Her clit, when I touched it, was hard and erect and she gasped as my finger slid over it. Her inner lips were puffy and yielding, her juices sluicing their slick, viscous invitation from her hot pussy as I parted them with my other fingers; she’d clearly been telling the truth about her arousal, not that I’d needed to touch her pussy to know. I’d been very surprised when Julia had called my teasing bluff, and now I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

I passed my middle finger across her soft, ready opening with just a teasing touch and a promise, my mind now invading hers with the sensations of my arousal, the returned loop of her own, and some of the things I had felt when Angie had experienced her massive orgasm. My emotions and arousal pushed outward, licking at her mind as my tongue longed to taste and explore her pussy.

When my wet, exploring fingertip found the tight pucker of her little star I pressed against it, my mind pushing the sensation of my cock entering her in much the same way, and she cried out, “Ohhh, god…” as she grabbed my arm, pulling it against her and humping her sex into my palm. I didn’t enter her, I simply teased her tight little ass for another moment before I began to withdraw my hand, my finger again encountering her slick, needy opening.

This time I slid into the wet, velvet heat of her tight tunnel – not far, just to the first knuckle, but I felt her clench on me and come. “Ohh, Jon, my god… please - ohh fuck, fuck! Don’t stop, don’t…!”

As she bucked against my hand, trying to draw my finger deeper, I slid it slowly out of her and circled around her hard clit, just once, and then lightly drew tight, tiny circles directly on it. I felt a much larger, more powerful orgasm burst from her mind and race through her, utterly consuming the smaller first one as she clutched my arm, her entire body racked by the intensity of her climax. Her orgasm cycled powerfully through my mind as well – how and why I didn’t come I have no idea - and back to her, and she continued to moan and cry out as she rode the crest of the wave.

I held her against me as her body went rigid, her lithe muscles spasming and clenching as she came. I’d dropped my crutches, one hand in her pants and the other arm around her shoulders, holding her, balancing my weight on my one functional leg and using her body as my sole support. If she went down in the throes of her orgasm I was going with her.

She didn’t, somehow, and when her orgasm began to wane I let it, pulling my hand back to rest on her tummy, my fingertips in her curls, and at the same time pulling the tendrils of my arousal and emotions out of her mind. I hadn’t set out to do that, to make her come, and now I feared that maybe I’d lost control and gone too far. She’s plainly said she wasn’t ready for intimacy, but I’d stupidly let my own arousal and libido run amok.

When it finally faded her head dropped forward, her forehead resting against my collarbone. She was breathing heavily, and an occasional aftershock would shudder through her. I was still intensely aroused, my cock straining mightily; if she’d reached down and touched me as she’d done earlier, I would undoubtedly have lost control and cut loose.

We just stood like that for several minutes, my hand still inside of her pants but my mind no longer invading hers although the languid pleasure of her post-orgasmic mood continued to gently lap at my consciousness like small, warm ripples. My cock ached, and my balls felt double their normal size, but I kept a tight rein on my arousal.

She was the first to speak, and when she did, she said, simply, “God.”

“Julia, I’m sorry. I know you weren’t looking for that, that you weren’t ready, but I just got carried away and…”

She looked up at me, surprised. “Jon, my goodness! The last thing you need to do is apologize! That was amazing, incredible. I think we both got carried away, and I have no idea how or why all of that happened so suddenly, but my god it felt good!”

“Well… that’s great, I guess, but I was really just teasing you about proving it, and then when you called my bluff…” I paused, very aware of the heat of her taut, smooth tummy against my hand and of the soft, intoxicating scent of her arousal. I was also aware that my cock was madly leaking precum, and had the impression that all I’d have to do was think about how her body had bucked and convulsed in the throes of orgasm and I’d come in my pants.

I held my breath for a moment as I tried to quell the sensations coursing through my mind, then continued, “I didn’t really plan to do that, but you felt so good, so sexy. When I felt you begin to, you know, respond, I just sort of went with it.”

“Good instincts.” She shuddered one last time, a delayed aftershock of her orgasm coursing through her, and I took her movement as an opportunity to remove my invading hand from her pants. I still had my arm around her, so we didn’t break contact, and I didn’t lose our mental connection, but I was hugely aware of the warm, slippery sensation of her arousal juices on my fingers and my cock swelled and flexed as a tiny issue of cum pumped through it.

I was pondering the odd sensation, almost like being just into the very first stage of a wild, powerful ejaculation and then hitting the pause button. The pleasure of it was so intense that it bordered on pain, and I wasn’t at all sure that the tenuous pause would hold, but Julia distracted me, saving me from the embarrassment and the mess of a full-blown climax.

“I haven’t been with a man since that night, and my sex life with Corey was nothing to me for months before that. Well over two years, Jon – over three now, I suppose. To discover that a man can still do that for me – and especially so quickly and intensely, with just the touch of his hand – it’s almost like a miracle. You’re right, I wasn’t ready and I was more than a little afraid that I might discover that I might never be ready. But it was awesome, in every sense of the word.”

I smiled, intensely relieved. “I’m glad. I was afraid I’d gone too far. I’d say you were very ready, though, and you’re still so young, and so hot and sexy that it would be such a waste to think that no one might ever play on your playground again.”

She laughed. “My ‘playground’, huh? I like that, it’s a fun way to think about it. Speaking of which, would you like me to swing on your monkey bar?”

She cupped her hand over my rock-hard bulge and I groaned. I wanted her to ‘swing on my monkey bar’ more than anything in the world at that moment, even knowing that I wouldn’t last ten seconds, but despite her offer, I could sense a tiny bit of trepidation. Her mind was at war with itself, part of it wanting to see me, feel me, make me come, to enjoy the pure sexual pleasure of giving pleasure to another; another part of her mind held a tiny reservoir of fear and anxiety, a stuttering hesitation to take that terrifying leap into the void.

The last time she’d touched a man’s cock in a sexual situation she’d almost been killed, so her fears, her jitters, were understandable, but for the first time, I found myself wishing I wasn’t reading her. I desperately wanted to continue what we’d started but, because of this dubious “gift”, I knew she wasn’t ready. Absent that knowledge I’d have leaped at her offer without a second thought, but now I couldn’t.

“No, it’s okay. I’d love it, but I don’t think you’re a hundred percent ready yet. Besides, it would be over so quickly that it would seem like we’d barely started, and I don’t want that. Let’s wait, okay?”

She looked very surprised, but I could feel a wave of relief, coupled with a pang of regret, swirl in her mind. “Jon, are you sure? I really would like…”

“I’m sure. When it happens – and I really hope it will – I want it to be better. I want us to be able to take our time and enjoy it, and I want you to be absolutely sure you’re ready for that step. And like you said, you’ve been here too long already, although I don’t begrudge the extra few minutes. You should probably go now though.”

“Wow! Are you sure you didn’t land on your head when you fell?”

I laughed. “They tell me I didn’t, but I was probably deprived of oxygen long enough to do some damage anyway – and yes, I’ll kick myself for it all night, but I really think we should wait. There will be a right time and place.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am – and besides, I have fully-functional hand now, so I’m self-sufficient, unlike when Angie made me her charity case.”

She smiled. “I still want to hear all about that, especially if you pursue their offer.” Pausing for a quick kiss, during which I held my libido on a tight rein, she turned for the door. “I guess I’ll head home then. Thank you again for tonight, all of it. I feel better than I’ve felt in a very long time about so many things.”

“I’m glad, Julia. Still though, be careful. Don’t let your guard down, just in case, and text me when you get home so that I know you made it all right, okay?” We’d swapped phone numbers when she’d taken on my home care, just to be sure we could communicate schedule conflicts easily.

“I will. Goodnight, Jon.”

“Goodnight, sexy lady.”

She turned and left after one more quick kiss, and I watched her walk out to her car, scanning the area for any danger or any sign of trouble. I saw nothing, and she drove away without incident. After she was out of sight, I turned my back to the door and leaned against it. With my right hand, I opened my belt and zipper and gave my tumescent cock some breathing room, allowing it to stand stiff and throbbing, naked to the room.

I looked down at it, mildly astonished at the extreme degree of my arousal, my cock seemingly as hard as steel, veins bulging along my straining shaft. The entire head was wet and purple, smeared with streaks of white and clear glistening fluids. I still felt like I could come with just a thought or just the right mental image, and so, having resolved to try to learn a little self-control, I decided to test myself.

I intentionally drew up the moods and emotions I’d just felt from Julia’s aroused mind and stirred them around in my own; I could have come if I’d allowed it, but I controlled my breathing and held off, even as I dripped clear strings of syrupy precum onto the floor. I successfully edged myself with only my mind for several minutes, the tiny puddle between my feet slowly growing as I held myself in place, denying my orgasm.

I thought maybe I’d made a breakthrough, perhaps begun to get a handle on my own vicarious arousal that seemingly was causing me to immediately ejaculate when my female partner came, but then I made the mistake of reaching up to brush my hair back. When I did, the soft, seductive scent of Julia’s aroused sex on my fingers flooded my olfactory senses and I lost that fragile grip on my control.

I came, the first long rope of cum launching out of me and pattering down onto the hardwood floor. I pressed my fingers, still slightly moist with Julia’s honey, to my lips, breathing her scent as spurt after spurt of glistening white followed, shooting several feet in front of me, streaking and speckling the dark wood with tiny puddles of semen. When it began to wane, I seized my hard cock in my fist and wrung the last few small spurts and dribbles out of it, gasping as my mind came down from its peak, my arousal slowly diminishing for the moment.

As I wandered out to get some paper towels to clean up my mess, heart still pounding and my slowly-shrinking dick still hanging free, my phone buzzed with an incoming text. I fished it from my pocket and checked, expecting it to be Julia, which it was.

‘made it home fine, all locked in.’

I texted back; ‘glad to hear it, thx for tonight.’

‘no thk U. it was amazing. U fix ur little problem?’

I laughed, slightly embarrassed, but answered honestly. ‘yup just finished. send in mops and buckets’

She replied with a smiley-face emoji, its tongue lolling lasciviously, then texted, ‘my turn now. I need several more of those – C what U started?’

I laughed again as I sent her back a little horny devil emoji, then typed, ‘my pleasure. have fun & feel free 2 send pics!’

I got back another emoji, a smiley face sticking its tongue out at me as it winked, plus a quick ‘ttyl’.

I sent back, ‘Bfn, goodnight’ and dropped my phone back in my pocket.

I cleaned up the newest mess first, then started on the kitchen, my hands busy with the mundane task as my mind raced across the evening’s experiences. I was happy that things had gone so well with Julia – the entire day, not just the evening’s events - and relieved that my gate-crashing of her psyche hadn’t ruined things. I realized that in much the same way that I needed to get a handle on my propensity to come when my partner did, I also needed to get a handle on my arousal when it flared suddenly and somehow learn to keep it to myself when the situation demanded.

I wondered if I’d be able to ever control it, that paroxysm of intense arousal that had flared with a kiss and then burst into the brilliant incandescence that I’d hammered both Angie and Julia with. I hadn’t much tried to control it with Angie, the first time totally unprepared myself and the second time willingly allowing it to blaze out of control. With Julia, however, I had never intended it to get away from me to assail her and yet it had, suddenly and potentially disastrously.

It was sheer luck that she’d accepted it and found pleasure as opposed to being alarmed and intimidated, but I knew it wasn’t something that I could allow to go unchecked; it could just as easily have frightened her and destroyed the fragile bond we’d begun to build and sent her back behind her wall. That was a thought that I found completely unacceptable.

I fell asleep thinking that maybe experimenting with someone willing – like Angie, for example, and her husband if necessary – might be a good way to learn more about the erotic aspects of my ‘gift’, and how to control both it and myself. I dreamt of that, and even more of Julia and I came again at some point during the night, the first wet dream that I’d had in many years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning when I hobbled out to get the newspaper, my mailbox lay crushed and broken in my yard, the post sheared off at the ground. It was clear from the tracks in the lawn and the crushed shrubbery that a car had jumped the curb and nailed it, someone that had not bothered to stop and ring the bell or leave a note.

At first, I was pissed, but as I thought about it, I realized that where it had crossed the sidewalk was precisely where Julia’s car had been parked and was relieved that it hadn’t happened while she was there – or worse, as she was getting into her car the previous evening. A smashed mailbox was a small thing relative to that. It was only as I was wandering the yard picking up pieces that the thought of Julia’s ex-husband, Corey, entered my mind. Suddenly, the wanton destruction took on more sinister implications.

I reported it to the police, including my suspicions, and they promised to have an officer stop by to “fill out a report for the insurance company”. I told them not to bother since the damages would be less than my deductible in any event and wondered yet again when the police department had become an extension of the insurance company.

My firearms instructor had been fond of the saying; ‘When seconds count, the police are only minutes away’. I’d thought that a bit hypocritical, that any thinking person should recognize that the cops can’t be everywhere at once, but then I’d realized that was exactly his point, that he wasn’t trying to denigrate the police, and the expression had stuck with me. They have a thankless job, but I know that most of them do their best; it’s just frustrating sometimes.

I called Julia to tell her my suspicions and to check that she’d had no such mishap, which she hadn’t. She agreed that it might be something her ex- would do, but that it could just as easily have been an incompetent kid, random vandalism, or a drunk driver. We still had nothing other than Julia’s hunch, that prickling of the hairs on the back of the neck, to indicate that he’d found her and might be looking to do her harm, but she agreed to stay alert and not take any avoidable exposure risks.

My next call was to a friend that owns a landscape business, someone we worked with often doing tree removal, and he promised to have a couple of his guys come out and do what repairs they could to the yard and shrubs, as well as plant a new mailbox for me. It was something I normally would have done for myself, but I wasn’t yet at the home repair or gardening stage in my recovery.

As fate would have it, the day after our spaghetti dinner was one of the days that I had an alternate therapist, a nice enough young guy named Matt. I hadn’t seen Eva since I left the rehab hospital, and I’d only seen Brad once, although Julia said they asked about me regularly and she kept me filled in on their lives. Matt was quietly efficient, friendly enough, but since I typically saw him only about once or twice a week we hadn’t really bonded.

There wasn’t a whole lot for either of them to do until the framework came off my right leg, but both Matt and Julia were diligent about working my damaged arm and wrist as well as my less damaged but often stiff left leg in order to help me recover and maintain a full range of motion. The strength in my arms was slowly returning, but I had a ways to go there so lifting some fairly light weights was another part of the newer regimen.

As he was rotating my shoulder, stretching the ligaments to increase my reach, he mentioned that Angie had asked him about me. I smiled, thinking about sweet, buxom, generous, horny earth-goddess Angie, she of the thunderous orgasms and kinky husband.

“That’s nice of her to ask, Matt. Tell her I’m doing good, but not as good as when she was taking care of me. How’s she doing?”

“Good. You know Angie, nothing much gets her down. She said to ask you why you haven’t called her.”

“Yeah, I need to do that. I keep thinking that I’ll do it when I’m all better, but it’s such a slow process.”

“It is, but you’re doing good. I’ll warn you though, it’s going to feel like a huge setback when they take that apparatus off your leg in the next week or two. Your knee will be very fragile until we build the muscles around it back up and get things stretched and moving again.”

“I’ll cancel my dance lessons.” Thinking about what he’d just told me, I wondered if maybe I should call Angie sooner than I’d planned. I was hobbled by the framework on my leg, but it also served as armor in a sense, making it considerably less likely I’d do something stupid and reinjure the knee. I was only semi-useless now, apparently, as compared to being entirely useless for some time period after it was removed.

He wrapped up my session for the day and took off, and I tried to sit and relax as I waited for things to stop aching. I thought about Julia, mostly, and her sad and horrifying story. It made me hurt for her, but it also made me surprisingly angry – furious, even – at someone I didn’t even know. She’d been right on target when she’d said that her story would trigger my protective instincts, which were raging right along, but I smiled when I remembered how well-armed and prepared she seemed to be.

I’d heard things in her voice and felt things in her mind that made me quite sure that she wouldn’t hesitate for a moment if threatened by her ex. There was steel in the woman, and I knew she was determined that nothing like that would ever happen to her again. I admired that, but I also knew that if Corey, her ex-husband, knew anything at all about her, he would also be aware of that facet of her personality and be prepared. It was potentially a very volatile situation.

To take my mind off it for a few minutes, and so that I wouldn’t again put it off, I called Angie. I was pretty sure she was off work that day, but it was late enough that she’d probably be home regardless. Sure enough, she answered the phone, and it was good to hear her voice.

Smiling, I responded, “Hey Angie, this is Jon. How have you been?”

“Jon, hi, great to hear from you! I’m good. Busy, as usual, but good. How about you, still coming along?”

“Pretty much, I guess, yeah. Matt was just here and he mentioned you, got me thinking about you again, like I do every day.”

She laughed. “Every day around bath time, I’ll bet!”

I laughed as well. “Well yeah, of course; somehow it’s just not as much fun bathing myself as it was when you did it.”

“I think of that every time I bathe a male patient now; I think you’ve permanently warped me.”

“But in a good way, right?”

“Mmm-hmm, definitely. You certainly raised my expectations, I’ll tell you that! Ben says thanks too.”

“My pleasure – and I mean that. So things on that front are still good?”

“Very good, Jon; our sex life has been really humming since you and I… well, let’s just say that Ben keeps reliving the fantasy, and he absolutely loves the pictures you took. Those make him hard every time.”

I laughed. “Who knew that pictures of my dick could have that effect on a guy?”

Laughing, she replied, “I’d like to think that the fact that your dick is in my hand has something to do with it.” She paused, then continued, “Speaking of which, when are we going to let him enjoy the live show?”

“Funny you’d ask that; that’s pretty much why I’m calling. I wasn’t sure you’d still be interested…”

She interrupted me. “Interested? We talk about it all the time, hoping you still are! Bennie is almost obsessed with the idea of a threesome now, and it’s something that I’ve fantasized about off and on for years, even before I knew Ben would be cool with it… so yes, you might say we’re still interested. Are you?”

“Honestly, I’ve fantasized about it a lot too, although in my fantasies two of the players are always women – the other two, not me.” She giggled, as I’d intended, and I went on, “I’m a little, um, hesitant about gettin’ nekkid with you and your husband, but I figure for the chance to get nekkid with you I can put up with him being there too.”

“Yeah, I get that, Jon, but I think for Ben that would be considered a non-negotiable point; he very much wants to be a part of it.”

“Oh, I know, and I completely understand, but I’ve never been the boy-toy for a married couple before so I’m sort of coming in blind, in addition to lame. I still have that damn steel framework on my right leg, but they tell me that when that comes off in a couple weeks I guess I’m going to be pretty delicate for awhile, so it’s kind of a now or maybe never thing. If you don’t mind me being fairly limited and more than a little nervous, that is.”

“Well, I know Ben will be disappointed that we can’t use the trampoline, and I really enjoy the trapeze, but I can still use my whips, right?” When I didn’t respond immediately, she laughed. “I’m kidding, Jon; we’re fine with you still being restricted. I know your cock works fine, and I’ll bet your tongue does too…”

I laughed. Good old Angie with her dirty mind and outrageous quips! “Yeah, I could pretty much imagine some uses for the trapeze, but I was stuck on how a trampoline could play into it – and the whips are fine, by the way; I’ll watch you use them on Ben, or vice-versa.”

“He’d love it, I suspect. He’s really a lot of fun; I think you two will get along fine once you get to know each other.”

“I don’t know, of course, never having done this before, but I would think that would be an important part of sharing your wife with someone. Getting along, I mean. You're sure you don’t mind me being gimpy, less than a hundred percent? Hell, less than seventy-five percent, probably?”

“No, not at all! I love being on top, so that helps. How do you feel about a ride ‘em cowgirl?”

“Yeee-haa and yippee ki-yo!”

She laughed. “I can envision a scene where I’m riding you reverse-cowgirl and Bennie is between our legs, licking my pussy… yum! I also like the idea of one inside me and one in my mouth. I’m getting wet just thinking about it.”

I shook my head, amazed by her graphic, uninhibited language. “Me too, Angie; well, not wet, but you know…” I truly was getting quite hard tagging along on her fantasy. It did sound intriguing, and her attitude was contagious!

“He fantasizes about licking you too, Jon. He thinks he’d like to lick your balls while you fuck me, maybe suck your cock, and he really wants to go down on me after you come inside of me.”

“Wow… really?” I was a little shocked, I’ll admit. That was pretty far out there for me and I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of it; I’d never even considered the possibility. I did know that I was rock-hard now, so if it was going to repulse me it apparently had a delayed reaction element involved.

“He says that, yes, but I don’t know how much he’d actually do when push comes to shove. There’s a good chance he’ll be a little more skittish about it when it’s not just a fantasy. We’ve never done anything like this before either, remember; I just thought you should be aware.”

“I appreciate the heads-up, Angie. Some of that’s kind of outside my comfort zone, I think.”

“He wouldn’t expect you to reciprocate if you didn’t want to.”

“See, now there’s another thing that hadn’t crossed my mind. I appreciate you telling me that too, but I might want to get it in writing first. Signed and notarized, by the way.”

Because I knew her, I could almost hear her thousand-megawatt smile through the phone. “He’d probably be happy to do that just for the chance to live out some fantasies. I think we should all just relax and go with the flow, remembering it’s new for all of us, and if somebody needs to tap out then fine, and no, uh, repercussions.” She giggled. “I almost said no hard feelings, but I’m hoping there are some very hard feelings.”

I laughed. “Yeah, otherwise what would be the point?”

We discussed the when and where and agreed on the upcoming Friday or Saturday night, and that it would be easier for them to come to my place than for me to go to them or to a hotel since I wasn’t driving yet. A taxi or Uber would have been an option, or they could have picked me up and brought me back, but them coming to me was simplest.

She reminded me that it all hinged on them finding a sitter for their kids, and I thought of Julia and wondered if she’d been sincere when she told me I should pursue things with Angie. If there was any chance that I might be putting whatever it was that was budding between us in jeopardy, I knew I couldn’t take the risk. It might eventually turn out to be nothing, but I didn’t want it to fail just because of one unnecessary erotic adventure, even if I was hopeful that it might be a journey of discovery for me.

“Angie, there’s someone I really need to talk to about this too. I should have realized it sooner, but there’s something I can’t risk. I need to be sure; sorry I got ahead of myself, but it just occurred to me.”

“Care to enlighten me?”

“Um, not now, I don’t think. When the time is right, I will. Promise.”

“Fair enough. Let me know, but for now, I’ll try to get a sitter for Friday or Saturday.”

We let it stand at that and, after exchanging a few more sexual innuendo-laced pleasantries, we each got on with our day. I jerked off, aroused by talking to Angie and allowing myself to fantasize a little bit about how a threesome might go. I definitely had a little bit of a thing for Angie and her beautiful face, full lips, lush breasts and big, firm bottom, so it was pretty easy to find the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow.

Towards evening I debated about calling Julia but decided that I didn’t want her to think I was too clingy or controlling, especially since I’d already spoken to her that morning about the broken mailbox. I stewed about it, though, wondering if I was being stupid, but she soon put me out of my misery by calling me.

“Hi, Jon. Are you okay? Get your mailbox fixed?”

“I’m good, yeah, and I did. How was your day?”

“Good. Really good, actually. Talking to you last night really took a load off. It’s amazing how much better I feel. Thanks again for letting me do that.”

“Like I said, Julia, I appreciate your trust. Anytime you want to talk…”

“Thanks. I see that I’ve got you on my schedule tomorrow and again Friday, so I guess I’ll see you then.”

I stopped her. “You need to go?”

“No, not really. I just got home, so I need to put some dinner together, but no rush.”

“Pick up some Chinese or pizza or something and come eat with me. I’ll even pay you back, probably.”

She laughed. “Probably, huh? That sounds really nice, but I’d better not, especially if it was Corey that vandalized your mailbox. No sense in risking him escalating things.”

I’d been pretty sure that would be her response, but I’d tried. “I figured you’d say that; just remember that if we do that we’re letting him control us, and I know neither of us wants that.”

“I know. And while I agree that it might be good to get him out into the open, I need some time to come to grips with that, and with what it might bring.”

“It might not even have been him that took out my mailbox, but you do have a restraining order; if he violates it maybe you can get him thrown back in jail.”

“Maybe. Probably not for long, though.”

We started talking, and before we knew it an hour had passed, then another; she mentioned being hungry, calling my attention to my own bitterly complaining tummy, and we hung up to go eat, promising to pick up the conversation the next day when she came for my therapy session. Only then did I remember that I hadn’t asked her about Angie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following morning seemed to drag by as I waited for her to show up, an odd feeling. I’d been intrigued by her when we met, had grown to like and respect her soon after, and been captivated by her gentle beauty and mystery as time went on. Now I found myself longing to see her, be with her, to hear her voice. It had been a long time since any woman had had such a profound effect on me, and I was surprised to discover that I liked it.

When she showed up, she carried her things in, as usual, then turned and walked into my arms, and we kissed. It was more than friendly though not quite passionate, and I kept a very tight grip on my desire. When she broke the kiss, I grinned. “Wow! I like that part of the therapy – how come we didn’t start that weeks ago?”

She laughed. “You weren’t strong enough; I didn’t want to risk a serious setback.”

“I’d have been willing to take the chance. You want to walk to the park again, see if we can rescue any more toddlers in distress?”

“Sure; it’s cooler and kind of windy today, so you’ll want a jacket.”

“Gee, thanks, mom.”

She laughed. “Sorry, I dropped into caretaker mode. You are still my patient, you know.”

“I know, just yanking your chain; I’ll grab a jacket.” When I did, I also tucked my holster containing my Sig Sauer handgun inside the back of my waistband, making sure the jacket hid it. I’d felt Julia’s when we kissed, so I knew she was armed as well, both of us vowing to be more alert after the mailbox incident even though we hoped it was nothing.

As an old friend used to say about always having his car packed full of his crap, ‘Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it’. For him that had meant magazines, tools, condoms (he had a point there…), beef jerky, miscellaneous water bottles, sunflower seeds, old newspapers, and anything else he ever used all crammed in his car; for me, it meant my weapon.

Knowing that her ex-husband was a psycho, several inches taller than me, that he outweighed me by almost fifty pounds and, as far as we knew he had not fallen out of any tall trees recently, having the gun made me feel a little more secure. I hadn’t fired one since my accident, but I was quite proficient prior to it. I promised myself to get back to the range soon.

We strolled slowly down to the park, as much as one can stroll when swinging crutches. It was cool and windy, as she’d said, and the park was virtually deserted. We circled it on the walking path provided, twice, and then stopped and sat on a bench. When I started to put my arm around her, she stopped me.

“No, Jon, not in public. He could be watching us even now.”

She was right, of course, but it still rankled. I glanced around, seeing only one or two other people walking the park, neither fitting his description. I’d felt a little vulnerable already because the park was mostly deserted, largely devoid of potential witnesses and her reminder only reinforced it. I settled for taking her hand in mine instead, between us where it could be hidden. She laced her fingers through mine and squeezed.

“Thanks again for last night.” I could feel her emotions, a jumble of hope and hesitation, a latent pool of arousal and satisfaction following the rebirth of her sexuality. The fear and angst, the leftovers of her shattered marriage and the assault she’d endured, were far in the background at the moment despite her ever-present caution, like a dark cloud on a distant horizon.

“Julia, you don’t have to keep thanking me. I’m just glad that talking helped you open up after all this time.”

She smiled. “Well, yes, for that too, but that’s not what I was thanking you for.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me playfully, and I laughed.

“Oh well, yeah, for that! That was absolutely my pleasure, trust me! My only worry was that I went too far, too fast. I thought maybe I should have stopped.”

“If you had I would have re-broken that arm for you.”

I shook my head, laughing. “Ugh, no thanks! Been there done that and don’t care to revisit it. I certainly had no desire to stop, but I knew you didn’t feel you were ready…”

She grew serious. “I’m not. I hate to say it after how amazing last night was, but I’m just not ready for a relationship of any kind. I’m sorry, I know you were hoping for more.”

“No, I get it, and it’s okay. Really. First, because you told me what happened, it’s easy to understand your hesitancy, but also, I’m in no rush. I still have stuff to get through too, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thanks, Jon. I know you’re getting healthy and that you’ll soon have your full sex drive back if you don’t already, but I don’t know if a repeat of last night is anywhere in the near future. It scared me how good it felt, but it all left me a little shaken too. I don’t know how much…”

She trailed off and I could sense her uncertainty, her libido and the powerful desire to move ahead and forget her past, at war with the knowledge that the past remained unresolved, her ex still a potential threat. I gave her a few seconds to see if she’d go on, then said,“Baby steps, Julia.”

“Baby steps, yes.”

“Let’s be friends first, really get to know each other.”

She looked at me. “Seriously?”

“Sure, why not?”

“That I can do; I’d like that, I think. And who knows, maybe someday, not too far off, friends with benefits.” She laughed. “That sounds funny to say; I’ve never been in a relationship like that before.”

“I have, and if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll pass on that and see how it goes.”

“Bad experience?”

A little bit uncomfortable talking about it, I stood up and we continued our walk but kept our hands linked. It was easier because I didn’t have to read her eyes this way or see her gazing into mine, but I could still feel her emotions.

As we moved on, I replied, “Not bad, exactly, but not good. I think maybe we got to that stage and quit trying to see if there was anything more between us. Maybe we both thought it was enough, but when she eventually realized she wanted something more it turned out that it was with another guy.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. It ended not too long before I had my accident, and I’m not sure I wanted more with her, to be honest. She was a good friend – still is, just not in that way – and she’s happy now, I think, so that’s all good. She was sexy, fun, all that stuff, but to me, it feels unfinished, like we never really gave ourselves a chance to find out if there might be more to it, to us. It would have been good to know, I think.”

“That must be rough, to never know about what might have been.” She paused, smiled, and said. “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been!’ ”

“I know that quote; who is that?”

“John Greenleaf Whittier, I believe. From a good poem too, pretty apropos to what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t know much about poetry, but that line was familiar. What I do know is that I don’t want to make the same mistake with you that I did with her. If there’s a chance there might be something more between us, I don’t want to rush it, get to that stage where we get complacent and let things stall out.”

“Do you think there is a chance?”

“For more? I find myself hoping so, yes. Do you?”

“I… yes, Jon, I do, but are you sure it’s not just your knight in shining armor thing, because of my sad story?”

“I felt this way before you ever told me your story, Julia. Long before, and before you can suggest it’s just because I was so dependent on your care to get well, I’ve already thought about that, and no, it’s not that either. It’s that thing where a man meets a woman, and they… you know, it’s… they know they’re…” I hesitated, unsure how to continue then laughed. “Wow, now I need some poetic quotes.”

She smiled reassuringly. “No, I know what you mean; I’m not sure anyone has ever been able to explain it adequately, but yes, me too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but I was afraid to say anything, afraid of the feelings. I need time still to sort through things, and it would be very unfair of me to pretend otherwise, to try to be something I can’t right now.”

“I know.”

“But that doesn’t mean you have to be celibate too; I don’t expect that. Speaking of which, how’s Angie these days?”

I laughed. “Good, she’s good. I talked to her yesterday, but how did you know that?”

“Intuition. I could hear in your voice that you were interested, and I know you’re horny.”

I probably blushed, but I laughed again, enjoying her candor. “Yes, well, there’s always that. We made tentative plans to get together this weekend, but I told her I needed to talk to you first.”

“To me? You told her about us?”

“No, no, I said that wrong; I told her that there was someone I needed to talk to, but I didn’t specify any names. “

“Oh. Good, then; probably best to keep things to ourselves for now. But you don’t need my approval, Jon.”

“I didn’t want to mess things up before we even got a chance to talk about it, which would sorta be my usual style.”

She laughed. “I don’t see any reason that it should. We both know we’re not virgins, and you’re looking at it as just some fun times with friends, right? I’m not in a place where I can offer you that right now, and you have an opportunity to explore something new and different. Go for it, Jon.”

I could feel her arousal quicken as she thought about it, perhaps putting herself in Angie’s place with two men to entertain. Her pulsing arousal slammed up against my own, and I struggled mightily to hold myself in check, to not allow the catalyst of her arousal to send mine spiraling out of control and back to her. I think I only partially succeeded because hers continued to swell, and her hand tightened on mine. I was hard, my cock straining against my pants as I walked, and I was quite sure she was physically aroused too, hot and wet, a thought that didn’t help at all.

Much as I hated to, I freed my hand from hers to break the connection. “I don’t need it, Julia, it was just something that Angie and I talked about.”

“But you and she like and enjoy each other, and you’d have fun. I like Angie too, she’s very sweet and very funny, and you said her hubby was excited about it.”

“Sure, and she’s sexy and open-minded, but…”

She laughed. "Just stop! You and I are friends, Jon, but even that's brand new. I mean, yes, we got along well and were friendly as therapist and patient, but it really didn't move beyond that until just these last few days. Stop over-thinking it and live your life; things will work out."

It seemed like odd advice from someone whose life was so overshadowed by the past and the specter of an abusive husband possibly stalking her, but she seemed sincere, so I let it drop. We walked slowly back to my home, and she put me through a few more stretching exercises as a “cool-down”, as though I was a racehorse, before packing up to leave.

At the door, I bent to kiss her. Her eyes searched mine for a moment before she stretched up to meet my lips, but when she did it was fully and without any uncertainty, her tongue flicking at my lips until my own met it. It wasn’t a chaste kiss, but one that revealed the longing and hunger behind it. I tried to hold back my flare of arousal and desire as best I could, but intentionally let what I thought was just a tiny nudge of the passion I felt seep through.

She moaned softly as our lips parted. “Mmm, my god… Being around you is going to make it very difficult to stay the course as I work through things, but I think I need to. Angie is a very lucky girl.”

“We’ll see. Be careful out there, and call if you need me for anything.”

She glanced down at my steel-enshrouded leg; it didn’t take any special senses to read her thoughts at that moment as she undoubtedly wondered what I thought I could possibly do for her, which was a valid point. I knew one thing for sure, and that was that I’d damn sure try to be there, even if it meant a crash course on driving left-footed or hopping on one foot all the way to her place. If I had any say in the matter, which I doubted I would, her ex wouldn’t get anywhere near her, but I knew very well he’d be trying to catch her alone if or when he decided to make a move.

We said our farewells and I watched her drive away, alert for any danger or any signs she was being watched or followed, but I didn’t see anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After she left, I puttered around for awhile then took a nap. I knew my days of being an essentially unemployed invalid would be ending soon enough. My boss had already told me that I could come back whenever I was ready, although we knew I might never do the high work again. That was my first love, so I was determined to get enough strength and agility back to climb, but in the interim, there were several other roles I could fill including truck driver, ‘dozer operator, or boom or grapple operator. In the meanwhile, the nap seemed like a wise choice.

Later in the evening, I called Angie, who had in fact made child care arrangements for Saturday evening. I told her that I had worked out my issues as well and we made plans for them to show up at my place around seven, bearing food. I assured her that I had drinks thoroughly covered and we left it at that. I think we were both a little nervous already, so the conversation seemed unusually strained, but I could also tell that she was excited about it – and I know I was!

The next couple of days were routine, although I did get to enjoy Julia as my therapist on one of them. Our relationship grew slowly – in baby steps, as I’d told her – but I had the sense that each time we were together we were building connections, tiny links slowly knitting us together in much the same way my body had over the previous months. It was nice, and it was welcome, and she laughed when I told her about making the date with Angie and Ben, teasing me about being such a horndog.

They showed up a few minutes early on Saturday, bearing two large pizza boxes from my favorite local pizzeria. Her husband, Ben, seemed like a nice guy, average in every way other than perhaps being a bit slender. A couple of inches shorter than me, thin, dark hair, glasses, friendly smile, he was the type that would disappear in a crowd as if possessed of special chameleon-like powers.

Angie was her usual bubbly, smiling, sexy, voluptuous self, except braless and wearing a snug t-shirt and short, tight skirt rather than the ubiquitous green or blue scrubs that were her daily attire. Her large nipples were proud and demanding of attention, and when she hugged me I could feel her arousal flowing into my head as well as pressed to my chest. Her dark hair was down around her face, and she looked smokin’ hot, and I could feel the surge as my cock thickened.

It was the same when I shook hands with Ben, his sexual arousal strong and roiling, although in him I also picked up nervousness and a trace of apprehension, two things that had been completely lacking when I’d hugged Angie. Still, though, his sexual arousal was so strong that I felt certain that he had a raging erection; there was simply no way he didn’t, not with that degree of lust churning inside. Indeed, as we milled around getting drinks and putting our food on plates, the bulge of his hardon was readily apparent in his khaki shorts.

We sat in the den to eat – what’s called a media room now, I suppose – with music playing in the background. I took one of the chairs on one side of the coffee table, where I could prop my right foot up on the edge of the table, and Angie and Ben sat across from me on the leather loveseat. We made small talk as we ate, but the air was thick with sexuality and expectations, the carnal energy palpable. I even caught Angie sneaking a peek at my bulging crotch, my fully erect cock straining against my pants.

She knew she’d been busted peeking, but I think she’d meant to get caught and one eyebrow quirked up playfully as she looked back at me, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Ben had stopped eating, his slice of pizza halfway to his mouth as he watched us. She held my eye as she slowly and seductively moved her muscular thighs apart, revealing that her bra wasn’t the only thing she’d left at home!

She was panty-less and smooth, the trim patch of curls she’d formerly had on her mound now also gone, and she was visibly aroused, her inner lips rose-pink and puffy with arousal. She was wet and slick as well, the overhead light glistening-pink off the tiny trickle of moisture escaping her eager pussy, and I groaned as I reached down to adjust myself, a little afraid I might break something if I didn’t.

I’d been concerned that the evening might prove awkward, that we might bumble and stumble around the real purpose of our get-together, paralyzed by our nerves and inexperience. As it turned out, my concern was for naught as I had clearly underestimated Angie, who was the undeniable ring-leader of this circus.

She put her drink on the table and stood, stripping her t-shirt off over her head and baring her magnificent breasts as she crossed to me, her dark nipples erect, breasts swaying enticingly. Carefully avoiding my bad leg, she leaned in over the arm of my chair and unzipped my shorts, freeing my aching cock and then bent over me, taking my swollen, rock-hard erection into her mouth.

In two strokes she had taken my entire length deep into her throat, and my surprised arousal, hot and intense, burst from my churning mind and into hers as if it had travelled through my cock and into her mouth, our only point of contact; she groaned loudly around the thickness of my shaft, her body shaking as she came.