Bac to Life

(Dear Readers, I apologize for the long delay in bringing you this new chapter, and for the shortness of it. Many are the reasons, including job responsibilities and family matters. I am already writing chapter 6, and will hopefully have it to you by the first of next month.)

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Karen watched Peter move around his kitchen expertly, and she realized for the first time how little she knew about him. He was a widower, but other than that, and the job he did, she knew nothing about him. And yet here she was, sitting at his kitchen table, completely at ease. Her safety radar was asleep, and if she were to be completely honest, had never once tripped with him. The thought that she was safe made the last walls crumble inside her, and suddenly she was overwhelmed with emotion as she watched his big hand wield the knife, and his broad shoulders filling the fridge as he bent to take cheese and sandwich meats out. She tore her eyes away from the sight of his wide shoulders and long legs, and forced her mind to think of things other than what those legs might look like without the screen of clothing. She knew he rode his bicycle most places, so she assumed they would be muscular. The thought of those muscular legs between her own had her almost leaping out of the chair to pace away to the window furthest from where he worked.

Her sudden movement seemed to startle the dog, who cracked an eye open and stared at her in a Cyclops-like fashion. She stared back, immobilized by discomfort. For some reason she didn't understand, she felt cautious rather than afraid of what she could see was a big dog. A Labrador, if she wasn't mistaken. The dog opened the other eye, still with his head on his paws, and continued to watch her, unmoving, unblinking. Karen wondered what his name was, but just as she was about to ask, he stood up, shook himself lazily and strolled over to her to sniff her. Peter turned around immediately, and said,

"Shake, Scrooge!"

Karen felt a warm padded paw on her hand and looked down to see the dog waiting for her to shake his paw. Surprised and inordinately amused, she laughed softly and "shook hands" with him, then watched him walk over to his master and butt him gently in the leg, as if to say "Who's she?"

"Your dog's name is Scrooge?" she asked, amusement still thrumming through her, mixed with relief that the animal seemed to be quite tame.

"Yes," Peter answered, chuckling softly as he put things on the kitchen table. "Come on, let's have lunch!" he continued, gesturing for her to take a seat while he retrieved a bottle of wine and two glasses. "Please help yourself!" he invited her as he poured the wine.

Karen took a sandwich and placed it on her plate, and took a sip of wine. Up close, she could smell the cologne he used, a tangy, spicy flavor that married itself to the scent of the man who wore it. Even that was turning her on, and she hastened to give herself something safe to think about.

"So, why Scrooge?" she asked, taking a bite of her own sandwich.

"It's an acronym, based on a note left with him," Peter explained. "Sorry, can't raise one more goddamned pet, it said. The 'm' and the 'p' didn't fit for the acronym, so they used the 'o' and 'e' to make a word."

"It's a very clever name. Did you come up with that?" she wanted to know, amused.

"No, they did," he said, "and since it seemed to describe his past owner so well, I let it stay!"

"When did you first get him?" she wanted to know next.

Peter gave her a look which told her he knew what she was doing. It was knowing and amused and aroused all at once. But he answered her question anyway.

"He was about two months old," he said, "and I couldn't resist him."

Karen eyed the big dog. "I wonder how he would get on with a cat," she mused.

"When I travel, I leave him with a friend who has a house full of cats," he explained. "Her cats all love Scrooge, and he seems to love them right back." He paused, watching her finish her sandwich. "Do you have a cat?" he asked her.

"Not now, no," she said. "But I had two back in the States. I had to give them up for adoption when I moved here."

She tried to hide the sadness she felt at that, partly because she didn't want to get maudlin over them, and partly because she thought it was a sign of vulnerability on her part to become so emotional over a couple of felines.

"What were their names?" he asked gently.

"Bones and Spruce," she answered at once. "Both male, one all skin and bones when I found him, the other with fur that was two-colored, like the blue spruce in my yard." She sighed. "I do miss them."

A simple statement that gave away a lot about her. She hurried on. "Anyway, I can't think about pets till I have established my own place of residence, now can I?" she asked on a forced laugh.

"No, I suppose that wouldn't be wise," Peter answered, pouring a second glass of wine for her. "Drink up!" he invited her, and smiled when she complied at once.

A companionable silence followed during which they polished off the sandwiches he had made, and then Scrooge got up to sniff her again. Karen bore his attention with less fear this time, though she still did not move a muscle before she relaxed and bent over to scratch him behind the ears. The dog sniffed her face, and then, before she could move away, he licked her from forehead to chin, thankfully on the side, so his warm tongue missed her lips. A bubble of laughter, a bit hysterical, burst from her lips, but she bore the doggy kiss with more equanimity than she had thought possible as Peter called him off.

"I see you've made a second conquest in this house," he commented, his low tone sounding seductive to her. "Not surprising, really, given who you are. Scrooge likes women, but he has never, in all the time I've had him, kissed any of them, till now."

Karen's head shot up, and the question was out of her mouth before she could censor it.

"He likes women? You've had many of them here, then?"

The second the question was spoken, she clapped her hands over her mouth in horror and felt the blood rush beneath her cheeks.

"I'm sorry! That's none of my business, Peter. Please forgive me!"

She was not a shy woman, but her reserve would not normally have let her ask such a personal and inquisitive question. She, above all, understood other people's need for personal space, for privacy, for secrets no one else should know. And she had just broken a cardinal rule of personal behavior and intruded with an impertinent question.

She didn't notice that he had moved, because she had closed her eyes in embarrassment, so when she heard his voice over her shoulder, she started in surprise.

"If your question means what I'd like it to mean, then I don't mind it at all."

Karen turned slowly and stood up, noting the look of desire and love in his eyes. "And what do you want it to mean?" she asked, regaining her composure.

He smiled, a gleam in his eyes. "If it means you're jealous, that's a good thing in my mind." He stepped closer, not touching her but definitely invading her personal space. "Are you?"

"Jealousy is a sign of insecurity, immaturity, and lack of trust," Karen answered, stalling. "I'm neither weak nor insecure." She slid her gaze away from his.

He brought it back with a finger under her chin. "No, you're not," he agreed. "But what of trust?" he wondered. "Do you trust me, Karen?"

She did not answer at once, but stared back at him, her eyes taking in his strong, masculine features, his blue eyes now darkened with emotion, his lips that begged to be consumed. He stood silently before her, bearing her unwavering scrutiny, waiting for her answer. She could not tell from his stare what he was feeling.

"Yes, Peter, I trust you," she finally replied.

He inhaled deeply before responding, "Then in the interests of full disclosure, because I want to keep that trust, let me say I have not brought any other woman here. Just you. The women Scrooge has met have all been family or longtime friends from before Alijd died, or women in the park."

He reached out a hand that she noted was trembling slightly and cupped the cheek his dog had licked earlier. "And now he has met you." He smiled into her eyes, before stepping closer till their bodies touched. "And I think he has given you his seal of approval, don't you?"

Karen relaxed and smiled at him and nodded as he lowered his head to invade her mouth with his tongue. No gentle preamble here, no mincing steps, but a full frontal assault that breached the walls of her reserve, that shredded her control, that consumed her. She tasted the wine on his tongue, and the unique flavor that was him. He pulled her into his arms, and she went willingly, raising her own to hug him as they kissed each other with a growing fire of passion. His body was hot and hard, and her own caught fire from the intense, burning flames that seemed to leap between them. He slid his hands down her back to her bottom and pulled her into his thighs, testing her, waiting to see what she would do.

She felt the hard press of his arousal like a searing iron on her mound, and she widened her stance to give him better access to the center of her heat. He pressed in further, squeezing and kneading the fleshy mounds he held in his hands, groaning when she circled her hips in response to his seduction.

"It's been a very long time for me, Karen," he whispered raggedly when he released her mouth to catch a breath, "so I'll need you to be patient with me while I get my groove back!"

She chuckled at the twinkle in his eyes, and said, "I never would have thought you'd know that phrase! But I promise to assist with that project, and bring you back up to speed quickly."

They enjoyed the intimacy of their teasing, licking each other's lips, nipping at each other, and Karen leaned her head to the side to give him better access to her neck when she saw he needed it. She felt him sucking her, and wondered vaguely if he was marking her. She didn't think he would leave a hickey where anyone but they would see it, and she let him have his way. She licked him behind the ear, and when he hissed she smiled, and repeated the action, glad to have found a sweet spot in such an unlikely place.

"You're playing with fire, you know," he murmured, and bit her earlobe. When she moaned, he bit the other one, and then licked it to soothe the tiny ache he'd caused. "And I fully intend to burn you up in it!"

His voice was rough with lust, making her knees buckle. He held her up, kissing her hungrily, deeply, dragging her body hard against his own.

"Come," he demanded at last, a man at the end of his control. "Before I ravish you in my kitchen!"

He led her to his bedroom and backed her onto the wide bed, falling on top of her and pressing her into the mattress. She moaned when he ground his erection into the space she immediately opened between her thighs.

"How long has it been for you, hmm?" he whispered. "Are you as desperate as I am?"

"Yes!" was all she could manage as he kissed his way down her body, removing clothing as he did. He suckled her naked breasts, feasting on the heavy mounds of flesh, raising her nipples to turgid peaks, licking them and drawing moans of pleasure from her. Pushing her jeans and panties down her legs, he bared her sex to his gaze, and then lowered his head to sniff her, much like his dog had done earlier.

"You smell like heaven, baby!" he said, and then he licked her.

Karen arched off the bed at the unexpected contact, and then was powerless to stop the assault on her senses brought on by his tongue on her clitoris and in her soaking vagina. He ate at her greedily, like a starving man at a feast, and when he pushed in one finger, then two, then three into her core, and suckled her clitoris, she convulsed around him, utterly undone by the rush of sensation. Her mouth opened but no sound came out, only short, harsh breaths as he wrung the last spasm of pleasure from her.

"Mmmmm!" His moan of pleasure vibrated against her sensitive bud, and she gasped and pulled his head away.

"Peter, please!" she implored him, begging for time to adjust to the new demands being made on her body. It had been too long since she had been touched by anything other than a rubber dick and her own fingers, and the thought of whose fingers and mouth had just brought her to her first partner-induced orgasm in years drove her crazy with renewed desire.

"Whatever you want, my love!" he promised, and kissed her pussy lips deeply before rising to shuck his clothing. Before her breathing had returned to normal, he was naked. Karen's mouth formed an 'O' of shock and lust when she saw his magnificent erection standing proudly out from his body. She was sure he was more than average in the endowment he displayed for her hungry eyes, and she salivated as she wondered what it would feel like to have that steel rod inside her.

"I have wanted you for a very long time," he said as he crawled back over her, letting his penis rest in the welcoming nest of her pubic curls. "I dream of you, and wake up wet and aching." He smoothed her hair back from her forehead, kissing her hungrily over and over, feasting on her before releasing her to add, "Now, you're mine. Can anything be better than this?"

He rubbed himself against her, and they both groaned, returning time and again to each other's mouths before he raised himself and pushed into her with one hard thrust. She cried out, a breath away from a second orgasm, and he pulled out slowly, prolonging the agony of pleasure for her.

"Shall I take you softly, like this?" he whispered, slowly sliding his shaft back inside her hungry pussy. She whimpered and shook her head no. "Like this, then?" he continued, teasing her with a deep, long thrust. She gasped and clung to his shoulders, raising her legs to show him what she wanted. "Like this, then!" he concluded, withdrawing and slamming back home.

They grunted as their hips met in violent surrender to the other's desires, and then they fucked each other madly. All control was lost as she raised her hips to slam into him, her ravenous vagina swallowing his steel-hard cock, his thrusts hard and deep, their flesh slapping together in rhythmic crests of sound and feeling. When she urged him to go faster and deeper, he raised himself on his hands and obliged her, slamming into her with a violence that stunned her as it pleased her.

"Oh God, yes!" she wailed as she felt her body bow before the absolute command in his hips. She rocked up into him, and when he cried out in pleasure and stiffened above her, his mouth open in ecstasy, she came again, washing them both in her juices, milking his shaft that she could feel pulsing and spasming inside her. She met each final, sharp jerk of his body until they were spent, and he sank down on top of her, his breath coming in hard gasps into the side of her neck.

They lay there, legs tangled together, catching their breath, and then he rolled to the side and pulled her with him, settling her spine against his hairy chest.

"Are you all right?" he asked, kissing her shoulder.

"Oh yes!" she replied, a smile of deep satisfaction lighting her features. "Very all right!" She turned her head to look at him, and added, "Are you?"

He smiled tenderly at her and nodded, his eyes searching hers to find something she could not name. "Very all right, liefje!" he said, echoing her answer. He dropped another butterfly kiss on her cheek, and turned her fully to face him, his arms surrounding her.

"This wasn't too soon?" he asked, the worry plain now on his face. "I didn't rush you?"

Karen smiled, and smoothed the frown from his brow. "No, you were very restrained, love," she whispered, reaching up to kiss his lips.

Peter kissed her back slowly, savoring the taste of her, loving the way her body fit under his when he rolled back on top of her, loving the way she made him harden again with her caresses and the look in her eyes. It had been so long that he had thought he would lose control before he had had time to give her pleasure, but he knew now that even had he lost it, he would have been able to redeem himself because here he was, ready as ever again. He pressed his hips against her, letting her feel his aching rod between her thighs, and he growled when she pushed back against him, opening and raising her legs to slide him back inside. He was not a vulgar man by nature, but her wet heat, the smell of her arousal, and her moans of pleasure at the feel of him inside made him want to curse to relieve the feelings swamping him.

"I didn't mean to..." he began, not wanting her to think him insatiable, even if he was just then.

"I did!" She cut him off, nipping his bottom lip and pushing up against him, taking him deeper into her body. "If you want to, we can stay here for the rest of the day!"

She winked at him as she spoke, and licked his bottom lip, and Peter was lost. There was no way to regain even a semblance of the composure he strove for at all times, because this woman stripped him bare in no time. He began to move, at first in slow and steady strokes, adjusting his body so he could hit her g-spot with every stroke. Her gasps and hisses of pleasure told him he was doing it right, and it made him hard as a spike. He wondered, as he moved faster, if he would ever lose the erection that he was using even now to spear her to her heart. And then, when she raised her legs to take him deeper, he forgot to wonder about anything. He almost forgot to breathe. He pounded her flesh, taking her over and over, kissing her hungrily as he staked his claim in her willing heat, feeling her open wide and grip him with her inner walls and her heels against his buttocks.

"Ik hou van je, liefje!" he whispered as he loved her, trailing kisses from her cheeks down to her breasts where he stopped to suckle as he fucked her. He could feel her tightening around him as she whispered her answer, getting ready to explode again, and he adjusted his hips to rub his cock against that spot that would make her go off like firecrackers. When she howled in his arms, he let himself go and came right behind her, pumping his seed into her.

They shuddered together, spent and sated, and Peter rolled with her again till they were on their sides facing each other. When their breathing returned to normal, he stroked the hair back from her face, a frown on his own.

"I didn't protect you, liefje!" He stopped abruptly, unable to continue speaking. The thought of his carelessness was more than he could bear. He knew he was healthy, and he trusted Karen to be healthy, too, but she was still young enough to bear children, and he didn't want to impose on her in that way. They hadn't talked about anything permanent, and a baby was a very permanent thing between a couple.

"Protect me?" she asked, furrowing her own brow in confusion. "I trust you, Peter, and I'm clean."

"Yes, but what about children?" He was genuinely horrified, not because he wouldn't be over the moon if he had children after all this time, but because he didn't know Karen's feelings on the matter, and he'd rather have her than kids.

"No worries, Peter," she said with a smile. "I protect myself. Always have done. It's my body, so it's my responsibility." After a short pause, she added, "Are you relieved?"

Peter stared at her for a few seconds, then answered, "Not for the reason you think." He bent to kiss her before ending with, "If it were something we had discussed and agreed on, I'd be thrilled."

After a time, Karen spoke again. "Peter, what did that mean? What you said to me?" she asked.

"What?" Peter asked, unsure of what she was asking.

"When we were making love, you said "Ick ho van ... something."

"Ik hou van je, liefje?" he asked with a smile.