Chapter 9: Sugar and Sin
The ache from the night before, a tight, restless thrumming, followed Kevin through the morning until he found himself knocking on the neighbor’s door. Alyssa answered, her smile sharp and knowing, and without a word she pulled him inside by his shirt, her fingers already working the button of his jeans.
The stale, sun-warmed air of her living room smelled of lavender polish and last night’s wine. “You look like you need this more than I do,” she breathed against his neck, her teeth grazing his skin as his jeans slid down his thighs.
He didn’t answer with words, his hands rough on her hips as he spun her around. He yanked her shorts and panties down to her ankles in one frantic motion, the cotton and denim pooling on the worn rug, and bent her over the back of the plaid couch.
Kevin slid in, driving himself deep, and immediately felt the amazing sensation of her vagina, a hot, slick tightness that erased the memory of cold corners and newspaper shame. Alyssa gasped, her back arching, and she loved the feeling of him going in, the full, stretching pressure of it, even if he was small.
Her hips began to roll backward, meeting his thrusts, a slow, building syncopation that promised something more. Then his breath hitched, his rhythm broke, and a hot, spurting release painted her lower back in shallow, frantic pulses.
She pushed herself up from the couch, wiping a hand over the mess on her skin. “Seriously? That’s it?” she asked, her voice flat and unimpressed.
He pulled up his jeans, the zipper sounding louder than it should. “That’s all I needed you for,” he said, the lie tasting thin as he turned for the door.
The door clicked shut behind Kevin, leaving Alyssa alone with the drying sting on her skin and a sharp, unsatisfied twist in her gut. Later that evening, Ashley told Jen she was going for a walk, the summer air thick and still as she slipped across the dew-damp grass to Alyssa’s porch, where a single lamp glowed behind the blinds.
“Grandma’s still at bingo,” Alyssa said, stepping back to let Ashley inside, her eyes dropping to the confident swing of Ashley’s hips.
“I need you,” Ashley said, the words leaving her mouth in a raw, honest rush she hadn’t planned. Then her hands were on Alyssa’s face, their lips meeting in a hungry, searching kiss as they fumbled with each other’s clothes, buttons popping and fabric sliding to the floor.
They stumbled toward the couch, a tangle of limbs and urgent mouths, their breath hitching in a frantic, shared rhythm. Ashley’s hands slid under Alyssa’s tank top, mapping the warmth of her skin, while Alyssa’s fingers clutched at the waistband of Ashley’s jeans, pulling her closer into the desperate, silent conversation between their bodies.
Ashley’s mouth found Alyssa’s nipple through the thin cotton, her teeth a sharp, welcome pressure as her hand slid down the front of Alyssa’s shorts. “We should move to my bed,” Alyssa gasped, arching into the touch, “I don’t want to make a mess on this couch.” Ashley’s fingers slid deep inside her, and she laughed, a low, mean sound. “What, afraid of another frown on your potty chart?” Alyssa just shook her head, pulling Ashley up by the hand and leading her toward the hallway, ignoring the jab.
They tumbled onto Alyssa’s unmade bed, a frenzy of hands pulling at remaining clothes until skin met skin in the dim light. Ashley’s mouth was everywhere at once, a trail of fire down Alyssa’s stomach, while Alyssa tangled her fingers in the dark hair, urging her lower with a breathless, “Right there, don’t you stop.”
Ashley lifted her head, a wicked grin spreading across her lips. “My turn,” she whispered, shifting her body until they were aligned, mouth to thigh, a silent agreement passing between them as they moved into a sixty-nine, both wildly enjoying the ride.
The taste of Alyssa was sharp and clean, a stark contrast to the simmering resentment Ashley had swallowed all day, and she lost herself in the rhythm, the giving and taking. Alyssa’s own muffled cries vibrated against Ashley’s thigh, her fingers tightening in Ashley’s hair as the pressure coiled, tighter and tighter, a spring wound beyond its limit.
Then Ashley broke, a raw, shattered cry tearing from her throat as her body convulsed against Alyssa’s mouth, the waves violent and total. Alyssa rode it out with her, swallowing the taste and the sound, a satisfied hum vibrating in her own chest as she felt Ashley tremble and finally, slowly, go still.
Ashley collapsed beside her, breath ragged, then propped herself up on a trembling elbow. “You’re such a good girl for me,” she whispered, before her mouth found Alyssa’s neck, then lower, working with a focused, relentless rhythm until Alyssa’s back arched off the sheets in a shuddering, silent climax.
They made out again, a lazy, spent kiss tasting of salt and skin, until Alyssa nipped at Ashley’s lower lip. “My turn to wear you out,” she murmured, her hand sliding down Ashley’s stomach, “we’ve got time before bingo ends.”
The creak of the front door opening downstairs was a sound as cold and final as a lock snapping shut.
Alyssa sprang up, her eyes wide. “Shit, get dressed—it’s my grandma!” she hissed, snatching Ashley’s jeans from the floor and tossing them to her.
They fumbled into their clothes, fingers slipping on buttons, and ran frantic hands through their tangled hair, trying to erase the unmistakable evidence of the last hour.
Alyssa snatched a vanilla-scented candle from her dresser, fumbling with a lighter until a flame caught and began melting the wax, its sweet smoke curling into the air to smother the room’s salty, intimate smell. “Just act normal,” she whispered, pulling Ashley by the wrist into the hallway where her grandmother, Edith, stood hanging her coat, her eyes widening at the sight of Jen’s disheveled daughter emerging from the back of the house.
“Grandma, you remember Ashley from next door,” Alyssa said, her voice bright and startlingly clear as she slid a comforting arm around Ashley’s stiff shoulders. Edith’s gaze, sharp and appraising, lingered on Ashley’s flushed cheeks before softening into a polite nod. “We got to talking about the finches at the feeder out back and just lost track of time,” Alyssa added with a light laugh, giving Ashley’s shoulder a subtle, reassuring squeeze.
“Oh, of course! Jen mentioned you’d moved back,” Edith said, her warm smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “It’s so nice to see Alyssa making a friend right next door.”