Spectacle

“I love you.”

You love her too. That’s a long-accepted fact, and you’ve told each other this a hundred times over. Sometimes it’s casually told at the end of a phone call, sometimes it’s in some romantic setting, like when you’re walking out on the promenade under the night sky, but in a way, these ones are the most honest.

It’s a little bit special when those are the only words that come to her mind while she is cumming.

She’s lying with her head against your neck, still shaking in pleasure. You would reply but you’re so focused on grinding into her, and you’re so fucking close…

By this point, it’s all become a little routine. Predictable, maybe. She gets home, you cook together, eat together, watch a film or TV show together, then one of you makes a move and… You get the picture. It’s any old weekday.

So maybe this isn’t what people would consider to be earth-shattering sex(fuck the critics), but she likes the feeling of your hips bucking and you spilling inside her. And you love the way she struggles for breath in between her moans before she does that same little squeal right before she cums.

These nights have all blurred a little into one. Tonight will become a little section on a page of many; a few lines that are not much more than a footnote.

Silence sets in once you untangle your limbs and lie beside her. Her head is pressed against your shoulder, and the post-sex smell hangs in the air.

You look out your window over at the walled gardens on the other side of the river. It’s as dull a sight to look at as always, and there’s hardly anyone out at this time, but somehow you’re content with looking at this view.

“So, do you think we should visit my dad sometime?” Liz asks out of the blue.

“I know I said I would think about it, but I was a little busy just now.” You roll your head over to the side, sacrificing the river view for Liz’s flushed face. “What’s this about?”

“Like I said, he’s been asking.” Her words trail off, and she doesn’t quite meet your eyes. She gives an awkward shrug of her bare shoulders, and then scoots over, snuggling up even closer. You give her back an appreciative squeeze.

“I can’t do this weekend, busy remember? But we can go next week?”

Her hand stops circling your abdomen and she lifts her head from your shoulder to look at you. “Busy?” Her eyes dart around, searching your face for clues, but she just has to ask: “With?”

“My friend’s birthday, I told you last week, and you said, and I quote, ‘Okay babe, I’m meeting Wony this weekend anyway, have fun!’” You do your best-worst impression of her which earns you a jab of her fist in your side and a laugh.

“Oh… I’m always forgetting things.”

“You work too hard.” You cup her cheek and stretch your neck muscles to plant a kiss on her forehead. She coos and moves forward again, returning to her rightful spot snug on your shoulder. You slip your arm behind her back, and both of you lie there together in comfortable silence.

Liz moves her hand up from your stomach to your chest and starts circling her fingers over your skin. The touch is light and soft and very very deliberate.

“I have another question…” Liz eventually says, trailing off her sentence as though she’s half lost in her own thought.

You bring your hand up to hers, hooking under her wandering finger and raising her hand, and then you lock your fingers between hers. “What is it? Something on your mind?”

“Am I good?”

“Good? Good person? Good cook? Good girlfriend? Good what?”

Liz laughs gently nuzzling into your body to hide her face and breathing hot breath over your skin. “Good… in bed.”

“Oh thank god, I thought you were going to ask about your cooking and I’m not so great at the whole white lie thing.”

She tries to punch you with the hand you’re holding but you tighten your grip to stop her. “Not funny,” she groans with a smile on her face.

She tries to turn her head into the pillow but you refuse to move or say anything until she looks at you. When she eventually peers up and matches your gaze you tell her, “You are the perfect girlfriend in every way,” you tell her.

She exhales a short chuckle and raises an eyebrow. “Nice dodge,” she tells you, unable to contain her laugh, and you laugh with her. “It’s okay, I have a plan.”

You pause, her words suddenly throwing you. “A plan for what?”

“You’ll see.”

She refuses to say anything more for the rest of the night, but she smiles at your puzzlement and laughs whenever you try to playfully nudge the subject. And you do notice that a slight smile seems to stick to her face all night, right up until she falls asleep.

Sunday evening transport is so hellishly unpredictable, so you’re walking in the apartment door about an hour later than you planned, and about twice as stressed as you should be.

All of that washes away when you look at the girl who’s been waiting for you to get home.

The scented (mostly melted) candles have been burning for a while and the smell of them fills the apartment. Not only has Liz picked out one of your favourite bottles of wine, but she’s poured out a pair of glasses of it already, though they’re both half-empty. And as you near it, the bottle is too.

“Hey, Liz.”

“Finally! Welcome home,” she says with a smile as broad as your confusion. “I’ve been waiting so long. So, so long.” She’s wearing a gown you don’t recognise that’s soft to touch when you hug her as she throws herself against you.

“Is this new?” you ask, touching at the silk hem.

“Of course it is,” she answers quickly. “I was saving it, saving it until a special night. You know… Something special to break it out for.”

She moves back in your arms, so she can have a better look at you, and she stares for just a few seconds before she leans back in, this time kissing you full on the lips. There’s nothing soft about it. There’s no hesitancy, and certainly no tenderness. This kiss is so firmly decided, so purposeful.

She purrs her words against your lips, “I’ve been giving it some thought, and, I know you would never say it, but I’m a little bit… vanilla, in the bedroom. And, I know, I know,” she stops you with her fingers on your lips, shushing you with the tilt of her head and a flutter of her long lashes, “You wouldn’t say anything because you love me too much and you’re far too kind, but, this is for me too, okay? I want to be good, I want to try different things, exciting things, and this is the best way for me to learn.”

“Liz. Liz. I’ve barely walked in the door and you’re throwing this at me. I need a minute.”

“No, don’t think, we’ve been waiting so long for you already.” Liz is pulling your arm toward the bedroom door. Her soft touch and your own burning curiosity have you willingly in tow.

“We?”

She’s smiling the wildest of smiles over her shoulder as she pulls you along. Your heart beats a little harder in anticipation of what lies ahead, and even more at the look of sheer excitement and determination on her beautiful face.

You dropped your bag somewhere in the middle of the room but you hadn’t even taken off your shoes before Liz is bundling you through the doorway.

“This is Wonyoung.”

Why the fuck is there a girl in your bed?

“Wait. I know. It’s weird right?” Liz sounds giddy, almost frantic. She bounces up to you and pulls on your arm until you stand right alongside her, peering down at the young woman in front of you. “You know Wonyoung, right?”

“Of course, I know one of your best friends, but why is she in our bed?” You turn and look at the girl lying there with a similar silk gown over her body, from her neck down to just below the knee. “Sorry, no offence, but I have no idea what’s happening right now.”

Wonyoung doesn’t react but instead chooses that moment to rise. She is sitting with her hands folded on top of her legs. She tilts her head and examines you carefully, with an unmoving gaze that’s almost more uncomfortable than the two of you hovering over her.

“It’s fine.” The deep smooth voice cuts through the silence like a hot knife. Her voice is as cool and calm as you expected, not that you’re all that familiar with it, you have only met her a handful of times.