Suddenly I remembered that Ashley had said she'd be coming over. I had fallen asleep on her. What a great girlfriend I am.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did Josh let you in?" I asked her, as I yawned.
"Yeah he did," she replied, nuzzling the back of my neck. "But that's okay. I can see why you stayed in bed this long. It's very comfortable."
At that moment I felt the happiest I had felt for about 3 months. With Ashley so close, everything else seemed so far away. I had never felt this relaxed, even while driving. I snuggled in closer to her and took hold of the hand she had on my waist.
"It's so much more comfortable now," I murmured, closing my eyes. Her hand closed around mine as she lightly kissed the back of my neck.
'This is bliss,' I told myself happily.
"You feeling better now?" she asked in a whispered tone.
"Mmmhmm. I feel so happy... happier than I've been in a while. My mom, my problems, none of them exist right now. It's amazing." I sighed happily as Ashley caressed my bare leg. I was still dressed in my pajamas, a loose t-shirt and boxers, and my short red hair was most likely sticking up in every direction, but I knew that Ashley didn't mind. In fact, she probably enjoyed it. Nothing like a little bed head to excite Ashley.
"That's good," she whispered into my ear. A light tickling sensation from her breath cause my heart to jump, or maybe it was the way her hand was slowly making its way to the inside of my thighs, I'm not sure. "Problems are not a good thing to have hanging over your shoulders and bringing you down." Now I'm definitely sure that it was her hand, which had crept up to my waist and was playing with the edge of my boxers, that was making my breath catch.
Ashley was having trouble controlling herself, that was fairly obvious. Actually, I was on the brink of losing control too. Ashley was talking, but I don't think that either of us really understood what she was saying. I'm pretty sure that it was just meaningless babbling though.
Finally I reached the point where I'd had enough of her dividing her attention between two activities. My own excitement rose with every touch from her meandering hand and her prattle was an unwanted background to an intimate situation.
Turning over onto my back, I grabbed her hand with my right one and said, "Talk or touch? One or the other Ashley, you can't do both at the same time," I murmured, then pulled her on top of me.
"Looks like you've already made my mind up for me," she said before she leaned down and kissed me hungrily.
Being kissed by Ashley is a breathtaking experience. It's hard to describe the sensations running through my head right now, so I'll liken it to an atomic sized explosion of passion between us. Her approach to kissing was exactly like her approach to life - she put every resource in her body possible into it. No, Ashley was not the type to merely peck you on the cheek. She's more like the type to pin you to the wall, even for a simple goodbye kiss.
Breathing deeply, she pulled away suddenly, leaving me open-mouthed and wanting more. Ashley smiled at my sudden abandonment and gazed at me thoughtfully.
"I cherish moments like these," she revealed a moment later, her deep blue eyes alight with mischief staring into the uncharted depths of my soul as she looked into my green eyes. "Growing up is almost a reality for me, and you too, and spending these last moments of my wild and spontaneous carefree days with you is something I will always remember."
The sincerity of her words flowed through me, awakening feelings of compassion and tenderness that I did not know I possessed. Several silent minutes passed with her stroking the side of my face and raking her fingers through my shortly cut red hair. I let my own fingers creep along her thighs towards her waist.
'Bliss," I thought again as we both reveled in the feel of each other's skin. Coyly, I began to slide my hand under her denim shorts and smiled as I raised goosebumps on her soft skin.
"Why can't all of life be like this?" I asked quietly. I meant it to be an unshared through, but I somehow wound up thinking it aloud.
"Shh," Ashley hushed me. "Don't think about life right now. Your mom doesn't exist, you said so yourself."
"Make me eat my words will you?" I kidded light heartedly in an effort to mask how wrong I knew I had been when I first spoke those words.
Ashley lifted herself off of me as I began to sit up. For a moment we both sat perched on the side of my bed, I in my pajamas, her in her jean shorts and loose t-shirt. I could tell that she was thinking because she unconsciously rubbed a hand through her chin length brown hair. It was a habit of hers I'd come to be aware of shortly after we started dating.
What an interesting story that is, the start of our relationship. Both of us were awkward about expressing our feelings for the other, so eventually, one of our mutual friends had to literally smack us upside the head to get us to reveal them.
Of course my mother went berserk the moment she found out. It's like I disgraced the family name or something. Ever since my father spilled the beans she's been muttering things like, "I just wanted a normal daughter," and how she finds it "disgusting."
"Dana?" Ashley's voice suddenly broke into my thoughts like the first ray of sunlight shattering the dark night.
I raised my eyes to meet her captivating gaze and I understood. I nodded and grinned for the split second before I became aware of her hands reaching under my shirt and for my chest.
As she once again took her rightful position on top of me, our mouths met in another deeply passionate kiss and I was forced down into the soft, pillowy mattress of my bed.
With a practiced ease, she caressed my breasts beneath my t-shirt.
It had been months since our last fiasco like this and I knew that Ashley could become just a tad sex-starved at times, so when she attempted to just rush into things, I made her slow down and reminded her that clothes could be removed.
Even so, when I became increasingly aware of a hot, throbbing sensation between my legs I started begging Ashley to kiss me. When she went for my mouth I intercepted her face in midair and directed it towards my crotch, still covered by my old boxers. "Not there, here," I told her. "Kiss me here."
No sooner than the boxers had come off was her tongue inside of me, probing, pushing, redefining my prior definition of bliss. Her eager hands took hold of my hips as she began thrusting father and father into me. As the tempo increased I found myself clutching the back of her head and practically pushing her into me.
And then something exploded in the back of my mind, causing my eyes to snap open wide and a strangled gasp to burst from my throat.
'Everything is going to be okay,' I thought as Ashley took my body in her arms and cradled me like the limp rag doll I felt like.
Ashley's warmth encompassed me as she wrapped her powerful arms around me and pressed me close to her body. Either time was behaving strangely or I was seeing things through a different point of view. Everything seemed to be happening slowly through a sort of hazy fog, blurring reality and making me feel sleepy as Ashley and I held each other. It was sort of like tumbling down a grassy hill on a warm summer day, watching the world spin around you and the sweet smell of the grass, mingled with the light breeze, stimulating your senses.
Yes, that's exactly what being pressed to her soft flesh was like. The thrill of rolling carelessly down that grassy hill until you came to rest flat on your back in a patch of lusciously thick green grass, allowing you to stare up at the pristine blue sky as the sun wrapped its sweet warmth around you - yes, that's exactly how I feel.
Enveloped in her protective hold I was free to let my mind wander down its customary path of deep, but pointless thought, a luxury I was only able to perform while driving.
Suddenly, reality grabbed me by the hair, pulled me from the bed, and smacked me hard enough to make my mouth bleed - or was that my mother?
It was such a surprise that I had no time to grab one of my bed sheets to cover myself, so I stood - more like knelt - naked in the middle of my room under the persecuting glare of my mother. In the corner of my eye I saw Ashley snatch my covers up reflexively to cover herself as I was dragged from bed by my hair.
"Ungrateful child... disgusting.... no daughter of mine..." My mother raged on and on and my burning shame rose with her voice.
I cringed on the floor, too stunned to cover myself, as a small rivulet of blood came trickling down from my mouth and began to dot the light gray carpet. My mother's curses and insults rained down upon me as I cowered. To her I was no longer human. I was about as good as a mangy dog, she told me shrilly. That's sure what I feel like - a beaten, whipped dog with nowhere to go.
On and on her tirade continued, her voice now loud enough to carry across the whole state of Delaware. "You little slut," she hissed malevolently at the end. "You're no daughter of mine. No daughter of mine would sleep with another woman! That's what my son should do - but you aren't even worthy of being my son. You're nothing but a filthy dyke!" With those words she turned away from me and faced Ashley, her eyes narrowing maliciously as she prepared to unleash her fury on her as well.
Possessed by newfound courage - and perhaps some blind anger as well - I leapt up and grabbed her shoulder. "You say one thing to Ashley and I swear you'll regret it," I threatened menacingly as I towered over her 4 foot 10 inch stature. It was an empty threat but I don't think my mother quite realized that for she punched me in my nose.
I can't believe it. My diminutive mother has pretty much broken my nose. With blood now streaming freely down my face, I grabbed my desk with one hand to keep from falling and glared at her as she stalked out of my room, slamming the door behind her.
chapter 4