The New Neighbor

any freckles or blemishes to draw attention to.'

Karen closed her eyes a moment and told herself it was probably the wine that was making her feel lightheaded – she'd had too much, that was all.

'Let's try another.' Lorelle removed the necklace and took another from the box, this one of sterling, with bits of onyx and opal.

In spite of the possibility that she'd had too much, Karen took another drink of her wine – a good-sized swallow. Lorelle put the second necklace on her, fingernails brushing her flesh, fingers carefully arranging her blond hair on her shoulders.

Karen's hands itched to pull her shirt closed and button it because she felt her nipples hardening against the material, and wondered if Lorelle could see them from where she stood.

Lorelle removed the pyramid earrings from Karen's ears and fished through the box for another pair.

'Ah,' she said, holding up one earring, 'this would go with the- oh, no, that won't work. There's only one of these.' She set it down and continued looking.

Karen stared at the tiny delicate piece of silver Lorelle had set on the dresser and tried to take her mind off the lingering sensation of tightness in her breasts. She picked it up by its little hoop between thumb and forefinger and held it dangling before her.

'Here they are.' Lorelle stepped behind Karen, carefully hung a pair of teardrop opals from her lobes and smiled into the mirror. 'They go together perfectly,' she said, tracing the edge of the necklace with her fingertips all the way up to Karen's neck, where her hands stopped, fingers squirming ever so slightly against her skin.

Karen's breath caught in her throat like sawdust.

'Don't you think so, Karen?'

'Yes, it's… they're very… yes, I like them. They're very nice.' She returned her attention to the tiny piece of silver. Its shape was confusing at first – graceful curves that locked together smoothly.

'Do you like that?' Lorelle asked when she saw her staring at the piece.

'Oh,' Karen whispered when she finally realized what all those little curves were. 'Yes, it's very… unique.'

Two naked female bodies dangled from the hoop, their legs wrapped around one another as they ground their vaginas together. Holding the piece closer to her eyes, Karen could make out the amazingly intricate detail: erect nipples, flowery vulva, fingers, toes and facial features.

'You said there's only one?' she asked.

'Mm-hm. I made that for myself when I got my nipple pierced.'

'Your nipple?'

'It was a lot of work, that one. That much detail isn't easy on something so small.'

'I can’t imagine having my nipple pierced.' Karen frowned at Lorelle's reflection in the mirror.

'Well, I love jewelry and I'm always looking for new places on my body to put it.' Lorelle stepped in front of her, took the piece of silver and unfastened her dress. It fell open in front like a bathrobe and beneath it, she was naked.

Karen's face burned and she clenched her teeth, angry at herself. Why? She thought. I've been around naked women thousands of times, for God's sake, why am I feeling this way?

Lorelle cupped her left breast, upturned the nipple – which was quite erect – and slipped the hoop through a minute hole in the hard brownish-pink flesh.

Karen touched her own left breast gently, almost protectively, feeling her nipples shrivel even further into solid pebbles beneath her shirt. 'Didn't it hurt?' she whispered.

'Oh, not much. If it's done properly, it’s not as painful as you might think.'

Karen's eyes widened as Lorelle's hand moved toward her, slipped beneath her shirt, lightly touched her breast, and -

– Lorelle said, 'Not much more than a pinch,' as she closed her thumb and forefinger together on Karen's nipple, squeezing hard for just an instant, and -

– Karen drew a loud gasp as the pinch sent thin white tendrils of heat through her breast, into her throat and down through her abdomen. Her eyes locked onto the two tiny silver women dangling from Lorelle's nipple, flashing as they caught the light from overhead.

'See?' Lorelle whispered. 'It's not so bad.'

Karen started to speak, to say she had to go now and probably wouldn't be back, thank you but no thank you, she had a husband and two kids and all that, but -

– Lorelle squeezed again, a little harder, and Karen's back stiffened as she murmured, 'Oooh-ooh.'

Another whisper as Lorelle knelt beside the chair, smiling: 'You like that, don't you?'

'Pluh-please, I-I really…I ruh-really – “

The third time Lorelle squeezed, she did not let go; instead, she rolled the nipple between her thumb and finger

Karen grew weak for a moment, slumping in the chair, gripping the armrests, breathing, 'Mmmm… “

Lorelle pushed her shirt open and touched her other breast, squeezed it gently and fingered the nipple.

Karen thought, What am I doing here? She kicked at the floor. The chair scooted back and Karen pulled her shirt together, fumbling uselessly with the buttons and stammering, 'Look, I-I can't – I'm not – I really don't – I really just can't – “

'Yes you can,' Lorelle whispered, standing and closing in on her again, so close this time that Karen couldn't rise from the chair. 'It's all right, you can. There's nothing wrong. Look, it's just this – “

She took Karen's trembling hand and placed it on her breast, just below her pierced nipple and its sparkling silver lovers -

'See? That's all. Just this – “

– passed it slowly over her slightly rounded belly -

' – Just smooth skin, that's all, nice smooth skin… and this -'

– then slipped Karen's fingers between her slightly parted legs, into the dark patch of hair, pressing them hard onto her mound -

' – just nice, soft lips. Feel them? Soft warm lips. Just you and me, that's all.

No one else, nothing else. No fat wrinkly penises, no stiff dripping hard-ons, no balls hanging in their little bags… just this.'

“Oh God,' Karen breathed. She felt the growing heat and moisture between her own legs, closed her eyes as Lorelle knelt between her knees and unbuttoned her shirt the rest of the way, then kissed her breasts, licked them, sucked on her nipples so… perfectly. Her teeth nibbled with just the right amount of pressure – not too hard, not too soft – then she took Karen's hand and pulled her out of the chair. Lorelle's dress fell to the floor on their way across the room. Karen shed her shirt, sat on the bed and let Lorelle remove her jeans.

The moment Lorelle's tongue touched her clitoris, Karen began to writhe on the bed, clutching the dark blue spread in her fists, breathing in rapid machine-gun bursts, and when her orgasm exploded inside her – more powerful than any other before it, almost smothering in its force – Karen screamed, and -

* * * *

– Jen's books hit the concrete sidewalk with a resonant slap. She froze in place as the other students just off the bus stepped around her and walked on down Deerfield.

Tara and Dana Crane stopped on each side of her and Tara asked, 'Whatsa matter, Jen?'

'Did you hear that?' Her mouth was suddenly very dry and she no longer noticed the icy breeze. They'd stepped off the bus just a moment before she heard the scream and it had been very faint beneath the rumble of the bus's engine, but it had sounded, for all the world, like her mother.