Chapter 12 Storms

Author's note and strong warning: Here be carnal activities of the NC-17 variety. If that is not your cup of tea, I strongly enjoin you to give this chapter a pass. I'll let you know when it's safe to read again in another chapter or so.

Thanks,
The Management



In this age of grand illusion
You walked into my life
out of my dreams
I don't need another change
Still you forced away
into my scheme of things...

David Bowie - Word on a Wing


Chapter 12 -- Storms

After 11:00 that night, the wind began to pick up. Soon it was blowing hard enough to make the heavier snow of earlier shift and swirl around on the ground. It broke up the heavy snowflakes into something easier for it to push around. The snow continued to fall heavily, only now it was dancing at the command of the wind. In the street lights of Pittsville it glittered and shone in its dance.

The wind's dance continued to grow and grow, until it was rattling Mara's windows once again. The old windows of her home were beginning protest the wind's peculiar minuet. A light sleeper, Mara awoke at a particularly loud vibration of glass and wood.

She lay in her bed and listened to the wind, wondering if it was snowing, and if so, how hard. She knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep right away, as she felt that strange excitement at what the weather was doing start to build. Like a child at Christmas, she hopped out of bed and walked over to the window and pulled aside the drapes.

The world was that shade of gray that would be pure white if it were daylight. She stood for a moment trying to figure out if it still snowing. The windows looked odd, until she realized that they had frosted over. The temperature must have dropped a bit with a lot of humidity in the air. She guessed that it was still snowing.

She pulled on her calico plaid robe and went downstairs, figuring that the big picture window in the living room wouldn't be completely frosted over. Or if that failed, she could open a door and peek outside.

Moving as silently as she could down the stairs, she smiled. She did feel a little bit like that same holiday child sneaking down to see what presents Santa had left. Her grin became a bit sardonic as she wondered if Rafe was asleep. She was torn between wishing he were awake to share the storm with her, and hoping he was asleep so that he wouldn't get a good laugh at her skulking around her own house.

Only the edges of the picture window had fingers of frost around them. It made for a lovely frame to what was happening outside. And it was snowing, oh how it was snowing. She couldn't see beyond her porch, it was coming down so strong.

Although coming down was a bit of a stretch, as it was hard to tell what was coming down and what was being blown back up off the ground. All of it was moving and swirling. When it wasn't swirling, it was once again flying nearly horizontal to the ground. She figured the wind must be blowing at a steady 40 miles per hour with gusts up to who knows.

A quiet voice spoke behind her, "How did I know you would be down here?"

She didn't jump. Somehow she had sensed Rafe's presence in the living room before he spoke. Patting the cushion beside her, she looked at him and silently bade him to join her.

Rafe walked around the sofa and sat down. He looked like another holiday child himself; he had wrapped himself in an afghan instead of his robe to come out to look. A side of the afghan had slid off his shoulder, and his skin looked dimly like alabaster in the half light.

Mara found herself captivated by that shoulder. She knew he had an olive tone to his skin, but in this light, the muscles of his upper arm looked like they were part of a Grecian sculpture out of white marble. She wanted to touch them to see if they would be as smooth as they looked, yielding, yet unyielding with the muscle beneath that skin.

She looked up from Rafe's shoulder and met his eyes. In the dim light she could see that he was smiling, but couldn't make out the character of that smile. Was he leering at her because she was ogling him? Was he smiling because of the weather? Was he smiling...at her? She smiled back, shyly, and looked back out through the window.

Rafe slid close to her and put his arm around her shoulder, partially wrapping her in the afghan. She reached over and pulled the other half of afghan so that he was more cocooned in it.

"Mara the mother hen," he murmured in her ear, his breath sending a shiver through her, even as she inwardly groaned at his teasing.

"Well it's chilly in here and...," she replied only to be interrupted by Rafe.

"Move closer. There's enough afghan here for us to share."

She half-heartedly thought about protesting and saying she had her warm robe on and he, once again was only in his boxers. She smiled secretly to herself, told the mother hen to be quiet, and slid closer.

Rafe tightened his arm around her shoulder as she sat beside him. Mara, still facing the window, gave into temptation, and put her right hand up to touch his shoulder. She felt the play of his muscles beneath her hand and his warmth. She shivered at the smooth texture of his skin and the contrast of softness and strength she could feel.

Rafe pulled her even closer until she was wrapped in the afghan. She sighed in contentment at the warm, heavy weight of his arm around her shoulders. They sat quietly and watched the storm.

Half-hypnotized by the motion of the driven snow, she almost thought that a hint of a gentle breeze had begun to blow in the living room. She realized it was Rafe's breath as he touched the shell of her ear with his lips.

She closed her eyes in pleasure at his warm lips and his breath exciting the nerve endings. He slowly kissed down her neck and she sighed. A warmth began to pulse in her pelvis in response to his ministrations.

His hand came up and slowly turned her face toward him. Their lips met. His kiss was as delicate, enticing her and tempting her to deepen it. Her lips parted under his.

Time slowed as their kiss deepened, his tongue tasting her lips and then moving to taste hers. He tasted sweet, with a minty overtone left over from earlier toothpaste. She moved her tongue out to taste his sweetness, running it over his lips. His lips moved to capture her tongue and the kiss grew warmer. She felt lightheaded from it.

Slowly, slowly, his hand moved from where it had been caressing her face, down her neck, trailing along her collar bone, feeling her soft skin and her shivering response to his touch. Slowly, slowly his hand moved lower until it was cupping her breast. She moved so that her breast was more completely in contact with that teasing hand and she sighed again as she felt his thumb running across her nipple through the fabric of her robe.

Once again she was torn. Torn between wanting to be incredibly aggressive and ripping off her robe or at least opening it enough so that his hand could touch her breast without the fabric in between and wanting to dwell in the sensations he was causing for a small eternity.

His lips followed a path similar to what his hand had done, on the other side of her face, then down to her neck. She tipped her head back to give him more access as he kissed the vulnerable line of her neck. His hand tightened a bit on her breast, caressing its curve and testing its weight.

A strong gust of wind rattled the picture window loudly and they both jumped in surprise at the sound. Rafe drew back and looked Mara in the eyes, a question in his.

Mara turned her body more fully to face him and moved to taste his lips again. Rafe reached down and gently moved her right leg up onto the sofa. He slid his arm out from behind her pressed her back down into the sofa, draping his body more fully over hers.

His lips found her collar bone again as his hands undid the knot in the belt around her robe. Slowly, slowly he spread her robe open and kissed the tip of one breast and suckled it. Her hand reached up to tangle itself in his long hair, encouraging him to lip more strongly at her breast. She drew a shuddering breath at the pleasurable sensation.

One of his hands teased her other breast, the other caressed her side, sliding slowly up and down between her ribcage and the outside of her thigh.

"So warm, so soft..." he murmured against her breast, the vibration of his deep voice sensitizing the nipple even more.

Her hand slid out of his hair and touched the smoothness of his shoulders, his upper back, his lower back. It slid over one firm buttock and teased the spot where his thigh met it. He half groaned half sighed his pleasure at her touch.

The hand caressing her side slid down one last time over her hip and travelled slowly, oh so slowly down her leg. He stroked her calf and then his warm hand began making the return trip up the leg this time on the inside, stopping to rest just above her pubis. He stroked her furry mons and applied some pressure to it with his palm, making her hips buck upward toward his hand.

Mara made an inarticulate sound at the sensations coursing through her body and coming to focus in her breasts and her pussy. She felt a finger tickling the outside of her nether lips and she felt herself undulate in response.

That incredible, teasing finger parted her lips and slid further into her, sampling her wetness. Rafe groaned, "so warm, so wet," anticipating sliding an eager portion of his anatomy into that warmth.

She could feel his hardness against her thigh through the silky boxers. His hand continued to tease and test her depths, lightly caressing her clitoris with his thumb. His touch became less teasing and more sure as she began to writhe beneath him.

Plunging one finger into her vagina, his hand began mimicking a movement as old as the human race. A second finger finger joined the first. His thumb circled her clitoris more firmly as his fingers found the internal spot of stimulus and Mara, letting out a long keening cry, came apart in his arms.

Gentling his movements on her now overly sensitive pussy, he kissed her lips and her closed eyes, holding her warmly with his other arm. She drowsed, floating in pleasure at his touch.

His mouth found the other breast, switching sides with his hands. She could smell both of their arousals as he drew her even closer, continuing his mouth's fascination with her nipple.

Slowly, ever so slowly, his mouth moved downward, his lips fondling the underside of first one breast, then the other.

Mara slid her hand around to touch his erection through his shorts. She could feel it straining against her hand, a pleasing hardness. He groaned and moved his hips away from her questing hand. She made an inquiring sound at his motion.

Rafe looked up and smiled at her, "That feels so good, but I want this to last and your hand was starting to feel a little too good together with the silk." He playfully nipped at her ribcage beneath her breasts and made her giggle with ticklishness. His tongue found her belly button and slid into it. The sensation burned straight down to her pussy and she felt her arousal beginning to grow again.

He kissed and stroked her belly, enjoying its womanly roundness. He hadn't realized he had been missing that curve with all the fashionably thin arm candy he had been dating. Her curves were all female, nothing angular and boyish about them. His mouth traced her belly over to her hip She shuddered at the sensation as his lips found the crease of her upper leg.

His mouth moved to her center, reverently kissing her nether lips. His tongue moved between them to lick and caress, circling around but never quite touching her clitoris. Mara found herself writhing again as the teasing became almost unbearable.

Rafe's hand moved to join his mouth, and one long finger found its way into her again. Moving slowly, slowly, he deepened that soul kiss and finally touched her clitoris with the point of his tongue. She shuddered at the sensation, feeling orgasmic waves begin to build as his fingers sped up their motion in time with his tongue. Time slowed to a slow crawl as he stimulated her, to hang on the brink for the longest time.

Mara was panting with want. She had closed her eyes and woven her hand into Rafe's hair, encouraging him. She opened her eyes and looked down at his head between her legs, that sight and the stimulus sending her spiraling into orgasm. His mouth continued its pleasuring as she slowly came down, her hand stroking his hair.

She found her voice and murmured, "Wow." She couldn't find another word for another few minutes as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her breast. She kept stroking his hair as she felt the hardness of his penis pulsing against her inner thigh.

"Wow," she breathed again. "I don't know if I can move just yet, I don't know if my legs would support me, but shall we move this to somewhere more...comfortable for both of us?"

Rafe raised his head and grinned at her, "Your place or mine?"