Duet

This story was written in collaboration with a certain “bitsie”, who is the most unusual muse that I could imagine:

Duet

Him:

Hal dragged the last suitcase out of the back of the van and over to the curb, where the porter was waiting with the rest of the luggage. “That’s the last of them,” he grunted as he dropped the heavy bag. He dug into his wallet and handed the porter five dollars – one for each suitcase.

Dena gave her mother a final hug. Her father turned to Hal and said, “Thanks for giving us a ride to the airport. Take care of our little girl now.”

“Stop that, Dad,” Dena burst out. “I told you, he’s just a good friend! Can’t a guy do your daughter a favor without getting the second degree every time?”

Her father just shrugged. Hal noticed Dena’s mother giving him an appraising look. “Don’t mind her father, Hal – he just wants to marry her off already.”

Dena stifled a squeal as her mother took her father by the arm and turned to enter the airport terminal. Dena rolled her eyes as she looked at Hal, but when she saw him grinning she knew that he was OK with it. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

Dena was quiet on the way back into town, and Hal decided to leave her alone with her thoughts. He had hardly seen her all week while her parents were visiting. Dena had called him up the night before to ask him if she could use his van to drive them to the airport, because they had a lot of luggage. Hal volunteered to do it himself – he wasn’t thrilled about getting up so early on a Sunday morning, but he was glad to have the opportunity to spend some time with her again.

Hal and Dena lived in the same two-story apartment building – she had moved there from the West Coast six months earlier. She was a legal assistant for one of the large law firms downtown, and he was a financial analyst for a brokerage company. At first they just smiled politely at each other as they passed in the parking lot of their building. However, when they found out that they worked downtown in adjacent offices, he started giving her a ride to work sometimes, whenever their schedules matched up.

The rides turned into an occasional lunch, and they soon became good friends. Hal’s taste in women tended to the blonde long-legged type, as opposed to Dena’s short, busty brunette figure. He found out right away that the feeling was mutual on Dena’s part, which was actually a relief for both of them. There was no sexual tension to mess up their budding friendship. They particularly enjoyed regaling each other with the latest stories of their various ongoing dating disasters – it got so Hal would start composing his anticipated “report” to Dena even before his date was over.

Hal knew the exact minute when all that changed for him. He was at the Laundromat with Dena, feeding quarters into the machines and just hanging out together while the loads ran when he committed the cardinal sin – he let a pair of his new red basketball shorts get into the wrong washing machine. They didn’t realize it until Dena went to change her loads, and found that her whites had all turned pink.

Dena’s face turned purple, and Hal closed his eyes and braced himself for a blistering tirade. But he opened them in surprise, as the laugh that Dena was stifling burst out. His face broke out in a sheepish grin, which made Dena laugh even harder.

“Oh, you should see your face!” giggled Dena, as she held up her now-pink panties. They spent the next hour bleaching her clothes back to their original white, with Dena giggling the whole time. Hal was so relieved that he didn’t even mind his punishment, which was to fold both of their laundry. But as he lay in bed that night, he suddenly realized that he wanted to hear Dena’s laugh every day. And night.

No doubt about it – Hal was smitten. But their unwritten code of friendship didn’t leave him any room to express it. He was afraid that even the slightest hint of any romantic interest on his part would ruin their relationship.

The next few weeks were a kind of torture for him, as his heart and his head wrestled for domination. He was almost relieved when Dena’s parents had flown in to visit, leaving her no time for their usual meetings. But that was over, and Hal wasn’t any closer to solving his problem than he had been before they came.

“Earth to Hal!” Hal woke out of his reverie – he had been driving on autopilot.

“We’re almost home,” said Dena. “Do you want to come up for a cup of coffee?”

Hal realized that he had driven all the way home while sunken in his own thoughts. “Sure, why not?” he stammered.

He parked the van out front, and the two of them went inside. Hal climbed the stairs to her apartment, noticing the cute wiggle of Dena’s tush inside her pants as he followed her up the steps. “That pretty much sums up my situation,” he thought to himself. “So near and yet so far!”

As he reached the top of the steps and saw her turning the key in the lock, another thought flicked randomly through his head: “But she doesn’t even drink coffee…..”

Her:

Okay, so she’d always thought he was cute. Not her type, but cute. She could see fixing him up with a friend… but all her friends were still in San Francisco.

He seemed kind of cool, and remote. Dena liked dark men, real Latin lovers, a type that was plentiful in San Francisco. Not here. Why did she agree to come to Chicago again? Oh yeah, the job. Every time she looked at Hal, she had to kind of crane her neck. He was from good Norwegian stock, well over six feet tall and blond. She was, like her parents, short.

But then she got to know Hal. Since they both realized they worked downtown, he’d become friendlier, and she’d started to feel more at home. It made her realize the advantages of knowing someone in a really big city. In San Fran, it didn’t matter because she’d lived there so long. But here… well, it had been really nice to have a big, strapping friend more than once.

But then something had happened. She kind of fell for him. She knew exactly when it had happened.

Just a few weeks ago, she’d been getting ready for bed in the sweltering Chicago summer, windows open, when she’d seen something scuttle in the moonlit dark. She’d cautiously turned on the light and screamed at the sight of a huge wood spider dashing for the safety of darkness under her bed. She’d called Hal.

He’d come upstairs immediately in a pair of boxers, and she’d greeted him with hysteria in the panties and camisole she’d worn to bed that night. She’d told her story just waiting for him to laugh at her and leave her alone with that – that creature. He’d just smiled gently and asked what she wanted him to do.

“Do?” she’d asked, incredulous. “Kill it, get rid of it, get it away from my bed!”

Hal had nodded and asked for a broom, a dustpan, and an empty shoebox. She’d brought him the stuff without thinking, and when he’d caught the spider and taken it gently downstairs, setting it free not next to the building but down the road about a half a block, in a small stand of birch trees, she’d been amazed.

“Why did you do that?” she’d asked.

“Do what?”

“Take it away like that.”

Hal had shrugged. “Well, he’s got a right to live, too, but unless he’s paying you rent, he does NOT have a right to live in your apartment.” He’d grinned, and in that moment, sensing his gentleness, she’d melted.

But she was so not his type. And she valued his friendship. So what to do, what to do?

She didn’t know. So she just continued spending as much time with him as possible.

On the day he’d so gamely taken her parents to the airport at the ungodly hour of nine am on a Sunday, she was silent all the way home. He left her to her own mind, and all she could think of was that broad, hard, smooth chest she’d seen when he captured her intruding spider. The wicked warmth in his blue eyes whenever he teased her about her dating disasters. She studied him as he drove. He seemed to be off in thoughts of his own now, and didn’t notice. So he was Brad Pitt, not Antonio Banderas, so what?

As they got home, she said, “Um, Hal?”

He was still in his thoughts.

“Hey, Earth to Hal!”

Hal started and looked over at her, then smiled. “Yes?”

“We’re almost home,” said Dena. “Do you want to come up for a cup of coffee?”

“Sure, why not?” he stammered.

Damn, Dena thought. I don’t drink coffee. I don’t even have any in the house. Damn!

She walked slowly up the stairs, Hal behind her, as her mind raced. She fumbled with the key in the lock and preceded him into the kitchen. She turned and looked at him. Now what?

Him:

Hal followed Dena into her apartment. He tried thinking of something – anything – else, but his thoughts kept stubbornly and disturbingly going back to the figure-eight that her ass had described as she climbed up the stairs. Maybe coming up to her apartment wasn’t such a good idea after all.

He squeezed into the chair at her tiny kitchen table, while Dena filled the kettle, lit the stove burner, and set it on to boil. Her only two unchipped cups were still sitting unwashed in the sink, so she ran the water to wash them.

Hal found his eyes being drawn once again to her tush – it was like they were magnetized. He desperately looked around her apartment, searching for something else to fix his gaze on.

Dena was anything but a neat freak. Her apartment was small, without much storage space, and the result could only be described as an orderly clutter. Hal spotted a basket of laundry in the corner. He would normally have looked right past it – her laundry was not anything that he hadn’t seen many times before – but his gaze was suddenly drawn to a flimsy shiny pink slip that was sitting folded on top.

It was that camisole that she had worn the night he had come up to rescue her from the marauding spider. This was before Hal had his epiphany – all he wanted to do that night was to catch the spider and get back to bed, preferably without ever opening his eyes to really wake up. But seeing that fabric now in the laundry basket caused the picture of Dena in that skimpy camisole to flash back into his head. It was as if he’d never really seen her before. And he suddenly realized that the sight was the most erotic image that he had ever seen, sexier than any Playboy pinup.

“I forgot,” she said, “I only have tea. Would you prefer herbal or Earl Grey?”

“Ummm, I guess Ea……” His voice was drowned out suddenly by a passing train. Her kitchen window backed on to the El tracks, and the whole building shook as the train rattled by. They were both used to it – they just stopped and counted to ten, resuming their conversation afterward in midsentence.

“…….Earl Grey.”

“Oh, you would pick the one on the highest shelf,” Dena said. “My hands are wet – would you get that out of the cupboard for me?”

Hal started to get up, but he suddenly realized that he had a serious problem. The picture that he had conjured of Dena in her pink camisole had given him a raging instantaneous hard-on. He cursed his luck, and his rampaging male libido. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve…..

“Well, ah, why don’t we just go with the herbal?” he stammered.

“Come on,” Dena teased, “get that lazy ass of yours off that chair and give me a hand here!”

Hal’s erection wasn’t going away, but he didn’t see any way to get out of it. He slid out from his chair, twisting sideways to try and hide himself from her. But Dena turned to him just as he was getting up. He felt like he was sticking out a mile – there was no way she could miss it.

“Oh ho! What have we here?” she teased. “In the words of the immortal Mae West – is that a pickle in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?”

Hal blushed a deep red. He knew that Dena was just kidding him harmlessly, but this time was different. He looked up just as Dena’s teasing smirk faded from her lips. Her eyes widened with a look of sudden realization, and her hands flew up to cover the “o” of her mouth.

Hal’s one wish was that the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

Her:

Oh, Jesus, why did I invite him in here? she thought. Her apartment was messy – more than messy. Hal was still as silent as the tomb. She rushed to fill the kettle and wash her two cups.

Hal was staring at her laundry basket in the hall, his lips pursed. God, he must think she was a total slob!

“I forgot,” she said, “I only have tea. Would you prefer herbal or Earl Grey?”

His reply was drowned out as the El train rushed past.

“…….Earl Grey,” he said

“Oh, you would pick the one on the highest shelf,” Dena said. “My hands are wet – would you get that out of the cupboard for me?”

Hal fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable. Dena was so ashamed she could cry. He must be wondering what the hell he was doing here. He sounded like he was embarrassed for her when he asked for the herbal.

“Come on,” Dena said, trying desperately for a light note,”get that lazy ass of yours off that chair and give me a hand here!”

She turned to him, and tried to smile. There was a big lump in his pants. “Oh ho! What have we here?” she teased. “In the words of the immortal Mae West – is that a pickle in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?”

Hal blushed a deep red. Dena’s teasing smirk faded from her lips, and her eyes widened, both hands flying up to cover her mouth as she realized. Hal was erect. Hal was in her apartment with a raging hard-on. There weren’t any leggy blondes around here, so it must be for her… and by the look on his face, he had no idea she felt the same way. If something was going to come of this, it was up to Dena.

She took the two steps separating them and rubbed her fingertips lightly along the thick bulge. Hal’s eyes widened in surprise. Her smile was sweet, tender. “You too, huh?”

God she hoped she wasn’t wrong about this.

Then the look on Hal’s face changed, too. First there was relief, and a small smile. Then the smile became hungry, those deep blue eyes roaming her body as she stood still, her small hand on his cock through his jeans. She felt his cock twitch just as his eyes met hers, dark with need. He leaned down, slowly, and brushed his lips on her mouth.

Dena gasped as the sensation shot through her, electric. Her nipples swelled and hardened, and Hal noticed. As he brushed her mouth with his again, he cupped her large, round tits and let his thumbs brush over her large nipples.

Dena groaned and smiled. It was all right. He wanted her, too. “Kitchen table or bedroom, Hal?” she whispered as she rubbed her hands up across his chest and around his neck, pushing her aching breasts into his hard chest.

Him:

It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. Hal couldn’t move a muscle as Dena stepped towards him and reached out to touch the tented outline of his prick through his pants. He had always admired Dena’s direct approach to everything, but he never expected to be on the receiving end. The tantalizing touch of her fingertips reverberated up and down his spine, as every nerve fiber jumped to attention.

His brain was screaming out warning sirens, even as he automatically reached down to cup her breast. Her nipple was outlined sharply through her bra and the fabric of her tank top. “Just shut up…..” he murmered, pulling Dena into his arms. He saw Dena’s eyes open wide in question, so he quickly added, “Not you – me!”

He leaned down to press his lips to her smiling mouth, first softly, and then increasingly harder as she moaned into his mouth. His tongue met hers half way, dueling furiously. He opened his eyes in mid-kiss, only to find hers staring right up at his, burning in her passion. She broke away, breathless, saying, “Kitchen table or bedroom, Hal?”

Hal laughed right out loud. “Your table isn’t big enough for more than two tuna sandwiches!”

“Then bedroom it is!” giggled Dena. Her laugh was the most beautiful sound that he had ever heard.

Hal bent over, slipping one arm behind the crook of her knee, and the other arm under her shoulders. With a smooth jerk she was lifted up into the air and cradled in his arms. “Your carriage awaits, m’lady,” he announced, and he strode towards the bedroom.

As he stepped sideways through the bedroom door, Dena reached up with both arms and pulled his head down to hers, renewing the seal of their lips that had been broken only seconds before. Hal lost all thought of where he was and what he was doing when she sucked his tongue in again. His inertia kept them moving towards the bed, and when his knees made contact they tumbled onto it in a tangled heap.

Hal was too far gone to want to separate from Dena long enough to take off his clothes – the contact with her body was too delicious to give up for even a moment. He buried his face in her neck, reaching down blindly to fumble with his belt and zipper.

“Wait!” Dena commanded. Her sharp tone stopped him in mid smooch, his pants twisted around his thighs. “We are both adults here! Let’s take just one minute to get undressed like civilized human beings!”

Hal looked at Dena, lying in his arms, and they both broke up in laughter. They separated, reluctantly, to opposite sides of the bed. Hal slipped off his sneakers, then stood up to pull off his pants, underpants, and socks in one swift motion. Two tugs at his T-shirt had him standing naked, his prick jutting out like a javelin.

He looked over to see Dena slip off her underpants, and then straighten up to reach with one hand behind her back to undo the catch of her bra. As it slipped off her shoulders, he was dumbfounded at her beauty. No long-legged blonde could ever hold a candle to this.

His gaze wandered up her sleek calves, past her dimpled knees to her round thighs, the curve of her ass peeking tantalizingly from behind. His eyed were drawn further up her taut belly to the droop of her round full breasts, with both nipples erect and jutting. The curves of her cleavage drew him to the hollow of her neck, past her cute chin and smiling lips. But it was Dena’s eyes that made him catch his breath. They bore right through him with a passion that he had never seen before. He had never seen such an erotic sight – the picture would stay with him forever.

The moment was broken when he propelled himself across the bed in her direction like a guided missile. Dena met him half way, their arms wrapping around each other, lips seeking warm flesh. “You’re right,” he mumbled into her soft shoulder, “This is MUCH better!” She laughed softly into his ear, and then bit it gently.

Her:

She hadn’t expected the touch of him to render her so completely senseless. She seemed to remember the cynical part of herself, who communicated only with humor, telling him to wait and take just one minute to get undressed like civilized human beings, but really she wanted him to rip off her clothes, to plunge right into her. She could not remember ever being so instantly aroused, so immediately hungry for anyone to just tear her open.

When she bit his ear, laughing, he groaned. Their bodies were wrapped around each other, and she could feel my breasts flattening on his broad chest. Somehow, she didn’t think this first time was going to last very long. She was okay with that, as long as there was more.

She immediately wrapped her legs around him and felt his thick erection against her belly, her sex. She arched her body, humping against the smooth skin of his thighs and his pulsing sex, grinding them together. He groaned into her mouth as they kissed, rubbing against each other.

In a move that made him look as if he were in control of himself, he sat back on his heels, pushing her back against the bed. When he looked openly at her body, and his hands began to follow, roaming across her breasts, tweaking her nipples to painful peaks, she groaned in frustration, grinding against him again. His hands were large, firm, as they smoothed down her belly.