The debriefing from Pam the next day was quite short and to the point. She was clearly still peeved at having been abandoned by text, and was finding it hard to believe Kristen wasn't winding her up. "And you just let this other guy join in?"
"Uh-hmm," Kristen nodded. "I guess I thought, if you're going to do it..." She shrugged. "Go as far as you can."
"Weren't you worried he could turn rough on you?"
"Nah, he was a sweetie. Hardly said a word all night, but then I didn't bring him along for the conversation."
Pam shook her head. "I dunno, every time I think I've got you figured, you do something crazy like this."
"It's not like I let myself get dragged back to their lair," Kristen reminded her. "I drove them back here. And we had a very nice time, right through there." She pointed through the open door to the living room.
Pam's eyes widened. "What, you mean..."
"Well that sofa's had plenty of use recently, hasn't it? Might as well keep up the tradition. I don't think they'd had much luck lately, the way they both went at me. Things got a little messy at the end." Pam wrinkled her nose slightly, and Kristen realised that was probably TMI. "The shower must feel the same way as you, it gave out on me afterwards just when I really needed it."
"Look, I'm not a prude or anything," Pam protested, and then lapsed into silence. "OK, maybe I am a bit of a prude. You've got a lot more courage than me."
"More like desperation. It's funny how far you'll go when you really, really need something."
Pam's lips curled into a faint smile, and she rested her chin on her hand as she stared back at Kristen. "So you really needed this, did you?"
"Hon, you have
no
idea." Kristen sipped at her coffee, keeping her innermost thoughts to herself.
Kristen spent the next few days wondering what her next move should be. She knew that another attempt at a club pick-up wasn't wise, and that she wanted something a little different from a night like that anyway. The next time she was with a man she felt ready to take the lead all the way through, and make him play at her pace. The only problem, as always, was finding the right guy to experiment on. With, she corrected herself. She meant with.
She was still spending far too long daydreaming about sex when she finally got round to having her shower fixed. As she'd had to take the whole day off work for it, there was nothing to help her focus on something more constructive. When the repair man arrived at last, she wasted no time in showing him what the problem was and leaving him to it. She settled down on the couch and put something mindless on the TV.
After a few minutes she heard the faint sound of running water upstairs as he tested the showerhead. An amusing little thought occurred to her and she sank back against the cushions with a laugh. As she stared blankly up at the ceiling, the same thought returned to her and her pulse began to quicken and her mouth dry up. It was ridiculous, but not impossible, she told herself. Not at all. She fidgeted around on the couch for another minute, debating with herself while her heart did cartwheels. Then she got up, went into the hall and crept slowly up the stairs, tiptoeing as if she were an intruder in her own home.
She stepped carefully past the bathroom, down the landing and into her own room. When she was sure she hadn't been heard, she reached for the bathrobe she had slung lazily over a chair and placed it in front of her on the bed. Silently she began to undress, leaving her clothes strewn on the carpet, out of sight of the landing. When she was finished she put on the robe, tied the cord tightly round her waist and sat back on the bed, her knees together in front of her like a naughty little girl.
It seemed to take an eternity for the plumber to finish his work, and in that time Kristen had plenty of opportunity to change her mind, but she gritted her teeth, shrugged and thought, "Why the hell not?" When at last he was done, she rolled over onto her side and tried to look as casual as possible, like she'd just decided to have a lie down while he was working. She heard him step onto the landing, and gave an unsubtle cough to point out her location.
He popped his head round the door, taking in the fact that she had changed her clothes at once. "Um, I think it should be all fixed now," he said, jerking a thumb back towards the bathroom. Kristen glanced up innocently at him. He was in his late forties, with a somewhat craggy, lined face, but he had a pleasant smile and an air of confidence about him, as though he would be difficult to faze. She'd have to see about that.
"Thanks, you're a life saver!" she exclaimed, sliding herself off the bed with a show of enthusiasm but still managing to preserve her modesty. She followed him down the hall to the bathroom, her heart pounding away frantically. She stood beside him patiently as he explained what had gone wrong with the shower, the technical details washing vacantly over her more than they ever had done. When he stopped, she took a deep breath and announced, "Well, I think I'm just about ready to try this out now. It's been long enough."
"Sure thing," he said, reaching into his shirt pocket for a slip of paper. "Just settle up, and then I'll leave you to it..."
"Is that a good idea?"
"What do you mean?" he asked in puzzlement.
"Well," Kristen said, her mouth now positively burning, "if you want to be sure it works, it's best if I test it out now, isn't it? That way you can see it for yourself." As the words left her throat, she saw his eyes narrow and the bridge of his nose pinch in suspicion.
Before he had a chance to say anything else, she reached for the robe round her waist, untied the knot and dropped the garment round her ankles, keeping her gaze straight ahead and well away from him. She stepped forward towards the shower, silently praying that she wasn't about to hear the sound of him protesting, rushing out, making her feel like the freak she knew she was. But thankfully she had figured him right, and there was no sound. There was only the noise of her fiddling with the showerhead as she had done thousands of times before; despite it having just been fixed, right now it was harder to work than ever.
When she had finally got the water flowing, she took another deep breath and turned to face the repair man, who was standing dead still with his eyes fixed on her. "You might as well get comfortable," she said, gesturing towards the toilet seat. "I'm going to be here for a while." He edged slowly over to the toilet and sat down, his legs stretched awkwardly in front of him. Kristen hoped to him have sitting even more uncomfortably by the time she was done.
She reached for the soap beside her and lathered her hands, just as she always did. She had already decided that rather than try some elaborate strip show she was going to have a normal wash, not least because she needed one; there would just be something extra added on for his benefit. She smeared the soap across her breasts and down her thighs, lifting her legs one by one to reach her feet. She gave him an easy smile as she did so, wanting to break into conversation to lighten the mood but somehow knowing that he wouldn't be up to it. This kind of thing did tend to use up all of a man's attention at once.
With a captive audience she stood up to her full height and began to soak herself in the water, letting it run through her hair and down her chest. She took plenty of time, gradually dispelling her remaining nerves. For all that the idea had tantalised her, she had wondered how she would feel when she was actually here in front of him, stark naked and touching herself. Now a strange kind of relaxation swept over her, as real and vivid as her excitement. She knew she had nothing to be embarrassed about physically, and the sheer brazenness of what she was doing certainly hadn't put him off. Soon she was comfortable enough to begin giving him that show after all, but strictly on her terms.
Holding one hand against the shower cubicle, she closed her eyes and reached down with her other hand to her pussy, spreading her labia apart. She took a deep breath, suddenly keenly aware of everything; the warm water cascading down her neck and shoulders, the cold marble beneath her toes, and the air against her exposed crotch. She had feared that once she got started she would dry up in every sense, and be left standing there trying to get something going; but a few feels around her clit told her otherwise, straight away. She realised she would have to be careful, or she'd be done in about thirty seconds.
Kristen extended two fingers and began gently circling her clit. She edged back against the wall, her legs spreading wider and wider as she increased the pace. With her eyes shut she was momentarily lost in her own little world of pleasure; then she reminded herself that this was not a private viewing, and she hadn't intended it to be. Slowly, cautiously, she opened her eyes and let them drift over to the plumber, still sitting on the toilet. He had a half-smile on his face, but she could see from the angle of his legs, and the way he kept adjusting his stance slightly, that he was trying to manage something sizeable down there.
She smiled reassuringly at him, flicking a strand of sopping wet hair out of her face. With her other hand she enveloped her chest, then drew it back over her breasts, playing with each one in turn. As she looked down at her hardening nipples her mouth dropped open lasciviously, and she realised with an exhilarating rush that she wasn't having to fake any of this. Every move she made stemmed from her own inner desires, everything he saw was what she wanted him to see, and she was growing more uninhibited each minute. She bent her knees slightly and slid down the wall in an ungainly half-crouch as she really got to work, putting her wrist to the test.
