Playing with Matches

They'd driven for almost half an hour before he pulled his hand from hers as he reached to turn down the volume of the radio. If he was excited or nervous still, he wasn't showing it now.

"Five minutes from now we'll be pulling into a spot in front of a store that caters to impulses and the physical pleasures of adults," he said, comfortable as if they were talking about a trip to the grocery. "In the glovebox, you'll find two envelopes, one white, one black. In the white one you will find $100, you can spend as much or as little as you like on anything you choose when we get there. In the black envelope is another $200, but you'll have to, uh, earn that."

She looked at him, assessing his words and tone but said nothing as she leaned forward to open the glovebox and retrieve the envelopes. The white one was only tucked closed, so she opened it and smiled a small devious smile. The black envelope was sealed. She studied it patiently, and finally squinting slightly, she held it out while she asked, "Okay, I'll bite. How do I 'earn' what's in this one?"

Fighting the urge to blurt the entire plan out, he composed himself slowly, fighting how much he anticipated this moment, but he did his best to stay calm, and nodded, "Open it."

As she tore the flap from the back of the envelope, he tapped the interior light on her side so she could see. She noticed that with the cash there was a small handwritten card. She pulled it out and began to read to herself the words written in red ink on the heavy ivory card.

"Sweets- The first night with you, you surprised me. It's my turn to surprise you now with an encore of sorts. Each time you bring yourself off before we reach the parking lot you'll take fifteen dollars from the black envelope as your own. Each time you make that beautiful pussy cum on your fingers and bring those soaked fingers to my lips, each time you let me taste you, you'll add another ten.

I know you can make yourself cum quickly. The catch is the last hundred. You'll need to cum at least four times; to feed me your dripping fingers four times before we park to take the whole envelope...

I'm guessing that you're wet right now and while I thinks that is sexy, you are wasting time."

She stared at the words on the card for nearly 30 seconds while her pulse quickened. He was right, she was wet now. She tossed the envelope on the dash in front of her, turned to him and said "Fuck you," as she lifted her hips up, her ass out and slid her hand into her jeans.

"Later, Sweets," he replied with a hint of sarcasm. "Right now, I'm focusing on keeping us on the road and trying not to stare."

"You planned this?" she asked, feeling her body starting to react to the situation unfolding around her and to her touch. Was that excitement over this primal side to the man on her left?

She closed her eyes and imagined lovers touching her, their fingers inside her, the lips on her. She pressed on faster as she remembered squeezing him so hard when she came riding him that he was forced out of her the first night, she remembered being full in a way she couldn't describe to him but knew she liked. She remembered feeling his hard cock in her hands, the heat that came from it, the desire to taste it, to ride him, to consume him.

"I did. And I've got a few other surprises lined up," he said quietly, while having to adjust the way he was sitting as he became aroused at the sight of her.

"Play with my nipples." she demanded as she began to increase the pace and intensity of her breathing.

He reached across the car and started to feel her through her clothes. His instinct was to tease, but fair was fair and he was turned on, so he lifted her bra, circled the nipple of her left breast twice, then pinched it hard, making her shout.

"Ahhhh!" she said while the pain and the pleasure engulfed her.

"Jesus, really?"

She pulled her hand from her pants and stuck two fingers in his mouth, letting him lick and suck them for mere seconds before taking them from his mouth.

"That's one," he counted as he watched her lift her shirt and bra exposing her breasts, then use both hands to yank down her pants. He reached for the interior light, to turn it off as she exposed more of herself.

"Leave it," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled it to her right nipple.

-- FOUR HOURS EARLIER --

The rain fell with no real authority, a steady enough drizzle to be annoying and make you cold if you happened to be out in it too long, but it was not yet cats and dogs. After lowering the door, her wool gloved hand clutched the mass of damp paper, then tipped the mailbox closed again in a single motion. As the window hummed its way back up, Amy Sweistack quickly surveyed the stack left by the USPS.

"Crap," she spoke to herself reviewing the days' haul, "junk, not junk, junk and crap." The shape and red paper of the only item determined to be not junk today implied Christmas card, but it lacked the expected, if not obligatory, mistletoe or Santa and with a birthday before the New Year it wasn't out of the norm for it to be a card. It didn't scream to be opened so it was easy to toss onto the passenger seat with the glossy circular for princess or duck themed personal checks and collectible but creepy-as-fuck porcelain dolls.

She pulled in the drive, gathered up the required mobile pieces of her life, the keys, smokes, and phone while she used the mail as a poorly constructed substitute for an umbrella, and made her way into the house closing the door behind her.

She traveled fewer days now than she used to, but today was a particularly good trip; one she could make it home from at the end of the day. Home had changed a lot in the last year. She'd be "celebrating" a birthday soon that would keep her in her early forties but she passed for a decade younger than she was, maybe more.

Amy had hair that ran shades of light brown to what you could call dirty blond. Coupled with legs and an ass that stop traffic, she would catch attention even if they only saw her from behind. Anyone lucky enough to see her coming toward them was treated to a smile that was contagious and real. It extended to her blue eyes and drew just enough attention to make you forget that you were just caught staring at her tits. They hadn't changed since she was in her twenties, so that was easy to do.

Smart, funny, and sexy, she is the woman guys want to meet. They hoped to bang and keep a hold of her. Women would mentally be shipping her in minutes with a brother or a best friend, if they weren't looking for something for themselves, but she was friendly and soon they would be asking her to join them on their next girls' night out.

A day trip meant she would be home with enough time to check on everyone and still be ready for the start of the weekend. She felt her phone buzz while she was talking but she never checked it while she was still having a conversation with anyone. Somehow, she knew the person on the other end could tell; she could tell. Sometimes she would forget to check, sometimes she was simply in the middle of a hundred things. When she hung up, she made her way to her text messages. Three new messages were read and replied to and she still had an hour and thirty-five minutes before her dinner date would be in the driveway.

Calling Cal a dinner date would not really be accurate. She wasn't really sure what he was anymore, and wasn't sure a label was appropriate for the moment any way. They'd known each other since about the time they were learning to drive.

Almost ten years ago they'd kissed during a night out; a really good kiss. So good it required a couple immediate follow ups just to be sure it wasn't a fluke. She'd always worried it could be weird, while he never did. Instead he worried he could be wrong, so it happened later than it should have.

The jury came back unanimous though, that was definitely not weird. What it was, as it turned out, was too late, but it stuck with her. Funny how that works sometimes. They'd stayed close, visits, birthdays, parties, texts and the like but the spark that night never happened again. When she finally made the decision to return home to help care for and be closer to family, the chance to reconnect was bound to follow even if it wasn't exactly well planned.

As far as Cal Berchmann was concerned, the rain was a pain in the ass. Where there had once been thin, blonde hair there was now was a shaved head that let rain simply roll down his face. When it was cold like this, it was much less than pleasant. Sporting a beard that gave up more of the copper red to grey each year, he could look intimidating but the minute he smiled that was out the window. He was slower to get moving nowadays, the effect of a lifetime of carrying more weight than what the body was designed to haul. He was bright, had a sense of humor and quick wit, a knack for trivia and lyrics and had finally regained some of the confidence he'd had before life had got a little sideways on him.

When he showed up, Cal knocked and let himself in, all the better as Amy had just started the finishing touches to the "last" work email of the day. As he wiped the rain from his face, he crossed the kitchen, turned the corner and saw her. When he reached her, his hands found her face, leaving his thumbs nestled between her ears and her jaw. She looked up, surprised but not scared. Their eyes met briefly before closing while he leaned down and brought her lips to his.

It was the kind of kiss you feel radiate through your body, feeling like heat surging from your core through your arms and legs, leaving you momentarily dazed, but hungry for more of whatever that was. Deep. Addicting. Powerful and fucking heavy.

Just before he broke the kiss he drew back slightly, then sucked on and playfully bit at her lower lip. He opened his eyes as he pulled away, looking for a reaction beyond what her lips and his ears had told him in the moment. Still holding her, he watched as her eyes seemed to get bigger without opening and imagined she was trying to regain a respectable level of composure by shaking off fog of what just happened. He smiled.

"Damn Berchmann," she finally said as she opened her eyes, "That's new."

"Took a chance. It felt good to me," he answered smiling, "looked like it felt good to you."

"Right out of the gate. I wasn't expecting that. Fuck." She said as she was finally coming back to center.

He replied without hesitation, it was part of the dynamic of the relationship, "Right now?"

"We'd miss dinner and then you'd be sad," she smirked playfully.

"I can miss a meal. Hell, I can miss a number of meals," he said, putting on the glasses he wore after pulling them from the shirt pocket where he had stowed them before he came in from the rain.

"Do you want to grab a drink here or just head downtown?" she posed as she found her purse and applied chapstick and walked down the hall.

"Let's burn up the town. Are you ready now or do you need a minute? Last chance to use me for sex!" his words rang through the small house to her bedroom. "No? Fine. I'm parked behind you, I'll drive."

"We're going to get you some food. Never know, you might need the energy," she toyed, patting his chest as she passed him and put her other arm through the sleeve of her coat.

They made their way to his car in the rain. After he started the car the stereo cut in mid-song, "...the pull of your heart, I taste the sparks on your tongue," before he turned it down and tapped two buttons on the console.

"Butt warmers. Better than a remote start," he exclaimed with far too much glee.

Drinks and dinner were pleasant. They laughed and brought each other up to speed on the latest with family and friends. Minutes passed quickly as they did when they were together and soon he was fidgeting, trying to keep that churning creature desire from making its way through him again.

From time to time he would catch himself staring at her and letting the words just float past him, at once fighting the beast inside him down while absorbing silly shit like how she hiked her pants up when she stood to use the ladies room, or how she sneezed like a little girl. Finally, the monster won.

"So I want to talk to you about something," he finally blurted after swallowing the last of his drink.

"Am I going to need another drink for this?" she said, with no discernible change to her demeanor. She guessed she might know what was coming.

"It won't hurt," he smiled and gestured for another round. "I might be wrong, but I'm feeling like I'm pulling back from shit I would normally just ask you about, from plans I'd want to make with you. Like your birthday or what you're doing for New Years, but I'm not asking. It's because I don't want to feel like I'm pushing you toward anything you aren't really wanting or ready for-"

"That's silly. It's the same as I said before," she interjected.

"... or whatever. I know you have things you're working on, other priorities and I get it if you don't feel ready. I also know I don't want to feel like I'm a burden for wanting to do things with you. I don't want something I want to be an emotional drag on you," he paused as what she said registered, then he started again. "It's the same as before? So, if you weren't okay with it, you wouldn't allow it to happen?" he asked.

"Yes, the same as before."

"Good. Because I can't tell you anything new, I don't have any information that would have any impact on your thoughts about me or on how, or if this progresses. But I keep wanting to tell you things I want to do with you. To do to you," he paused, collecting his thoughts and taking a long time to swallow the first gulp of his new drink. "You're brilliant. You're brave. You're gorgeous. You're funny. You have the biggest goddamn heart and you are the sexiest fucking woman I have ever been with. And you're my best friend. So, I'm just going to show you."

"And now the hello kiss makes sense. What do you mean 'show me'; show me how?" she posed to him.

"It was a start, yeah," he raised his brow and nodded to reinforce her perception of the kiss. "Every time we've pushed the envelope, we found the other side was better than we expected; the kiss, sex, they were better than good, they were fucking awesome. Spend the weekend with me. Let's push it again. Spend the weekend with me like two adults who enjoy each others company who don't have any self imposed limits. If it comes to mind, let's talk about it, let's try it. Nothings off the table," he had made his pitch.

"I'll start. I've been waiting weeks to taste you again and I want to fuck you until neither of us is more than a pile of shaking, sweaty, sex wound up in sheets. I love the heat of being inside you, and I crave hearing you gasp to get breath again after you cum. I want to make that happen right now. Let's see what this slow burn looks like when we give it some room to breathe. If we're caught in a goddamn inferno at least we know we're with someone we trust and we'll see how we feel afterward," he said assertively but with a calm he had not felt before.

"I can't do that," she said, shaking her head, "for starters I'd have no clothes. Not to mention so many other things."

"You can too. I know you can. Really hoping we won't need clothes but if we do, we'll buy them. We can go right now, there is nothing stopping us. Nothing but us stopping us," he countered, hoping that he wasn't already pleading a lost cause. "If it doesn't feel right we'll come home after a night."

"I can't just go now," she said swirling her drink, "I have to go home. There are some things I'll need if I'm really going to go away with you," she said, finally letting him off the hook.

"Okay, we can be there and gone in five minutes," he replied doing his best to take action before either of them changed their minds, "what do you need, meds?"

"Not just meds. If we're going to play with matches and spend the weekend together, there are a couple things I want to pack," she answered.

"I wouldn't worry about that," he said, "Oh, I dunno, I think we'll be just fine."