2. Homecoming #2
I’m still grieving my poor job, but the ache quickly subsides as we dole out the unburnt remains of rice and pick seats around the kitchen island.
Even if the crust is the only casualty, I hold my breath that the rice medley turned out better.
Mercifully, the spices didn't suffer as much as the crust, and Ann and Tom let out small, contented sighs as they each tuck into our savory, starchy rice dish.
I take my own bite, satisfied by the way the cinnamon and other spices elevate the melange of fatty juices.
An extra helping later, and Ann is making excuses to let us go to bed. Her dad insists we stay in the house for the night instead of the van, and Ann is more than happy to accept the invitation, insisting we can dig through her old room before he throws most of it out.
As Tom retreats to one side of the house, Ann eagerly leads me to the other. It's only now that I realize she's been saving this moment like some sort of surprise. A time capsule of the girl she used to be before she met me. How long ago was that now?
We reach two bedrooms at the end of a short hallway. I know who used to live in the other bedroom, and I still don't understand how Ann can stand me, let alone love me, after what happened.
Ann only spares a quick look in the direction of her dead sister's bedroom, as if saying the briefest of goodbyes before eagerly tightening her grip on my hand and readying to open the door to her bedroom.
“Ready?”
I nod, hesitant. She opens the door, and I’m met by a riot of art sketches and monster movie posters covering every inch of the small room.
Some sketches spill onto the floor, circling a narrow bed with frilly white sheets I can hardly imagine her sleeping in.
She ignores the clutter and pulls me inside.
“When I was in high school, I always dreamed of having a cutie in here.” She smiles.
“Bet you didn't expect it to be a girl.” I tease back.
She pulls me close, wrapping her arms around me. “No chance.”
She pulls me in for a deep kiss, a passionate, bruising kiss that I imagine could only happen in this room, before pulling back. “But I'm glad I waited.”
I smile so deeply my cheeks ache, forever impressed at how she always seems to know what to say to make me feel like I'm the only one who matters. Then she's immediately turning to look at the small combo TV-VCR in the corner. “Wanna watch a movie?”
I laugh at the abrupt change in tone. “What movie did you have in mind?”
“Our movie! The one we talked about on our first date.” She digs out a vintage VHS of John Carpenter's The Thing and doesn't even wait for my response before popping it into the small contraption.
Then she grabs the remote and pulls me down on the bed.
“Shoot, looks like it's going to need to rewind. However, how will we pass the time?”
She barely finishes the thought, already crawling towards me with hooded eyes and an eager smile. The VCR clicks as it begins the arduous process of respooling the tape back, the sound like a starting gun that only makes her lunge at me.
I don't hesitate, pulling her further on me as I struggle to get more on the bed, feeling her lips press tender kisses along my neck while my hands slide under her pants line to grope her generous ass.
“I thought you’d never ask,” I murmur, turning into her kiss and gently biting her lip as she takes my face in both hands.
She climbs up, grinding down on top of me, as if that will somehow undo the fabric between us. But I'm done wasting time. I want my Ann, I want to make her feel good, to take care of her the way she's always taken care of me. Right now.
I grip her by the waist and pull her down so now she's alongside me. I cradle her in one arm, using my hand to steady her head as I keep kissing, while my other hand works to unbutton her jeans. Meanwhile, she's desperately pulling off her top, struggling to free her heavy breasts.
The moment I undo her pants, she seizes me by the back of the head and guides my mouth down to her firm nipple.
I instinctively latch, working my tongue in gentle swirls around the firm peak as she lets out a stifled moan.
My other hand slips between her thighs, slickness guiding my fingers to her throbbing clit as they begin to work to mimic my tongue.
“Oh my God, yes! Right there!” That's all she manages before she presses me harder against her breast while planting kiss after kiss on the crown of my head.
Somehow, this always feels better than when she focuses on me, knowing that I can make her this happy, that she wants me to make her this happy, a feeling I savor as she lets out a desperate whimper, her body going taut, clinging to me like I'm the only floating thing in a turbulent ocean.
I pant into her chest, as if I'm orgasming along with her, feeling her violent release before falling back down boneless, though I know she's far from exhausted.
I keep teasing her nipple with my tongue as she lets out an innocent giggle, gazing at me with those same hooded, appraising eyes.
“My turn.”
Just like before, the VCR clicks, the sound that our movie is ready for us. But at this point, I doubt she cares, as she guides me onto my back, and deftly slips off my pants and underwear with an efficiency I imagine only she could ever master.
Then she's kissing her way slowly back up my leg, along my thigh, hunting that aching nub that has been demanding her attention from the moment we were finally alone together.
A fierce fire begins to well in my core as her tongue makes contact with the sensitive bundle of nerves, licking and swirling with the same vigor I used on her nipple.
My hand goes down to grab her head as her lashing tongue causes jolts of pleasure to shoot through me. But she's in control, something she reminds me of as she laces her own fingers into my searching hand.
She pulls back only for a moment to kiss each digit she just captured, repeating, “Mine, mine, mine, you are all mine.”
And then she plunges back down, even more merciless than before, as I grit my teeth to stifle my own needy moans.
She uses her other hand to spread my folds wide, so I feel every firm stroke of her tongue until finally it's too much and I let out a strained moan I'm worried the neighbors will hear, my back arching off the bed like a drawn bow.
When I fall back down, stars fill my vision. Now I'm boneless, at the edge of consciousness, as she kisses her way up to my neck.
I wrap my free arm around her and hold her close, giving her a grateful kiss as I recite a litany of prayers in my head for whatever I did to deserve her.
“I still got it,” Ann says with far too much pride, the moment we pull away.
“Shut up and put on the movie,” I groan.
She pouts as she reaches for the remote, but I pull her back to me to give her another grateful kiss. “Don't act too smug, and I'll let you do that again before they break out the flame throwers.”
She reaches for the remote again as she curls up next to me. “We'll see if we make it that far.”