OPPORTUNITY
Cynthia Hamilton
 
 
“Never?”
It was one of those unexpected natural lulls in conversation, and Anne’s outburst carried clear across the bustling dining room. She leaned forward, cradling her beer in her hands like she was protecting it from the news and lowered her voice. “You’ve really never been with a guy?”
Lin cringed and slid down an inch in her seat, cheeks burning with what she hoped wasn’t too obvious a blush. She lifted her glass to her lips, hiding behind a cooling sip. Anne wasn’t one to back down, especially with a few in her, and the rest of her friends were watching her expectantly, too. She drained the last of her glass slowly, but soon there was no more wine to stall her reply. She glanced longingly toward the bottle but didn’t reach for it. Clearly, I’ve had too much already, she thought.
Celia’s hand, hidden by the tablecloth, slid over her thigh and gave her a steadying squeeze. “Hey, Anne. I hear you’re moving in with Kate. When’s the big day?”
003
Lin pulled her long, black hair into a ponytail, watching Celia’s reflection come up behind hers in the bedroom mirror and slip gentle arms around her waist, snuggling close. Physically, they were a study in contrast, with Lin’s slender frame and delicate Asian features set against Celia’s tumble of bottle-red curls and generous curves, but that only made them a more striking couple. Lin secretly loved the way they turned heads wherever they went.
Celia nudged the strap of Lin’s tank top down her arm and traced lazy kisses up her smooth shoulder. In the mirror, Lin watched her nipples harden to obvious peaks under the clingy gray fabric. She leaned back, tilting her head to offer up the side of her throat.
“Thanks for the rescue at dinner,” she murmured, reaching back to Celia’s hip with her reflection as a guide. The mirror only disoriented her; when she lifted her gaze back to Celia’s lips, her fingers found skin instantly by feel.
Celia laughed quietly against her neck. “The look on Anne’s face…” Her hands slipped up under the stretchy top, cupping Lin’s modest breasts and kneading them until a moan rewarded her. Applying a bit of pressure at one, she turned the smaller woman toward the bed. They crossed the short distance together.
Under the soft, clean sheets, with the lights out, they found each other again with a lingering kiss. Lin hooked Celia’s leg with hers to pull it smoothly between her thighs. The motion was practiced and graceful; a comfortable, familiar fit. “You seemed a little surprised, too.”
Celia nudged the top up and closed her hand around Lin’s breast again, pressing two fingers around her nipple and scissoring them with subtle shifts. “Well, it’s just…we’ve never talked about it, but I figured you’d have experimented in college or something. Dated in high school before you came out…” She closed her fingers in a gradual pinch around the aroused peak until Lin gasped and her hips squirmed. Then she added, “I don’t mind that you didn’t, you know.”
Lin mirrored the movement, curving her palm to Celia’s heavy breast and kneading in supple retaliation. She rocked herself lightly against the leg she’d captured. “My parents didn’t let any of us date, and then I went away to an all-girls’ college. My first date was with a woman. Men just…weren’t even in the picture.” She slid her hand downward, following Celia’s naked curves to her hip.
Celia squirmed her thigh more firmly between Lin’s legs, pressing with a slow rhythm that matched the gentle knead of her hand. “Ever been curious? It’s okay if you haven’t. Just because I’m bi doesn’t mean that I think everyone has to be.”
Lin’s lips parted. She could feel her own heat every time she pressed forward against Celia’s thigh, and her whole breast was starting to tingle. She curled her fingers, drawing her short nails upward to make Celia shiver, and grinned when she got the result. Celia would know she was stalling, thinking, but with such a nice distraction, she doubted she’d mind. “Mmm. I guess I’ve always been curious, a little. But by the time I was at a point where I could do anything about it, it was like…where do I start? I don’t know how to flirt with a guy, and all the ones I already know expect me to not be interested, and…” She hesitated, but Celia worked her black cotton panties aside, gliding bare touch along her smooth folds, drawing the confession from her lips. “And the porn I’ve read makes it all sound so, well, unpleasant.”
Celia laughed softly in Lin’s ear, following the sound with a suckling kiss at her lobe. “Unpleasant how?” Celia nudged her onto her back, fingers taking over where the pressure of the thigh left off.
Lin took a slow breath, fighting for her train of thought while a fingertip teased her own wetness up and around her clit. Her fingers closed on Celia’s breast again, rolling the nipple until it was as hard as her own. “Mm. My roommate had this book… It was so extreme it wasn’t even hot. All these men hung so huge they could barely fit inside, coming copious bucket-loads…” She trailed off for a moment, distracted by the building ache in her breast. “Mm. I don’t know how much of that was true and how much was just male fantasy fulfillment, but it left me less than interested in finding out.”
“It’s really not like that at all.” Celia trailed lazily up and down Lin’s slit, a smooth rub that parted her glossy labia. “It feels thick…” One finger eased inside the snug heat of her sex, then disappeared only to make way for two a moment later. “And full… And hot.” Lin’s back arched and she let out a slow sigh. Celia turned her wrist, the slick sounds of Lin’s arousal accompanying the smooth thrusts of her fingers now. Celia knew her well enough not to draw attention to the way the conversation was heating her up, and Lin was grateful.
“I would. Just once. Just to see,” Lin breathed. Her hips rose to meet each plunge of fingers. “I’d never be able to look the guy in the eye, after…” Celia’s thumb finally brushed her clit, and Lin’s lips parted in a breathless gasp that melted to a teasing grin at the scene playing out in her mind. “Maybe I’d let you watch.”
Celia rewarded her with a sultry laugh and a passionate kiss. Her fingers curled to flutter against that perfect spot inside while the heel of her hand gave Lin a firm surface to grind against. Lin gave herself over to the tingling wave washing through her sex, suckling with needy pulls at Celia’s tongue as her body bucked and writhed. She came with a burst of stars behind her eyes. When she eventually fell asleep, it was with Celia’s hand still curled possessively over her slippery folds and her thighs closed just as possessively around it.
 
Friday was date night, and they often surprised each other in little ways. Making reservations here or there, or securing tickets to a show. “It’s my turn this week,” Celia had announced as she poured Wednesday’s morning coffee.
The box waiting for Lin on the bed when she got home on Friday was new: white and plain, tied with an oversized black satin bow. Inside, she found white tissue paper patterned in gold print. Inside the folds of paper, she found something almost as gauzy.
The smooth glide of silk across her skin was Lin’s guilty pleasure—one of them, anyway. Black lace highlighted slinky charcoal gray silk, barely long enough for decency. Built-in garters dangled from the hem, ready to attach to the shimmery lace-topped stockings folded below. The matching panties were strangely designed, almost shaped like a—no. They’re crotch-less, she realized, and the resultant tingle zipped straight down her spine to settle in behind her clit.
She swallowed hard, carefully stripped out of her suit, and wriggled into the silk. She slid the panties up her hips and adjusted the lace to frame her bare folds, rolled the stockings up her smooth, waxed legs and fastened the garters to pull the gown sleek and taut. She turned before the mirror a couple of times, surveying her front and then turning and peering over her shoulder at her back. The taut curves of her ass peeked out in a deliciously indecent way, framed perfectly by decadent lace trim. She padded back to the bed to put the box aside and noticed one more piece of the ensemble resting in the bottom.
It only took her a moment to recognize the faux-fur-lined blindfold. Hard leather with a plush interior and eye rests scooped away for comfort, it had been a regular player in their lovemaking a while back. She sat on the bed with one leg tucked under her and slid the blindfold down over her eyes with fond nostalgia. With it settled in place, she could blink comfortably in the darkness. The abstract patterns that sparkled in her vision matched the sparkle of anticipation that fluttered in her belly.
 
Lin shifted the blindfold up to her forehead and got up several times, each time to do some nervous task and then settle back down again. First, it was to turn the lights down low and put her work clothes away. Then to light candles and turn the lights off entirely. Then to put on music—sexy, ambient music on random shuffle and repeat. At last, out of things to fidget over, she lowered the soft blindfold over her eyes with determination and reclined on the bed. She drifted in aroused meditation, so intent on focusing her hearing toward the sound of the front door opening and then shutting again that she almost didn’t recognize it when it finally came.
Now she was wide awake, heart pounding loudly in her chest. Senses straining, she heard the fridge open and close, followed by the squeak of the old floorboards in the hall. The bedroom door swished open, bare feet moved, and then the door closed again. Silence.
The scent of berries reached her. Fresh cut and sharply sweet and followed by the confirming quiet thud of a bowl set down on the nightstand. A metal bowl, Lin thought absently, not a glass one. There were other scents, too, but they were harder to place behind the fruit and the warm cinnamon of the candles. She smiled when she felt the weight of a knee on the mattress. She tilted her chin up and parted her lips, expecting the cool, tart kiss of a strawberry.
The lips that pressed to Lin’s were warm, soft and familiar. Celia’s curls brushed her cheek and Lin smiled, arching up to return the kiss with all her pent-up passion. Fingertips grazed over the silk covering one of Lin’s hard nipples, and she moaned softly into Celia’s mouth. “There’s one more gift. If you don’t like it,” Celia whispered at her lips between kisses, “you can tell me. It’s okay. But I think you will.”
The hand traveled down over Lin’s small breasts, between them and across the flat plain of her stomach, heading down. When they reached the damp, smooth crux of her spread thighs and trailed between the split lace of the panties, she heard a heavy breath. A breath not against her lips.
Lin started, but the comforting touch at her cheek and the warmth of Celia’s lips on hers soothed her. Celia’s breast was a heavy, familiar weight against her arm. “Shhhh. It’s okay.” Then her voice took that sly tone that always made Lin weak in the knees. “You said you wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye, right? Well…”
The wave of heat between Lin’s thighs flooded the back of her skull now. Blood rushing to her head, she thought, or maybe away from it. Her nipples ached. There was someone else in her bedroom. In her and Celia’s bedroom. A man.
Strong, thick fingers rubbed her own gloss up and down over her labia. Now, on her naked skin, she could tell that they weren’t Celia’s fingers at all. A man was looking at her nether lips, flushed dark with arousal. He was watching her hips rock uncontrollably from the tingle of need blossoming through her core. The fact that he was causing those feelings, was touching her, was beyond her for now. Her mind reeled with it—with shyness, but that was only in the background; with amazement, more, and potential, possibility.
“Do I know him?” Lin whispered back. She caught Celia’s lower lip for a hard, suckling pull to show her approval; a moment later, a finger circled wet, slow pressure around her clit. Her kiss turned inarticulate and she moaned, slumping back down against the pillow. Her abdominals tensed, her pelvis pushing up toward the touch, seeking more.
“Does it matter?” Celia answered, then tapped a chastising finger to Lin’s lips. It was slick, but with Celia’s essence, not her own. Lin swirled her tongue around it greedily, pulling it into her mouth and shook her head without letting go. Then Celia asked, “How do you feel?”
She had to release the finger to answer. It wasn’t fair, and she whimpered. The hand at her glistening cunt took the whimper as encouragement. A finger slid easily inside her, filling her with warmth, while something else—the thumb, she supposed?—still circled her throbbing clit. Her parted lips were slow to move in speech; Celia traced them, teasing them. “Dizzy,” Lin whispered finally. A second finger joined the first and her back arched involuntarily, betraying her ecstasy. There was no way to play it cool and casual. And why should she? A fantasy come true was something to savor, and the lover selfless and devious enough to set it up was someone to reward enthusiastically. The opportunity to try this out, with full support and in complete safety… “You’ll stay?”
“I’ll stay,” Celia promised, shifting forward on the bed. Her chuckle was low and sultry. “Like I’d miss this show, mi linda? You should see how you’re squirming.”
Lin wet her lips, tasting hints of Celia’s flavor. It emboldened her, like the wine had. “I want it.” It was hard to make the breathy words pass her lips, but once they were hanging in the air—once she heard her own voice say them out loud and make them real—it was easier. “I want everything.”
Lin clenched up inside, squeezing her silken passage around his fingers in an intimate hug of encouragement. The next moan wasn’t hers. Gentle pressure nudged her thighs apart, strong fingers spread her smooth petals, and a sudden whisper of breath slid coolly over the damp, heated flesh between her thighs. She raised her knees up and apart—all the invitation he needed.
His lips were strong and purposeful, and so was his tongue. He lapped a broad, warm stroke over her clit and continued with the point of his tongue up to the boundary of lace, then started back at his fingers, still thrusting smoothly inside her and licked upward again. The digits curled, scissoring and stroking over the spongy pad of her G-spot, and her reflexive arch slid her clit right up against his waiting mouth. She could feel the stubble on his cheeks and chin, faint prickling that mingled surprisingly well with the sharp tingling already building in her. Now the fingers were thrusting more powerfully, and he suckled with increasing fervor, devouring her. The sounds of her own wetness reached her ears, but she ignored the warm burn that rose to her cheeks. He pulled her clit into his mouth, bathed it with circles and flutters and direct presses of his tongue, refusing to be parted from it even as she squirmed beneath him. A hand closed on her breast, finding her nipple and pulling it outward with a firm pinch—Celia’s trick, her touch. She could feel Celia’s breath hot and ragged across her cheek, but she didn’t feel the additional movements that would hint that her lover was pleasuring herself. No, she was just watching. Savoring.
His fingers curled up against that spot again and Lin bucked, a feral cry escaping her lips. Stars burst in the abstract darkness, but she barely noticed them for the stars bursting behind her clit and deep in her core. Those pulses of inner muscle were involuntary now, seizing up inside her and sending wave after wave of pleasure through her cunt. Slowly, he eased her down, slowing gradually before he stopped. Wet lips disengaged and kissed the peak of her mons, then her thigh. Fingers slid out, leaving her empty and spread, craving more.
He shifted between her legs, stroking up her thighs, up her sides, cupping her breasts and squeezing Celia’s hand to her. He was strong, but he knew his own strength. And the whole time he’d been making love to her with his tongue, she realized, she’d forgotten to give a thought to who he might be.
There was a sound of plastic flexing, then of rustling, and his weight shifted from knee to knee. And then warmth returned to her cunt before she could think about it further. A thick presence painted her slickness up and down her parted labia, then angled just right and started to press inside her. Warmth. God, he was warm. Even through the thin layer of latex separating his cock from her, she could feel the heat of his body. Still awash in sensation from her climax, she was certain she could feel every ridge and vein.
Celia’s strap-on didn’t see as much action as the blindfold had. It came out of the toy drawer on occasion, but it wasn’t their favorite. Lin didn’t like using it because she couldn’t feel Celia reacting inside if she was using a toy rather than her own body, and besides, she thought she looked more comical than sexy with a big purple dick dangling around and bumping off her thighs. She didn’t mind receiving it, but there again, it was frustrating to know that Celia couldn’t feel how wet she was or the way she’d squeeze her muscles down encouragingly inside. Still, Lin had assumed that the experience of having a lover between her thighs, slowly filling her with the thickness of a phallus, was a fairly standard one—whether the phallus happened to be attached biologically to the lover or not.
She’d been so wrong. The toys had never felt this warm, this pliant, this…alive. It was the same and yet completely different. As he rocked forward with a heated groan and sheathed his cock inside her, spreading her snug passage around him and pressing the firm, solid weight of his hips down against her pubic bone, she tensed again. She couldn’t tell whether the pulsing waves inside her were aftershocks or a new climax crashing on the heels of the first.
He flexed his body in a smooth, hot grind then rested in her for a few moments, reveling in her molten heat just as she reveled in the way his cock conformed to the subtle curve of her body. She moved her hips, feeling it glide thick and hard against her upper wall. The press of his groin against her clit was unyielding and warm, perfect to grind up against.
Her movement spurred his. Shifting up to his knees and cupping his hands firmly under her ass, he started to thrust, dragging the length of his erection back and forth, filling and stroking her. The gown pulled on the stockings and the stockings pulled on the gown, shifting waves of taut silk creating a constant awareness of her breasts, as if smooth fingers fluttered just over her nipples. Every grind and undulation of her body renewed their hard, needy ache.
Celia’s presence left her side, but only for a moment. Lin felt the mattress bow on one side of her head, held very still so that the knee swinging across wouldn’t clock her in the face, and she took a deep breath of her lover’s aroused scent. She heard additional sounds of wetness: kissing. She smiled and craned her neck upward and found one of Celia’s plump folds. Capturing it in her lips, she used a pull of suction to urge the slippery petals down to her.
Celia lowered the rest of the way. Lin pressed her lips firmly around the swollen little pearl and bathed it with her tongue, then delivered an intimate tongue-filled kiss right to her lover’s core. Now gasps, quiet moans and slick wet sounds filled the room completely. She could only hear and imagine the meeting of mouths above her, but she felt every stroke of the man’s thick cock driving into her and heard her own arousal in the humid slap of each thrust. He was heating up now, faltering in his rising rhythm, and she almost thought she could feel him swelling even harder inside her.
Celia rocked firmly on her face until all Lin could do was keep her tongue extended or her lips pursed while her lover guided her clit, taking what she needed. Her squirms dislodged the blindfold, and Lin opened her eyes without thinking. Glistening candlelit folds moved above her, familiar ample curves beyond them. Her fingers tightened on Celia’s thighs, and she closed her eyes again. The man pushed Lin’s thighs back toward her body, fucking her at a steeper, tighter angle. A new wash of tingling pleasure blossomed through her. She could feel it pooling in her, building. She clenched down on the cock and was rewarded with a strangled, needy cry and feverish, pistoning plunges. He was as close as she was.
Kisses grew fierce and frantic above her. Her tongue stabbed upward, squirming into Celia’s narrow entrance. Celia’s folds slid back and forth across her slick lips with the quick jerking dance that announced her climax. Lin dug her fingers in harder and a husky feminine groan was her reward.
The man grunted and drove deep, grinding her on the root of his cock and brushing her pulsing cervix with his tip. Ecstasy bubbled up inside her. When she gave herself over to it, it burst like a shaken champagne bottle with unexpected force. Waves of heat pulsed through her, and the spasms deep in her sex now weren’t voluntary ones. Hard, rhythmic, her climax thumped just out of sync with her pounding heartbeat. Then she heard his explosive groan and felt the answering pulse twitching through her, and she knew his pleasure had peaked as well. The condom between them was filling with his seed, a little more for every involuntary jerk of his hips. She relaxed in his grasp, turning her head to rest her lips against Celia’s thigh.
When she found control of her limbs again, she reached up and nudged the blindfold back into place with a sated smile.
 
Rounds of fevered fucking had been interspersed with quiet snuggling and slow, languid kisses that had, inevitably, led back to more. He didn’t leave until Lin had sampled everything she wanted to try—everything but the berries, completely forgotten on the nightstand. Celia brought the bowl to Lin in the tub, feeding her a piece of fruit and joining her in the sea of warmth and bubbles. Lin knew the dreamy smile was still stuck on her face.
“What’d you think?”
Lin pulled Celia back against her and slid her arms around her lover’s beautiful curves. “Thank you so much for that. It was something I never thought I’d feel. It was…mm. So intense.”
Celia shifted a little and turned to her, studying her eyes. There’d been something in her voice, and she knew Celia had caught it. “But?”
Lin smiled. She touched a strawberry to Celia’s nose. “But he wasn’t you.”