Chapter Thirty-Nine
Walking into Bette’s apartment with Alec’s hand in hers is beyond strange. Her worlds are colliding, and she’s not sure she’s ready for it. But it’s now or never. For all she knows, Bette is going to run off tomorrow with her new pop star girlfriend and Mallory will never see her again.
Alec is unusually quiet.
“Can I get you two a drink? I only have vodka.” Bette makes her way into the kitchen. Mallory sits nervously on the couch, Alec beside her.
“That looks like you,” Alec says, pointing to the redheaded woman in the photograph. Mallory remembers the first night she was there and confided in Bette that she had toyed with the idea of dyeing her hair red. Back then, a change in hair color seemed like an outrageous thing to do.
How far she’d come.
Bette appears with a tray of chilled shots, setting it down on the coffee table and joining them on the couch. They each take a shot glass and clink them together.
“To Moxie,” Bette says, winking at her. “The hottest body to grace the Blue Angel stage since I arrived on the scene.” She gives a throaty laugh.
“I’ll drink to that,” Alec says.
Mallory downs her shot quickly, impatient for it to quell her nerves. She wonders if Alec is as anxious as she is. He’s always had a great poker face, and it’s impossible to tell.
She looks over at Bette, who’s especially luminous tonight, wearing a black sheath dress clinging in just the right places, her nipples pressed against the fabric.
Her porcelain skin is flawless even with little makeup, just her smudgy black Trish McEvoy eyeliner and matte red lipstick.
Her bob is tucked girlishly behind her ears.
Even though this night is all about Alec, Mallory can’t deny that she’s still attracted to her.
After tonight, she knows she’ll never be with her again.
An awkward silence falls after the toast.
“One more round,” Bette says, and disappears into the kitchen.
Alec reaches for Mallory’s hand. After so much time apart, the casual contact is dizzying.
She looks up at him and he leans in to kiss her.
She throws her arms around his neck, and their mouths meet so roughly their teeth bump together.
His tongue traces her lower lip, and she sucks greedily at it, wanting to devour him.
His hand moves under her sweater, tracing her nipple over her bra.
She breathes in the smell of him, forgetting where she is, wanting him inside her so badly she loses her breath.
Bette returns, beside them once again on the couch.
Mallory doesn’t stop kissing Alec until he pulls away.
He nods toward Bette, and in a daze, Mallory turns to her.
And then it’s a different mouth against hers, softer and less familiar.
She leans back and lets Bette kiss her while Alec continues stroking her breasts.
She’s incredibly turned on, lost in sensation, when Bette pulls back and starts kissing Alec.
Mallory is startled by this turn of events, but she also knows that’s the whole point of the night.
Alec is still touching her, so she tries to enjoy watching her boyfriend kiss the most spectacular woman she’s ever known.
She didn’t have to try terribly hard: It was undeniably hot.
She reaches for Bette’s breasts, tracing her hard nipples over the thin fabric of her dress.
“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” Bette says.
Mallory’s legs feel so wobbly, Alec has to steady her. They follow Bette, who pulls off her dress, leaving herself topless, wearing only black lacy boy shorts.
Bette sprawls out on her bed as if posing a dare: Which one of you is going to fuck me first?
Mallory and Alec look at each other, and he gives her a wink.
She smiles at him, and he pulls her close.
She removes her sweater while he unzips her jeans, which she tugs down over her hips.
His hands trace her breasts over her bra, and then he leans in and unclasps it, softly kissing her collarbone.
She feels intensely close to him, not just physically but with an almost spiritual connection.
For the first time in a very long time, it feels like it’s the two of them against the world.
In that moment, she wishes Bette weren’t there.
She adores her beautiful new friend, and she’s grateful for the way she so generously opened up the world to her.
In a way, she finished what Alec had started all those years ago at Penn: freeing her from who her parents raised her to be and helping her find her true self.
But for now, all she wants is to put her arms around her man, to reconnect with him and let him know that the most important thing in this new world, to this true self, is their love.
But ironically, the way to do that involves having sex with another woman—and possibly watching him do the same.
Alec leads her toward the bed. She lies down next to Bette, and he pulls down her underwear.
Bette bends her head to Mallory’s breast, taking her nipple in her mouth, her tongue flicking against it teasingly while her hand moves between her legs.
She circles her clit with her thumb, and Mallory is already so wet that Bette immediately slips a finger inside her.
Mallory moans, thrusting her pelvis against Bette’s hand, all the while acutely aware that Alec is watching.
The thought of his eyes on her pussy while Bette finger-fucks her nearly puts her over the edge.
All she can think about is getting his cock inside her, of having him fuck her while Bette takes a turn being the one to watch.
Alec joins them on the bed, and she reaches out her hand until she finds his hard cock, brushing over the tip and then firmly massaging his thick shaft.
Bette’s fingers move more quickly in and out of her, while Mallory moves her hand in equal rhythm up and down Alec’s cock.
He kisses her, then Bette leans down and kisses her, and then Bette’s and Alec’s mouths meet, both poised above her.
Mallory sits up so she can tongue Bette’s breasts, and then Alec gently pushes her onto her back so he can do the same to her.
Now he’s the one touching her pussy, not Bette.
The difference is unmistakable: He knows exactly how to touch her, and within seconds of his fingers working her cunt she feels close …
His hand motion stops. She feels so dazed, so buzzed with pleasure, it takes her a few seconds to process what she hears him say next: “Bette, do you mind if Mallory and I have some time alone?”
Mallory sits up.
“Not at all. Be my guest.” She kisses Mallory on the cheek. “Be happy,” she whispers. Then she leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
Mallory turns to Alec.
“Why’d you do that?”
“Do you mind?” He reaches for her hand.
“No. Of course not. But I thought this is what you want.”
“I just want you, Mallory. That’s all I ever really wanted.”
They kiss, and Mallory thinks, If this sensation were a color, it would look like the turn of a kaleidoscope.
“Let’s go home,” she whispers.
He puts her hand on his throbbing cock. “I don’t think I can wait.”
Mallory smiles and presses him down onto his back.
She bends down to run her tongue along the length of his cock, licking the tip and then sliding down again.
He moans and she can tell by the motion of his hips that he wants her to take him entirely in her mouth.
She cups his balls while slipping his cock between her lips, sucking slightly to create tension while flicking her tongue against him inside her mouth.
She uses one hand to stroke the length of him, moving up and down.
“Get on me,” he said.
She moves quickly to climb on top of him, pausing for a minute with her wet pussy poised at the tip of his cock. She rubs him against her clit, then presses herself down until he’s completely inside her. Until this moment, she didn’t realize how much she missed his thick cock filling her up.
“Oh my god,” she says, leaning forward so they are chest to chest. She feels his heart beating, and he grabs her ass and thrusts deeper inside her.
The orgasm hits fast, her pussy clenching against him in waves until she feels his cock vibrate inside her in a way that means he’s on the verge.
She watches his face, and his blue-gray eyes lock on hers in a way that says This is it.
They’re together again. Nothing will change that.
He cries out as he comes, his orgasm so strong that she needs to brace herself against his movements so she can hold him inside her pussy long enough for him to finish.
Then she slides slowly off and they lie side by side, slick with sweat.
He pulls her closer until her head is braced in the crook of his arm.
“I love you so much,” she says.
“I love you, Mallory.” He kisses the top of her head. They breathe against one another, content. “You ready to go home?”
“Yes,” she says.
Her phone rings from the other room. Wrapping the sheet around herself like a caftan, she pads over to answer it. Along the way she catches sight of herself in the mirror. She looks well-fucked. It makes her smile.
“Hello?” Mallory says.
“Moxie, it’s Agnes.” The Polish accent sounds even thicker than it does in person. “Why don’t you answer your phone?”
“Sorry. I was … busy.”
“Celebrating, I hope.”
“Celebrating?”
“Yes. Your new job. Welcome to the Blue Angel.”