Torquere Press Sips and Shots Read online

  “This is a great house.”

  Lisa smiled, leaning over the stove to stir something. “I love it. It’s really too big for just me, but I can’t give it up.”

  “I can understand why. It must take a lot of work, though.”

  “Well, gardening is a hobby I adore, fortunately, and I’m pretty handy with a hammer and a screwdriver. I manage okay.”

  I peered out the kitchen window at the back yard. It was larger than the front yard: wider, and deeper, too. There was a big patio right behind the house and a vegetable garden off to the right.

  Lisa appeared at my side. “The asparagus is from the garden, um... the tomatoes and the bib lettuce, too.” She touched the small of my back with a warm hand. “Sound good?”

  I turned my head and met her eyes. “Sounds great.”

  “Great.” She moved away again.

  “Can I help with anything?”

  “Nope, just have a seat,” she said. “Oh, actually, yes. Can you open the wine?”

  “Yep.” I took the bottle opener she handed me and headed into the dining room. She’d set two places, one at the head of the table and one off to the right. I opened the wine and was setting it out to breathe when she came out, hands full of food.

  “Hand me the--”

  I reached for a hot plate before she finished her request.

  “Thank you.”

  “This all smells amazing.”

  “Homemade spinach and feta ravioli, garlic marinara...”

  “Amazing.”

  “Sit down, please.”

  I sat, eager to taste, pleased to discover that at some point I’d lost the nervousness I’d been feeling all day. Probably as soon as Lisa smiled at me at the front door.

  Dinner was unbelievable. I must have told her so ten times as I savored the smooth flavor of the ravioli and dug into her garden fresh salad. We made small talk; Lisa asked about my folks and about my studies and I asked her about the house and how long she’d been teaching. But all of it was so clearly just to pass the time. Neither of us even skimmed the surface of what we both seemed to know was going to happen after dinner.

  It occurred to me suddenly that Lisa might not be saying anything on purpose. I didn’t know anything about academic politics, but it was possible that she wasn’t free to make the first move without reproach. And frankly, even if she could have, I was tired of waiting.

  “So I, uh... I forgot my lesson books.”

  “I noticed that when you arrived.”

  “I didn’t see any of your work out, either.”

  Lisa swallowed. “No. No, I suppose not.”

  “I watched your ass all through class on Thursday.”

  “I know.”

  We stood up at the same time. I don’t know who reached for whom first, but we were suddenly in an embrace, kissing at first and then tasting each other’s skin. “God, Lisa.”

  “Alice.”

  I pushed my hands up under her sweater and she tugged my dress up over my hips. The next thing I knew I was pressed up against the edge of her dining room table. My shoulder straps were down around my elbows and Lisa’s sweater was... somewhere. Probably on the floor.

  “Want you, Alice.” She pulled my panties off and went to her knees.

  “Oh, fuck.” I was already having trouble breathing before her tongue touched me. “Oh!” I spread my legs wide, wanting more. Wanting everything she wanted to give me. Right then. “Lisa!”

  Her tongue circled my clit and then dove inside me over and over. I had terrible leverage and I couldn’t rock into her the way I wanted to and I whined in frustration.

  “Can I fuck you?” Lisa whispered.

  “Yeah. Yeah... anything you want.”

  She took me by the hand and led me upstairs.

  That was the first time anyone had worn a harness in bed with me. The dildo was thick but not too long, and she completely filled me with it, thrusting into me gently and slowly as she took first one and then the other of my nipples into her mouth. I was flying on sensation, ankles locked around her ass, hips arched up off the bed and rocking so the tip of the squat dildo hit just the right spot inside and the nubby ring around the base rubbed my clit with each practiced thrust.

  “Oh, God. Oh, fuck, yes, Lisa!”

  Jesus she was good with that thing. I was drenched before she was done with me. I’d had two smaller climaxes along the way, but the last one shook me hard. “Lisa! Please, please! Oh, God!” I was begging for it by the time it actually overcame me.

  Turns out she had a little bullet vibe in the harness and she came hard, shortly after I did, cursing like a sailor.

  We lay there afterwards, both of us sweat-soaked and panting heavily. Lisa deftly unhooked something and the harness fell away and with a twist of her wrist it fell over the side of the bed.

  “I knew you had a good vocabulary, but I had no idea it was that colorful,” I joked softly.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, kissing my cheeks.

  “Great. Wonderful. That was amazing.”

  She looked visibly relieved. “I wasn’t sure if... some women don’t like...”

  “I loved it.”

  “Jesus, maybe now I can concentrate in class finally.”

  We laughed and held each other as we fell asleep.

  * * *

  I consulted Rickie again about how to handle class on Tuesday, but she was no help at all. She couldn’t get enough of it. I honestly thought she was jealous.

  “Okay, so was it a realistic cock-like thing?”

  “No, Rickie, it was just a smooth dildo. Keep your little boy fantasies to yourself.”

  “You’re no fun.” She pouted and that was the end of the discussion.

  So, while the pressure may have been released, the steam was building up again during class on Tuesday. I made a point of talking to different students at random during class and sitting down with each of the independent critique groups as well. Anything to keep my mind on the subject and off of the professor.

  It wasn’t working. She was looking hot in her tweed skirt and her conservative cream-colored blouse, with her hair up in its usual studious bun. I could feel her eyes on me every time she walked past. I could smell her perfume. She even went so far as to touch my shoulders as class was ending.

  “Time to wrap up, Alice.”

  “Oh, uh. Sure. Yes.” I stood up, and went to pack up my things. I lingered as the students filed out, not exactly sure why but hoping for something from Lisa. Anything that would tide me over until the next time we’d meet. She approached me as the last student left and leaned close. I thought maybe she was going to kiss me but she pushed the lecture hall’s door closed and secured a chair under the handle.

  My mouth went dry. “Here?” I croaked, and swallowed hard.

  Lisa nodded at me.

  I moved to her, pushing her up against the blackboard. Lisa reached up under her skirt and tugged off her panties, which she handed to me. My gut clenched and my pussy was suddenly on fire. I took them in one hand and pushed the other under the fabric of her skirt and between her thighs, making her gasp softly.

  “Shhhh,” I said, touching her again. She was so ready for me, slick and wet, and her scent rose up between us, making my head swim with want.

  It didn’t last long. I stroked her as she rocked into my fingers and in moments she was trembling against me, biting her lip until it was white to keep from making a sound. When it was over, I kissed her hard. She reached for her panties but I shook my head, no, and stuffed them into my pocket.

  She looked like she might come again.

  * * *

  “You left me.”

  “What? I did no such thing.”

  “You never answer your phone anymore, you don’t return my calls...”

  “I’ve been busy, baby.”

  “Girlfriend, you better watch your step.” Rickie worked her neck at me as she spoke so I knew I was in trouble.

  “Don’t be so dramatic,
Rickie. The semester is more than half over.” I sipped my coffee, enjoying our usual brunch and gossip session.

  “How many nights have you spent in your apartment since that first date two months ago?”

  “Um...”

  “Exactly. And you don’t call, you don’t write... you don’t love me anymore.” Rickie poked at her French toast.

  “Uh-huh. And how many times did you call me after you met the body-builder?”

  “That was different,” Rickie protested.

  “How, exactly?”

  “That was lust, not love.”

  “This isn’t love.”

  Rickie eyed me. I looked right back. She arched one finely tweezed eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

  I blushed immediately and waved a hand in the air to cover it. “Probably should get the check, huh?”

  “Is this why you haven’t called me?”

  “No. I told you, I’ve been busy.”

  “Busy schtupping your new lover with the PhD.”

  “And course work,” I protested.

  “What did you do last night?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Last night. What did you do? How did you spend your time?”

  I didn’t see the trap coming. “Oh! Last night was nice. Lisa took me downtown to a sushi bar and then we went for a long walk in... the park... and...” I sighed, knowing I’d been sussed. “Oh, fine.”

  Rickie looked smug. If she’d grinned any wider her face would have split in half.

  “Shut up.”

  “So what’s going to happen when the semester is over and you move in with her? I’ll never hear from you again.”

  I stared at her. “How did you know I was--?”

  “Ah ha! I knew it! You’re moving in with her.”

  “Ah! That was no fair! You tricked me!” Again. One of the many reasons I loved Rickie. She could outfox a fox. And be prettier doing it.

  “I hate to think how long you’ve known and haven’t told me,” Rickie pouted.

  “Oh, baby. I’ve only known a few days. She just asked me Saturday night. Promise.”

  Rickie just pouted more.

  “I swear.”

  More pouting.

  “Um... maybe you’d like to come to dinner and meet her?”

  Rickie lit up like a Christmas tree. Or, in her case, a Hanukkah bush. “Oh, sweetheart. I thought you’d never ask.”

  It was overdue, really. Why I hadn’t thought to introduce Alice to my best friend before I don’t know, except maybe that I hadn’t thought of sharing Lisa with anyone up until then. I’d been sort of focused. Obsessed. And horny.

  * * *

  So dinner was planned and dinner was had. As I expected, Rickie completely out-dressed me, wearing her favorite silver Vera Wang blouse, chandelier earrings and fabulous heels. What I hadn’t expected was for Lisa to share Rickie’s inexplicable passion for the minimalist composers of the 1960s. They talked endlessly about Philip Glass, Steven Reich and La Monte Young, leaving me almost completely in the dust.

  And I was positively giddy about it.

  It was nearly midnight when Rickie finally made her exit, leaving each of us with red-lipped kiss imprints on our cheeks. I walked her out to her car.

  “Keep that one, darling, she likes you.”

  “I don’t know how you could tell, talking as much as you did,” I joked, opening her car door for her.

  “She might have been talking with me, but her arms were around you. And might I also mention that if she wasn’t interested in you, she wouldn’t have made such an effort to get to know me.”

  “Maybe.”

  “No maybe, go back inside and put an exclamation point on the evening.” Rickie slipped into the driver’s seat, effectively putting a period on our conversation.

  I laughed. “I will do that,” I said and gave Rickie a hug. “Thanks for coming. You look fabulous.”

  “I always look fabulous,” Rickie said, winking at me to take vanity out of her words. “Good night, you. Thank you for inviting me.”

  When I got back to the house, into Lisa’s house that had already started to feel like home to me, Lisa was cleaning up the kitchen. I stepped up behind her at the sink and slipped my hands under her blouse.

  “Mmm.”

  “You have a crush on Rickie.”

  “I do. On her mind. She’s so interesting and well read and--”

  “Smart, I know. I constantly feel inadequate.”

  Lisa laughed. “I imagine it would be difficult not to. Don’t stop doing that, though.”

  “Is that going to help improve my IQ?”

  “No. Not likely.” She sighed as I released the clasp on her bra. “But it makes a very good impression on me.”

  “Oh, and I definitely want to make an impression on you.” I slid my hands under her bra and cupped both of her breasts, pulling her back against me. “Done with those dishes?”

  “Dishes?” Lisa turned around and took my jaw in her hands. They were still damp and warm from the dishwater.

  “Your hands are wet.”

  “Me, too.” She kissed me. “Alice.”

  I felt lightheaded at the sound of my name. I was already hot and wanting out of my clothing. “God, what you do to me.”

  I pushed her shirt up over her head and she let her bra fall to the floor. She undressed me as we kissed and fumbled our way up the stairs. By the time my back hit the bed, we were both naked.

  Lisa looked into my eyes. “You’re beautiful,” she told me, punctuating her statement with a soft kiss.

  “Rickie is prettier,” I teased.

  “Don’t do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Make a joke out of my compliment. You’re beautiful. I mean that.”

  “I’m sorry, Lisa.”

  “You should be.”

  “You’re beautiful, too. You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever known. Or ever want to know.”

  Lisa smiled slightly, and then lowered her mouth to my breast, licking and sucking on my nipple. It sent bolts of electricity through my body. I slipped my fingers between her thighs and she gasped, then started to ride them, lowering her weight onto me and taking exactly what she needed.

  “Alice... God, yes.”

  I twitched and bent my fingertips slightly and she tossed her head back, arching harder into my hand. “Alice!”

  “I love you, Lisa,” I whispered. The words just fell from my lips, true enough but without the uncertainty that had accompanied them when I’d offered them to others in the past. She didn’t answer immediately, but she didn’t stop either; she rounded her back and kissed me hard, grinding against my fingers for another brief moment and then tearing her mouth away to gasp. “I. Oh, God! Yes!” Her body convulsed against mine and her thighs went taut and tightened around my hand. “I love you, too. Fuck. Oh, God.”

  I didn’t wait for her to catch her breath, wanting to share her panting, sweaty relief. I wrapped my legs around her and humped up against her, and she reacted instantly, shifting so her thigh was seated tightly between my thighs.

  “Yeah,” I breathed, barely above a whisper, but she heard me well enough.

  “Fly, Alice,” Lisa told me her voice warm and sated. She wrapped an arm around me and lowered her mouth to my ear. “Want to see you fly.”

  “Oh, God.”

  I wanted. Needed. It took little more than her whispered encouragement and the short-lived, fervid grinding of my hips and I was there. Beyond there, and then gone. Fireworks exploded in the darkness of my mind and waves of pleasure rolled through my body. I was falling. I was flying.

  * * *

  The last class of the semester went by so slowly I thought I was going to die of anticipation while I waited for it to be over. It was possible that Lisa... Professor Kushner said something worth remembering, but I simply wasn’t able to pay attention.

  Lisa was wearing a conservative skirt, but her blouse was unbuttoned just so and she’d worn heels t
hat made her ass look great. Her hair was partly up, swept back and up off her face, but long and wavy in the back. She’d done that on purpose. She was teasing me.

  “And lastly, I’d like to thank Alice, my assistant,” Lisa said. The mention of my name pulled me back to the task at hand and out of the fantasy of what I wanted to do to Lisa after class. “For making my semester far less stressful and a great deal more pleasurable.”

  “Oh, no,” I said from my seat, smiling and crossing my legs demurely. “The pleasure was all mine.”

  Defining Moments

  Giselle Renarde

  There were certain conversations that never took place in the summertime. The sun might pride herself as the great elucidator, but winter was the season of humble introspection. When outside it was bitterly cold, what else was there to do but curl up in bed together, to kiss and touch and writhe in unison, then bask in the warmth of each other’s bodies?

  When snowflakes like cotton balls fell from the sky, Devra wrapped her arms and a fleecy blanket around Priti’s shoulders and kissed her hair. Sighing, Priti rolled onto her back and gazed out the window. The streetlights made the falling snow glow bright white against a backdrop of blue.

  “How did you know you liked girls?” Priti asked.

  Devra was somewhat amazed the topic had never come up before. “You mean when did I first know?” she clarified.

  “Yeah. Did you have a Eureka moment where you were like, ‘Aha! I’m a lesbian?’”

  She recognized it was meant to be a joke, but Devra ruminated nonetheless. “Not exactly. I mean, yes, sort of, but I wouldn’t have used those words at that time.”

  “Why not?” Priti asked, then continued without waiting for an answer. “Because you didn’t want to be pigeonholed or grouped into somebody else’s narrow definition of sexual identity?”

  Devra propped up her head with the palm of her hand. “No. Because I was five.”

  “Five, as in years old?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow,” Priti replied. “You started early.”

  “It wasn’t a matter of starting, and at the time it didn’t mean anything to me. It’s only in looking back that my selective memory has chosen that event as significant.”

  “What event?”

  “Nothing big. I’m surprised I even remember,” Devra began. “When I was in kindergarten, I had this useless blob of a teacher, Mrs... oh, I don’t remember... Mrs. Blob.”