Chapter 1

On January 2, a sullen, grey day, in contrast to the day before, saw Lou and I part company for awhile. I took off for my studio and Lou to her home. Lou worked out of her home in addition to a part-time job at a local business where she did their books. Lou was not quite a CPA, and she was a very free spirit who wouldn't be tied down to any kind of 9 to 5 job. My studio was my full-time job.

I spent the next couple of days getting the pictures from the New Year's Eve party prepped for the lab, including a very large one for the hotel. I decided that what was needed was a collage of pictures. My concept was to take the wide angle picture that was taken before the party started, with all of the decorations in place, tables set, etc, in the center, and putting pictures of people having fun on the outside.

As I was going through those party pictures I came across a couple that would have been very embarrassing to certain people, if I had known who they were. One was taken while the confetti and balloons were drooping, and a woman, with her head flung back so that you couldn't see her face. She was reaching up while her strapless gown was heading down. Her tits had fallen out! Another was a couple in full embrace and he had his hand on her ass, and it was apparent she wore no underwear and showed her pussy. A little research revealed that these came from Lou's camera. No wonder she was so horny that night. Those pictures, and a few others that were just as risqué, caused my cock to stir.

My regular assistant, Naomi, a pretty young lady who had been working for me since she was in high school, worked on the pictures for the partiers while I worked on the picture for the hotel. Then, once everything was done and met my approval, everything was transferred electronically to the lab. I was very happy with sending my finished file that way. In the old days, you constantly worried that something might happen to the negatives in the mail, and without the negatives, you were just plain SOL. Now, however, the original files never left your possession, so even if something got screwed up, you could just resent the files. Ain't technology wonderful?

As I said, we cranked those out and got them back from the lab about a week after we sent them. In the meantime, I had a basketball league to photograph and Naomi helped me with those. Thank goodness it was only a Saturday morning. Again, we cranked the retouching and the other digital things (like trading cards, etc) so that they'd get back in good order, and so the first couple of weeks after New Year's had gone by before I was able to really see Lou again. I had called her a couple of times, but she was busy also preparing for tax season.

The period between Christmas and Easter are traditionally fairly quiet times for photographers. That's when most of us plan for vacations and that's when the big conventions play, like Wedding Photographers International and the Professional Photographers of America. Since a lot of photographers were members of several different organizations, so the different groups cooperate, as much as they can, so that their conventions don't overlap, and all of the regional conventions work around their schedules.

I don't like big crowds, so I only go to the regional near me. They were planning their big convention for the third week of February, and PP of A would be in early March. Even though I did lots weddings, I was not a member of the WPI, so I didn't care about their convention in late February. The one thing I wanted to try to do, therefore, was to get a couple of prints into competition, and if they scored well enough, that is got enough points, to be called merit points; they would be placed on display at the national convention. Score well there and they might be displayed somewhere like Epcot or other national venues. Of course, there were those who insisted that the only merit prints worth anything were those that came in the color green and had Ben Franklin's picture on them. Those people seldom entered competitions and seldom merited.

I had a few pictures that I thought would do OK. I had one wedding picture of which I was especially proud, a landscape and the print I was making for the hotel might do well in the commercial category. However, I kept coming back to the image of Lou and the Jacuzzi. If I could recreate in the camera what I had seen in my head, it would definitely go to the fine art category.

After completing the basketball league pictures, getting them back from the lab and distributing them to the parents by the end of the third week of January, I thought it was high time to call Lou and ask her out. The Saturday evening after distributing the league worked out well for both of us, and I picked Lou up and we were going to a nice Italian restaurant. Call me old-fashioned, but I went to Lou's apartment and went to her door to pick her up. Standing in the drive, blowing the horn is only for idiots without any social graces or redemptions.

Lou met me at the door with a robe on. She turned back to go to her bedroom saying, "Make yourself at home. I'll only be a few minutes." I wandered around, looking at stuff lying around. She had a book by Heinlein on the stand next to her couch (J.O.B., for those of you who might be wondering!) and it was obvious this was not the first time it had been read. I turned to her bookcase and saw there were more science fiction there, as well as fantasy, mysteries, thrillers, spy novels and even romances. There were also text books there, running from mathematics to anthropology. My God, it was like looking into my library at home! I knew Lou had divergent tastes, but I didn't realize just how eclectic she was. Yep, my kind of girl!

She announced her return with a "Ta-DA", and I turned. As she came into view, I had to whistle. It might have been January, but she looked HOT! She was wearing a very short cocktail dress, in black and red. The top clung to her curves, suggesting a second skin. The skirt, what there was of it, was black and hugged her hips with only a slight flair. The dress ended about five inches above the knee. It was obvious she wore no bra because her nipples poked out. She was going to have to be careful in how she sat; otherwise, her panties would be on display for the entire world to see and admire. I had a thought: 'what kind of panties was she wearing anyway? Or, was she wearing any in the first place?' With Lou, you just never knew.

The result was near-instantaneous wood for me. I was uncomfortable, to say the least, and Lou giggled when she saw my reaction. "You certainly know how to compliment a girl," she said. Thank goodness my slacks were fairly loose!

I made a circular motion with my hand and she turned like a model. That dress molded itself to every curve, and the black and red bands seemed to never be in the same place twice. It was a dazzling dress, and I was feeling definitely underdressed. She was wearing matching heels and her red hair was long enough to fall over one eye. I looked a little closer and it appeared as if it were longer than she normally wore it. I inquired about that, and she confirmed it.

"I thought I'd let it grow a little longer to see if I liked it," she said. "What do you think?"

Normally, this would be a warning sign, but that view did not take in Lou's personality and she truly appreciated the truth as much as she appreciated a sincere compliment.

"Well," I said, hesitating. "I like longer hair on women. It makes them seem more feminine, somehow. It helps me differentiate the differences between men and women, at least for me it does. I've never been a fan of long hair on men, either. Guys with hair long enough for a pony tail or braiding just seems effeminate and affectations to me. Just my opinion," I added with my hands held out in a placating gesture.

"But," Lou said, "how do you like it on me? She wasn't going to let me off the hook, it seemed.

"I like it." There, I'd said my opinion. I wasn't at all sure that was necessarily a good idea, what with my past experience with women.

"Good," she said. "I thought you might." No getting around her, that's for sure. "I think I'll let it grow a bit and see how it feels. You said dress up a little; will this be OK?"

"Oh," I sighed. "It's more than OK. You look mah-vel-ous, dahling," I said in my best Billy Crystal imitation. It earned me a smile and a little giggle. A good start the evening, I thought. I had successfully negotiated a minefield and had gotten a smile in return. Now, if I only didn't screw up later. Something about this girl made me want to stay on her happy side. She reached into a closet for her coat, and I helped her into it.

We walked out to my car. I have two vehicles: a minivan for work and a Chrysler for everything else. I tried to keep the two (business and pleasure) separate, if for no other reason, it made tax accounting simpler. I never want to give the government any reason to look at me; not that I had anything to hide, but it is never a good idea to have the government looking into your money. As many a politician can tell you, even if you're clean, somebody will find something and blow it out of proportion!

At the car, I held the door for her, and even though Lou had on a heavy coat, I got a very nice flash of leg. I looked at Lou as I closed the door, and saw an amused smile on her face. I think she enjoyed teasing me a little. I had looked to see if she was wearing panties tonight, but the flash had been far too short for me to determine anything. Damn! I closed the door with a very satisfying 'thump' and turned to hurry over to the driver's side.

I did a double-take, but she already had her legs hidden in the car. Had I really seen the glimpse of skin at the top of her stockings? Were they stockings or panty hose? Too late now to know for sure.

I got in and saw that she was buckled in and did the same. Yeah, I know all the arguments against wearing a seatbelt, but those stories about haw people have been thrown clear of a horrible wreck and walked away with just a few scratches are just anecdotal. Statistically, wearing the seatbelt is the better bet, by far! I don't appreciate the government (and the do-gooders who want me to run my life according to their "enlightened" rules) mandating their usage; I do it for my own safety. I was glad to see Lou had similar thoughts.

The drive to the Italian restaurant I had chosen was pretty mundane with each of us telling the other of how we'd filled our days in the past couple of weeks. When we arrived and I parked the car, Lou waited until I had come around and opened her door. I don't know if she waited out of habit or so that she could tease me a little more, but I did get another, longer flash of her long legs. Yeah, stockings, not pantyhose. Now, were they held up with a garter? How would I ever know? She stood up and shook herself to settle her clothes, then took my arm. I closed the door and pressed the button on the fob to lock the doors as we walked away.

Inside, I asked the hostess for a booth. Lou raised her eyebrows at that, but didn't say anything. As we followed the hostess, I couldn't help but notice the crowd was pretty thin for a weekend. I mentioned this to the hostess.

"Oh, it's not too unusual this soon after New Year's," she said. "By Valentine's Day, you better have a reservation or you won't find a place until about 9:00!"

She led us to a quiet corner and I helped Lou out of her coat. As she stood there, I gave her a little kiss on her neck. She sighed and moved away from me, seating herself after tossing her coat into the corner of the booth. This time I was not treated to any flash of leg. I shrugged off my coat, tossed it into the corner on my side and seated myself opposite Lou.

"Why did you ask for a booth?" Lou asked once I was seated.

"Oh, a couple of reasons," I said. "One, if we're here more than 30 minutes, I find dining chairs very uncomfortable. Two, booths are arranged around the outside of a restaurant, and most of the noise gets centered in the middle of a room. And three, I can hear you better and see you better when we're right across from each other. I'm getting a bit hard of hearing, so this helps a lot. Finally, there's the fact that I can make lewd, crude suggestions, and if you smack me, you won't disturb the entire restaurant." I waggled my eyebrows at her. I glanced at the menu. I already knew what I wanted, as I had been her many times before.

"Ah," she responded. "That makes sense. Do I have to speak really loud for you to hear me?"

"No," I said. "Just don't mumble. I don't read lips very well yet!"

"Oh," she said, "about those lewd, crude suggestions? You know, I may just take you up on some of them!" She waggled her eyebrows back at me.

I laughed and suddenly the waitress was there to take our drink orders. Neither of us really liked hard liquor, so I ordered a beer and Lou asked for some wine. While the waitress was gone, we perused the menu. Suddenly, Lou squealed! It seems that the restaurant had vegetarian lasagna and Lou wanted to try it. When the waitress returned, I gave her our orders, the lasagna for Lou and a stuffed tortellini in a rich marina sauce for me. Within a few minutes, each of us had a salad placed in front of us and the way Lou attacked it, you would have thought she hadn't eaten for a week. That girl had quite an appetite!

Between bites, we continued where we had left off in the car. Lou was getting ready for tax season, which officially began after the 31st of January, the last day anybody who employed anybody could mail out W-2's, 1099's, etc. I think that the Post Office loved this time of year almost as much as Christmas because of the volume of mail goes up dramatically. Lou had quite a number of clients, including me. She had been doing my taxes for a couple of years after my previous accountant decided to retire. She had me trained as to how she wanted things organized, but she still had some clients who couldn't (or wouldn't) be trained. They'd hand her shoeboxes of receipts, bills, etc, and expected her to sort it all out. She did, but at a premium. She charged them significantly more than someone who tried to be organized. Ever want to piss an accountant off? Don't be organized; that'll do it every time!

As we finished the salad, I suddenly felt something start to rub my foot, moving slowly up my leg. It started on the instep, rubbing back and forth, and moved upward. I guess I gulped my drink a little and when I looked over at Lou, I could see a playful grin on her face. I next felt that foot moving northward and it eventually ended up caressing the inside of my thigh. I must have made some sort of sound, and despite my attempts to be smooth, I started coughing, choking on my beer.

Lou just looked at me. "Something not go down right?" she asked me, oh, so innocently. I was wiping my mouth readying a rejoinder when the waitress brought our entrees.

Lou laughed at me as the waitress set our food before us and asked, "Is there anything else I could bring you at the moment?"

I didn't hesitate. "Yes," I replied. "A date who doesn't play footsie under the table!"

Lou laughed and the waitress wasn't quite sure how to respond. "No," I said. Everything is just fine. Maybe another beer, if you please. This time, with no bones in it." The waitress just smiled and then hurried away.

"You are so bad," Lou said. That poor girl just didn't know what to make of you. Looks like I can't take you anywhere."

"You ... taking me out?" I sputtered. "She'll get over her embarrassment if I give her a big enough tip."

"True, true," Lou replied. "Money does solve a lot of problems, doesn't it? Speaking of which, what's with the check I got in the mail the other day?"

"Not enough for the work you did?" I asked.

"No, I wasn't expecting anything, to tell you the truth," she said.

"Well, you did work for me on New Year's Eve, didn't you?" I said.

"Yes, but..." Lou started.

"But nothing," I said. You worked hard for that money. I couldn't have done nearly as well without your help, and I always pay whoever works for me. You earned it; your pictures were really great."

"I thought you paid me with the room," she said. "And afterward," she added softly after a moment.

"That was an unexpected bonus," I said. "For both of us, it seems."

She looked thoughtfully at her glass. "Yes," she murmured.

"Anyway, I want to talk to you about something different," I said, leaning forward.

"Yes," she said, drawing out the word.

"I saw something I'd like to recreate and I want you to be my model for it."

Her eyes grew quite wide and she took a sharp breath. "Me?" she said, incredulous.

"Yes, you," I said. I proceeded to describe, in as much detail as I could, what I envisioned.

When I was done, she was again looking at her now-empty glass speculatively. "What would I need to do?" she asked.

"Not too much," I said. "But, you have to be willing to be photographed nude and let others see you. I'll pay you a standard fee," I added.

"Hmm," she said. "Just how many others might be seeing that picture?"

"Well, there are all of the people at the convention, to start with," I replied.

"What?" she hissed. "A convention? Are you out of your mind?"

"No, I'm not," I shot back. "This wouldn't be for me alone," I said. "I want to make a competition size print, and then a really big one for me at home."

"Competition," she said without comprehension. I explained to her about the competitions and how I thought what I wanted to do might do very, very well. I then explained to her where and how I wanted to do the picture. I have a friend who owned a spa with a Japanese-styled bath and this was where I wanted to do the picture. I also explained that the final picture might be used for advertising. Her face and figure might be seen by quite a few people, now that I thought about it.

We talked about it throughout our meal and by the time we were done, Lou was onboard with the project and I was very happy. I was also very eager to see what we could do. If we could have done it right then, I probably would have grabbed my gear and gotten it done that night. However, I had to work out details with the spa owner, so it probably would happen until the next weekend at the earliest.

I had brought along my tablet and over dessert, we looked at some of the pictures we had taken New Year's Eve. Lou had the decency to look a little chagrined at the 'R' rated pictures she had taken. We laughed at them, and Lou complimented me on the hotel's picture. It was then I knew the hotel would love it.

I took Lou home, and being a gentleman, I walked her to her door where we had a rather chaste, considering our intimacy a couple of weeks previously, kiss. I didn't want to assume any liberties Lou had not granted me. I turned to go back to the car.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Lou asked in a rather sharp tone.

I turned back to her. "I just assumed the night was over," I said. I think I may have whined a little.

"Oh, good grief!" she exclaimed. "Get your butt in here. Now!" she commanded.

I smiled a little. "Yes, ma'am," I said, and gave her a little salute. I came back to her and she gave me a smart smack on my rear as I walked past her.

She took her coat and hung it in the closet and held out her hand for mine. She hung it up neatly and sauntered past me, her hips have an extra little wriggle. She looked at me over her shoulder.

"Would you like a beer or a glass of wine?" she asked.

I walked up to her and took her chin between my thumb and forefinger as I turned her around to face me.

"What I want, is you," I growled.

She smiled, turned and took my hand and led me to the pack part of the apartment. When we arrived at her bedroom, she turned and put a hand on my chest in a gesture I knew meant that I should wait a moment. She continued on into the room and from the doorway, I watched as she lit a taper and then lit several candles from the taper. The room was aglow in the soft, yellow light that only candles can create. Seeing the room thus bathed, I knew what my photograph would need to get me what I wanted.

Lou's back was to me when she finished lighting the candles and blew out the taper. Before she could turn around, I came up to her, put my arms around her and drew her tight to me. She molded herself to and I bent and nuzzled her neck and ear, planting little kisses on any exposed skin. She shivered and reached her hand up to cup my head. Her other hand was holding both of mine in place at her waist. She moaned, softly. Her hair smelled of jasmine.

She allowed me a few moments of nuzzling and kissing her before she turned and buried her face into my chest. She wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I kissed the top of her head. She looked up at me, her eyes bright and shining.

"Make love to me," she whispered. She moved away from me and took my hand and led be to the edge of the bed. Her hands reached up to my shoulders and she put her hands under my jacket. She took that off of me and turned and laid it neatly on the chair that sat near the end of the bed. She turned and reached up to start unhooking her dress. I wrapped my arms around her again, squeezing her tightly, actively kissing her neck and ear, first on her right side and then on her left. My hands were active, also, rubbing her over her dress, causing her to wriggle in delight.

After a few moments, I stopped and leaned back enough so that I could see the catch at the top of the dress; I kept my lower half in contact with her and she leaned away slightly. It was a simple hook-and-eye closure and it was a matter of a second or so to undo it. I teased the zipper down slowly while I kissed her spine as it was revealed.

The zipper was about one third of the way down her back when I was surprised the fact that she had worn a full slip beneath the dress. I unzipped her the rest of the way quickly and pulled the dress off of her shoulders and down her arms. Once free of her of her arms, the dress momentarily hung up on her hips, but a little wriggle there allowed it to pool at her feet. She daintily stepped out of the puddled dress. I reached down and picked up the dress and laid it neatly over my jacket. Lou stood there in her slip and heels looking adorable.

I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around her, burying my head between her breasts. Her arousal could be detected beneath the already intoxicating aroma of her perfume. As I knelt there, I pushed the black slip above her waist. Wonder of wonders! She was wearing thigh-high stockings without a garter. She was wearing a little slip of underwear, and with one hand holding the slip, I used the other hand to divest her of that underwear, pushing it down her legs.

Up until then, Lou had been more-or-less just standing there. Now she took and crossed her arms and grabbed the slip from my hands, pulled it over her head and she tossed it on the chair. Without the necessity of holding the slip, I used both hands to hold her hips in place and I ducked my head down and gave her a kiss, with tongue protruded, on her bare pussy. She shuddered and her hands tried to hold my head in place.

Despite this, I rose up and took her in my arms. I turned slightly and picked her up and laid her out on the bed. As I put her down with her head on the pillow, I let out a soft "Wow!" and she smiled. She reached out to me and I lay down atop her, kissing her lips. I spent a few moments there, then moved up her slightly and kissed both of her eyelids, then the end of her nose.

"You are so beautiful," I breathed, my voice husky with my desire.

"Make love to me," she repeated, her eyes looking up at me, large and luminous in the candle-light.

I proceeded to do just that. I started just by kissing her, using my tongue to duel with hers. I moved off her to the side, rolling her with me. Thus freed from supporting myself with both hands, I used my free hand, opened and palm down, to rub along her flank, then to her back to rub and knead her muscles. She groaned appreciatively into my mouth. I leaned back and took a breath, inhaling all of the intoxicating aromas wafting up from between and around our bodies. The scents of jasmine, beeswax and aroused woman predominated.

Again, I kissed her eyelids and moved my head to her downward side, nudging her so that I could nibble on her earlobe. The phrase 'blow in my ear and I'll follow you anywhere' flickered through my consciousness and I chuckled. Lou hugged me tightly, then groaned again as my mouth found its target and I breathed into her ear.

By this time my free hand came around from her back to cup a breast. Those beautiful 'B' cups just filled my hand and I was able to squeeze it gently, with the nipple popping out between my thumb and forefinger. I was able to lightly pinch the nipple while massaging the rest of her breast, causing her to wriggle and moan.

I flung my leg over both of hers and heaved myself over her, rolling her with me, with us back in the position in which we had started. I kissed her delectable mouth again. She tried to wrap her arms around me, but I resisted that and moved down her body. I kissed and nibbled my way down her neck and traced one side of her collarbone with the tip of my tongue. I then blew a stream of air over the area, cooling the slight moisture there, causing her to shiver. I did the same thing on the other side with the same results. I opened my mouth widely and gently bit her shoulder, eliciting a little squeal and another shudder out of her.

I moved down a little lower and at first just admired the puffy nipples sitting atop of the breasts my hands were massaging. My mouth watered in anticipation of sucking on such delectable pieces of vibrant flesh. I leaned down and strummed one nipple with my tongue, reached a little lower and took the nipple between my teeth. Lou has very sensitive nipples and knew this would give her great pleasure. I was not disappointed when I heard her take a sharp breath, hissing between nearly closed teeth, groan and say, "Jonny, you know what I want! Suck my nipples, please!"

I obliged her. I sucked the nipple and the areola into my mouth, still massaging the rest of the tit. As I sucked, I reasserted my teeth and bit just below the nipple, pulling it further into my mouth. I flicked my tongue back and forth across it. At the same time, I was massaging the other breast as well as I could, but really going to town on the one in my mouth. I occasionally pinched the other nipple and pulled it out away from her chest. I'd let go and watch it return. Each little thing I did seemed to stimulate movement in her hips and the aroma of her arousal was becoming very strong. Her hands on the back of my head tried to direct me from one tit to the other.

After a few minutes of sucking and biting one breast, I turned and did the other one, all the while massaging and pinching the one I had been sucking. I alternated like this for some time before I felt, and heard, Lou's incipient orgasm. Her hips were not just wriggling back and fourth, but started a distinct up and down movement and her voice started keening, high in the upper registers, announcing that her orgasm was not far off.

Suddenly, she lifted her hips, and me, off the bed, while her voice apparently shut off its wailing. Her hands gripped either side of my head tried to pull me off the tit on which I was engaged. Just as suddenly, she collapsed under me and I let go of her breast, just licking each nipple in turn. Lou was quietly babbling "so good, soooo gooood." She petted my head as I licked. I stopped after a couple of minutes and scooted forward and rolled off of her, laying my head in the space between her breast and her shoulder. I stroked her as she stroked me.

We lay like that for a few minutes, stroking each other while she worked on controlling her labored breathing. Eventually she did and she rolled out from under me, turning and propping herself on her elbow to look down at me.

"You, sir," she stated, "make me feel wonderful. Nobody has ever loved on me like you do. How do you know how to push my buttons so well?"

I thought about that for a moment or two. "I'm not sure," I said eventually. "Maybe I just have a lot more experience than your other lovers. Maybe I just pay better attention to how you respond. Maybe," I said, moving so that I was also on an elbow and thus higher than her, "maybe I just like to push your buttons!" I then poked her in her nipple, pushing it in as far as I could. She squealed and rolled away from me holding her offended breast in both hands. "Maybe," I said, looming over her, "I just love making love to you!" I leaned in and kissed her hard, putting one hand behind her head, holding her in place. She responded and kissed me just as hard.

I broke off the kiss and moved down her body, sucking each breast in turn, starting with the one I had poked so hard. I kissed it lightly, and then sucked it in for a moment, tickling it with my tongue. I did the same with the other tit and then moved on downward. I kissed her navel and then moved on in between her thighs.

I kissed my way down one thigh and I raised her stocking-clad leg to kiss the underside of her knee. She giggled a little so I put the leg down, continuing my journey south. When I got to her foot, I took it in my hands, rubbing the instep with my thumbs. She groaned in appreciation. I rubbed my way outward to her toes. The stockings made the massage easy, being so slippery. I lifted her leg again and kissed her instep, all the while continuing to rub the outer parts of the bottom of her foot.