Loading...For me, coming to terms with what I am was like being born. It was something that happened when I was naked, wet and crying.
I’m not really sure what it was that got me to realizing it. A long string of dates with ‘the hot guy’ that always left me feeling… well, feeling something. What I’m not sure.
It was in the less than warm afterglow of yet another of those encounters that I was dragged kicking and screaming to the new spa that opened up nearby.
My best friend since…hell pigtails, Julie said that my moping was bringing her down and that I was now her prisoner! My shoes leaving skid marks across the parking lot, I was dragged into the place.
Okay I’ll admit before very long I was having kind of a good time. It’s not often I like to feel pampered. Maybe it because they have a diaper named that?
My nails were done better than I can do them and my feet had all kinds of tools applied to every angle of them. My hair was given a conditioning that was so deep my brain got soggy. Then I was driven in a zombie like shuffle into the steam room.
Somewhere through this lengthy process, Julie acquired a temporary friend for herself. The woman’s name was… oh, Sandy something another, it’s unimportant. A more helium-headed person there has never been. But the way she looked!
When she stepped into the steam room and saw it was just us three, she let her robe drop, took off her towel and sat back on the warm cedar seats naked as naked can get.
Julie not wanting to be outdone did the same. I felt very reluctant to copy them. Call it a lack of self-love or the fact that I have a good mirror on my bedroom door but I suddenly felt very aware of how small chested, narrow-hipped, and hell, boney I was compared to those two.
Don’t get me wrong. Julie’s no cover model and Sandy…well, she might be able to get into a men’s magazine if she lost a pound or two, but next to me they looked like goddess one and goddess two. I hovered on the outside of their chatter not wanting to be sucked in and lose brain cells.
After doing it twice I had to resist the urge to dip even more water onto the hot rocks… I was wanted to disappear into the fog.
Or maybe hide the two of them from my eyes.
Maybe it was Sandy with her dishwater blond hair, eyes that looked smoky even without makeup, or maybe just the way she moved, but suddenly I became aware of how beautiful they were. Now Julie could snag most man-toys with a shake of her long black hair and innocent looking face, but it wasn’t really something I normally paid attention to.
My eyes seemed to acquire a mind of their own in that hot room. I would suddenly notice that they had drifted somewhere they shouldn’t be. I found myself paying attention to things I shouldn’t have. Like how firm Julie’s breasts were when compared to the slightly sagging Sandy’s. How small her dark nipples were when placed near the silver dollar-sized pink cones. How narrow-waisted, wide-hipped, smooth-skinned…it was a catalog listing. I could have filed a police report from the description I was taking in. Sexy faces, beautiful smiles.
Shaved, versus unshaved, but so blonde she might as well have been.
I looked up when Sandy’s hand covered herself. My eyes met hers and the look she was giving me wasn’t nice.
“Well, I’ve steamed enough,” said Julie, getting up. She gave me a smile. “You’re looking a lot less mopsey so I hope this did you some good?”
I gave a nod I wasn’t feeling.
“Yeah! Go me, me go. BFF to the rescue once again.” Julie gave her hands the little pompom routine that she had learned as a cheerleader. Without the gold and green uniform that little move did incredible things to her chest. I had to yank my eyes up to her face by sheer will. “Well I’m for a nice shampoo and blow dry from Ramone and a large glass of red wine.”
“Oh that sounds wonderful.” Sandy hopped up and put her robe on as quickly as she could. I looked away from her, my eyes on the hot rocks. “Coming?”
Looking back up and blinking I could see in her eyes she didn’t want me to. Well she was Julie’s new friend not mine. For a second, I wanted nothing more than to make the rest of her day uncomfortable. But then…
“No. I want more steam,” I say. I dipped the ladle and let the water slowly rain down onto the rocks, smoky ribbons of water vapor answer up with a hiss.
“Well, maybe it will straighten out those curls,” Julie said, shrugging herself into her robe. I tried not to watch her breast give a little shake but I couldn’t help it. I felt Sandy’s eyes on me the whole time. I could sense…something from her then. I couldn’t name it but there was a…
Absently I lifted my hand and slicked back my wet hair.
“Maybe.”
As they left I felt the emptiness of the room the second the door closed. Just me and me… and at the moment I didn’t really like me. I dumped huge amounts of water onto the stones and sent up a fog so thick I couldn’t see anything. That’s just what I wanted. Grabbing my robe I curl up onto the wet cedar and cover myself as the tears start to pour.
“What’s wrong with me?” I thought as I shivered and held myself tight enough to bruise. My face came to rest on the wet wood and my tears soon made it even wetter.
Memories came to assault me then, awkward dates with guys that didn’t interest me. Their mindless dialog about this car, that sport. It was a sickening mixture. But at the same time the gossipy hours of chatter from Julie was just as unbearable.
There was a light in the fog then. Quickly I try to compose myself but failed.
“I saw the condensation on the window. I was wondering if my sauna was broken.” The cedar bent as she sat down next to me. “You okay? I’m going to guess no.”
Lifting my head, I looked up at the owner of the salon. Her dark skin was the color of coffee with one cream. Her tight braided hair had quickly gathered a spider’s web of water droplets from the air. She had greeted us at the door when we came in. She got us the long white robes and our first glass of wine.
The wine… maybe that was it. The wine must have been bad. It had got me all… whiny. I shook my head at the ludicrous thought.
She took it to mean no, that I’m not alright.
How I went from lying down to in her arms being hugged I don’t know, but I suddenly found myself on the receiving end.
Maybe it was her arms. Soft and strong, they reminded me of my Mom’s. Maybe it was the sweet jasmine scent that hung around her, reminding me of summer. Hell, it could even have been the little wooden beads in her hair, reminding me of the old rattle curtain at my grandmother’s house. Whatever it is I simply hold onto her and bawled my eyes out.
Even though she didn’t know what I was crying about she understood. Her arms gave comfort, her voice a whisper of not even half-heard words that gave even more. Her hands caressed the back of my head, holding me to her chest. Her chin resting on my head, she gently rocked me as I cried.
How many minutes I just let myself cry I don’t know. It felt like forever but I finally stopped. It was at about the same time that I found myself becoming very aware of just how soft and nice my pillow was.
“Feeling better?” she asked softly.
“I think so,” I said with a sniffle.
As I sat back I saw her give me a smile. Her lips under a covering of rose colored lip gloss looked so very kissable.
What the hell am I thinking!
Her hand appeared in my view when I looked down and she took hold of my chin. I let her lift it till I was looking into her eyes. I think her startlingly blue eyes might have been contacts, but I wasn’t sure. I had never seen blue eyes on a person of her race but she could have been the exception.
“Want to tell me about it?” she asked with a soft tilt of her head. “I’m a stranger. What would telling me hurt? I won’t judge you no matter what.”
I could hear the sincerity. But dare I…?
“I think I might be a lesbian,” I said softly, almost not believing I was saying it.
She slowly smiled.
“Why do you think that?”
“I was checking out the lady that was in here.” I tried to look away from her but she moved her head to the side
“Lots of women do that, hon. It’s kind of a game of ‘I’ve got better than you’ve got.’ ” She smiled. “You don’t just play that with shoes.”
I sat quietly unable to find the words I wanted to say.
She again helped.
“Do you like guys?”
The question should have been a given but it hit me harder than I expected. I thought back through them, face by face, all the way back to Timmy Benson who talked me into do it… just a little. None of them were more than a flash memory of a face and a few dinners out. Then the memories of the sex came through and I felt…used. That was as close to it as I could think.
Slowly my head went from side to side.
She smiled and patted my arm.
“It’s okay. Coming to grips with that is the hardest part. That and the first time you tell someone. Hell,Girl,you’ve already gone over the hump! Now you sit right there and I’ll be back.”
She got up and went out in a hurry and I found my eyes following her curves. She was a stunningly beautiful woman.
She was gone but moments.
The sudden inrush of cooler air and the parting of the fog were my warning that she was back. A metal bucket hit the bench next to me and she sat down on the other side of it.
“Girl, we going to have a party up in here,” she told me with a grin.
I took the tall glass from her with a surreal feeling coming around me. She poured bubbling champagne into my glass, then her own.
“A toast to…what is your name?”
“Lavender Layton. My friends call me Elly… why are you laughing?” I asked a little hurt.
She waved her hand, dismissing my anger. “Your parents and mine must have had the same type of joke book. I’m Jasmine Jones. JJ.”
I chuckled with her.
“Well, I’m not going to call you Elly. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. Did your grandmother call you Flower?”
I looked up startled. How had she known that?
“My Granny did the same, I thought yours might have,” she said with a grin. She leaned in and let her glass touch mine with a light ring. “Know what else we have in common? Well, let’s just say you’re not the only woman who checks out women in the steam room.”
I glanced down suddenly aware that I had my robe more than half off me and a towel sitting in my lap. The embarrassment however passes much quicker than if she had been a ‘He’. I looked up at her and blushing, I slowly chuckled.
“Lavender and Jasmine?” I asked with a smile.
“Hon, I guarantee the two of us would liven up any room.”
Smiling, I sipped the champagne with her, letting my thoughts drift. I felt not quite sure of what I should do next. I decided to ask, after all she had been a help so far.
“So what do I do?”
Jasmine shrugged.
“Well, you have a lot of choices, Flower. You can go clubbing. I know a few around here that you might like. They’re a bit easy on the new and unsure there. You could try the personals. There are hundreds of sites online but a lot of them are crap. You also got a big decision to make. You don’t have to make it now or anytime soon, but you will have to make it. Do you tell everyone? Do you tell a few select people? Do you tell no one… well, other than me?” she said with a flirty grin.
Smiling I nodded then started to think about it. Would I lose friends? How about family? There were a few that would scream ‘unclean’ from the pulpits when they heard. I could already hear their sermons.
I let my eyes drift as I think. I found myself focused on the golden locket around her neck. The fact it was hanging in that dark valley of cleavage might have had something to do with my eyes going there.
“That’s beautiful.”
She looked down and ran a finger across the metal. I saw a half-smile, half-sad look cross her face.
“Yea,” she whispered softly.
“What’s the matter Jazz?” I asked.
She looked up at me and grinned at the nickname.
“Jazz, huh? Okay I’ve gone by that more than once.” She lifted the locket. “This is all that I have left of the first love of my life. Her name was Merisa. It has a small piece of her hair and a pinch of her ashes in it. I glued it shut and she’s always been there for me.”
“What happened to her? Oh, I’m sorry, don’t answer that. I’m being nosy.”
Jazz shook her head, the beads rattling.
“It’s okay. It was awhile back… hell, ten years.” She looked down and took a deep breath. When she looked back up, I could see her eyes were shining. She smiled a bit seeing my concern. “I’m good. No, she was as buck wild a person as I’ve ever met. She loved life with a fiery passion! Everything that she could do to live it to the fullest she did. Fast cars! My god, that woman could drive. She loved anything with a bit of a thrill and some danger. She used to joke that was why she was with me.”
I watched a single tear slip and drift it’s way down her dark skin to vanish off her face and into the blouse.
“She was on her motorcycle….” Jazz swallowed like saying it was a bitter pill. “…and she of course had it going as fast as it could go. She hit a scrap piece of truck tire and left the road at well over a hundred and twenty. She struck a tree. The doctors said they doubt she even felt it.”
She absently reached up to wipe away a tear.
“I’m sorry, Jazz,” I said reaching over and taking that hand. The sharp contrast in her skin tone and mine made our hands look like a yin yang. I could feel the damp side of her finger against my skin.
She gave my hand a gentle squeeze but didn’t turn me loose.
“Thank you, Flower. They say that time heals but it still feels like yesterday to me. I loved her so much. I miss her every day. I wonder what she would say if she saw me now running this place. She would have loved to come here for maybe a few hours but she would have quickly been bored to tears I think.” She chuckled and filled my flute again. “To Merisa?”
“Merisa.” I said softly and then as our glasses touched, I offer her hand a bit more pressure.
The bubbly wine was more like breathing bubbles than drinking but its sweet flavor was not lost at all.
Jazz drained her’s and sat spinning the flute in between her fingers for a second then looked up at me. Her smiles reappeared.
“So! What are you going to do now?” she asked me then. “Are you coming out tits blazing? Going to scream from the rooftop I want to kiss girls and fuck you if you don’t like it?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “I don’t think I’m ready to do that yet.”
She nodded.”Okay. Well, I can get you in touch with some of the local ladies that are like us. We’re kind of a lesbian support group. I keep telling them we need to call ourselves B.R.A. Bush Rakers Anonymous. They keep shooting the idea down though.”
Chuckling, I nodded. “I can’t see why, it sounds perfect to me.”
She nodded and lifted the bottle. I watched her pour the last drop out the bottle into my glass.
“All gone,” she said sadly. “If I didn’t have a business to run I would say to hell with it and open up another. Sitting here getting steam-soaked and plastered with you till we pass out. But alas all parties have to finally turn off the music and close the door. I’ve got to go back to minding my store…before Ramone sets some poor lady’s hair on fire.”
She got up and pulled me to my feet in front of her with a tug. The strength of her grip was surprising.
“You never answered my question by the way. What are you going to do now?”
I stood there for a half second then shrugged with a sigh. “Damned if I know. Go find a girl to try kissing…”
Her mouth was on mine in less than a heart-beat. Those lips that were so plump and luscious were also demanding. I very quickly found that all the so-called experience I’d had wasn’t worth a flip. Her mouth and then ever so slowly her tongue start me back at Kissing 101.
As the seconds passed and her hands drifted to my shoulders, her fingers caressed the skin down my bare arms, across my bare back. Her hands finally came to rest in the small of my back and in the short hairs at the back of my neck.
Kissing 101 and I wanted to be the teachers pet after the first moment.
“Elly did you fall asleep in here?”
My eyes went to the open doorway to Julie standing there with her wine glass slowly slipping from her fingers.
It hit the floor to shatter, the drops of sanguine heaven splattering outward. Some of them landed on the white robe that lay by my feet next to my towel.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
I sprinted across the living room but got the phone just as it stopped ringing.
“Damn.”
Setting it back on it’s base, I saw the red light come on after a second. Picking it back up, I hit the message button.
“You have one new message, recorded today at 6:25…. ‘Hey Flower, this is Jazz. Look I know that our… last encounter was a bit of a shock to your system but if you would I would love to hear from you. I have an idea you might like. Kind of my surprise and a bit of an apology for what happened with your friend. Well, call me if you will.”
I listened to the number, my mind filing it away.
Do I call or not? Setting my purse down I sunk into my favorite end of the couch and pondered that question.
I wanted to. I wanted to so badly but things were only now starting to get back to normal for me with Julie. She was surprisingly not at all understanding about what happened. She said it was everything from depression to break up blues to too much steam. The absolute denial that she went into when I told her that I was a lesbian was still even more shocking.
We hadn’t talked for a week. Then she gave me a call with the name of a guy that she had already promised a date with me. She said he was so nice that one date with him and such silly thoughts would vanish.
I told her I would.
I grabbed up the phone and hit the call back button. I listened to the tones as they played her number for me. I tried to make my breathing quieter. I might make her think I was a phone sex perv
“JJ”s Salon.”
“Hey Jazz.”
“Hey there Flower.” I could hear the smile through the phone. “I had hoped you would call me back. Um look, I have something I promised I would do this weekend. It’s a B.R.A. thing. I was wondering if you would like to come and join us. There will be a lot of us getting together Saturday for the Holiday.”
Looking over at my cute puppies’ calendar, I didn’t see any holiday mentioned.
“What holiday is this Saturday? My calendar doesn’t show it.” I got up and went to it. I glanced at the ridiculous Shar-Pei puppy with his thousand wrinkles. “I’ve double checked and still don’t see one.”
“It’s National Nude Day.”
I just held the phone as what she said bounced around in my head for several seconds.
“I’m not sure I heard you right?” I finally had to ask.
She chuckled. “Yes you did. I said National Nude Day.”
“There’s a holiday to get naked on?”
“Nude,” she said quickly.
“What’s the difference?” I asked, confused.
“Nude is what you can be in front of strangers, naked is what you are with your lover.”
I thought about that for a second and both still seemed embarrassing to me.
“Okay, so what are you going to do Saturday?” I asked not sure I want the answer. “Are you going to a nudist colony or something?”
I heard the deep throaty chuckle.
“No, my dear Flower. We are going to march in a parade.”
The image of dozens of naked… sorry, nude people walking down the street in a parade came to mind then. I was also suddenly hit with the idea of a giant Macy day style float of a… never mind.
“I don’t know, Jazz. That sounds like a bit too…”
“You don’t have to get nude. Just come down. Meet a few of the other ladies. Talk with them for a bit. I think you’ll have fun. I would advise maybe not standing to close to us once we start the parade though.”
“Why?” I asked after a second.
“Well, we may all end up getting arrested.” I heard a light playfulness to her answer that at the same time let me know she was serious.
“So you’re going to go do this knowing you may be arrested?” I made myself not add ‘are you crazy?’
“If you don’t have clothes on and there’s not some chance of going to jail, where would the fun be?”
I chuckled hearing her say it like she got nothing between her ears.
Then she got serous. “Yea, we just might. There is something very wrong with this country when a person without clothes on is arrested. Things need to be changed. You can see someone killed on TV every night but you have to go to a late night cable channel just to see someone without clothes. You can watch a cop show where they tell you about someone being raped nine ways to Sunday but you can’t see someone having consensual sex? If I have to go to jail for a bit, maybe pay a fine to help try and change that… well, so be it.”
I paused. I felt an urge to go and be a part of something then. I didn’t like the idea of jail… I mean, I’ve never even had a speeding ticket.
“Jazz, I’ll…”
“Come on, Flower, what are you worried about? That they might arrest you and put you in jail where there are a bunch of dykes?”
I had to laugh at her tone.
“Just come down. If nothing else you might like the paint jobs.”
“What?” I asked, even more confused.
“Oh hell, I forgot to tell you. We will be wearing body paint. We have this guy who does airbrush. He can do all kind of things that are cool as hell. I’m thinking about having him do me in blue, red and green… maybe getting some peacock feathers and gluing them between my butt cheeks.”
I had to move the phone away from my ear at that. The image of that sexy lady her hair rattling with every step, strutting feathers down the street…
“Jazz, I’ll be there, if only to see that.”
“I said I was thinking. He has so much talent I might just let him have his way with me. Be about the only time I would ever tell a guy that,” she said with a chuckle. “So you’ll be there?”
“Yea. I’ll be there.”
“Oh I love you, my little Flower. I’ll see you Saturday. Come to the shop.” I heard her smack a kiss through the phone.
I suddenly wished I could feel it.
“I’ll be there.”
“Bye,bye.”
I held the phone till the tones started to beep. Setting it down I started to get up and go to maybe fix me a damn strong drink when the phone started to ring again. Smiling I grabbed it up.
“What did you forget?” I asked chuckling.
“I forgot to tell you what restaurant,Craig,will be taking you to Saturday,” said Julie, laughing.
Hearing the joy in her voice I felt what I did settle around me. I swallowed against the taste of it. It was bitter as bile.
But the idea of another worthless night out with a man I had no interest in was a far bitterer pill. “Julie, I don’t think…”
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
The next two days were a blur of my life falling to pieces.
Julie called my mom and then all hell hit the fan! I’ve was told I was going to be sent to a shrink, that I need to see a doctor, that clearly my hormones were out of balance. If was asked once whether it was my time of the month I was asked a dozen times. I finally told my mother that I would talk to her later.
Then about twenty minute later, my sisters began to ring the phone off the hook.
When my brother Travis was on the other side of my door I exploded!
Yanking open the apartment door, I looked him in the eye and with the full force of my now far out of control rage let him have it.
“I’m a lesbian! Do you hear me? I’ve talked to you all till I’m sick! It’s not a single one of yours’ business who, what, where, or how many times and with what fucking gender I have sex!”
Travis looked at me for a half a second, and then with a smile trying to peek past his mustache, he slowly let his head tilt.
“What?” I demanded.
“When I hear from Mom, Julie, Michele, and Wendy all in the same day all about the same thing… I just thought I would drop by and offer you some advice on eating pussy. I have to say my technique has gotten me more than a few compliments.”
I looked at my brother and a slow blush lit up my face.
“Can I come in? Or do you want to scream something else at me?”
I finally felt a smile tugging at my lips.”I’m thinking about it.”
“Well, think inside damn it! It’s hot as hell out here.”
Moving out the way, I let my bother come inside and I stopped trying to air-condition the neighborhood.
He went into the kitchen and opened my refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of water. When I looked at him he held it up.
“I’m stealing a bottle of water from you. Thought I would let you know.” He grabbed a chair and slid it under him. “So want to discuss your earth shattering news or shall I go into details about what a woman enjoys when I go down on her? Seriously, I’ve been told I’m damn good at it, I can give you some pointers.”
Shaking my head. I walked over to the fridge and looking inside, realized he got the last bottle of water. I grabbed a soda and with a shake of my head, grabbed the other chair.
“I’m not sure I want to discuss either topic.”
He shrugged. “Well, I have to say that whether you want to talk about it or not… it is the talk of the family at the moment. I wouldn’t be surprised if our aunties don’t start calling soon.”
I sighed and nodded at the truth of that. The character of the Church Lady from Saturday Night Live was modeled after those two. I swear it was.
“So what should I do?” I asked him. Younger than me by two years, I often found myself non-the-less going to him for advice.
Swishing a sip of water around, he took a slow deep breath.
“Well, what you do is when they call… or Mom or our sisters for that matter, you just tell them… in a slightly calmer tone… what you told me at the door. It’s not their business. If they don’t like it, that’s fine, but they can either keep their teeth together about it or… hell if you like shock the crap out of them and start to ask them questions about picking up women.”
I chuckled and then full out laughed as I pictured my aunties’ faces if I did that. I would have them splashing me with holy water going “the power of Christ compels you!”
“Sis, I just want you to know… I’m here for you. No matter what. I could care the hell less who you want to sleep with. My only problem with your wanting to date women is that you might just get one I would have liked a shot at.”
I smiled. “I don’t think that the types I’m going to be going after would like you.” I said chuckling softly.
“Hey, you never know. I have a good job, a nice car and a…silver tongue.” He stuck the tip of his tongue between his teeth and grinned.
I just shook my head. “You ain’t right.” I said softly.
“Well I ain’t left either.” He sipped the last of the water, and in a show of pure machismo crushed the super-thin plastic bottle. “Elly…”
“Call me Flower.”
Why I said that I don’t know. He looked at me and slowly nodded.
“Flower? I remember Grana calling you that. Okay, Flower, I’ve got to go. I’m supposed to be throwing a big cookout down at the lake and haven’t got the meat bought yet. If I don’t hurry there might be nothing but Spam.”
Chuckling, I stood up. I was suddenly in my brother’s arms. He gave me a tight hug.
“There for you… no matter what. You got it?” he said softly by my ear.
Nodding, I pulled him tight. I found that his support when all others are turning away was worth more than I could ever repay. I walked him to the door.
He snaps his finger as he opened it and spun around. “Oh yea the secret to eating pussy well…”
“Travis!”
His eyes went to mine and held like a snake’s gaze. “You just do everything in your power to make her make different sounds. See how many places you can find that will make her change tone. It’s kind of like learning how to play a musical instrument. Just keep practicing till the odd noises become a symphony. A woman brought to orgasm with your mouth is the most beautiful music in the world.”
I just stood there looking at him. Then gave a slow nod.
Smiling, he tipped a hat he was not wearing and walked down the stairs out to his car. I swear the thing oozes sexy when he cranks it. I watched him drive away and for a moment wished…
“Oh, hell no! I’m getting enough phone calls already!”
Shaking my head, I went back inside to go make that strong drink.
The phone was ringing before I was half way through it.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
The spa had a ‘Closed for four hours…unless I’m arrested’ sign on the door when I pulled up outside.
I saw Jasmine sitting in her car. She opened the door, when I pull in, smiling. I saw her long dark legs disappear as she stood up and the robe dropped back into place.
Getting out I found myself being hugged to my surprise. There must have been a sale on me that week.
“I’m so glad you came,” she said then with a grin, winking at me. “Want to see the pre-game warm up?”
I didn’t know what she meant till her hands went to her robe and she opened it.
Oh… my… lord… the… body… on… this… woman!
Skin like a mixture of chocolate and silk. I let my eyes go from her feet with the toenails delicately painted to match her eye-shadow, up past her calves, to those super-smooth thighs, to what had to be a barely legal bikini bottom that I knew was a bit of floss thong in the back. Her belly had a slight pouch around her navel, then there was the curve of her waist up to her breasts that were barely hidden behind the top that was little more than postage stamps and floss. By the time my eyes reached hers I’m more turned on than any guy had ever made me.
She gave me a slow sexy smile, and looking down, let her lashes flutter at me. “You’ve got me blushing. Can’t you tell?”
Laughing, I looked at her and grinned.
“You look beautiful, Jazz.” I told her after I took a deep breath to settle the pounding I felt in my chest. Suddenly I felt a deep concern for her. I didn’t at all like the idea of her being arrested. Detained. Jailed. “You sure you want to do this?”
She looked at me for a second then down at the bikini top and lifted a finger to one of the strings.
“I want you to tell me if this makes any sense to you. Right now I’m legally allowed to walk the beach, maybe even go into any store I like…at least around this time of the year. I might get asked to put my wrap around my hips but maybe not.” She moves the white fabric just a bit and part of her dark as night nipple came into view. “Now I’m being arrested and considered a lewd person. If I was to do this within a hundred feet of a school I’m probably going to be put on the child sex registry. Does that make any sense to you, Flower?”
My eyes seemed to be glued to that bit of dark skin. I never for some reason thought about the fact that a black woman’s nipple would be that dark. Distracted for a second, I looked up and saw her face was so very serious.
What she asked me suddenly made no sense at all.
“No, Jazz. It seems kind of silly when you put it that way.”
She nodded. “How about the fact that if I was a guy I could walk around in just this?”
Her finger ran along the waistband of her bottoms. When she lifted the edge by the knot, my breath ran away from me.
“Why should gender make a difference about what can be worn? If it was anything else there would be an outcry that would startle pigeons in Washington but because this nation is ashamed of their own skin you won’t hear a word.”
I listened and nodded understanding. Part of me wished that she wouldn’t go through with it none-the-less. Part of me wished I had her courage.
“Want to take my car?” She asked grinning. “That way if I get arrested you can drive it back here.”
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
As we pulled into the parking lot of the little warehouse, a converted art studio, I felt my nerves start to give me fits. For some reason I was almost afraid to see this many people without their clothes on.
As we walked in, that fear was… not confirmed. Jasmine’s bikini was not the most clothing in the room. Well, except for a few people, they mostly were dressed… although in a strange collection of clothes.
I watched a bare-chested guy with an airbrush working furiously on a tall lady with waist length black hair. She must have been at least 6’1″ and he was painting her into a Zena costume! Looking around I felt my jaw drop as I realized that most of the clothes I was seeing weren’t cloth.
Jasmine dropped her robe by the door and walked over to where several ladies in various stages of paint-dress or undress were standing talking. She looked back and seeing me standing by the door, gestured for me to come join her.
“Flower, let me introduce you to the Village People.”
The ladies laughed but when I saw the various hats they had and some of what their ‘clothes’ looked like I realized that’s what they were going to be when finished.
“This is Tonya, Samantha, Jennifer, and our little Indian princess is Rosette. Ladies, this is Lavender, but just call her Flower.”
There seriously must have been a two-for-one blue light special on hugging me going this week. That several of the women were bare breasted come to me in the seconds after they turned me loose. Blinking I looked at Jazz’s face and saw her smiling.
“Flower here has just come out. In fact she’s never done more than kiss a girl.”
Suddenly I was being applauded. After the reaction of my family it was almost too much.
Jazz saw this and reached back to take my hand. “Come on, nude people! Lets get this show on the road!” she called out to the others in the warehouse.
One of the artists came over to her and I just caught part of what Jazz told him. I took a seat and watched him begin to turn her into the sexiest black swan I had ever seen. He had done feathers with paint that I could have sworn would have let her fly. Then her top’s strings were undone, and I saw both of those silky black nipples; my breath started to quicken.
“So what do you want to be?” asked a voice to my side.
Turning, I saw one of the artist had his cart next to me.
“I could make you a white swan.” He looked over at Jasmine. “That way you two would match.”
My pulse raced. Looking over at Jazz, I saw her eyes on me. Her fingers went to her hips and with slow deliberation she slipped the two knots. I saw her standing not nude but… naked in front of me. My lips parted and I licked my lips when my eyes saw a perfectly trimmed triangle of wiry curls.
“Well?”
Looking back at the artist, I found myself nodding. My hands went to the bottom of my T-shirt without thought.
As he went to work on my skin, the cool feeling of the paint like powder hitting me I found myself watching the lovely black swan that was taking shape in front of me. Our eyes met and I saw her give me a long slow look up and down.
I blushed. The artist liked it and painted the pink in. I could have told him it was a waste of time. I didn’t think that blush was going to leave my face for years.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *
The leather seats of her car were a slight irritation to my lower lips when I moved. I was dreadfully uncomfortable in just my shirt.
I looked around at the cars surrounding us in the large parking lot by the park. There had never been a stranger ‘dressed’ collection of naked people.
NUDE!
I tried to drive the thought into my head. We were nude… not naked. Naked was what you were in the presence of your lover.
I glanced over at Jazz. My eyes went down the feathery arms to the dark skin of her thighs. I could only just make out the curls under the artwork.
“They’re peanut butter,” she said to me then.
Blinking, I looked up at her to find her smiling at me.
“Wha…what?” I stumbled over my words.
“My thighs. They’re peanut butter.”
I sat for a half-second and let that sink in but, it still made no sense. When I looked up, she grinned and leaned in till she was right by the side of my face.
“Smooth, brown, easy to spread,” she whispered. When I laughed, she smiled and winked at me. “Relax, my beautiful swan. We will be fine. I talked to one of the organizers earlier. There are a lot more of us showing up than I first heard.”
“Okay, and that’s a good thing how?” I asked after a second or so.
Jazz tilted her head. “The more of us there are the harder they will find it to arrest us. I mean, can you imagine the chaos of trying to arrest several hundred nude people?’
Images came to me then of me being booked down-town without a stitch to my name.
Oh lord, what was I doing?
Then her hand was in mine.
“It will be okay, Flower. I’ll be here for you no matter what.”
Hearing her echo my bother I found myself caressing her fingers more than holding them. Taking a deep breath, I nodded and accepted that come what may, I was at least…
“There they are.”
Looking up from our joined hands I felt my jaw drop. There were a swarm of car door opening all around us.
“Oh my god.” I exclaimed in a whisper as I got out of the car.
Walking down the street with signs and banner held high and proud, they must numbered in the hundreds. No, maybe in the thousands I guessed as I saw the lines swelling as more groups like our own came swarming in at the designated time.
Now, some of them were like us and wearing body paint. But others? Well they had left nothing to the imagination. Truly nudes on parade.
Part of me wished I had stayed home. But it was a so very small part of me that all the rest chased it away, hopefully never to return.
I tossed my shirt into the car and followed Jazz into the marching croud.
Walking next to my black swan, I looked behind us to find the rock band Kiss following us. My eyes went down out of pure curiosity. The black, silver and white mixture of paint hid a lot less on a guy than it did on us. Gene gave me a wink when I look back up.
Turning around, I suddenly found myself in possession of a sign that said ‘Nude, Not Naked.’
I felt a bit wrong of me to be carrying it.
By the time we crossed out into the wider street, people in vans suddenly appeared and hopped out with traffic cones, blocking roads. I laughed when I noticed that their orange vests and blue jeans weren’t real.
“How far are we marching too?” I asked nervously when I saw the first patrol car pull up to the side of the road.
“Fountain Park,” she said. Her hand found mine and I felt it tremble. That she was maybe not as sure of herself as she came across hit me then.
All of a sudden my tower of confidence and strength displayed a shaky foundation. I felt an upwelling of fear threaten to take me.
Then it faded. I tightened my fingers in her’s and lifted my sign a little higher.
She looked over at me. I saw a twinkle come to her eyes and when she turned back forward there was a bit more strut to her walk, The swing of her hips must have been giving the guys behind us one hell of a show.
Up ahead I saw the tall spire topped with the golden statue of a naked woman. Next to the large bronze woman were naked cherubic imps. I remembered my only trip here and the way my brother, sisters and I had splashed in the cool water of the fountains.
“Good choice.” I said, looking up at the gleaming lady, her breasts large and well displayed, bare to the world and every eye.
Jazz nodded.
As we passed the big gate with the arched sign overhead I looked behind me and saw that our line had grown more and more with every step. I saw TV news crews pulling up and getting their cameras out. I watched the growing number of policemen that were converging on the park almost as fast as we were.
I saw Jazz looking at them as well.
“We’re going to jail, aren’t we?” I asked as we fanned out to surround the large fountain. The spray from the jets hit my skin then and the cool mist was a welcome feeling.
“Possibly, but I think we got the message out.”
I looked where she’s looking and saw a TV crew.
Their camera was right on me.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Travis wouldn’t stop laughing as we walked out the station. The asshole hadn’t stopped since he saw me sitting there in a set of county lock up orange. My white feathery paint made me look like some kind of a very strange bird.
Tugging at the shirt I’m wearing, I tried to make my nipples not show through the thin fabric. The ridiculousness of that after what I had just done came to me but I couldn’t make myself stop doing it.
I looked down at the logo blazed across my breast.
‘Save a tree. Eat a beaver.’
“I am so going to get you back for this you know,” I told him, giving his arm a punch.
“Ow. What? I did just what you asked. I came down and bailed you out. I brought you some clothes.” His smile was threatening to quiver his mustache off his lip.
I reached down and adjusted the bright orange Hooter girl shorts he had grabbed from his girlfriends closet. She must be about a half size smaller than I was and without underwear they were seriously causing problems… down in the valley, shall we say.
“Just drive me to my car!”
He went back to laughing and I got back to figuring where I was going to hide the body. When he cranked his blue mustang I swore even the car sounded like it was laughing.
We were halfway there when he looked over at me. “You made the news. I do hope you manage to get the gray blur off your breast some day soon.”
“Oh, Christ.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, you have been officially disowned by a large part of the family. They think you have gone insane. I do hope they don’t try to get you committed before you get to put my advice to some good use.”
“Travis, your mind is in the gutter.” I told him after a mile more when I figured out what advice he was talking about.
“Oh hell, no! A sex rain washed my mind into the sewer years ago. If you could see some of the memories that I have behind my eyes you would know that even now you’re still a bit tame and subdued next to me. Although walking buck-naked down the street in the middle of the day…. well, you’re a contender for second maybe.”
“I was nude,” I said with a huff. “Naked is what you are with your lover.”
“I saw the girl you were holding hands with, Sis.” He glances over at me. “Y’all was naked!”
I leaned back in the leather seats and washed my face with my hands, wishing this day would come to an end.
With its purring rumble the cobalt blue car pulled up in front of the salon. I saw Jasmine’s car was still there.
“I’ll see you Travis,” I said absently as I opened the door.
“I put my ass I hock to get you bailed out and that all the thanks I get?” He grinned at me then looked to the window were Jazz had appeared. Her hand was on the ‘Closed’ sign.
“Have a good time. She’s beautiful.”
I looked at her. “Yea she is.”
I started to close the door but he yelled at me to wait. I looked at him.
“If the two of you need anyone to hold a camera, you got my number, right?”
I slammed the door on my perverted brother and shaking my head, walked to the salon door. It opened before me.
Jazz’s chuckle was silly but nice.
“What in the world are you wearing?” she asked after a moment.
“My brother’s idea of a joke.” I said, giving her a once over. “How did it go? I never saw you after the cuffs were put on. We got sent to different precincts I think?”
“Yea, they hauled me all the way over to Lakeshore.” She gave a shrug. “I’ve got to go see a judge and pay a fine. How about you?”
“Same.”
“See, getting arrested wasn’t so bad. I’ll pay your fine. It’s my fault you were there; it’s the least I can do.”
“You don’t have to do that. I got naked on my own. I knew what I was doing.”
“Nude,” she said in a whisper.
“No.” I looked her in the eyes. Those blue eyes that almost matched my brother’s car. “I hope I was naked.”
She looked at me and I could see a bit of hesitation. “Flower we just met. I don’t want to…”
“Make love to me?” I asked my heart crashing.
“No, that I want to do. I was your first kiss from a woman. I just don’t want you to feel like you need to… rush. You might find someone else that you like more than me?”
I have never been known for my courage. I have always found its lack in myself such a terrible thing at times. When thunder scared me. When spiders scared me. When… guys scared me.
Stepping forward, tilting my lips to meet hers took all the courage I had… but I was not scared.
She was just a bit taller than me, was the first thought that came to me as our lips touched. Then, how warm and soft she was. Her arms were strong as they settled around me, pulling me tighter.
I tasted peppermint, realized it was from a breath mint. Then vanilla, from her lip gloss. The smell of her perfume, that hint of sugared jasmine came to me when our lips slowly parted. I leaned my head into the side of her neck.
I could feel her cool metal locket press against my skin. For a second it felts icy then it warmed suddenly. I leaned my head against Jazz’s cheek and silently thanked Merisa for her blessing.
“I don’t know what to do. With a woman I mean,” I said after just holding her for a second.
She chuckled.
“Well, to begin with you take it a bit slower. There’s no testosterone driven need making us want to get this over and done with. Just…” her lips brushed my neck “…just, need. Fueled with a woman’s passion. I also don’t recommend that we do much more than kiss and cuddle here in front of the big windows.”
I looked back over my shoulder at the empty parking lot and the street in front of it. The lights had it lit to just a pale imitation of the light of the sun.
“Yea, probably not a good idea. Being arrested twice in one day would suck.” I let my fingers drift down her arm till they met hers. I held her, suddenly more nervous than I had ever been in my life.
I could tell she sensed that. She smiled and holding my hand, pulled me towards the back of her shop. Past the rows of little seats with the built in foot baths. Past the door to the sauna. Into the back where the massage tables were.
“Jazz…?”
“Ssh…my little Flower. Just relax. Let me do this part. I do know what to do.”
I loved the look in her eyes even though it was sending shivers up the backs of my legs.
I was giving little nervous twitches when she turned and with a grin lifted the bottom of the stupid T-shirt. I had to fight the urge to cover myself when the shirt came off. Given that she had seen me without clothes several times now made the feeling even more stupid. I couldn’t stop the shivers as she undid the snap on the little Hooter’s shorts.
Her long nails raked my hips as she slid them down my thighs.
“You’re still covered in feathers,” she said with a smile.
“I…I used a wet towel to get most of it off but I didn’t want to be rubbing around under… well under there.”
I had to smile when she giggled.
I stepped out of the shorts, standing naked in front of this woman for the third time in just a few meetings.
“I want you to lie down on the table, Flower. Just stretch out… face down,” she corrected me when I went to just lie back.
Turning over the cool leather was a shock to my nipples. When I leaned forward my breast pressed flat into the soft padding. I looked over when I heard her doing something, noticing a little plugged in pot almost like a crock-pot, I thought with a puzzled frown.
“Close your eyes. Relax.”
I placed my face in the little hole in the table and did as she said or tried to. I kept feeling my body give those little spasms as my nerves got the better of me.
Warmth! Oh my god!
Her hands brushed my back, spilling a palm full of hot oil onto my spine and lower back. Then her other hand is there with a second hand full.
I moaned as she began to spread the warm, slick fluid up and around my back.
It was official, I was made of butter. I must have been as I just melted under the heat of her oily hands as she went to work on my back. Her strong fingers worked hard and soft at the same time. She ran her hands down across my ass to my thighs, then on down to the backs of my legs and to my feet. All I could do was moan as she worked oil into my feet for what felt like forever.
I arched up a bit when she let her nails scrape trails back through the oil up my legs.
Then her hands were on my back, grinding the tension out of the muscles along my spine. Then at my neck.
Then back at my ass.
I gave a small gasp when her oily fingers passed down the crack.
I heard a light chuckle.
“Feel good?” she asked, doing it again. Her hands kneaded my ass cheeks like she was making bread.
“Um hum,” I moaned.
She laughed and ran her fingers through again. I tightened myself when I felt her fingers actually touch me back there.
Then those long nails brush my lower lips and I swear my eyes doubled in size.
I think, you know what she’s going to do. Of course she’s going to have to touch you there.
Then thinking was beyond me. Melting puddles of human have not the capacity for thought.
Jazz was tireless in her goal of getting me to relax and stimulated at the same time. But she also had the patience of a saint. She teased, taunted, touched, and then moved away… up onto my back or down my thighs. Then a finger ran between the lips as she came back through. I just moaned when it crossed between my ass cheeks.
I opened my thighs a little to give her better access. I was not thinking, just moving to feel more of her hands.
First the one finger returned and then a second ran across me.
Turning my head on the table, I let the leather sides of the face hole touch my lips. I gave it a little nibble when she dips a finger into me.
Then there was more oil! It was more than warm, almost painfully hot. She poured a handful of it down the crack of my ass, her fingers chasing it down between and in!
“Oh my god, Jazz.”
“Feel good, my little Flower?” she asked, knowing the answer.
I panted and just moaned an affirmative as she let her fingers rest in me.
Trying to not squirm like a cat in heat, I found myself moving on the oily leather as she began to turn her fingers inside me. A thumb brushed my clit and I gave up on the cat in heat thing. Grinding my thighs into the oily leather, I moaned and begged as this woman… my lover… my…
“Oh, Jazz!”
“Yes, my Flower?”
“That feels wonderful,” I said the, words mostly breath.
She hummed in agreement then chuckled.
“You know what I like about this oil?”
I gave a start when I felt her kiss the cheek of my ass.
“It’s not only edible but delicious.”
My legs opened wider as she placed kiss after kiss across the oil slick skin. Then her lips were burrowing their way to where her fingers were.
That was her tongue! The thought flashed through me as I felt a skilled touch just outside the lips that were so lewdly stretched around her fingers.
Her hand under me directed me without words.
I lift my ass higher till my thighs left the table and I let my knees slide across the slick leather. I crouched there my ass in the air as this woman devoured me with a skill no man has ever shown. Every little place that gave the lightest pleasure, she knew.
My eyes popped open, then closed tightly as I let the first little near scream leave me. I felt her tongue licking between my two openings. I moaned as it crosses the little swirl of wrinkles. Then she was back at my lips, lapping at the oils, letting her lounge lick around her fingers as she twisted them in me.
I didn’t quite connect her finger’s shifting in me to what was about to happen so when her finger, slick with both oil and my juices ran effortlessly into my ass I gasped.
I clutch the table as she let that finger turn with the other two… no, three! Inside me.
Her unencumbered hand was then under me across my belly rubbing the little pillow above my lips. Her hand moved and the holes are wide open to more than fingers.
My nails with their expertly applied polish gripped the leather table as she drove her tongue into me.
“Oh, Jazz… yes. Oh yes, that feels wonderful,” I moaned. More words followed but they were nothing more than a mindless babble of begging her not to stop and praises of her wonderful tenderness and skill.
Oh my god, her tongue was in my ass!
I at first didn’t believe it. I’ve had a few guys give the outside a lick, more by accident I thought than design. Sure, she had bushed it with her tongue earlier, but right then? Leaning my head into the leather I just wept at how wonderful what she’s doing felt.
Her tongue circled, her lips kissed, her teeth gave little bites.
I was going to go mad, I thought as she left that hole and plunged deep into my other. Then her tongue went to my clit for the first time.
It felt like she just touched me with liquid fire.
“Oh fuck.”
I felt myself shake, and then a sound built it’s way up from deep in my body. Like the cat I must resemble, I arch my back and let my voice give play to a sound that I had never made with a lover before. Not for real anyway.
I expected her to stop, to pull away and rest her mouth, to let me just cum and relax. That’s what the guys had always done when I got tired of their mouths and given my little fake sound.
Jazz? No. What she did was double her effort. Her tongue left my now super-sensitive clit and I felt my lips get sucked into her mouth. That skilled tongue, that wonderful tongue, it licked and played with the little folds of skin, batting them around like a cat with a toy.
Then her tongue was back at my ass.
“Oh god yes.” I moaned as I felt a second quiver run out from within me. When did she do it? Before it had felt good but now…. now that I had orgasmed? It was heaven. Like life had given birth to fire and lightning, flashes of pleasure shivered and raced through me.
Then she was back at my lips and she started all over again.
How long she had me arched like I was I couldn’t know, but finally my knees slid on the slick leather and I just collapsed onto the table like a house of falling cards. She gave my pussy one last long lick from clit all the way down to my ass.
Then she was gone. I wanted to turn and look but Jell-O has no bones or muscles to move itself. The sound of a champagne cork popping, even under the towel startled me.
“Sit up, my little Flower,” she said softly.
I chuckled.
“That’s asking for a lot,” I said weakly.
“Well, thank you for the compliment.”
I took the glass she filled and drank the bubbling wine like it was the ambrosia of the gods. She smiled, filled it again and then filled her own glass.
“Having fun so far?” she asked me after she touched her glass to mine. She paused with her flute just about to touch her lips. I looked up to see that her whole lower face was shiny with oils. It was all down her throat and on her breast. I wondered then at what point she took off her top but I couldn’t remember. Hell I was doing go to remember anything just then.
“Fun? Jazz, that was the most awesome orgasm of my life!” I looked at her in near worship. “If that’s what a woman’s like, I’ve been missing out.”
“Yes, you have. But…”
I lifted an eyebrow.
“But what?” I asked seeing her eyes drop down to her oil slick breast. “Oh, it’s my turn?” I said more than asked.
She gave a nod.
“Don’t think of it as a turn.” She sipped her champagne, then sets it to the side.
I did the same when she moves forward into my arms. I felt my bare breast touch another woman’s for the first time. That there is no coarse hair was the first thing I noticed.
Then her lips were on mine.
The smell of my own sex washed over me. Her lips were heavy with the smell… and the taste. I kissed her softly. Her hands continued their earlier massage on my back as she wrapped me up against her.
I felt her nipples connect with mine. They bumped past each other like little bumper cars as we moved against each other lost in the moment of passion.
“Flower… I need to cum.”
She put so much into those few words. A desires for release certainly, but at the same time a nearly pleading tone for me to help her get to that point. To do to her what she did to me, not for the pleasure but for the closeness.
The nerves tried to come back but I made them go soak in the sauna. Nibbling at her skin, I gave little kisses to her dark flesh as I lowered my head till her nipple brushed my lips. Dark as midnight, dark as pitch… and sweet with oil… my sexy bitch. Sucking in her nipple, I chuckled as the old movie quote came to mind and got twisted. Then such thoughts were pushed into the sauna with my nerves.
I didn’t have her skill but I did have the knowledge of what felt good when she had done it to me. I tried my best to copy what she had done as I mouthed and sucked on her breast. I must have been doing something right, I thought as she pulled my face tighter into her breast, driving her nipple into my mouth. I sucked hard, lashing it with my tongue.
Breast to breast, nipple to nipple, I let my mouth go where it wished. My hands soon got tired and decide that they had a mind of their own as well.
She was so soft. My hands caught some of the oil from her breast and I let them slide across her as I suckled. Her nipple was thick and hard. I had to fight the urge to chew on it like I would on tender steak. I could not however stop myself from at least nibbling. First the nipple, then the dark skin around it. My tongue caressed the small ring of bumps around her aureole.
Lower and lower I let my kisses travel. I felt myself starting to take gulping breaths as I felt her bellybutton pass by.
I was going to do this! Oh my god I was really going to do it!
There was a scent of warm vanilla sugar under my nose, then a second scent came to me as I felt her open her legs just a bit more. My lips brushed across her outer lips. The thought that my mouth had just touched another woman’s privates was bouncing around inside my head like a squirrel trying to get out the way of an oncoming car. Left… no right… Fuck… it was left!
I licked my lips and took a slow deep breath, breathing in everything. I looked up and saw her looking down at me. She smiled.
“You are so very beautiful, my little Flower.”
A warmth flowed from my center. With it came a want… no, a need to give her all the pleasure that she had given me and then more on top of that. To give her that closeness that she had not had, for so many years.
“So are you, my beautiful Jazz.”
Grinning at me, she reached her hand down and let her fingers brush through my curly hair.
Smiling back, I leaned down and placed my mouth upon her. As the sweet taste of her filled my mouth, I knew that I had found what I had been looking for.