet breasts in both hands, Laura slid up a little to kiss her mouth, slithering her tongue in deep, scissoring Arthell's stiff wet nipples with her fingers.

"I want to kiss you all over your body," she whispered against Arthell's mouth. "Can we go into your bedroom? I will make you so happy."

"Oh god . . . oh fuck . . ." Arthell gasped again, apparently unable to say anything else.

Laura returned her mouth to Arthell's breasts, content to let her suggestion percolate in the girl's mind for a few minutes. She kissed the dark, round globes tenderly, now exploring the firm, bulging undersides, and the fine secret crease where each full breast met the hard surface of Arthell's ribcage underneath. From there she let her mouth descend further, across the smooth flesh of Arthell's palpitating stomach to her navel, a delicious little 'innie' that she quickly burrowed her tongue into.

By now the music had come to an end, and nothing could be heard in the room but Arthell's harsh, rapid breathing, and the wet, sucking sounds of Laura's lips on her squirming body. The presence of Laura's tongue burrowing in her navel made Arthell whoop softly and undulate, and when her eyes caught Laura's Laura could see in them the helpless craving she had hoped to inspire. Hypnotically holding Laura's eyes with her own, Arthell raised her hands to her breasts and held them from beneath, as if offering them again to Laura, as if begging Laura to return to them.

"Harder . . ." she panted. "Do them . . . a little harder. You do it so good."

She brushed her thumbs across her erect, damp nipples. The little tease! Laura smiled, eagerly complying, kissing her way up Arthell's smooth, undulating body again to her breasts.

"The bedroom, honey? The bedroom?"

But Arthell shook her head. "Please."

Oh, I could suck these beautiful breasts until dawn, if that's what you want, Laura thought. She immediately began to give Arthell's gorgeous globes a workover that was much more passionate than she had been doing before, sucking her nipples harder, as requested, pulling lots of breast flesh into her mouth at the same time. She had to be a little careful, since she was really getting into it. She wanted to swallow each tender, throbbing nipple, wanted to eat Arthell alive, without regard for Arthell's tentative acceptance of this sweet rape they were enjoying.

After a few seconds of this Arthell was moaning and writhing under her on the sofa more violently than ever. God, if somebody walked up on the porch while we're doing this, they could see the whole thing through the blinds, Laura thought.

"The bedroom, honey," Laura prompted her again. "Let's go in the bedroom where we can be naked together. I can make you come. I can make you feel so good."

"Oh god . . ." Arthell suddenly erupted in nervous laughter, "you're almost making me come already. God, it feels so good! Do it some more!"

"Someone might see us here on the sofa," Laura cautioned.

Even though Arthell lived in this house full time, she appeared never to have thought of this until Laura pointed it out. A flash of realization crossed her black eyes.

"You're right. Mrs. Jensen from next door sometimes comes over to check on me when I'm alone." She looked down at her naked breasts, her dark, erect nipples still gleaming with Laura's warm spittle. She pulled her sweatshirt and loosened bra down over them. "Maybe we better just stop here. It gets me so excited."

Laura shrugged. She was on fire, of course, but by now she was used to how changeable Arthell could be. "We don't have to . . . go all the way," she murmured, stroking Arthell's soft cheek with her fingertips. "We can just go in there and kiss. Where nobody can see us."

Arthell grinned sheepishly. "If you don't suck me again like that, I think I'll die."

"Then let's do it. I'll suck you forever. I love sucking you."

This apparently sealed it for Arthell. She took Laura's hand and they both stood up, a little unsteadily, supporting each other.

"I only have a twin bed," Arthell explained. "We can't use my parents' room. They'll find out somehow. I just know it. I would die."

"A twin is fine," Laura assured her. "We're just going to kiss anyway."

They were halfway down the dark hall, on the way to Arthell's bedroom. "And suck," she reminded Laura, looking back over her shoulder. "You suck even better than you kiss."

"Thanks for the compliment," Laura whispered into her hair, leaning forward and pushing her face into it as they went into Arthell's bedroom.

She got her hands under Arthell's sweatshirt again, now that they were more secluded, and slid them up under the loose bra cups, filling them again with Arthell's warm, springy breasts. She pressed her lips to the nape of Arthell's neck, burrowing through the strands of her hair to reach it.

"Now I can have my fill of these," she breathed, squeezing Arthell's lovely naked breasts.

Arthell turned, and they kissed voraciously, more hungrily than they ever had. The room was fairly dark, and thus more intimate, and for several moments the only sounds were their hungry mouths devouring one another. Laura held Arthell's naked breasts in her hands while they kissed, lightly pinching Arthell's excited nipples, hearing the girl moan softly and feeling her thighs quiver.

"We better lie down on the bed," Laura suggested.

"Aren't you going to take these off?" Arthell asked, her eyes wide and pulsing, as she plucked the shoulder of Laura's blouse and her scarf.

"Do you want me to?"

"Oh, yes. Let me help."

Laura removed her scarf and together they unbuttoned her silk blouse. She wore a pale green bra, not one of her sexiest, having had no hint that she might end up here, but still a fairly alluring one, since she liked to have on sexy underwear just on principle. Arthell's eyes grew even wider. The bra closed in the front, and Laura quickly unhooked it, letting the cups fall away, hoping this would encourage Arthell.

Arthell seemed paralyzed for a moment, staring at Laura's naked breasts, but Laura broke the spell by reaching down and lifting up the girl's sweatshirt, pulling it over her head and helping her shed the loose bra the same time. Now they were both naked from the waist up, which Laura considered progress.

She leaned close and brushed her lips against Arthell's. "Now we can kiss and feel our bodies together like this." She pushed her naked breasts into Arthell's. "How does that feel?"

"Oh god, it feels great."

Again they kissed voraciously. God, your pussy must be pouring, honey, Laura thought. Mine sure is.

"Here, lie down with me," Laura coaxed, moving with Arthell over to the small twin bed against the wall.

Arthell let herself be drawn to it, but she showed a little reluctance when they sat together on the mattress. "I don't know if we should do this," she said softly. "I'm not . . . you know . . ."

"Like that?" Laura teased her.

"I'm not really a lesbian. I don't know why I'm feeling this way."

"How are you feeling?" Laura smiled, amused, stroking Arthell's lovely gleaming bare shoulder, then kissing it tenderly.

Arthell shook her head slowly, as if in bewilderment, as if she were still trying to figure it out. "I'm feeling more like I want to do it with you than I ever wanted to do it with anybody."

Laura felt like a great weight had been lifted off her. She almost sagged visibly with relief. She had known that Arthell was feeling that way, but hearing Arthell admit it was the most wonderful thing she could imagine at the moment.

"Maybe if we didn't use words like 'lesbian' we wouldn't feel so strange about it," Laura whispered into her ear, following her whisper with a gush of warm breath. "I'm just somebody who really likes you and adores your beautiful body and wants to make love to you. Look at it that way. And you want me to. You want me to make love to you . . ."

Here Laura began to caress Arthell's naked breasts again with her fingers while she finally kissed those perfect clavicles she had admired so much the first night she had seen her.

". . . and you like it when I kiss you here . . ."

She kissed Arthell's lovely black throat, then her smooth chest, letting her lips descend again ever so slowly to one of Arthell's bulging dark brown nipples.

". . . and you like it when I suck you like this . . ."

"Ohhhhh!" Arthell let out an immediate, sharp moan as Laura sucked one of her delicious thick nipples deeply into her mouth.

This time she held Laura's head in both hands and looked down while Laura feasted on her perfect dark brown upswept globe, luxuriating in the feel of Laura's lips doing fantastic things to her aching nipple. Feeling that Arthell was on the verge of giving in completely, Laura unconsciously accelerated the pace a little, holding both of Arthell's breasts in her hands and now moving her mouth over to the other one, sucking it even more passionately.

"Oh! Oh!" Arthell whimpered. "Oh . . . fuck!"

Laura pushed her gently down onto the mattress, hovering over her, sucking and kissing Arthell's neck while pushing her own naked breasts into Arthell's wet ones.

" . . . and you like it when I touch you here . . ." she murmured again softly, running her hand down to Arthell's pants and slipping her fingers under the elastic band that held them up, then under the elastic waistband of her panties.

Arthell was no longer resisting, only squirming and whimpering and moaning, so that Laura did not even let her hand pause but pushed it further down until she felt the fluffy fringe of Arthell's pubic hair against her fingertips, felt the traces of warm moisture there, and then dipped them lower until two of her fingers grazed the warm, greasy lips of Arthell's blossoming pussy. It was the most natural thing in the world to let them just sink into the warm, buttery slit.

"Ahhnnnn!" Arthell gasped, slightly arching her back. "Oh fuck!"

"Oh, and you like it when I touch you there, too," Laura purred.

"Yes."

"I'll bet you would like it if I kissed you there, too."

"Oh, Laura."

Getting Arthell's pants and panties off would mean removing her fingers from this burbling cauldron of love, but Laura knew you had to trade some things for others. But first she had to leave them in for a moment and enjoy to the fullest having reached her goal. Arthell twisted and panted and uttered a few more 'oh fucks.' Again Laura was startled by these outbursts, so coarse from the sweet and almost demure Arthell, but she had come to realize that they were signs the girl was truly, even wildly, aroused, and she now welcomed each one.

"Oh fuck!" Arthell gasped again, looking bleary-eyed at Laura as Laura finally withdrew her fingers from the girl's sopping wet pussy and began to pull Arthell's pants and panties down her legs. "Yes . . . yes!" Arthell squirmed helpfully out of them. "Oh Laura, I want to . . . do it!"

"Not as much as I want to do it to you, sweetheart," Laura murmured to her, immediately kissing Arthell's long, smooth, very thin legs as the pants came off her ankles.

Since the bed was narrow, it was more comfortable for them both for Laura to kneel on the floor beside it and half-crouch between Arthell's spread thighs. Still kissing Arthell's warm inner thighs, she struggled out of her skirt and her own panties, her shoes, everything, and was finally as naked as Arthell was and ready to take the delicious, undulating girl to heaven. Oh god, you are more beautiful naked than I thought you would be, Laura realized, stroking Arthell's long, lean, smooth, dark brown body adoringly with her fingers, bringing her mouth up one of Arthell's long thighs to her festering, puckering wet pussy.

All of Arthell was varying shades of delicious dark brown, and her pussy was no different, the lips not black but the hue of expensive dark chocolate, and thicker near the top where they formed her clitoral hood, coming together in a delightful, meaty, perfect inverted V at the summit. Between the swollen lips was the glistening salmon colored wet meat of her pussy, the sight and fragrance of which made Laura's lust meter spurt into the stratosphere. Oh god, what a beautiful pussy!

"Oh honey . . ." she purred, "you have such a lovely pussy. I want to kiss it and love it until you come."

With her thumbs she spread apart and up the thick dark brown lips of Arthell's pussy where they came together at the top, exposing the bright shiny thick nub of Arthell's clit for the first time. She was about to go for the money when Arthell stopped her. She put a hand on Laura's forehead.

"I was lying in the other room," she panted, her eyes now glimmering with red streaks, swirling with hot lust, reflecting her almost uncontrollable need. "I wasn't going to come. It usually takes me a long time to come. I . . . hope you don't mind."

"Mind?" Laura smiled. "I hope you take forever." Though you won't, honey, if I have anything to say about it. "More time for me to enjoy this beautiful body. And your lovely, lovely pussy, which I'm going to kiss right now."

This seemed to ease Arthell's mind. She lay back and surrendered her body to Laura, who immediately began to lick the girl's inflamed and oozing slit, slipping her tongue into the wet salmon flesh of the interior, then dragging it up along Arthell's exposed clit, bringing a low, guttural groan of pleasure from deep in Arthell's throat.

"Ahhnnnggggg! Oh . . . fuck!"

Arthell suddenly craned her neck up to look down at Laura's mouth on her pussy, as if she could get even more pleasure by watching Laura's tongue at work. Laura looked up with her eyes, catching Arthell's, which were red-laced and frantic, holding them with her own while she continued to lick, then suck, Arthell's runny furrow. She loved holding her lover's eyes while she sucked her pussy, especially a new, fresh lover like Arthell. Laura took the entire top portion of Arthell's flowing flower into her mouth and tickled Arthell's hard little clit with the tip of her tongue while sucking it and her cunt lips passionately.

"Oh! Oh!" Arthell gasped, overcome by the fierce sensations Laura was causing. Her head fell back. "Unhhhhh! Auunngghh! Oh fuck! Oh fuck yes!"

Arthell began to churn her hips slowly, and her hands slid up her own body to her breasts, which were also swaying in tight circles as her body undulated under Laura's love attack. She held the moving globes and squeezed them and twisted her own excited nipples, still watching in fascination and panting as Laura made love to her pussy. Laura was overcome by the urge to fuck her face to face. She wanted to kiss her and suck her nipples and push her own pussy into Arthell's. She knew that Arthell wouldn't come yet. The girl was wound tight and whimpering and panting and pumping, but Laura could tell that it would take another level of feverish stroking and sucking to actually bring her there.

She probably wouldn't come from a little hot trib-fucking either, and so that would give Laura the opportunity to return to this wonderful wet warm feast at the end. Quickly, without breaking the rhythm, she climbed back onto the small bed, lifting and adjusting Arthell's long brown legs at the same time so that she could slip inside and press her own festering quim into hers.

She didn't want to try a scissors-style fuck since their bodies and legs were both so long, and the bed so short. Instead, she leaned forward, half-embracing Arthell, who was pliant and supple and melting in her arms, willing to do anything Laura suggested. She pushed her naked breasts into Arthell's and moved her groin forward just enough for Arthell to feel the warm gooey mess of their crotch hair and cunt lips mash together.

Arthell's eyes widened, and a short gasp of excited breath escaped her parted lips. "Unhhhhh!"

Before she could moan or say anything, Laura's mouth caught hers and kissed her savagely. At the same instant she began grinding her wet cunt into Arthell's, not roughly, not frantically, but rather in a slow, swirling rhythm, sometimes letting her pussy slip to the side so that she could press the hard, clenched muscle of her thigh into Arthell's warm, slippery furrow, then easily shifting back to their pussies touching, kissing, sliding together.

Arthell's eyes rolled up in her head. Laura's did too, briefly. The sensations were so sweet and piercing that it was hard for her to keep control, and yet she knew she must, since Arthell had never done this, was entirely at her mercy, and did not know what to expect, or how intense such moments could become.

"Oh god . . . Laura . . . oh fuck . . . oh god, I've never felt this way!" she panted to Laura. She looked down their bodies to their mated groins, grinding her own pelvis up to meet Laura's. "Unhhhh! Oh god. Unhhhhh! Yes! Oh . . . fuck!"

"Do you . . . like it?" Laura panted, finding it hard to speak smoothly herself as the sexual tension increased.

But without waiting for Arthell to answer she lowered her mouth to the girl's lovely upswept breasts and began sucking one of her nipples thirstily. Arthell groaned and began pumping more vigorously, now twisting her own long legs around Laura's hips, running her frantic fingers up and down Laura's naked back.

"Ohhhhh god, I love it!" Arthell groaned. "Do it hard. God . . . I think I'm going to come faster than I said . . . oh . . . oh!"

Laura instantly let up, pulled back. She released Arthell's lovely swollen wet brown nipple from her mouth. "Oh, no you're not," she giggled softly. "Not until Laura says. I want every inch of you."

"Ohhhhnnn!" Arthell moaned, flexing and quivering at the same instant, reaching up to hold Laura's head in both of her hands and then drawing Laura's lips back down to her naked body, wanting more.

For a long time now, several minutes, they slowly swirled their wet groins together while Laura's lips explored every part of Arthell's upper body that she could reach with them, until her mouth again arrived at Arthell's mouth. But Arthell could hardly kiss now for breathing so hard. Her eyes were delirious, and glowed with love for Laura, a kind of deep passionate love Laura had not seen there before.

They had been doing this writhing, this slow rhythmic fucking, for several minutes now, and Laura knew she was close herself. This glimmer of total surrender in Arthell's eyes let her know that Arthell was getting there too, was nearly there. Oh honey, we're both going to come, Laura thought, wondering whether to stay where she was or to return to Arthell's lovely wet pussy with her mouth, as she had planned.

"Oh . . . honey . . . are you almost there?" she asked, panting into Arthell's ear, digging her fingers with sharp sexual hunger into the girl's silky brown flesh.

"Hhhhh . . . hhhhh . . . oh fuck . . . oh fuck yes!" Arthell gasped, almost unable to get the words out. "Oh god, it feels so good!"

"Here . . ." Laura gasped, maneuvering their bodies once again in a fluid, rhythmic way that would not interrupt the slow sensuality of their motions. "Here . . . let me suck your beautiful pussy again and bring you there," she murmured, again dropping to her knees on the floor beside the small bed.

By now, after their torrid minutes of trib and thigh-fucking, Arthell's pussy was inflamed and wetter than ever, gaping and redder inside than before, her outer cunt lips swollen and glossy with juice. Laura wasted no time. She slid two fingers up into the warm, buttery channel and at the same time with the fingers of her other hand spread open Arthell's clitoral hood to expose her erect clit, which stood like a tiny, shiny, bulbous soldier waiting to be swallowed. Laura took it between her lips and went for the prize.

"Unhhh . . . unhhh . . . ohhnnggg!" Arthell gurgled, twisting and surging under this new, hot, passionate love assault.

She dug her elbows into the mattress and lifted her entire pelvis, gyrating it maniacally into Laura's face, whimpering, panting crazily. With her two fingers Laura fucked Arthell's tight wet pussy rapidly, giving her the whole range of sensations, penetration, fast plunging fingers, hot lips fastened to her clit, sucking hard and rhythmically. She knew there was no way Arthell could hold out for long. The girl was in a sexual frenzy, pumping and shimmying her hips, gasping and gurgling, then crying out as the frame of her small twin bed hammered against the wall next to them.

"Oh fuck! Oh . . . Laura! "Auunnggghh! Oh . . . oh yes! Oh . . . now!"

"Now, honey?"

"Oh fuck, yes! FUCK! UUUNNGGNNNHHHHH! AAUUUURRRNNGGGH!"

Arthell was wrenched and buckled by a fearsome orgasm, a much more gigantic spasm, or series of spasms, than Laura had expected. Her luscious dark brown body, gleaming so beautifully in the half-light of the bedroom, rose up off the shaking bed, shuddering and straining, and after her first loud cries her breath was totally choked off in her throat, so that she could make only tortured cawing sounds for several seconds while the most intense shocks of her climax throttled her.

Laura's eyes, as she struggled to hold on to the thrashing, surging girl, remained fastened on Arthell's face, and she still had the entire upper portion of Arthell's spasming pussy in her mouth. The expression of excruciating ecstasy that she saw wracking Arthell's features was her biggest reward, and though she knew she would eventually come too, and not long from now either, she knew it would not top this. Again, as when she had first kissed Arthell in her kitchen after breaking the glass, things seemed reduced to slow motion so that every arc and shudder of Arthell's beautiful naked body became visible to her, every clenching of every smooth long muscle, every frantic wince as Arthell suffered yet another brief agony of bliss.

"Annnggghhh!" Arthell finally groaned, now able to get her breath enough to let out the moans and sighs that had been trapped in her windpipe. The orgasm was spending itself, and she was falling back into the mattress, moaning almost in disbelief that it had been so intense. "Oh god . . . oh god, Laura."

Smiling, Laura simply held onto her, releasing Arthell's extremely wet cunt now from her lips, but leaving her fingers embedded in the girl's soaked, slowly spasming slit. The worst/best had passed, but Arthell's pussy was still contracting slowly. When it finally stopped, Laura removed them. She gave a tender kiss to Arthell's wonderful big clitty, but Arthell groaned and recoiled a little.

"Unnhhh!" She closed her thighs, forcing Laura out. "Sorry," she gasped, still bleary-eyed and slack. "It's so sensitive now."

"I don't wonder, not after what it just went through," Laura smiled.

Arthell smiled back, almost sheepishly. "I had no idea I could come like that."

"Mmmm, Auntie Laura has lots of tricks in her basket."

Arthell pulled Laura down with her and gazed lovingly into her eyes. "Auntie Laura is way more than I ever expected," she murmured throatily. She kissed Laura, a long and thorough kiss. "But Auntie Laura didn't come. She was too busy making Arthell, who's not 'that way,' come. I don't know about you but when I do it, I like to come. Not like that, of course. I never even knew that was possible. But a little anyway. Of course guys can't always make you. But I like to anyway, if I can. What about you?"

Laura nodded. "I like to."

Laura realized she was acting calm, but she was actually fiercely overwrought and needed a release in the worst way. She knew that Arthell was about to make some fumbling, amateurish attempts to bring her off, since she had gone through this before with others, but she was in no mood to wait.

Maneuvering her legs so that they scissored one of Arthell's long, thin, smooth brown thighs, she leaned down, hovering over the girl, thrilling once again to the feel of their naked breasts brushing and then mashing together as she lowered her body.

"Just kiss me again," she panted, "and I will feel wonderful."

"You don't want me to . . . do anything? Help?"

"Mmmm, you are helping, just as you are. Kiss me and hold me tight, honey."

Now her body was glued tightly to Arthell's, and she embraced Arthell with both arms, feeling Arthell's long arms encircle her too at the same time. They began kissing again, and Laura slid her wet, flaming cunt up and down on the long, smooth shaft of Arthell's bare thigh, feeling the hard muscle slide along her swollen clit until she wanted to scream with fierce excitement. Only a few long up and down strokes were enough to reduce her to hot jelly. She began to quiver and moan into Arthell's lips.

"Ohhhnnnn! Ohnnnnnn!"

"Oh, Laura, yes, do it, come, come hard, oh fuck, you're going to come too," Arthell panted back into Laura's mouth.

She realized now what Laura was doing, and she clenched her thigh muscle, and bent her knee a little in rhythm with Laura's movements to give Laura the maximum pleasure possible. Laura's fingers bit into Arthell's back. She couldn't keep kissing any more, so sharp and urgent were the sensations that flooded her aching, slippery pussy as it slid up and down on Arthell's hard, thin thigh.

"Ungghh! Ohnnnggg!" she half-grunted in harsh, guttural groans as her body grew closer and closer to an inevitable explosion.

Arthell seemed both stunned and mesmerized by Laura's complete immersion in this spell of feverish and uncontrollable lust. She had known Laura in other guises: calm, self-controlled, bright, articulate, warm, friendly, affectionate, passionate and skilled as a lover. But never had she seen Laura so helplessly in the clutch of frantic need, and right now Laura was nearly maniacal with the need to come.

She held Laura tightly and pushed upward with her wet, now very slippery thigh, jamming it into Laura's splayed pussy, waiting, hoping, wishing for Laura to get there. And she did not have to wait long. Laura clutched her extra hard and gave a tight shudder, and suddenly her body went into convulsions.

"Auunnnggggghhh!" Laura roared, flipping and jerking, coming sharply in a violent rush of jolting spasms. "Aoowwnnggg! Unghh! Unghhh!"

"Oh shit, Laura . . . yes . . . oh god that must feel so good . . . oh hold me . . . yes . . . hold me . . . oh god I love it when you come in my arms . . ." Arthell babbled to her sweetly while Laura shuddered through the last waning jolts of a thrilling climax.

It took one or two minutes for Laura's breathing to return to normal, during which she lay on top of Arthell, enfolded in Arthell's arms, smelling the girl's sweet breath on her cheek, feeling the firm round cushions of Arthell's naked breasts pressed against her own. The fluid from her pussy made her cunt lips stick to Arthell's wet thigh, and she enjoyed that feeling too, the feeling of her wet flesh adhering to Arthell's long, smooth thigh muscle. Oh god, this is the purest heaven, and I don't want it ever to end, she thought.

But even this bliss had to end, and finally they disentangled their bodies and their wet flesh. Arthell looked down at her shiny wet thigh.

"You came all over me," she giggled, smiling up at Laura.

"I . . . I couldn't help it," Laura said, almost shyly, as if apologizing.

"That's okay," Arthell reassured her, running her finger through the sticky fluid Laura had left on her body. "It's not the same as a guy shooting his goo all over you." She lifted one fingertip to her lips. "This is Laura. This is your essence, and you gave it to me." Slowly, making sure Laura saw it all, Arthell licked her finger.

Laura was perilously close to falling in love all over again. She lay down stretched out beside Arthell on the small twin bed and they cooed and embraced and caressed each other for another half hour. Finally, Arthell whispered,

"I hope you can stay the night."

"Won't the neighbors be suspicious about my car?"

Arthell shook her head. "I have a girlfriend stay over once in a while when my folks are gone." She kissed Laura warmly. "That's what you are, in case you didn't know. Except more than just a girlfriend."

"More?"

Arthell nodded, seriously. "More." Then, without pursuing it further, she sat up on the edge of the bed. This made her charming breasts sway and jiggle a little in a way that made Laura want to touch them, kiss and suck them again. "Look, let's eat that pizza. I think my little pussy is beginning to recover from that scorching you gave it. If you're going to stay the night, we might just get a little more playing in, if you're up to it."

"I thought you weren't 'that way,'" Laura teased her, looking at her naked breasts, then her eyes.

"Never know what you're going to find out about yourself in this life, do you," Arthell said, standing and pulling Laura up after her. "Now come on. Pizza time."