Chapter 33: The Gift

By the time we got back, the newlyweds' first dance was taking place. Everybody stood around the dance floor and watched David and Lori dance together, looking comfortable in each other's arms as they moved beautifully in harmony to The Way You Look Tonight. It was Thomas Wilkinson's turn next to dance with the bride, and he guided her around the dance floor with flair, proud as a rooster, as David danced with his mother.

Eventually the tempo picked up, and Kayla kicked off her shoes as we shucked and jived to the music. There were quite a few older couples jitterbugging to Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. I could never get the hang of it, so Luscious and I squeezed in between those who knew what they were doing, and waved our arms and stamped our feet to the beat pounding out of the speakers.

After about three songs I was breathing like I had run a couple of miles, and I was sweating right through my shirt. It was time to get rid of the jacket and tie. Kay and I headed back to the table, where John and Bill were deep in conversation. When they saw us coming, John reached over and poured us each a glass of white wine. I also got us some water. Dancing was a lot more aerobic than just wine or soda was going to be able to overcome. We sat down for a moment, and I watched Molly and Alex, still out on the floor. Molly, from years in gymnastics and cheerleading, had a good sense of rhythm as well as a natural grace, but poor Alex looked like a scarecrow caught in a high wind. I chuckled, and then remembered that if it was as okay with Molly as it seemed to be, it was certainly fine by me. Besides, I knew I looked funny out there, too, and had no room to be making fun of Alex's dancing abilities. In fact, Eric once accused me of having Terminal White Boy's Dancing Disease, something I couldn't deny.

I put my arm around Kayla's shoulder and she moved in a little closer to me, her hand resting lightly on my knee. When the next slow song started, she stood up and pulled me out of my chair and back onto the wood floor, holding my hand as she led me. She twirled and ended up, quite naturally, in my arms. Her body just seemed to mold itself to me as she anticipated where my feet were leading us. I dropped her hand and put both my arms around her waist, and she wrapped hers around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder as we swayed to the ballad. We occasionally bumped lightly into another couple nearby, but we didn't care. We were cozy in each other's arms.

Another slow song started up, and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I let go of Kayla, and David swept her up into his arms as Lori, dazzling in her wedding gown, smiled at me. She held her arms out just a little, an invitation I was helpless to resist.

As she nestled in to me, I said softly, "You look absolutely beautiful, Lori."

I could feel her smile against my shoulder. "Thank you, Sean. I can't believe this is all real."

"Oh, it's real, and I don't know anybody more deserving than you."

She held me a little tighter. "Oh, Sean, you are such a great friend. I wouldn't be here now, if it weren't for you."

That didn't make any sense at all to me. What did I do to bring her to this marriage with David? "I don't think that's true at all," I said.

She stopped us, right there in the middle of the dance floor, and looked me straight in the eye, a warm and kind expression on her lovely face. "It is true, my wonderful darling young man. I know it, deep down, even if you don't recognize it." She put her head back onto my shoulder, and we started slowly stepping to the music again. "You convinced me to take a chance in life again, Sean. After that night... I realized that I had been walking around half dead. I had too much missing from my life, living like I was, just trying to take care of the boys and all..." She sniffled just a little. "David had been asking me to go to dinner with him for a long time, and I kept on refusing him. I'm surprised he didn't just give up on me. But then you... and I... anyway, the next week, when he asked if I would join him for lunch, I accepted." She laughed just a little at the remembrance. "I think he nearly fell out of his chair when I said I would go out with him. 'Persistence pays off, ' he said. And that was the start."

The song ended. We let go of each other, but then Lori put both her hands on my upper arms. "I loved Tom with all my heart, Sean, and I will always love him. But it was time to move on. You helped me to see that. And, maybe, I accepted a little push from Wendy, too." She blushed just a little. "But I owe you thanks, and much more, Sean." With that, she hugged me to her tightly, and then let me go and, without another word, turned to David and took his arm. He gave me a big smile and a thumbs-up, and led his bride off the dance floor as Kayla came up and took my arm, a dazzling smile on her face.

"He is just the sweetest man!" she said as we walked off the dance floor.

I glanced over at her, startled. What did he say to her? Kayla didn't say anything more, however.

Alex and Molly finally took a break from twisting and shouting, and came over to sit out a few. Alex's face was a bright red, nearly the color of his hair, and he was panting heavily.

"That's a lot of work out there," he said.

"Yeah, girls like Molly and Kayla make it look easy, but it ain't," I agreed.

"Girls like Molly and Kayla make us look good out there," he said wisely.

Both Molly and Kayla smiled at that, and Molly leaned over and, despite his sweaty face, gave him a kiss on his cheek. Poor Alex turned an even brighter scarlet.

"Kayla, I think we wore these two guys out," said Molly. "Let's go find ourselves some younger men who can keep up with us."

Kayla nodded, and the two of them stood and walked away together. The prettiest girl in the Junior Class, strawberry blonde Molly, and a walking dream, perhaps the loveliest girl in the entire school, my own Luscious Kayla. Alex and I just gazed at them as they receded, both of us wordlessly appreciating our astounding luck. We picked up our wine glasses and clinked them together before taking a sip, silently toasting each other.

"Hey, Sean, we'd better go find the guy with the keys before he runs out of rooms," suggested Alex.

"Good plan," I agreed.

We looked around for David's brother, but didn't see him. We walked around the dance floor, looking for him. We didn't find Ron, but we did find his jacket, tossed carelessly across the back of his chair at the head table. On a saucer were four hotel keys, and a handwritten note that said that they were first-come, first-serve, and to help ourselves. I grabbed a key, and we turned to go back to our table, when Alex stopped, staring ahead. I glanced around, trying to figure out what he was looking at, but he wasn't looking at anything. He spun back around, reached over, and took a second key, and put it in his pocket.

"You know, just in case..." He blushed, but I knew what he meant. Just in case. I fervently hoped Molly wasn't feeling itchy again. That was part of what got her into trouble before. On the other hand, I didn't think Alex was very experienced when it came to girls, and I couldn't imagine a better tutor for him than Miss Molly O'Toole.

As we slipped back around the perimeter of the dance floor, we saw Molly dancing with Davey, and Kayla dancing with Kip. Davey looked a little embarrassed, as befitted a mature ten-year-old, but Kip was staring rapturously up at Luscious Kayla as she moved him around. She was smiling happily at his attentions, looking as angelic for him as she could.

As soon as the song was over, Davey let go of Molly and ran away. Kip was a little more reluctant to let Kayla out of his sight, but the pull of following his older brother proved to be too much, and he raced after Davey. The girls spotted us, and motioned us over to them. Molly stepped over to me, and held out her hand. Kayla, not to be outdone, moved over and took Alex's arm. Ol' Blue Eyes started crooning about saying something stupid as Molly and I slid closer together. I wrapped my arms around her waist so we could dance close, box-stepping in our own little square of space.

"Did Davey enjoy his dance?" I murmured.

"I think I scared him," she said quietly, a smile evident in her voice.

"Maybe he doesn't like thinking that his favorite babysitter is really a girly-girl," I said.

"Maybe," she agreed.

"After all, he's never seen you this dressed up before."

"True." She rested her head on my shoulder. I could feel her muscles relaxing as I held her and we swayed together.

"This feels so nice," she whispered, almost to herself.

"You doing okay, Molly?" I asked quietly.

She knew what I meant. I knew she was doing okay tonight, being at the wedding with Kayla and Alex and me, but I was more concerned with how she was feeling about herself. I was hoping that the combination of the wine, the prospect of spending the night downtown, and dancing closely with me wasn't making her revert back into a more troubled Molly O'Toole.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her breasts pressed against me as her chest rose, but it was an unconscious action, no hidden trickery that I could detect, so I did my best to ignore it.

"I'm doing okay, Sean," she said. She hesitated, and then stopped moving with me. She took a small step back from me, keeping her arms around my neck as she stared up into my eyes, a serious expression on her face.

Suddenly, she smiled, a relaxed and happy and easy smile, and my good friend Molly was there, like she had never left. "I'm doing fine, Sean Porter. I'm doing just fine." And she hugged me fiercely, pulling me to her by my neck. She kissed me beneath my ear. "Now dance with me," she commanded.

Who was I to refuse?

The four of us stayed until the DJ finally called an end to the music. We had gone through the Chicken Dance a long time ago, and Hava Nagila had been danced and sung. Garters were twanged like slingshots, and bouquets had been tossed. The room had thinned out quite a bit by then. All the old folks had escaped the loud music long ago, and the kids were all gone, too. The two college girls who were watching Davey, Kip, Justin, and the other younger kids turned out to be Ron's oldest daughter's two college roommates, hired for the evening, and they had rounded up their charges and taken them out about an hour before things finally wound down. David and Lori were still there, making sure everybody had a good time, accepting last- minute congratulations, and posing with tired good nature for one last photograph.

Molly and Alex insisted we go with them to personally thank the disk jockey, and we all shook his hand. He looked a little surprised, and very pleased. Apparently this sort of politeness wasn't something he saw very often. We then walked over and said goodnight to David and Lori.

"Are you all staying over tonight?" asked David.

I jingled our hotel key, and hoped Alex kept his in his pocket. I wanted David and Lori to assume the four of us would be sharing a room to sleep in, nothing more.

"Good, I'm glad," said Lori. "I would be up half the night worrying about you guys, if I thought you were driving home so late."

"Nope, no need to worry about us," said Molly. She hugged Lori, and then gave David a hug. Kayla followed suit. Alex settled for shaking their hands, but I took Lori in my arms one last time.

"Thank you, Sean. Take care."

I let her go, and held out my hand to David. He grabbed it, and then pulled me in and gave me a big bear hug.

"Thanks for everything, Mr. P.," he said. "We'll see you when we get back from Hawaii. Won't we, Mrs. M.?"

He let me go, and clapped me on the back.

Lori laughed. "Of course we will," she agreed.

Alex's key was for a room two doors down from us. They waved as they passed us by, holding hands on their way down the hall.

"Meet you for breakfast?" asked Molly as they passed.

"Okay," I said. "What time?"

Molly glanced at Alex. "Call us when you wake up," he suggested. Molly nodded.

"If you haven't heard from us by the time you guys are up and ready, give us a call, then," I said.

I opened the door, and stepped aside to let Kayla go in. She stopped in the doorway and looked around. I thought she was probably nervous. I knew I certainly was. The room looked small, and the two queen- sized beds looked huge, dominating the room. Or maybe it was just our focus.

I put a hand on Kayla's shoulder gently. "Are you okay with this?" I asked quietly.

She turned and smiled. "I'm okay. I'm just a little..."

"Yeah," I finished for her. "So am I."

We stepped into the room, and I closed the door and turned the lock.

Kayla carried her small purse with her as she walked to the bathroom door, and turned back to me. "Turn out the light, but let's leave the curtains open, okay?"

I glanced out the big window. We were up high, on one of the top floors of the big hotel. The city lights were spread out in a soft glow below us, giving us privacy while at the same time providing us with just enough dim light into the room.

While Kayla was in the bathroom, I tossed the bedspread over the stuffed chair in the corner, and turned down the blanket and sheet. I slipped my shoes off, hung up my suit coat, and took off my suit pants, hanging them up by a belt loop over the hook of a hanger. I took off my shirt, which was pretty wrinkled from all the sweaty dancing, and hung it up on another hanger. I switched off the light, and got into bed in just my underwear, nervous and jumpy as a mouse being chased by a hungry cat. My dick was as hard as steel, anticipating a whole night with my Luscious.

Finally, Kayla opened the bathroom door. She left the light on, but closed the door until just a sliver of light came through. She had taken off her gown, and was wearing just her bra and panties. She had taken down her hair, so that it spilled across her shoulders and down, the ends flaring across her covered breasts. She stood there by the door for just a moment, her hands curled into small fists, letting her eyes adjust to the dimness of the room, and perhaps subconsciously letting me see her, vulnerable and beautiful. She was smiling hesitantly, suddenly more shy and uncertain than I had ever seen her, and my heart went out to her.

"I'm over here," I said softly.

She came over and slipped between the sheets. I put my arm around her shoulder, and she quite naturally snuggled up against me, her arms clenched to her as she lay on her side, her head nestled against my shoulder.

"You're the boss," I whispered. "We only do what you want to do."

I felt her nod. "Okay," she said. She giggled and rolled over, away from me. "Goodnight, then," she said.

"What?" I asked, panicking. I turned toward her, a little shaken, and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned toward me and giggled again, her nervousness skittering away with her little prank as she took me in her arms and lifted up her face to kiss me.

Her lips were soft and pliant, moving slightly against my mouth as we made our tiny adjustments toward each other. She scooted closer to me, putting her arm around me, and I teased her with just the tip of my tongue, tracing the pattern of her lipstick. We kissed each other softly, unhurriedly, for a long time, just happy to be together like this. I could dimly feel the afterburners kick in somewhere deep in my midsection. I held her to me a little tighter, and started kissing her cheeks, her eyelids, and the corners of her mouth.

Kayla reciprocated by nibbling on my lower lip, concentrating on my scar, as I reached around her, searching for the hooks and eyes that were keeping me from being able to caress the parts of her I longed to touch. She turned a little in my arms, making it easier to release her bra. She sat up momentarily once I got it undone, and tossed it to the floor before settling back against me. I ran my hand up her flat tummy to her small breast, and clutched it as if it was a lifeline, marveling all over again at the wonders of the female form. As I held her breast in my hand, I felt the nipple thicken and swell, the nub poking my palm, a spot of concentrated heat that I knew would soon expand and consume me.

Kayla arched her back a little, pressing her breast harder into my hand, and she kissed me hard, her tongue on the attack. I heard a little moan escape her as she thrust her tongue into my mouth in search of my own. I squeezed her boob, kneading the flesh roughly before running my hand across her chest, my fingertips tracing the valley between her breasts, and taking hold of her other mound, my thumb rubbing across her distended nipple.

She broke the kiss and threw her head back, panting in desire. I took the opportunity to suck and nibble at her tender throat. She groaned and lay back, giving in to my attentions. I rolled with her, so that I was on top, covering her torso with my chest and arms, as I tasted the hot and salty skin of her neck and throat. I licked and kissed my way very slowly down her throat, to her chest, exploring and experimenting as my lips moved from her hard collarbone to the swells of her breasts. As my mouth got nearer her fleshy mound, my fingers were on the underside, gently pushing her boob up, so that her nipple stood out, proud and erect and ruby red as it anticipated feeling my lips and teeth. I pinched the distended nub, and was rewarded with her rubbing her knee up and down my leg, an unconscious reaction she felt in her center that caused her limbs to move in sympathy.

I licked around the areola of her breast, teasing as I circled her breast with my tongue and lips, but not yet ready to give her the momentary satisfaction of feeling me suck on her swollen nipple. She was still arching her back, pushing her chest up to try to increase our contact on her pressure point. Finally, I satisfied my own urge, and nearly sent her over the edge by clamping my lips onto her nipple and sucking it into my mouth. At the same time, I grabbed her pussy through her panties. I ran my fingertips up her slot between her parted legs, letting the cotton crotch of her panties soak up some of the moisture that was leaking from her. She squealed and bucked up against my hand, already close to her first orgasm of the night.

"Oh, God, Sean, please..."

"What, Kay?" I asked, a little panicked that she might want me to stop.

"Take them off," she gasped. "Please take them off. I want to feel your fingers..." She threw the sheet and blanket off us and kicked them to the foot of the bed.

I scooted down and grasped the elastic waistband of her panties as I knelt between her spread knees, and gently pulled. Kayla lifted up her ass to help, and then bent her knees and lifted her legs up together so I could shuck her panties down her legs and off. I got a good view of one of the most precious sights in the world: moist, rosy pussy lips that are flushed and swollen with desire, on a girl I loved.

I stayed where I was and ran my hands up her smooth calves while her legs were raised up, and I gently guided them apart as she lowered them around me. I let my hands slide up the inside of her thighs. Could her skin really be that smooth? I glanced up and saw that she was lying back against the pillow, eyes closed, her flattened breasts rising and falling rapidly as she concentrated on my fingers as they caressed her marvelous legs. Her leg muscles were quivering slightly, and I knew she was still close to coming. I wanted to prolong her pleasure for awhile longer, though, so I moved very slowly, tickling her tender skin along the insides of her thighs, from her knees nearly to her juncture, up almost to her needy center, and then back down again, agonizingly slowly, building her up but not letting her crest. The soft skin of her thighs was giving off an incredible amount of heat, and it was having a dizzying effect on me as I touched her.

She unconsciously dropped her hand down to touch her sex, and when her fingers bumped against her swollen clit, she jerked. I reached up and took hold of her hand.

"No, sweetie," I whispered. "Let me do it."

She allowed me to move her hand to her side, and I took pity on her, pointing my tongue at her drooling lips and licking slowly, lovingly from her flooded hole up, until I just touched her little button. Her stomach muscles began to spasm, and her breath was beginning to hitch as her body anticipated her release, but I backed off until she calmed down a little. Instead, I concentrated on the layers of skin on the outside of her pussy lips, tasting and lapping up her lubricating oils. When her breathing stabilized a little, I teasingly blew onto her sensitive tissues, and used my thumbs to rub lightly along the tender isthmus of skin between her leg and her outer lips. Her muscles began twitching again, and I tasted of her oils again, this time with a broader stroke of my tongue along the length of her vulva. I dipped my tongue as far as I could into her heated opening, lapping up her hot juices, and then delved among her folds until I encountered her clitoris, poking out of its tiny sheath. I clamped my lips against her and sucked on her, drawing out the sensitive bump, and then I tried to grasp it with my nibbling lips.

Kayla huffed twice, her whole body clenched in anticipation, and she grabbed the back of my head and held my mouth tight against her, and she was flung over the edge. A tiny, breathless scream escaped her, and I was rewarded with a tiny discharge of heated fluid from her over-stimulated pussy, a slightly metallic, tangy taste that almost immediately set up an intense craving deep inside me. My rock-hard cock, held in place by my briefs and pressed against the mattress, responded to the taste, pulsing and threatening to go off untouched.

Her body relaxed, and her hands fell from my head, back to her sides. I lifted up to take a look at her. She was lying there, dreamily unaware of anything except the last, fading explosions flashing behind her closed eyelids, a small smile on her lovely face. Her pale blonde hair was splayed around her head against the pillow, tousled from rolling her head from side to side as I licked and tasted her, and she never looked more beautiful. My cock twitched, the little head desperately wanting to take over and plunge itself deep within her steamy depths, but I managed to dissuade it by dropping back and taking one long finger and running it through her folds to her hole, and slowly dipping it into her, pausing as each knuckle passed her portal, until it was fully inside her.