Always and Forever You

Always and Forever You Pt. 06

"What's taking them so long? They left the restaurant an hour before us, and we stopped at the store."

I paced back and forth on the marble floor in front of the grand piano. This was the most elegant room I'd ever been in, but I couldn't enjoy it until Lily was here. Why wasn't she answering my calls? I shouldn't have left her alone with Nya. I didn't know anything about Devon's friend other than the fact that she wanted to fuck Lily. I checked my watch for the hundredth time. It was now two and a half hours since we'd parted. More than enough time for Nya to make a move. Or what if something bad...

"Nya just texted." Devon said from behind me. "They're pulling into the garage now. They also made a stop. Trust me, it was a good stop."

I turned, relieved, but annoyed. "About fucking time. You know we weren't supposed to let each other out of our sights. Remember, her dad is a worrier."

"Her dad...yes." Devon smiled sympathetically, and took my hands. "It's going to be a really great night."

Now that Lily was safe, I was able to appreciate my surroundings. This penthouse apartment sat at the top of a 30-story beach front high-rise. While I'd grown accustomed to the sight of the ocean from our hotel balcony, this was on another level entirely. One full wall was floor to ceiling glass, leading out onto the balcony overlooking Fort Lauderdale beach. The balcony rail itself was also clear so there was no barrier to the view of the Atlantic ocean.

"Damn, this is something," I said, taking it all in.

"I'm in love with this place," Devon replied. "Nya and I try to come as much as possible when the Castros are out of town. Just look carefully at the decor." She made a sweeping gesture with her hand across the room.

"Oh wow! It's all black and white."

"Isn't it amazing what they did? Once they saw the white marble floors, they decided it would only be black and white appointments. With one exception."

"Red!" I noticed it instantly. Small, dark red highlights were scattered throughout. Red glass roses in a white vase on the piano, a few red figurines on the black bookshelves, a Chinese carving on the wall, the wood a deep cherry color.

"Beautiful, right? Imagine how these pictures are going to look."

I looked down and frowned at the yellow sundress I was wearing. "I wish I'd known this ahead of time. I'm not coordinating very well here."

Devon giggled. "No worries, gorgeous. You two are going to look beautiful in your pictures."

There was movement in the outer hall and then Lily and Nya entered the apartment. Lily held up a pair of two-toned pink striped Victoria's Secret bags. "Surprise Rosa-

belle

, I bring gifts."

"This is a picture by itself." I teased. "Lily has never stepped foot in that store before." I walked up to her and gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. "I was worried when you took so long. You didn't answer your phone," I whispered.

I love you too.

Lily responded silently, and held up one of the bags excitedly. "I picked the outfit, but Nya chose the color. In fact, she chose both our colors."

"That's because I know Devon's eye, and what she's going to do with these pictures," Nya said.

"Go into the bedrooms and get changed," Devon said. "Nya and I will pour the drinks and get ready."

I was leading Lily toward the bedrooms when Devon called out, "Hey wait, don't get changed in the same room. I want to capture your reactions when you see each other."

Lily squeezed my hand. "Oh, she's really good."

___________________

I stood before the full-length mirror, my body trembling as I stared back at myself in the white lace and satin slip. I'd never worn anything like this before, and while it was exciting that Lily selected it for me, It was scary as fuck, because I'd be on display in front of Devon and Nya. The lace across the chest exposed my breasts, highlighting the darkness of the areola and nipples, already hard from the fear whirling around my mind.

I turned so I could look at my back in the mirror. The purchase hadn't included panties, and the pink ones I'd been wearing didn't go, so I left them behind with my sundress. The slip came to mid-thigh and wasn't lace down there, so I'd be ok without them. I checked myself one more time, and then with a deep breath for self-encouragement, walked back into the living room.

Jesus! Wow!

Our silent communication came in unison when we saw each other like this for the first time.

Lily stood in the center of the room, a perfect little splash of red against the monochrome decor. I hadn't made the connection when I'd unwrapped my white lingerie, but Nya had chosen the colors with care. Lily wore a ruby-colored satin and lace cami set. The shorts were high cut on her hips, baring the softness of her thighs. The v-neck lace trim on the spaghetti-strapped top teased the whiteness of her small cleavage. Just enough visible to make me want to see more.

We moved toward one another. Lily's face expressed a yearning that penetrated my body, and until I heard the click of the camera's shutter, I'd forgotten we weren't the only ones in the room.

"You two are among the best models I've ever worked with. The chemistry is electric." Devon came closer, shooting pictures from different angles.

"Clearly Devon hasn't been in the business very long." Lily replied, and that made all of us laugh. I adored her dry humor.

"Tell me, both of you, What was the first thing you noticed about the other?" Devon's voice was soft now. Needy.

"This cami makes you look taller," I said, describing the high cut of Lily's shorts, with my fingers tracing along her edges.

"Oh, then I'll wear it out everywhere."

"What about Rosa? What did you notice first, Lily?" Nya asked.

"Her dark skin against the pure white. I always liked her in this color, but I'm just crazy in lust with her now.

Fuck.

"

"That's what I wanted to hear," Devon said. "You're good at this little game, Lily." She turned back to me. "Aside from looking taller, what else draws you in?"

"Her shoulders... and her arms." I almost left it at that, but I took a step toward Lily and she was within my reach. My hands touched the red cami straps on her shoulders. My fingertips traced down the baby-soft skin of her bicep, and upon reaching her elbow, I made the turn toward her wrist along an even softer inner arm, until we were holding hands. "I've always had this little obsession with your bare arms. I know, it's weird," I locked eyes with Lily.

Devon, who had been snapping pictures of my fingers' path, came in for a close shot of our faces in profile, and also of our clasped hands. "What do you think it is about them, Rosa?"

"Oh, I don't know," I answered sheepishly.

"Don't be embarrassed. Surrender to the moment." Devon insisted.

"Her bare arms, the way they feel like silk, and the way the fine little peach fuzz looks against her fair skin. Even before...

all this

... I'd sometimes find myself imagining my lips on them." My fingers were trembling, but on the move again before I realized.

Lily looked hypnotized by my words. She stepped closer and held her arm out. "Please, do it..." Her voice was weak, and she struggled with her breathing.

My mouth followed the path I'd visualized. The skin on Lily's wrist felt cool and the scent of it was enhanced by the slight wetness from my lips. I surrendered to the moment. I'd been intimate with her several times this week already, but with Devon's blessing and encouragement, my mind felt clearer now. I supported Lily's arm, while I leaned in to continue my mouth's journey up toward the curve of her shoulder. The soft fuzz along her skin tickled my lips along the way.

Lily's body was no longer frail from the disease that left her bones exposed a little more than a year ago. This shoulder was beautiful again, and I pushed those horrible memories out of my head. At some point, I noticed the clicking of the camera had stopped. Off to our side was Devon, her camera hanging untouched around her neck, just watching. I felt self-conscious. Lily's eyes were closed, lost in the sensations from my lips. She didn't care about Devon...or Nya, who was seated on the sofa, watching Lily's responses with an envious craving. That ignited my desire to press on.

A soft sound came from Lily's mouth when I reached her neck. I found myself in her arms now, and the feeling of her satin and skin against me was so arousing. I was on display, and my heart rate sped up. I needed to stop, focus on the photo shoot until we were alone. But Lily's lips had other plans for me. Our mouths were suddenly locked, tender and lascivious all at once, and by the time I heard the camera clicking again, I didn't even care that the other two girls were there.

"I can feel their heat from over here." Nya's accented voice brought me back. She was still sitting across the room, her arms wrapped around her bare legs propped up in front of her on the sofa.

"Like seriously, you two are such a turn-on. I'm trying to focus on the pictures but you're making it really fuckin' difficult," Devon said.

"Maybe if our counseling careers don't work out?" Lily asked me with a wink.

I felt embarrassed suddenly, and pulled back. My nipples were swollen against the lace front of the slip, and Nya wasn't wrong about the heat. I felt a warmth pooling inside me already, and I worried about leaving my underwear in the other room.

"Wait until you see these pictures," Devon said, skimming through the shots she'd just taken. "You're so damned sensual, and they totally capture your feelings." She walked over to Nya and held the camera out for her to see.

"Look at that kiss. Devon, you are an artist, darling."

"Rosa, tell me about this kiss?" Devon showed us the viewscreen on the back of her camera.

"Look at us, babe," Lily said excitedly. "You're fucking exquisite, but I can't even believe that's me."

I eyed my beautiful friend. She had always been that to me, but it wasn't the same anymore. I hoped Lily wasn't reading my thoughts. I tried to close certain things off, because I felt more and more certain our power was real. If Lily interpreted my thoughts as confusion about this evolving love, it might hurt her deeply. I'd want to die if I hurt her in any way. I caught Devon's eye, and our conversation at the bar came rushing back. "Let me help you mask those images you can't get out of your head," my new friend had said to me.

"That kiss..." I said looking at the camera's display again, "that kiss caught me off guard."

Lily, Devon, and Nya's expressions all told me they wanted more and that gave me strength.

"Lily has a long, sexy neck," I said.

"At least there's something on me that's long." Lily shot back dryly.

I pulled her close, ignoring her wit this time. "I've discovered this week how much I love kissing it. I was so lost in the moment, and then all of a sudden there was her mouth."

"She's a good kisser?" Nya's tone made her question sound more like a statement.

"She's the best kisser."

I want to kiss you forever,

I added silently.

"All the years you've been close, did you ever want to kiss each other?" Devon asked.

My face flushed. "Oh, I don't know. We've spent years together." I knew Devon's purpose tonight, but I struggled with baring my soul, even more than baring my body.

"Prior to this week, what was your most intimate encounter?" Nya asked from the sofa.

Painful memories flooded my mind. I tried to shield Lily from that trauma I carried over her illness, especially tonight when she was so happy.

I felt Lily's empathy. She knew what I was thinking, but shook her head. "No. It was before that," she whispered. "Remember?"

I understood immediately. "The night my grandfather died." I heard my own voice struggle with the words, even all these years later.

Lily took my hand and I felt her strength come through to me.

Devon's eyes saddened. "Oh, I was so close to my grandfather. Is this too painful to talk about?"

Lily intertwined our fingers, the way she had that night long ago. I knew she would remember what happened, but did she know my feelings then? Was that when our link was forged?

I sorted through the memory and fought back the discomfort of sharing something so personal. "My grandfather doted on me, I was his only grandchild. My grandmother died before I was born, and once I got here, I became his whole world." My emotions threatened to get the better of me.

"He was such a sweet man," Lily said. "And so cute. He always dressed up in a shirt and tie when he left the house, even to go to the corner store. Papi Bernardo was a total love."

I continued, "When we had to leave New York, Papi moved too. He got a little apartment close to us. He'd pick me up from school every day when I was younger. We spent a few hours together until my parents got home from work. On my birthday, every year from the first one, he'd buy me a red rose, one for each year. He said since my grandmother died, I was his one true love."

Lily's eyes were already wet, she knew where this story was heading. Devon and Nya were eager for more.

"The day after my sixteenth birthday, the day after he gave me sixteen beautiful red roses, he was getting onto the bus to go to the senior center. The bus from the center would pick the locals up each day and take them to lunch. He was stepping up onto the bus, and he got dizzy, and he fell backwards and hit his head on the curb." Recounting the story, I felt the horror of it, as if I'd witnessed the fall itself.

Devon winced. Nya shifted forward on the sofa, literally on the edge of her seat.

"They rushed him to the local hospital, but they ended up having to airlift him to Philadelphia. My parents pulled me out of school, and Lily insisted on coming with me. She marched into the office like a little General and forced the secretary to call her father so he would give permission for her to leave with us." I couldn't help but giggle through the memory of Lily's assertiveness.

"If you could have seen the look on her face," Lily said. "She was so scared, she was shaking. There was no way I was letting her out of my sight. Besides, I loved her grandfather as if he were my own."

"It was like a ninety minute drive to the hospital. He was already in surgery when we got there. I remember being so cold in that hospital. We were still in our uniforms, it was spring, and we were in skirts. The air conditioner was so fucking cold. Lily found us a blanket and we sat on the couch huddled together under it. Papi survived the operation, but there was nothing they could do. He had no brain activity. My father had to make the decision to take him off the machine. God, I fuckin' lost it. It was the most awful day of my life." I felt Lily's thumb softly stroking the back of my hand that she was holding."One of the most awful days," I corrected..

The girls were all crying openly now. I felt dumb suddenly. "I'm so sorry. This is going to be the second night I ruin for us."

"No...No, you're not ruining anything." Devon embraced me, and kissed my cheek. "That's so sad. But it's also context, isn't it?"

It took me a moment to understand what Devon meant, then remembered the original question, and couldn't help but chuckle through the tears. "Yes. Context." I led Lily by hand over to the black sofa, and positioned myself between her and Nya. I was careful that the slip didn't reveal that I wasn't wearing underwear. Devon sat across from us on the piano bench.

"It was dark, and we had this long drive back. My parents had a mini-van. The second row was two chairs and the third row was the bench. I was still hysterical when we left the hospital. We sat in the back, and I remember Lily held me so tight as I cried, and probably snotted all over her. She even stole the blanket from the hospital to cover us." Lily was holding my hand again, in her lap, skin against skin, bringing me back to that night in the van.

"I think I was so exhausted from crying, I just wanted to sleep. She let me curl up on the bench with my head laying in her lap."

Oh my God, I remember.

Lily's thoughts were loud in my head as she stiffened a little beside me.

Devon leaned forward, anxiously awaiting more.

"I was laying in her lap. She was wearing the uniform skirt and my cheek was against her bare legs. I remember the feel of her skin had this calming effect. I had been breathing kind of crazy, you know from crying for so long and I remember feeling my chest start to hurt. It was totally a panic attack. But as I was laying there, I just felt myself relax. She was holding me around my waist, under the blanket, and she slipped her hand up under my shirt, and was just softly stroking my stomach and my side with one hand, and she played with my hair with the other. I don't think I'd ever felt so close to anyone before."

As I was revealing the memory to them, additional images and thoughts that I had at the time flooded my mind, and I relayed them without hesitation. "I remember I needed to feel even more of her softness, and without thinking, my hand had slid under Lily's skirt... not in a sexual way... none of it was like that. I was just holding her as close as I could. My hand was resting on her upper thigh, just below her hip."

Suddenly it hit me like a truck. A need that I had long buried. "Oh wow..."

"Tell us!" Devon and Nya cried it out in unison and with desperation. Lily sat beside me, holding my hand. Her face told me she already understood.

"On that long ride home, as I lay on her, so fucking sad, feeling her bare legs against my face, and our hands on each other's skin, I thought that all I wanted to do was be free of those clothes. I just wanted to be able to lay snuggled up with her so tightly, completely naked, where just holding her like that would be able to take away some of the sadness. I wasn't thinking about sex, not at all."

"No, it was about being loved so strongly that it makes you feel safe when nothing else can." Nya said. "It's about wanting to feel so close to somebody that you want nothing between you, not clothes, not anything. It's about two people becoming one. That happens during lovemaking, but it can happen completely apart from it too."

Lily shifted slightly so she was facing me. "I remember that night. It was important for me to be there for you. Everything you just described, I felt it too," she said aloud.

The rest, she continued privately.

I've thought about the way it was to hold you that night so many times and then last year you gave that all back to me. You being there, protecting me through all of that, made me feel safer than I ever did before, and that's a fucking amazing thing considering what was happening.

"Sounds like that moment was so important to the both of you," Devon said, now holding the camera around her neck. "Do you want to try that again?"

I had difficulty processing the question. What did she mean? The confusion must have shown.

"I don't want you to relive the sad part," Devon said quickly. "I just think the picture would be meaningful to you both as you look at it in the future. I promise to delete it right away if you don't like it."

Lily patted my leg. She wanted to try.

"Right here?" I asked.

Nya got up off the sofa, allowing us room to spread out. Lily sat back and I stretched out to her right, pulling my legs up into a fetal position and laid my head on her thighs. Again, I worried about my bare crotch and pushed the slip down between my legs.

"Nya, way to go girl, picking these colors.. Look how good they look on that black sofa." Devon made adjustments to her camera, and used the viewscreen to gauge the potential shots from different angles. "Is this how it was?" She asked.