House on Fire

Chapter 63

  We retreated to my room, where Jessie laid down on my bed.

  “Come here, lover. I haven’t had a decent kiss in an hour.”

  We lay close together and smooched, her fingers in my hair and my hand pressing the small of her back. “My God, how I love you, girl,” I whispered into her ear.

  “Ahhh, I like that! It makes me goosebumpy and dizzy. Do it again!” So I did, of course.

  “Oh yeah, that’s good. Mmm. Here you try it.”

  I turned my head and felt her warm breath on my neck; that was nice. She kissed my earlobe. I don’t know what possessed her do it – it wasn’t something I’d have guessed was exceptionally pleasant, but it curled my toes.

  Then she put her lips right to my ear and whispered, “Oh, what I’m going to do to you tonight.” It was a great sentiment, but sensory overload. I jerked away and shook my head like a wet dog.

  “What? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, but the word in the ear thing doesn’t do it for me. It’s too intense to enjoy.” She looked discouraged.

  “I thought you’d like it, too. I’m sorry.”

  “You can’t be sorry; this’s the process. I don’t know what I like or what I don’t yet. How the heck could you know? We’ll just have to try everything and see what works, okay? We’ll get to know each other as we get to know ourselves.”

  “That makes sense.” She giggled, “Can we try some stuff more than once?”

  “Definitely. Like that earlobe thing? You can try that as often as you like. I’d never have thought that would feel so good.”

  “Oh, you like that? Excellent – let me try it again.” And she did.

  “Yeah, that’s the spot, mmm.” She tried several variations of the theme, and I told her whether it worked or not. Nibbling was right on the edge of too much, but just breathing in my ear was fine without words.

  Eventually I got too sensitive and it was her turn. For her it was the neck – but just a few particular spots – that were sensitive. Just like me, there was stuff she liked and stuff she didn’t.

  “There are so many possibilities; this could take days, years.”

  “Decades I hope, Sis.”

  “I told you, I don’t like that. I don’t want to be your Sis or Sissy anymore.”

  “Hmm, fair enough. Please remind me if l forget – I’ve done it a long time, and it’ll probably be hard to break the habit.”

  “If I remind you, will you think I’m nagging?”

  I laughed. “I promise to listen to your heart. Jessie, you’re so dear to me, I’d do anything for your pleasure. How can I be upset if you’re helping me make you happy?”

  She hugged me and kissed my cheek. “Wow, you really get it. Thank you.”

  “So that’s another thing, just like an earlobe. Do you have any other pet names you hate?”

  “Well, let’s see. Dear – that’d be creepy. That’s what Dad calls Mom. And not Bug, that’s Dad’s, too. I don’t even like that when he uses it in front of other people. Other than those, nothing too cutesy, okay? Especially in public. You call me Honey-Muffin and I’ll puke on you. Just try them out, and I’ll let you know. How about you?”

  “Me? Huh. I can’t think of anything – you usually just call me Cory. I like that, though, lots. You can call me that anytime. Last night you called me sweetheart, or maybe sweetie. Those are good, but I love it when you say my name.”

  “Yeah,” she cooed, “I like hearing you say my name, too.” So I did, in her ear, and kissed her one of those neck places. She shivered and snickered.

  We lay on my quilt, whispering and giggling. My heart was light and free like never before – no shame or guilt, worry or anger, just pure joy.

  There was a soft knock on the door.

  “Hey, lovebirds! Come and say goodbye to Mrs. Peterson.”

  We complied, a little grudgingly.

  She asked if we had any questions, but neither of us could think of one.

  “You will, I’m sure. Here is my business card. There’s an eight-hundred number on it. Call it anytime night or day, and they’ll get hold of me. I’ll talk to you as soon as everything’s official.”

  Dad shook her hand and we thanked her again. She walked out into the snow in her high heels. The headlights of the rental car shone through the living room window as she backed out onto the street.

  “I’ll be back in a sec.” Jessie disappeared down the hall, presumably to the bathroom.

  “Well, now. That was fun!” said Dad. His face smiled, but his eyes looked tired and sad. “Tomorrow we’ll talk about moving and such. Tonight there’s one more...”

  He was interrupted by a pair of headlights pulling into the driveway.

  “She must’ve forgotten something.”