Chapter 14
Julie opened the door in answer to my ring.
"Hi," she said, and she smiled softly. I nodded and said, "Hi," and walked into the apartment.
Julie closed the door and turned to me as I took off my coat and draped it over a chair. "You look solemn, Phil. Anything wrong?"
"Just had a session with Jason on the phone," I told her.
"Oh. Was it rough, Phil?"
"Rough enough."
"Don't let Jason get you down," she said with an obvious attempt at cheerfulness.
"I won't," I said, and I abruptly switched the subject, sorry now that I had even mentioned Jason. "Let me look at you, Julie. Haven't seen you in some time."
"Oh, it hasn't been that long," she said, smiling as I looked her over.
"Long enough," I said, studying her.
She was not wearing Capri pants this time. A soft blue pullover sweater and a skirt of the same color made her seem even more feminine and exciting than the Capri pants had. Her auburn hair was brushed and shining, and her green eyes were warm and friendly.
"You look just fine," I said admiringly.
"So would you, Phil-if you'd stop scowling like that."
I laughed and said, "Sorry. Didn't realize I was doing that."
"That's better," Julie said.
"Well, shall we get down to work?" I asked, rubbing my hands together.
"I've got everything all set up, Phil." She pointed to a bridge table that had been placed in one corner of the living room. Two chairs were pulled up to the table; a portable typewriter stood ready with a pile of typing paper next to it. Several sharpened pencils, an ash tray, and two copies of the play completed the items on the table.
"Looks like you're all ready," I commented, and we sat down at the table and each of us picked up a copy of the play.
"Let's start right at the beginning," I said. "Act One, Scene One...."
We plunged right in. It was hard work, but Julie was a willing collaborator on the changes I had suggested. We argued over some of them, resolved most of our differences, and those that we couldn't resolve we left for another session.
Five hours later, both of us were worn out and eye-weary. I had stripped off my jacket and tie, rolled up my shirt sleeves, slipped off my shoes, and had mussed up my hair through constantly running my hand through it and scratching my head in attempt to help my thinking. I looked like a man who had put in a hard day's work, which I had. Julie, on the other hand, looked as fresh and as lovely as when we had started. The only thing she had done to herself was to slip off her shoes, and I had laughed at that, remarking that both of us seemed to think and work better with our shoes off.
During the session, Julie had prepared sandwiches and a big pot of coffee. The coffee pot was almost empty by the time I finally closed the manuscript of the play and said wearily, "That's about enough for today."
"Amen," Julie replied.
I looked at her and grinned. "Tired?"
"A little," she admitted. "But we did get a lot done today, Phil."
"We sure did."
"How does it look to you so far, Phil?"
I pursed my lips. "Pretty good-but there's still plenty to be done. The whole second act needs reworking. The second act is a tough one in any play, you know. Got to keep the interest generated in the first act and build to the climax of the third act."
Julie nodded.
I pushed back my chair, shook a cigarette loose from my pack, and lit it.
"More coffee?" Julie asked.
I shook my head. "Let's make it a drink instead."
Julie gave me a quick glance, then she smiled slightly. "I don't know whether I should offer you a drink, Phil."
"Oh," I said, getting what she meant. "After all," Julie said teasingly, "look what happened to me the last time I offered you a drink."
"You got spanked," I said dryly. "Among other things," Julie said, smiling ruefully. "All right, forget the drink."
"I was only teasing, Phil." Her smile broadened. "I think I can trust you this time, can't I?"
I looked at her for a long moment. She had brought up the subject, not me. And she had used a teasing tone of voice. That meant there was no bitterness in her now. All had been forgiven.
"I promise," I said, grinning at her. "No spanking tonight."
She laughed. "And ... the other things?"
It was my turn to laugh, which I did.
"That's a nasty laugh, Phil," Julie said, but her smile belied her words.
"Only if you take it that way," I countered.
She sighed. "You're too sharp for me tonight." She got to her feet. "I'll mix the drinks. Why don't you just relax on the couch?"
I got up from the chair and shuffled in my stocking feet to the couch and sat down. I watched her while she prepared the drinks and thought over what she had just said. Her invitation couldn't have been more open and obvious than if she had come right out and said it in plain words. Her little trip to think things over must have made her change her mind about me. And the fact that our session together this afternoon had gone so well had probably put her completely at ease now. Whatever it was that had done it, I knew now that all was well between us and that the rest of the night could be real fun-if I wanted to take her up on her invitation. I wanted.
After the last time, my feelings about Julie had been very confused. Maybe tonight would help straighten them out. Even if it didn't, it would still be a fun night, and I needed something like that to get the taste of Jason out of my mouth.
Julie brought the drinks over and sat down next to me on the couch. I decided not to waste any time. After we had clinked glasses and had taken a sip of our drinks, I leaned over and kissed her on the mouth, still holding the drink in my hand, not touching her or holding her, just pressing my lips to hers.
She didn't draw back, and she responded to the kiss, moving her soft lips against mine.
We held the kiss for a moment, then drew back. Julie looked at me and said, "I had a hunch you'd kiss me.
I nodded. "Got any other hunches about what else I'm going to do."
"Oh, yes. I certainly do."
"It must be easy to read my mind," I said.
She smiled and said nothing.
"Let's finish our drinks," I said.
We raised our glasses in salute to each other, and she matched me swallow for swallow, with both of us finishing at exactly the same time. I took her empty glass from her, set both glasses down on the coffee table, then turned to her and took her in my arms.
"Your hunches are absolutely correct," I murmured, my lips close to hers.
She kissed me, throwing her arms around me and pressing her mouth hard against mine. It was a kiss with just our lips in action, no tongues-not yet. We broke the kiss and looked at each other, and Julie said softly, "I guess you think I'm pretty brazen tonight."
"No-not at all."
"It makes no difference, Phil. I am brazen. I want to be. I guess you bring it out in me."
I smiled. "You flatter me, Julie."
She kissed me again, brushing her lips against mine while I held her.
"About last time-" she said.
"Why talk about it, Julie?"
"It's all right, Phil. I want to." She licked her lips, looked at me steadily, and said, "I was upset the next morning. I-I thought you'd think wrong things about me."
"I didn't."
"I know that now," Julie said, and she smiled. "I'm sorry for the nasty things I said to you then, Phil."
"And I'm sorry about what I said," I told her. I kissed her quickly and said, "So now we start even."
"And we'll start right tonight, Phil."
"Yes."
"And we'll ... we'll do everything right tonight," she added.
"Yes," I said again.
She gently took my arms from her and got to her feet. "I'm going into the bedroom now, Phil. You come in a few minutes from now, all right?"
I nodded and watched her walk to the bedroom. She was already starting to pull her sweater up as she went through the door.
I wasted no time. I got out of my clothes fast, stripping down completely. I debated for a moment whether to keep my shorts on, but finally decided against it. Julie had said we'd start right, and as far as I was concerned that meant starting without any clothing to hold us back. I walked to the bedroom door and hoped that she had placed the same interpretation on her words.
She had.
There was one dim light on in the bedroom, and Julie had turned down the covers and sat waiting for me on the edge of the bed. She, too, had stripped down all the way.
She stood up as I came in, and I closed the distance between us in a couple of seconds. She came into my arms quickly and hungrily, her mouth finding mine instantly, her warm body pressing up against me as she put her arms around my shoulders.
The kiss was longer this time, and it took only a moment for her tongue to find its way deep into my mouth. The tip of her tongue circled mine, caressing it wantonly.
We broke the kiss after a while, and I stepped back from her and sat down on the bed. I patted my lap and motioned for her to come to me.
She did-but in a way I hadn't expected.
I had intended that she sit on my lap sideways, and then I had planned, after a suitable interval, to turn and stretch out on the bed with her. But, instead of doing what I had in mind, Julie faced me directly, put her hands on my shoulders, and then moved her knees and sat down on my lap facing me. With a graceful, easy movement, she lifted those beautiful arms of hers and placed then tightly around my body. She moved herself forward on my legs, getting herself comfortable, then leaned down and kissed me.
It was another long kiss, and while we kissed and our tongues worked inside each other's mouths, Julie inched forward on my lap, pulling herself in closer to me, her arms around my neck. Her nipples touched my chest, her warm body against my middle as she teased me, and then, to my amazement, Julie gave a slight forward move and gave herself to me.
It had been done so smoothly and easily, and also so quickly, that it took me unawares. I pulled my mouth away from hers, looked deep into her green eyes, then smiled at her.
"Well, that was sure fast," I said softly.
"Too fast maybe, Phil?" Julie asked in a low voice.
"No-not at all. Just a little unexpected."
Julie smiled. "I thought I'd surprise you."
"I like being surprised like this," I said, chuckling.
"It's more fun this way, too," she added
"Is this what you meant by doing everything right?" I asked.
"Uh-huh. That's part of what I meant."
"What's the rest of it?" I asked.
Julie smiled, and I felt her arms tighten about my back. She squeezed hard, relaxed her arms, then squeezed again.
"I see," I said.
Julie squeezed again, then moved her hips slightly, and I felt desire race through me.
"You're just full of surprises," I said. ( Julie didn't answer. Her green eyes glowed with desire as she brought her face close to mine, her auburn hair falling forward. Our lips met, our tongues went to work, and while we kissed, Julie kept on squeezing me with her arms and moving her hips. It was a new and exciting sensation for me, especially the way she was doing it. She moved slowly, insinuatingly, taking her time.
She was right.
It was more fun this way.
I had my hands on her waist, and I kept one hand there and moved the other down to her buttocks. I caressed slowly, letting my fingers brush her flesh gently, while Julie continued to move her hips and to squeeze me.
Then I let my other hand drop to her buttocks and held the wonderfully-contoured mounds with both hands and pulled her to me gently. Julie slid forward just a bit more on my lap, and she moaned softly as I did this to her. Her arms tightened about my neck, her breasts crushed against my chest, and her tongue probed the inside of my mouth frantically.
Her hips moved excitedly now, and her buttocks squirmed in my lap as she rolled and twisted and thrust back and forth, using her arms around my neck, squeezing me tighter all the while. My hands on her buttocks guided her and helped her, and we rocked back and forth on the edge of the bed, lost in a whirl of desire, our mouths clinging warmly.
Even as she kept her lips pressed to mine and her tongue worked away inside my mouth, Julie began to moan deep in her throat. I could feel the soft vibration of her moans on my lips and even in my own throat. It was an odd sensation, and somehow exciting.
The moment was coming fast now, and my fingers tightened on the flesh of her buttocks in anticipation. Julie's moans changed to deep, throaty whimpers, but she did not once pull her mouth away from mine, and I knew she was going to hold the kiss and keep her tongue caressing the inside of my mouth until it was all over.
Julie's arms began to squeeze me tighter, and I knew the final moment was approaching fast for her also. Her arms tightened, then relaxed, then tightened again in a wild, abandoned series of movements. Then, suddenly, she spread her arms wide and her body lurched forward as she sought to get even closer to me, to savor every last portion of her desire. Her arms moved back and forth as she kept them stretched wide, and her buttocks slid along my legs while I gripped her tightly.
And then release came for both of us together. It came in a wild, exploding burst of movement that literally lifted me from the bed while she clung to me and squeezed and strained with all her strength.
My knees felt weak when it was over, and I collapsed backward on the bed. Julie's arms unwrapped themselves from me just as I hit the bed, and she sprawled on top of me over the edge of the bed, her mouth locked with mine.
She gave a final thrust of her tongue in my mouth and raised her head and looked down at me. We smiled into each other's eyes while she rested on me, her legs sprawled wide, her soft body pressed to mine. I reached down and patted her on the buttocks, and she sighed and rolled away. ' We crawled onto the bed and stretched out fully, side by side. Julie's hand stole into mine, her slim fingers caressing my palm.
"Let's rest a while now," she whispered.
"Yes."
"Maybe even sleep a little," Julie said. "Yes ... sleep," I answered.
She turned on her side and kissed me on the cheek. "You won't get mad if I wake you up a little later?"
"Not if it's for a good reason," I said.
Julie smiled and closed her eyes. "Please cover me and turn off the light, Phil. I'm just too deliciously relaxed to move."
I did as she asked, then snuggled under the covers with her. "I'll be waiting for you to wake me up," I whispered into the darkness.
"I'll do that," she whispered back.
And she did.
Twice more during the night.