Chapter 62A

Sue called her two weeks later. "Danny's told you what's happening?" she asked.

"He told me he was promoted and that you're moving to Chicago. I'm really glad for both of you."

"Thank you." She sighed. "Devlin, this is the call you've been dreading, or at least I think you've been dreading. We have a buyer for the house in Toluca. We'll be moving next week. His last day at the office in Bloomington will be two weeks from this Friday. I can... I can give you that weekend, but after that..."

"I understand," Devlin said with a heavy heart. She'd known this day was coming, now she just had to make the best of it.

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you did for us, Devlin," Sue went on, "but it's time to start a new life, for all of us."

"I've been preparing myself for this day for some time," Devlin said. "It's not like it's unexpected."

"I know, but still, it's got to be hard. Look, if there's anything we can do, anything at all, don't hesitate to call."

She said some other things, but Devlin only partly heard them. She hung up the phone slowly, remembering the times with Danny, times that started with a very nervous 14-year-old girl undressing for the first time in front of a grown man. And now, a distant voice on the phone, and more than five years had come to an end. It was just as well. Her life was changing, and the old things needed to be put behind her.

"You look like you got some bad news," her roommate said.

"Yes... and no," Devlin replied. She had an idea of what to do for the next two weeks. "Look, I'm going to be house-sitting for the next couple of weeks. You won't see me much around here. I hope you don't mind."

"Wow. Must be something serious."

Devlin hauled out her overnight bag and began throwing things into it. "It's serious enough, but not entirely unexpected."

"Anything I can do to help? Is it something you can talk about?"

Devlin shook her head. "Not really. If anyone calls for me, tell them to call my cell instead. Don't give out that number; the ones who need to talk to me have it, and the rest..."

"Yeah, I know," she laughed. "Credit card offers and other crap. Yesterday we got an offer to put in a satellite dish."

"What? You told them that this was a student dormitory."

"I didn't have a chance. It was one of those automated systems. I think I told them to take us off their list, but I'm not sure."

"Well, I hope so." Devlin looked over the things in her closet. She'd have to come back and grab a few more things, but not right now. She pulled out her sweater and picked up some books. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Good luck, whatever it is."

Danny had moved into the studio apartment they had been using for their lunchtime get-togethers. She dumped her overnight bag in the closet, grabbed a couple of things from the Athletic Club—so she'd be wearing dresses instead of jeans to class—and otherwise began to settle in. When Danny got there after work he was a little surprised to see her.

"Sue called," she told him. "And so for the next two weeks this is where I'm living."

"I... see." He looked at the fresh bedclothes, the flowers on the small kitchen table, the grocery bags next to the kitchen counter, and her books next to the chair in the corner. "My libido likes it. The rest of me... ?" He shook his head. "I'm going to be exhausted by the time I leave here."

"So am I, but it's our last time together and I want to make the most of it."

She'd started dinner, and she solved what to talk about until it was ready by stripping and sucking him off. He pushed her onto the bed and returned the favor. One thing led to another, and they were both gasping for breath when she finally got up to tend to the spaghetti.

"This is going to be an interesting two weeks," Danny said from the bed, watching her.

"I intend them to be," Devlin said. She was only wearing a kitchen apron she'd bought earlier that day. She felt all light and fluttery, and she knew she looked a mess with her hair all tangled up and her skin sweaty, but she felt wonderful. It was too bad it wasn't going to last, but she was going to enjoy it while she could.

They settled into a domestic routine. In the morning she fixed him breakfast, though she ate at Linkins. She would get back from class at least two hours before he could get out of work, and used that time to study. She would fix them dinner—except for one night when they went to a barbecue place he knew of well outside of town—and then, after he did paperwork and she studied some more, they would fall onto the bed for an hour or three of passionate sex.

She liked feeling so domestic. She knew it was something she'd have to do after college, and this was good practice. The only thing that was different was the sex. It was like high school all over again: every night, several times a night.

"Are you sure you'll be all right," she asked one evening when he woke up groggily after only one time.

"I'd forgotten how insatiable you are," he murmured. "Most guys would think of this as a fantasy come true."

"I shouldn't tell you this, but most gals would, too."

"Well, yeah, I suppose." He glanced at his cock; it was lying limp across his leg. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh can only take so much."

"How did we manage to do this when I was in high school?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "Since Milt was born I haven't felt the... urgency."

"It's probably your subconscious telling you something," she said.

"I'm going to need these next three days to recover," he said. In the morning he was going up to Toluca to finalize the selling of their house, and then on to Chicago to help settle things there.

"I shouldn't admit this," Devlin said, "but so will I." She thought of the coming week. They would have seven days after he got back. She wasn't sure if she was dreading them, or looking forward to them.

"You know," she said, "I was surprised that you agreed to this little arrangement. Technically speaking it was statutory rape."

"Don't think I didn't know that." He sighed. "Sue suggested it, she can be damned persuasive at times, and left me to think about it when I was on a business trip. We both knew it would do something to my imagination. I wasn't prepared for what happened. Normally on these business trips it's a bunch of guys drinking in the evening, playing golf upon occasion, things like that. But the guy who was the head of our group liked to go to strip clubs. All those bare bodies had an effect on me."

"What did you do?" she asked when he didn't speak for several seconds.

"When I got back to my hotel room I masturbated. Normally I didn't, not on a business trip. But I did that night, and the next morning, and every morning and evening for the rest of the trip. It was an absolute nightmare. You have no idea how it is to be constantly horny."

She laughed. "Oh, I wouldn't agree with that. I've been a teenager for the last few years, and I've spent a good part of that time wanting to have sex." She ran her hand over his chest, tweaking his nipples. "The only difference between me and most teenagers is that I was able to have sex in a safe situation."

He shook his head. "You're not a guy. You might have had the desires, but you didn't have a nearly constant erection. That can be a physical pain because people notice such a thing. And as sensitive as your clit is, a guy's cock is big and gets in the way of things. I was in physical pain when I got home."

"True, I didn't walk around all day with my pants tenting out in front of me, but my panties were soaked every day. I was always worried that other girls would smell my arousal. Tell me, were you as nervous as I was that first time?"

"I didn't know you were nervous. Sue told me that you'd already had some experience."

"That was with a boy, this was going to be with a man, a man who theoretically knew what he was doing." She laughed. "I was in such a frame of mind that day that I stuffed my panties full of sanitary napkins. It was either that, or leave a wet spot behind me every time I stood up. It was a combination of horniness and fear."

"Did you ever realize how close we came to getting caught?"

"A few times. That nosy Mrs. Witherspoon didn't help."

"Sue said she was the town's biggest gossip."

"She was," Devlin nodded. "But after we convinced her there was nothing going on, we were home free." She leaned back, smiling at a memory. "There was this one time she came over. I remember there was that one time you had to run down the back stairs and into the garage, and you didn't have a thing on. I managed to get into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt."

"I remember that." He chuckled. "I found a pair of overalls we had in the garage, and a tee-shirt. I covered my hands with grease like I'd been working on the car, and came banging into the kitchen from the garage."

"And I ducked into the baby's room. Fortunately she'd just woken up, and started to fuss. When Mrs. Witherspoon found me I was in the middle of wiping your daughter's bottom clean with a baby wipe. Mrs. Witherspoon watched me for a bit, we talked about what was going on in school, and then she went back downstairs."

"Where I ran into her, an old carburetor in my hands." Danny chuckled. "I'd had that thing lying around for ages. At least I got some good use out of it. I still had the grease on my hands when your mother came over."

"Which surprised her. She didn't know you worked on things."

"I have an inherent bias against that sort of thing," Danny said. "When I was a kid I had to help my Dad work on the family car. We always seemed to work on it during the winter, in the dirt. I decided then that I wanted a job where I would be inside and warm."

"I think that describes banking."

"Except when I have to go investigate some property. Last week I spent the morning wading around a barnyard up to my ankles in mud and other things. Fortunately I always bring my boots with me."

"Fortunately. To change the subject, when are you due back here in town?"

"Tuesday afternoon. I'll give you a call."

Devlin grimaced slightly, but with her head turned away so he wouldn't see. "I want to do something special this next week," she said. "It'll be our last week together."

"I have something in mind," Danny said. He patted her hip. "Don't worry."

#

His 'something special' was a night on the town in Peoria, topped with a Broadway show. That was Saturday night. Before then, though, she teased him unmercifully, starting Tuesday evening when he got back from Chicago.

"I just realized," she said over dinner, "that after P.E. today I forgot to put on my panties."

"You did remember your bra," he said.

"When you have boobs as big as mine, it's hard to forget your bra. Besides, everyone would notice."

"Don't they notice you don't have any panties on?"

She snorted in amusement. "I'm wearing a skirt. The only way somebody would notice is if I lifted it and paraded around that way. But a bra..."

"I've always wondered about that."

"What, wearing a bra?"

"No, the panties. When Sue and I first started dating it didn't take me very long to discover she didn't wear any."

"All of the time? Or just on the date?"

"Just on the date. I usually found out because we'd get somewhere alone and her pants would come off."

"So would yours."

"True." He shifted slightly in his seat, studying her across the table. "So what you're telling me is that right now there's nothing protecting your maidenly virtue from a hard cock slipped up under your skirt."

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head.

"Shall we find out?"

They finished dinner later. But for the rest of the week she made a point of dressing where he could see, and leaving her panties in the dresser, at least when she was around him. After she got to class she would change.

Friday morning, as she was sucking him off in the shower, he pulled his 'surprise' on her. "When you get back from class today, get your best 'knock-em-dead' dress."

"Oh? Any particular reason? I'd rather stay naked and in bed with you."

"Yeah, but you can't see a Broadway show that way."

"Broadway show?"

"In Peoria. We'll get a hotel room afterwards, and come back tomorrow or Sunday."

"For that, I'll get dressed up." She eyed his cock, and redoubled her efforts. A couple of minutes later Danny stopped washing his hair. His hands went to the back of her head, and he groaned as he emptied his balls down her throat. After that, of course, it was her turn. She shuddered through a climax courtesy of his experienced tongue, and resumed half-heartedly soaping herself.

She had to go to the Athletic Club to find her really top-of-the-line sexy evening gown. She packed the dress and heels in a dress bag and headed back to the loft. She threw a few other things in her overnight bag, along with her make-up kit. She felt as ready as she was going to get, so rather than pace uselessly, she took out one of her textbooks and studied until Danny got back.

"That took longer than I thought it would," she said. She could smell alcohol on his breath, but he didn't seem drunk.

"I had a 'going-away' party," he said. "You'll have to drive; the last thing I want is to get pulled over and fail a breathalyzer test."

"We'll have to take my car, then."

"Fair enough." He took out a small suitcase and began packing. "The show is at 8:00, so we'll have to hurry."

"Will there be time enough to change?"

"There should be. I made reservations for us at the Residence Inn."

They pulled into the parking lot of the Residence Inn a little after 6:00. A few minutes later Devlin dumped her overnight bag across the bed. The room—it was really a suite—included a Jacuzzi, a walk-in shower, and a fireplace.

Danny hung up his suit. "The show is at the Apollo Performing Arts Center," he said. "I called them this morning, and they recommended being there at least 30 minutes before the announced curtain time."

"In other words," Devlin said, "stop gawking at the amenities and get changed."

"Something like that."

"Dibs on the shower first," Devlin said. "And if you join me we won't get to the theater."

Danny smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. Get going, I have a few phone calls to make."

Devlin took a quick shower, and then pulled on the dress. It was dark red, a lycra and spandex mix that absolutely clung to her. The hem came about halfway up her thighs, and the split rose another 3" beyond that. It had spaghetti straps that tied behind her neck, and almost no back. The top was very low-cut and loose, showing a generous amount of cleavage. It was a dress designed to put wicked thoughts in the mind of any man who saw it, which was what she'd had in mind when she'd bought it. She had a pair of red pumps with 4" stiletto heels that she'd bought with this dress in mind. The only thing she didn't have were nylons, but the dress was really too short for the stockings she normally wore.

Devlin gave herself a thorough inspection in the mirror. Krissi was always after her to dress up and show off her curves. Well, this dress certainly did that. She didn't quite hang out of the top, but she showed a generous amount of cleavage. And legs; the dress was tight enough that her body was well displayed. She'd probably earn glares from every woman, and stares from every guy. She nodded at that, and then got her brush and went to work on her hair. She needed things just right for this outfit. She glanced at the door to the bathroom, and then slipped a robe on over her dress; there was no sense in letting Danny see it before she was good and ready.

When Danny started his shower she went to work on her hair, finally getting it to nearly what she wanted. She took a look in the mirror. It would have to do. Instead she added a thin gold chain necklace, and gold earrings that were tiny chains hanging to her shoulders. After adding a touch of perfume she felt ready to knock anyone's socks off.

She took one last look in the mirror. She wasn't her Mother's little girl any more. She chuckled. That was exactly what her mother would say if she saw her in this dress. She'd never worn something like this out in public. She wondered if it was time that she started doing so. She also wondered what Evan would say. She'd have to find the right time and place to wear this for him.

Danny emerged from the bathroom, and stopped dead. He was mostly dressed, shirt, slacks, cuffs, he even had his tie knotted. His eyes slowly tracked up and down her body. "You look stunning," he said at last.

She smiled and curtsied. "Thank you."

"Might I ask what you have on underneath that?"

"Well, no bra, of course," she said, squeezing her breasts. "As for the rest? Let's just say I'm covered."

"That's a shame," he said, grinning. "That's the kind of dress that's best worn without anything under it."

"I didn't say I was wearing any panties," she said. "Now before we get into that, why don't you finish getting dressed? If you don't, we'll be late."

He grinned good-naturedly and finished getting dressed. They made it to the line outside the performing arts center with a few minutes to spare. The play was Damn Yankees; she had a different appreciation for baseball now, and she sympathized with the main character. She decided that if she had anything to say about it, Evan was never going to play for the Yankees. She had no desire to live in New York City.

During the intermission, she sidled up next to him. "I knew I'd forgotten something," she murmured.

"Oh? What?"

"My panties. I just noticed that when I was in the Ladies Room."

He almost choked on his drink. "How could you... ?"