This is the mother/son version of a set of four separate, three-part stories. All are basically the same with slightly different character relationships. "It Doesn't Count" involves a brother and sister, "A Mother's Lust" involves a mother and son, "It Doesn't Matter" involves an older woman and her daughter's young ex-boyfriend, while "It Shouldn't Matter" involves a young woman and her younger sister's ex-boyfriend. You can read any or all of them, according to your tastes, but the vast majority of all parts of all stories are the same.
This is the third of three parts in the "A Mother's Lust" short series.
-- The Author
*
Nicci waited nervously in the bar, sipping her drink. It had been almost a week since their last encounter. They'd talked some, and met for lunch, but neither mentioned any of the events of the weekend. They flirted a bit with each other, but not much. It was as if none of it had ever happened. Now it had grown unexpectedly awkward.
It was all so close to incest, it was hard to ignore. Yet Nicci didn't feel the slightest bit guilty. It didn't bother her that they'd gone as far as they did. It bothered her that they hadn't gone farther. But she was afraid now that Danny never would, or worse yet that it might have driven them further apart. She couldn't bear that.
And she wasn't sure what he thought of her now. Was she a slut in her own son's eyes? Had he decided she'd gone too far? Had she ruined everything?
At least he'd agreed to meet her here, at a pub on a Friday evening. That was a good sign.
* * *
Dan's mother sat primly and properly at the bar, seeming stiff and distant. She must be embarrassed, Dan thought. Or she could be having second thoughts about everything. He'd never imagined she could be this bold, not his mother. She was careful, and reserved, even timid. She could be the life of any party if she ever tried, with her smile and her looks and her wit, but she always chose to hang back and play it safe.
He'd never seen such a beautiful, sexy wall-flower in his life. He couldn't understand why she was so reserved and insecure.
At least, she had been until they had started their game. Then she seemed to change before his eyes.
Not entirely change, Dan thought. She'd always acted that way with him, to some degree. She was always more open, and more in control, and more self confident with him. It was almost like she was a different person for him than for everyone else. She was always the loving, protecting mother for her little boy.
But now she seemed to be backing off.
"How was your day?" he asked her.
"Good."
"Just good?"
"Long. The day dragged on forever. The whole week has."
"Because you couldn't wait to see me?"
Dan regretted it the moment he'd said it. It sounded needy. He hated that, and he knew women hated that. Women didn't like needy, insecure guys. They liked a guy in control, a guy brimming with confidence.
But his mother brightened at the comment. She smiled widely, then tried to hide it by taking a sip of her drink while fighting it back.
"Yes, a bit," she said after composing herself and swallowing.
* * *
They talked for a while about different things, stupid, meaningless things. Danny was a lot more comfortable and relaxed than Nicci had expected. She started to think she'd had it all wrong. She got her confidence back. She decided it was time for one more try.
"My next exams are going to be a bitch," he was explaining. "Too much blowing off lately, and the courses are a lot tougher than my friends lead me to believe. I thought this semester was going to be a breeze."
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It's not your fault they're tough, or that I've been blowing off."
"No, not about that. I owe you an apology. I'm sorry."
"So I'm going to have to study harder. Maybe stay up an hour later every night, trying to catch up."
"It was my fault, not yours. I am sorry."
Dan was avoiding her gaze, looking into his drink.
"You don't ever have to apologize for anything, Mom. I'm a grown man, now. I do what I want. You haven't made me do anything."
"Not for that, silly. When you were sixteen."
That got his attention. He looked at her with an expression of confusion held in check.
"Sixteen?"
"Yes, when I grounded you. For a month."
"That doesn't narrow it much. I was always grounded, and it always seemed like it was for years."
"When you walked in on me, naked."
"How was that your fault, except for the way you carried on about it? Man, I was grounded and I didn't even see much of anything. And it really was an accident. Really."
"No it wasn't."
"It was. I swear it was."
"It wasn't. I tricked you into doing it."
"What?"
His eyes were wide now. She'd gotten a good rise out of him with that.
"I left the door ajar. I purposely took the shower knowing you were upstairs. I purposely left the shower on so you'd think I was still in it. I purposely took the CD you were looking for and put it in my room."
"You set the whole thing up? Just so you could ground me?"
"No! God, no. I never wanted to punish you. I didn't think my friend would come up just then and catch you. Us. I thought she'd just stay downstairs and wait for me to get ready."
"Why, then?"
"I wanted you to see me," Nicci said into her glass, unable to meet his angry glare.
He didn't answer her. She didn't think he'd be this angry.
"I didn't expect Lisa to come in, and when she did, I panicked. I was afraid everyone would realize what I'd done, so I threw a hissy fit, and made a big deal out of being embarrassed."
"You wanted me to see you?"
"I felt so bad that night. I put everything on you, and it was horrible. You were grounded, my friends talked about you being a pervert, the tension for the next week was unbearable, and it was all my fault."
Nicci stared into her glass again, reliving all of the shame and guilt she'd felt back then.
"It was worth it," Danny said.
Nicci snapped her head up to look into his eyes. His expression was hard and emotionless, but after a moment his mouth widened into a grin, and once again Nicci melted.
"It was worth every bit of it, even for as little as I saw. I virtually fell in love with you that day. At least, I knew what I liked in a woman. Physically, I mean."
Now it was Nicci's turn to smile broadly. She watched and warmed and melted some more as Danny's gaze kept dropping to her mouth, and her smile, before pulling back up to look deeply into her eyes.
"Um, do you want to come to my place for dinner tonight?" she asked.
She could hear her voice shiver as she said it. Inside she slapped herself. She sounded like a little girl, shyly asking a guy out on a date. That wasn't how she wanted it to come out.
Danny's smile faded. Now it was his turn again to look into his glass, then look around the bar.