This is not just a holiday story but rather a tale of two newlyweds, Rachel and Geoffrey, who have begun a new holiday tradition on this, their first Hanukkah together. In the spirit of the holiday they are exchanging eight sexy gifts, one on each of the eight nights. You don't need to be Jewish to appreciate the story. Neither must you have read the other parts of the series but you might appreciate it more if you have. Enjoy!
"But does it have to be tonight?" he asked, sounding truly disappointed. We were both getting dressed this morning when I broke the news to him.
"Geoffrey, she's my oldest friend from college and she's only in town this week. I know we have this new Hanukkah tradition and everything but I hardly ever get to see her now that she's living in Los Angeles." In truth I'd been planning her visit for almost two weeks now and even the idea of it made me tingle all over.
"Rach, you know how much I like Jessica but I just...I'd hoped we'd have plenty of together time tonight." I knew that "together time" was only half of the story. Tonight was his turn to get a sexy present from me and he was anxious. He looked at me with those sad puppy dog eyes that I otherwise would have been unable to resist.
"Tell you what, Geoff. How about we have a nice holiday dinner with you and Jessica and I tonight, and I'll make it up to you tomorrow or something. Won't that be okay?" He lamely nodded. I knew he liked Jessica. They'd met several times before, most recently at our wedding. If it weren't for this new holiday custom he'd have welcomed the idea of us visiting enthusiastically.
Jessica really was one of my dearest friends. We were practically inseparable in college, and now that we were distanced by geography, we still visited each other as often as we could and caught up in between with phone calls late into the night.
~~~
When Geoffrey proposed this new sexy holiday tradition, I thought long and hard about what he'd like most. Although I rarely talked to Geoffrey about it, some of my sexiest fantasies involved my friend Jessica. Never for a minute did I consider myself to be a lesbian. I like big strong men too much. But there was something so charming and cuddly about her.
Jessica was very cute. Not a stunning beauty but there was something about the way she touched your shoulder when she talked or leaned in intimately close when she whispered in your ear. She exuded an easygoing sensuality and no one, it seemed, was immune. She had many men chasing her in college but she never really seemed to connect with any. Such was the case now, when she let me know last month that she had broken up with her latest love. This holiday she planned to stay with her parents here in town for the holiday.
Nearly two weeks ago I sat on the edge of the bed staring at the phone in my hand. My mind wandered back to college days when we roomed together and were as inseparable as sisters, with no secrets between us. Many nights we would climb into each other's bed talking until all hours of the night about the disastrous date we'd be on that night, or more often about our dreams for the future.
Living in the close quarters of a dorm room didn't afford us any room for modesty, which was just as well. We felt very comfortable together. Occasionally when she wasn't looking, I would steal glances at her beautiful naked body. Once or twice when I was changing, I thought maybe I caught her looking at me too but I never asked. People often assumed we were sisters since we spoke and looked somewhat alike, except her hair was beautiful chestnut brown next to my auburn and she was taller and statuesque while I had more curves. Everything about her oozed sexuality, from her pert little breasts to her sexy lilting grin that made men melt.
I closed my eyes, remembering a cool September night during our senior year. I was sitting at my desk, wearing a t-shirt and panties. The room was lit by one small desk lamp. I sat hunched over my books studying for my midterm. Jess was out with her latest love, Jeremy, and it was getting pretty late. I stood up to stretch, peering out through the window to see Jess running into our building, looking pretty upset. When she came in, she threw her coat on the bed and pulled out a bottle of Kahlua.
"Men suck," she announced, rummaging through the cabinets looking for plastic cups. Closing my books for the night, I sat on my bed while she poured us drinks. She'd had a bad night and I knew from experience that it was best not to ask questions but rather to listen until she spilled her guts. She shut off the desk lamp and started to change as I sipped the sweet brown liquor. The moonlight on her pale skin was breathtaking, or maybe that was just the Kahlua, I thought as she quickly stripped in front of me and put on a little t-shirt. Joining me in the bed, we cuddled up under the covers and she told me all about her disaster of an evening and how she caught Jeremy kissing some other woman in the back room at a party.
"Man, and I really liked him," she said, looking genuinely disappointed. It killed me to see her so upset and I moved to pull her close. Wrapping arms around each other, I hugged her, wishing I could protect her from hurtful things. The hug seemed to last for many minutes and I went from having maternal feelings to becoming acutely aware that our breasts were pushed together separated only by thin cotton t-shirts. Neither of us let go though and I was too afraid to say anything for fear of ruining the moment.
Jessica pulled away first, leaning close to me and looking directly into my eyes.
"You're a good friend, Rachel," she whispered, "And cuddly, too." We both giggled at that. I brushed her hair from her forehand and she leaned closer. The faint smell of liquor on her breath whispered over my lips. Meeting her half way, I leaned over to close the distance, my lips on hers. I'd never kissed a girl before and I was struck with how very different it was than a man. Soft - and her tongue tickled against my lips. We spent hours that felt like minutes in my little single bed, our hands roaming over each other, exploring. Somehow this didn't feel like a random night of experimenting but more like a very natural expansion of our close friendship.
That semester flew by, with a handful more occasions like that night, but in the end we both decided that men were better. We both dated and soon enough the school year was over - and never since have I experienced anything like that with another woman. Nor had I really any desire to. Geoffrey had asked me once during post-coital pillow talk if I'd ever thought about being with another woman. Without going into details about who or exactly what happened, I did confess that I'd done a little experimenting in college. This led to an encore performance from Geoffrey, who clearly found the idea to be amazingly erotic.
And so it happens that here it is a few nights before the beginning of Hanukkah and here I am sitting on my couch staring at the phone in my hand. Dialing her number from memory, my stomach fluttering inside. I was so giddy and nervous I could barely contain myself. After a few minutes of small talk, I finally got to the point and held my breath for the response.
"Rach, are you serious?" She sounded a little shocked.
"Well, yeah, Jess. I mean, only if you are into it. And it would just be a sort of one-time thing, no strings attached." Only silence on the phone, and suddenly I started to doubt how good an idea this was. The last thing I'd ever want to do is ruin our friendship.
"I'm sorry, Jess. It was just an idea. Let's just forget it," I said, my voice trailing off in a mix of disappointment and embarrassment.
