“Not if I can help it!” she snapped. “I’m sorry, Dylan, it’s just…I don’t want to marry Troy. At all.”
“You’re not saying you want to marry me, are you?” Dylan asked as if it were some sort of joke.
“Well, is it really such a crazy idea? You just got done saying you think I’m beautiful, and we’ve always got along so well…”
“Your mother’d never allow it, you know that.”
“I’ve had just about enough of living by her rules at all,” Celestine declared as they reached the shining rocks on the edge of the majestic lake, its surface glowing as enticingly as ever. “And no offense, but I’ve spotted just how beautiful you think I am. It’s a bit hard to miss after all.” She giggled. “You know, I’ve been reading in that book at the library, just how all that works. The spongy tissue in your penis engorges with blood, and –”
“How very romantic,” Dylan interrupted. “Anything about sex you haven’t learned?”
“That’s the joy of it, there always seems to be something more to learn.” Celestine had lately been regaling her best friend with a literal embarrassment of the facts of life.
“You women are so lucky, the way you can hide when you’re feeling randy,” Dylan admitted, helping himself to a seat on the rock. “Beautiful and lucky.”
“You really do think women are beautiful?”
“How could I not?” Dylan asked.
“You should hear the way my mother talks about our bodies,” Celestine said, kicking her shoes off. “But never mind that. Sure you don’t want to join me in the water?”
“Someone has to stand guard, doesn’t he?”
“It’s not the end of the world if we get spotted.” But Celestine argued the point no further. For a couple of years now, they had a deal when it came to the Green Lake: She undressed and let him look at her body for as long as he liked, and he stood guard while she was swimming naked in the glowy water. No one else had ever spotted her. On the rare occasion when other people had approached, there had always been plenty of time for Dylan to notify her so she could climb onto the rocks and pull her dress back on.
Having long since grown accustomed to their deal, Celestine had no qualms at all about disrobing in front of her old friend. Her grin was genuine as she pulled her brassiere away to let her pert, supple breasts fall free and stood utterly naked before him. “Enjoy the view,” she said.
“I always do.” His gaze lingered longer than usual on her triangle, and Celestine could only guess just how badly he wanted to run his fingers through it…and she thought she just might want that even more than he did. That made her intimate hunger even more intense, and though she wasn’t yet in the water, she had no doubt her vagina was wet to the touch. Thanks to that book, she now understood just what was happening — her randy mood caused increased blood flow that led to the formation of lubrication — but for the moment she cared less about just why it was all happening than how wonderful it felt.
And how hungry she was for her dear friend’s touch.
But he had said no, and she kept her hands on her hips and enjoyed the sun on her breasts and belly, and resolved to scratch her own intimate itch later on.
“Okay,” Dylan said at last. “I’d better turn around before I burst. Enjoy the water.” He did turn around, and Celestine swallowed her disappointment — right up to the bitter end, she’d hoped he might at least ask to caress her — and slipped into the warm water.
“Welcome, Herbie,” said the concierge as Herbert burst into the Barcroft Club lobby.
“Hey,” Herbert said, opting not to bother telling the man yet again how much he disliked being called ‘Herbie’. There’d be time enough for that later. He flashed his membership card at the clerk and rushed up the stairs, and wasn’t surprised at all to find his father schmoozing with Troy.
The old man didn’t seem surprised to see him, and Troy didn’t look like it mattered at all. “Herbert,” Father said. “Troy here was just telling me about some plans he has for the lot Portia’s is on once he’s in charge over there. Seems it’d be perfect for a diving club.”
For the moment, Herbert’s urgent errand was forgotten. “You can’t do that!” he said. “Portia’s is an institution. Everybody loves that place!”
“Everybody isn’t losing a ton of money on a golden opportunity they’re pretending isn’t there,” Troy said. “You see, Herb –”
“You can tell me about it later,” Herbert interrupted. “Listen, I’ve got news you need to hear, Troy.”
It really wasn’t necessary for Dylan to face away from her while she was swimming, Celestine thought yet again as she waded through the warm water and the warmer glow. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t keep an ear out for others while also admiring her. Today, it was doubly frustrating in light of how desperately she had longed for his touch. But Celestine was never one to ignore a silver lining. With him looking the other way, she had a modicum of privacy in the water.
Scarcely believing she had found the nerve to do it, Celestine reached down in the water and ran her fingers through her bush, just as she was sure Dylan had wanted so much to do. She imagined it was his hand instead, and it felt wonderful even before her fingers found her magic spot…would he know how to do that? Celestine could only guess.
What was the word? Clitoris. She’d read all about it, knowing through every page that her mother would demand it be taken off the shelves if she’d known. But she didn’t know, and so now Celestine did know a bit more about her body, including the sweet spot that had brought her so much private joy for so many years now, defying her mother’s admonitions that women weren’t the horny animals men were. At last she knew its name and purpose: the clitoris, there for pleasure and pleasure only…why shouldn’t she embrace such a gift? Lately she had done so with even greater gusto than usual in the privacy of her room. The added taboo of being outdoors this time only made it all the more fun to tease her clitoris again and again with her fingers.
Not for the first time, Celestine wondered if her mother even had one. The book said all women did, but not once had Mother ever had a kind word to say about intimacy, except that it was her duty and the price of feminine privilege. The privilege of being forced to marry a man she didn’t even like?
Now was not the time to think of that. Celestine effortlessly put it from her mind as she breathed in the fragrant air and rubbed circles around her clitoris and imagined she was taking Dylan’s hard penis — another word she had only recently learned — inside her. She hadn’t a clue just how that would feel, but for some time now she had been most eager to learn. Right now she imagined the most delicious sort of envelopment within her body while his face was up close against hers. A tender kiss, a playful caress on her breasts, which she did rub with her free hand, and his warm breath on her bare skin as she pushed him gently in and out…
Celestine didn’t feel the orgasm coming until it was upon her, and she let out a gasp of joy before she could regain control of herself. That caught Dylan’s attention, and he whipped around to look at her in disbelief while she giggled.