Midsummer (2/3,FF)

Janice opened her eyes to a gray furry face no more
than two inches away from hers.  She was startled for
a second, then recovered.

"Well, hello there, beautiful," she whispered, and
reached out to rub the head of the big tabby.  The cat
started to purr loudly and twist its head around,
following the scratching.  Then the cat backed up a
bit and firmly butted Janice on her left breast.
Janice heard a laugh.

"You've just met Mr. Big Stuff," Raven said from the
doorway.  She was leaning on the doorjamb, one hand on
her hip, still dressed in her red sweatshirt and loose
white shorts..

Janice looked up at her friend.  She continued to pet
the large gray tabby.  "Hi, there.  Mr. Big Stuff
seems to have a fascination with breasts."

"Indeed he does.  He's sort of a titty kitty.  Good
thing he's neutered."

Janice giggled.  "Is that coffee I smell?" she asked.

"Viennese Cinnamon.  Can I buy you a cup?"

"Oh, yes."  Janice eased the covers down and gave Mr.
Big Stuff one more ear rub.  The cat settled down by
the pillow and curled up, closing its eyes.

Janice got out of bed and stretched, standing on
tiptoe.  Her breasts moved under the tee shirt.  Her
panties had ridden down a little, and the curve of her
belly was revealed, including the indentation of her
navel.  Janice took the blue shorts she had lain aside
earlier and stepped into them.  One brisk zip and she
was dressed.  She followed Raven out into the kitchen,
here bare feet padding on the hardwood floor.

Raven poured two cups of the fragrant coffee.  Janice
took a sip and pronounced it delicious.

Raven said, "You didn't see it, but there's an old
Jeep on the other side of the cabin.  I figure after
we have some coffee, I can show you around.  It's not
the most comfortable vehicle, but it'll take us just
about anywhere."

Janice said, "That's great.  I'd love to see as much
of this place as I can."

Raven asked, "Are you sure you can't stay more than a
few days?"

Janice wrinkled her face.  "Gee, honey, I'd sure love
to.  God knows I could sure use the break.  We'll
see."

Ten minutes later, the women were sitting in the front
seat of the rusty old four-wheeler, bumping along a
rising path through the woods.  Janice cinched her
seat belt tightly and held onto to the door handle.
Occasional lurches sent them bumping into each other.
Janice could see Raven's braless breasts swinging
under her sweatshirt when that happened.  She knew the
same thing was happening to her.  The friction had
raised the nipples on both of them.

Janice, always sensitive to nipple stimulation, felt
herself getting a little turned on.  The bouncing
around in the Jeep also put little jabs of sensation
in her crotch.  Janice had noticed that since arriving
at the cabin, she was becoming more mindful of bodily
responses.  Her whole being seemed to be getting in
tune.  During the ride, she was aware of the
mid-afternoon golden sunlight, the delicious warmth on
her skin, and the subtle shapes and weights of her own
womanly frame.  In the back of her mind, she was also
cognizant of Raven's proximity.  Her friend was a real
physical presence, and there was an undercurrent of
sensual awareness that hooked into the warm emotional
glow that suffused her.

Janice had lately been examining her life, as many are
wont to do as they touch their forties.  And as she
rode along with her friend, she wondered if she knew
exactly where her sexuality lay.  Would this be the
time and place where questions were answered?

Janice was shaken out of her thoughts as the Jeep came
to sudden stop.  Raven turned to her and said, "Let's
get out here and walk a little."

Janice unbuckled her seat belt and the two women
stepped out.  Raven reached out with her right arm to
Janice and took her friend's hand.  They stepped up
the narrow path in the woods.  The sunlight was only
getting through in places through the thick copse of
trees, dappling the footpath with yellow coins.  It
was quiet, with only the occasional breeze stirring
the leaves.

They came to a clearing near the top of a hill.
Janice took in the vista and said, "Oh, Raven!  How
lovely!"

Down a half mile to the west was the brilliant blue
lake, surrounded by deep woods.  An occasional
sailboat cruised the water, leaving a tiny wake.
Janice and Raven stood hand-in-hand for a couple of
minutes, turning their heads to absorb the view.

Raven said, "I can come up here and just feel myself
getting younger.  It's like a tonic.  What worries can
anyone have when they can see something like this?"

Janice leaned toward her friend and kissed her lightly
on the cheek.  "It's perfect, sweetie.  Just perfect."
 She tilted her head and rested it on her friend's
shoulder.  Raven squeezed her hand lightly and tipped
her own head until they touched.

For a few more minutes, the women stood there.  Then
Raven said, "Walk with me a little."

They strolled down the path a little ways, not
talking.  The serenity of the afternoon had made them
feel quite tranquil.  After a few minutes of easy
walking, they came to another clearing.  This one had
a large tree-stump sticking up, sheared smooth about
two feet off the ground.

Janice said, "What happened here?"

Raven walked up to the stump and said, "We had a
fierce winter storm a couple of years ago.  This old
pine couldn't take the ice and wind and it crashed.
We got a chainsaw and trimmers and cut it down."

Janice sat down on the ground by the stump and felt it
with her hand.  "Smooth, like a table."

Raven sat down on the opposite side and said, "Yeah, I
sometimes come up here with a little picnic basket.
Nothing much, just a sandwich and a glass of wine."

Janice said, "Hey, remember that picnic we went to in
our senior year?"

Raven said, "Oh, yeah.  We both got a little tipsy on
wine coolers, didn't we?"

Janice smiled. "Remember the apocalyptic arm wrestling
contest we had?"

"Oh, good God!  Say, who won that thing anyway?"

Janice said, "I think it was a draw.  I just remember
how sore my forearm was the next morning."

Raven gave her brown-haired friend a small evil grin.
"Want a rematch?"  She placed her elbow on the stump,
arm raised."

Janice said, "You're on."  She assumed the position
and lightly gripped Raven's hand.  "I finally figured
it out.  You invited me up here just so you could
finish the arm wrestling contest."

Raven laughed. "Busted!  How could you see through me
so quickly?"

Raven and Janice applied the pressure.  Soon both arms
were straining, but they had not budged more than a
couple of inches from the vertical.

Janice used her other arm to brush away some dark
brown hair from her forehead.  She kept her eyes fixed
on Raven's deep blue irises.  Raven felt her arm
starting to tire, but she drew on inner reserves and
maintained the status quo.

Janice was remembering the mild competitive streak
they had discovered in college.  Both women had
excelled at tennis and swimming, and they frequently
had little contests.  Raven had the slight advantage
in strength, and Janice had a touch more stamina, but
they usually came out even over the long run.

Raven swallowed.  Janice saw this and said, "Are you
giving in?"

Raven smiled, then mock glared. "Never."  She applied
a touch more pressure, starting to groan.  Slowly
Janice felt her hand being bent back.

Janice grunted.  If something didn't happen soon, she
was going to lose.  She stared at Raven.  Raven licked
her full lips as she tried to push Janice's arm down
the rest of the way.

Janice didn't know exactly where the impulse came
from.  She told herself later that it was just a silly
ploy to distract Raven.  Suddenly, she leaned forward
and kissed her friend on the mouth, firmly.  She felt
the warm pressure against her own lips.

Raven was startled, and her arm weakened for just a
second.  Janice said, "HA!" and she pushed Raven's arm
down to the stump's smooth surface.

Raven smiled at her friend as she massaged her
forearm.  "Oh, that was a dirty trick, baby.  Where
the hell did that come from?"

Janice said, "I was going to lose.  I was about ready
to do anything.  Okay, I cheated.  Mea culpa."  She
started to rub her own arm.

Raven looked at her for couple of seconds, a brief
enigmatic glance.  Janice looked back, her own face
unreadable.  Something passed between the two old
friends.  There seemed to be an unspoken
acknowledgment that a new path had been sighted, and
the first step had been taken on that avenue.

Raven rose to her feet and said, "Let's head back,
honey.  It'll be getting time for supper soon."

Janice stood up and brushed the seat of her pants
briskly.  "Wonderful.  It must be the fresh air, but
my appetite is in full swing.  What's on the menu?"

They walked back up the path towards the Jeep.  Raven
said, "How does grilled chicken breast and wild rice
sound?  With a nice Chardonnay?"

"Marvelous."

Supper was served on the wooden deck outside the back
porch.  The chicken breasts had been grilled on a
small gas grill while the rice had simmered in a pot
in the kitchen.  The women relaxed around the small
wooden table with the canvas umbrella, sipping their
wine and making small talk.  Mr. Big Stuff curled his
large furry frame around their bare legs, purring and
standing up to get the occasional nibble of chicken.

"He is a spoiled rotten cat," Raven said, "And you're
just encouraging him."

"Ha!  You've been passing him pieces of chicken more
than I have, honey."  Janice replied.

"Guilty," Raven admitted.  "More wine, Janice?"

"Well, just a little bit."

Raven poured a splash of golden wine into Janice's
goblet, then added to her own glass.  She sat back and
watched the sun over the tree-lined hills. Sunset
would be in about an hour, she judged.  They sat in
easy silence for a few minutes.

Raven said, quietly, "Janice, can I draw you?"

Janice said, "What?  Here?  That's right, you did
mention you were still doing that.  Sure, I guess."

Raven said, "Let's clear this junk away, and I'll get
my pad."

A few minutes later, the dishes had been rinsed and
put in the small dishwasher, and Mr. Big Stuff chowed
down on the remains of the chicken in the kitchen.
The women went back onto the deck.

"Where would you like me to sit?" Janice asked?

"Right on that bench by the railing.  It'll get the
light nicely."

Janice slipped off her shoes and sat on the bench.
She swung one leg up and rested her right arm along
the railing.

Raven said, "Sweetie, that's perfect."  She sat down
in her chair about ten feet away, grabbed a stick of
charcoal and positioned her pad on her thigh.  She
looked at Janice for a few seconds, then started a few
swift strokes.

Janice held her position, her face at a three-quarter
angle to Raven.  Raven continued her sketching,
humming softly to herself.

In five minutes, she was satisfied.  She held out the
pad, and Janice looked at it.

"Wow, Raven!  You've gotten very good."  The charcoal
drawing showed a realistic representation of Janice,
her hair falling about her shoulders, and the curves
of her breasts beneath her tee shirt suggested by dark
swatches and subtle shadings.  Despite the imprecise
point of the soft charcoal, subtle details came to
life.  Janice's face registered calm contentment, a
grown woman who had experienced enough of life to
acquire a bit of wisdom.

"Thanks, babe.  I've gotten more and more into my
artistic side over the past few years.  With the kids
grown, I'm finding I have energies and I need a place
to put them to good use."

Raven tore the drawing from the pad and laid it on the
table.  She turned to Janice and said, "Say, would you
like to pose nude for me?"

"N-Nude?  You mean naked?  Right here?"  Janice was
momentarily flustered.

"Well, that's normally what nude means.  Sure.  We're
totally private up here.  And the female nude is
always a challenging piece to draw.  The anatomy and
shape of the body provides a wonderful drawing
exercise.  Plus I think it's beautiful... I mean, you're
beautiful...well, I'd just like to draw you."

Janice said, "Hmmm...with a come-on like that, how can I
resist?"  She sat up and started to lift the hem of
her tee shirt up.  She paused, and said, "Of course,
you should share in the evening chill, madame artiste.
 Maybe you should take your clothes off too.  You
know, show a little solidarity with the model."  She
grinned impishly at her friend.

Raven chuckled and laid the pad aside.  "Okay, then.
The nude drawing the nude.  A little recursive,
perhaps, but it does have a Dali-esque flavor to it."

Raven stood up and lifted her sweatshirt over her
head.  Her large heavy breasts, crowned with dark
thick nipples, came into view.  She tossed the
sweatshirt on the wooden deck floor, then put her
hands on her hips.

Janice pulled her shirt off and set it on the bench.
Her pink nipples crinkled in the sudden coolness.  She
raised her butt off the bench and slipped her shorts
down over her hips and pushed them down to puddle
around her ankles.

Raven quickly skinned her shorts down her legs.  She
had on black lacy panties, and like Janice, an
abundant spill of pubic hair visible through the leg
openings.  She bent down quickly again, and the
panties were pushed down over her wide womanly hips.
Naked, she stood up.  Her bush was thick and
untrimmed, black as coal, and it raised up over her
mons and around to her inner thighs.

Janice slipped her white panties down.  Her own thick
brown nest of hair covered her pudenda and curled
around her groin.

"How should I pose?" Janice asked.

Raven sat down.  She raised one leg up to balance the
pad on, and Janice saw a glimpse of her friend's
labia, a thin dark slash through the forest of hair.
Raven said, "Lie back on the bench, on your side
facing me.  Support your head with your hand.  Raise
one leg so that it forms a triangle with the other.
Let you right arm rest on your side, your hand
dropping down a little over your belly."

Janice moved herself into the reclining position.  The
spreading of her legs opened her vulva a bit.  She
looked down at herself briefly.  Yes, there was the
shadow of her pussy lips.  She felt a brief impulse to
reach down and touch herself, but controlled it.

Raven said, "That's perfect, darling.  God, you look
exquisite."  She took a stick of charcoal and began to
draw.

This time the drawing took longer.  Janice lay there,
feeling simultaneously exposed and yet not naked.  The
sunlight cast a gorgeous tawny color onto her skin.
Her breasts barely sagged, and the mild chill in the
air had made her nipples stiff.  She felt relaxed and
stimulated at the same time.

Raven fell into her half-trance as she sketched the
nude figure of her old friend.  She noticed her own
nipples becoming erect and standing out from her large
breasts.  As she made her practiced strokes with the
charcoal, she felt a warm sensual attraction to her
friend.

She told herself that she was only doing this because
of an artistic impulse, but truth is a persistent
thing.  As she drew the round firm breasts and dark
thatch of her naked friend, she was beginning to be
conscious of Janice's unclothed body as a sexual
thing.

Raven was aware of her own bisexual impulses.  She had
always put them aside, but now they were starting to
surface.  Issues were being raised that could be only
answered one way.

Fifteen minutes later, Raven put down the pad.  She
breathed, her breasts rising up.  She looked down at
the sketchpad.

"Finished?" Janice asked.

Raven nodded.  Janice swung her legs over to the deck
and sat up.  She opened her mouth in a wide yawn,
extending her arms up.  Her breasts jiggled a little
as moved.  She stood up and walked over to Raven's
chair.

Raven held the pad out.  Janice stood by Raven, her
hand lightly resting on her friend's bare shoulder.
She looked at the drawing and drew in her breath.

"Oh, sweetheart, that's astonishing.  You made me look
so...incredibly sexy."

The drawing was provocative.  The posture and
half-smile on the figure's face was frankly erotic.
The lines and shading of Janice's breasts and thighs
and torso, her raised leg forming a triangle with the
other, exuded forthright desire.

Raven looked up at Janice.  She was keenly aware of
her friend's unclad body standing next to her.  She
said, "I didn't put it there, sweetie.  You had it.  I
just put it on paper."

"Can I have that?  I don't know whom I'll show it
to...it'll cause a riot.  But I love it."

Raven smiled broadly.  Her friend's words delighted
her.  She said, "Of course.  It's my pleasure."

Janice continued to look down at the drawing resting
in Raven's lap.  Without realizing it, she was idly
caressing Raven's neck and shoulder.  She leaned into
her friend, her hip bouncing very lightly on the short
dark hair.

Raven was enjoying the contact and the warm closeness.
 She turned her head to the side and saw Janice's
brown-haired pussy not six inches away.   It would be
so easy to reach up...to touch...

Raven shook her head suddenly.  She realized things
were moving too fast.  What was she thinking?  Was she
going to make a pass at her best friend?

Janice looked down and caught the same vibe.  She
moved back a few inches.  She said, "Well, it's
starting to get a little cold.  Should we get inside?"

Raven looked at the setting sun.  She said, "Yeah, I
think you're right."  She placed the pad aside, and
gathered her clothes.  Soon the women were dressed
again.

The rest of the evening passed in quiet conversation.
Both women were aware of the moment they had shared.
And both women were reluctant to draw it out in the
open.  So they quietly talked a while, then got ready
for bed.

Raven said goodnight to her friend as Janice slipped
underneath the sheets, dressed in a plain nightshirt.
Mr. Big Stuff purred beside her.

"What's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Janice asked as
she settled her head into the soft pillow.

"I thought we'd have a nice swim in the lake.  Then we
could go into town and hit some of the small shops,
have lunch there."

Janice said, "Sounds nice.  Good night, honey.  I'm so
glad I'm here."

Raven said, "Sleep well, baby.  I'm so glad you're
here too.  Love you."

"...love you, too..."  The rest was lost.

Several hours later, in the dead of night, Raven
awoke.  She thought she heard a soft sighing coming
from the next room.  Then there was a moan.  Raven
knew what was going on.

She moved her hand down to her sex.  As she heard the
muted cries of her friend's solitary climax, she
stroked her own wet clit to a quick orgasm.  The
picture in her mind when she came was that of her and
Janice, intertwined in tight embrace, pussy against
pussy, their mouths locked in heated wet kisses.

With that libidinous image in her mind, her juices
drying on her fingers, she fell asleep.