Chronicles of Suran: Rachel, Chapter Four

by Catherine N.X.

Friday, 7th December, 2074.

"Ow...got too much wasabi." Sonja sat across from Karen, the latter wincing as the former held her nose and exhaled rapidly. After a moment Sonja's eyes watered as the burning from the wasabi migrated from the roof of her mouth into her nose. Water helped only a little, and Karen had to stifle a mischievous giggle while Sonja sat out the paste's assault on her nasal cavity. Sonja glared at her date and drank more water as the burning subsided, and Karen held her hands up. "Hey, can't say I didn't warn you."

"I have wasabi probably once a week and still get too much sometimes." As Sonja wiped her eyes Karen sipped ginger ale and asked, "So you're not much into American food?" Sonja shook her head. "Too heavy, too greasy. Dana loves it, especially hot dogs and burgers." Karen grinned openly. "Heh...the last time I saw her she had a burrito the size of a liter-bottle in her mouth. She eats like a pig, but she does work it off."

"How long have you been her trainer?"

"I'm not anymore, since I started working at Syler's Gym across town. But...let me think...I started at the Bally's in Adanji Falls last June, and she joined a month later...I left two weeks ago...so, about a year and a half."

Sonja's nose was still burning a little, so she gulped down the rest of her water and signaled the waitress for a refill. Karen decided on a change of subject, since even she didn't consider her job a very entertaining conversation topic. It wasn't that the job itself was boring, but Karen never found talking about athletics anywhere near as interesting as actually participating in them. "You mentioned you were an architect?" Sonja lit up. "I am. I work for VGS Janssen. You know the new soccer stadium on Lavelle?" Karen nodded, and Sonja continued as their waitress refilled her water. "That was us. I did the entrance and food court. Mostly I get small commercial projects these days. Until the state Senate figures out what land they want to sell the private sector from this year's commercial development allowance for Tashkana, most of my work for the foreseeable future'll be on Kessler or in Australia. Weird, how short those trips to Australia get."

Karen nodded, impressed since she considered even the entrance to the stadium a big-time project and had never found occasion to leave Suran. "So tell me about your daughter." Sonja's parenthood had been the elephant in the room on their first date, since Karen hadn't dated anyone with kids before and wasn't sure if she should be wary about it.

"Rachel's six. Loves art. Loves electric blue. Eats breakfast at all hours of the day. Total smartass, which is my fault for being one too. She's awesome." Recalling all of the things she loved about her baby, Sonja's eyes drifted a bit before she looked back to Karen. "I have to admit, I wasn't really sure I wanted to date anyone right now." Karen's brow furrowed a bit as she asked, "Because you have a daughter?" Sonja sipped her water and shook her head. "It just seems like lately I haven't had much interest. I've got the free time, and Rachel's dad takes her out on the town as much as I do."

"Were you and her dad involved?" Sonja smiled and shook her head. "Takeshi's just as gay as I am, but he's been my best friend since grade school. Once I was absolutely sure I wanted a child, he was my first choice for a donor. He lives right behind us. Rachel loves having both of our backyards to play in, and she's got a playroom in his house. She loves his husband Geoff too. Listening to them at the dinner table you'd think Geoff wasn't any older than she is."

Karen laughed and asked, "So what changed your mind about dating?" Sonja thought for a moment. "Well, Rachel's starting to discover herself sexually. And apparently part of that discovery is nibbling on Mommy. And I realize that I do miss that kind of affection. But I can't possibly expect Rachel to fulfill my needs. I just get to fulfill hers." Karen smiled. "Aww, that's sweet. The youngest girl I've been with was 14, but it must be adorable seeing someone Rachel's age have that kind of fun." Sonja grinned and nodded, and said, "It is. I just love the fact that she doesn't have any inhibitions at all. My parents didn't yell at me for playing with myself or anything, but you know. It just wasn't as openly celebrated back then. She's not afraid at all, and that just makes my whole decade. I guess the whole thing has just reminded me of what I've been missing."

"Have you dated much since you had her?" Sonja thought for a moment about what would constitute dating 'much' and answered, "Well, there was that woman at last year's Saturnalia party, but that was basically a one-nighter. Just for fun. About six months before that I broke it off with this woman I'd been seeing on and off for a year. She just wasn't around enough, with her job." Karen's pie and Sonja's cheesecake arrived, and Karen started on her dessert before asking what Sonja's last girlfriend had done for a living. "Insurance adjuster. That's why she traveled so much. It was just a little too creepy hearing her talk about her job, anyway. Crashes and body parts and stuff." Karen giggled through a mouthful of cherries and replied after swallowing, "I heard that. I dated this one chick who was a paramedic. So callous about her work. Or maybe talking so casually about it was just her way of dealing with the stress. Either way it wasn't going to work out for more reasons than I can even name. We just weren't compatible, really."

Sonja found herself watching Karen's dark brown eyes as she spoke; large and soft, they seemed to draw her in as if they had their own gravity. In them Sonja could see Karen's emotions - the settled pensiveness as she analyzed her old relationships. They talked for nearly an hour, fluidly and without realizing how long they had been sitting until a low pitched chime sounded on Karen's PDA. When she checked it, the screen said "Frosty Stout" would start in twenty-five minutes.

"Movie starts in almost half an hour." Sonja's eyes widened a bit as she said, "Well, I'd better go to the restroom." Karen picked up her purse. "Me too."

As they prepared to leave the restroom Sonja again found herself watching Karen, in the long mirror above the sinks. She wore very little makeup - only mascara, lip gloss and a bit of pale eyeshadow. She could have gone without any; her smooth dark chocolate skin, wire-rimmed glasses and slightly pursed lips were all the decoration she needed. The warm diffuse light from the restaurant's omnipresent recessed fixtures softened every facet of Karen's face. Only a low beep from her PDA drew away her attention. It was a reminder to check in on Rachel and Takeshi. Rachel had spent the evening at her dad's house, and Sonja wanted to let them know when she and Karen would get home. She excused herself for a moment and stepped out onto the sidewalk to call Takeshi.

"Hi, honey. Is she asleep yet?"

"Like a rock. What do you think of your date?"

Sonja inhaled for a moment, trying to take stock of just how perfect an evening she was having. "She's really cute. I don't know - Karen's just easy to talk to. She mentioned her last girlfriend and I could imagine getting on with that woman exactly as Karen did." Takeshi made a sound as if he were sipping something. "You see her as someone who thinks like you. It's been a while since I dated anyone for the first time, but that's probably the best start. Well, I'll have Rachel's things ready to go when you get here. Which showing are you gonna see?"

Sonja checked the time. "It's only 8:34, so we'll be able to catch the 8:50 show like we planned. That should have us back at about a quarter to 11. See you then?"

"Sure thing. Have fun, babe. Love you."

"Love you too, hon. Bye." Karen emerged from the restaurant with keys in hand just as Sonja put away her PDA, and Sonja was quick to sidle up to her for a kiss. Karen smiled mischievously, and accepted the young mother's advance demurely. They parted for a moment, and Sonja looked into her date's eyes. "On the one hand I wish I'd done this sooner. On the other, I'm glad I waited until you were available." Karen grinned and offered Sonja her arm. "True, it's not every day you get to go out with all this." Taking her arm, the architect laughed aloud. "Gorgeous and modest. Aren't you the complete package."

"Hey, you wanna inflate my ego then go ahead. Should we drive, or walk?" Sonja's gaze shifted from her date's eyes to the glittering avenue around them, and held her arm closer. "A walk sounds lovely."

Friday night was, of course, the busiest weeknight. The theater was operating at close to capacity, but online box offices and well-planned entrances made getting to and from one's seat far less of an ordeal. The two women settled in not far from the center entrance to the auditorium, iced coffees in hand.

When they were seated, Karen took a sip of her coffee and turned to Sonja. "What have you heard about this one?" Sonja took her lips from her own straw and shrugged. "Besides what I mentioned last night, not much. I just really like Jake Quinlan. Did you see his show 'Quintessential'?" Karen nearly shot iced coffee from her nose. She recovered from a bout of giggling to reply, "I thought I'd die. I actually had to pause it a few times, I was laughing so hard. That bit about procrastinating just got completely out of hand. I loved it."

Sonja put on her best Quinlan impression. "So there I was in this CTA auditor's office. I tried to explain - you know, I just thought about filing my tax return last week. It's not like I wasn't gonna do it…" The pace of Sonja's delivery was off, but her inflection was pretty close to Quinlan's girlishly nasal accent - a bouncy Australian cadence mellowed by over a decade living in Suran. Karen laughed out loud, but her reply was interrupted by the explosive introduction to a trailer for an upcoming film. Massive walking robots waged kung-fu combat against each other, neither apparently equipped with any weapons. When it became clear that the robots were not war machines but designed for staged tournaments, the fighting made a little more sense. As the premise was fleshed out a bit more the plot actually seemed feasible, if deathly boring. The film was set in a future where this combat was simply a popular sport, with huge amounts of money invested in each machine. Most of the film apparently dealt with the business behind the combat, and the lives of the robots' operators and builders. Boiled down to its essential genre, it looked basically the same as dozens of other sports films. Neither Sonja nor Karen saw the appeal.

Finally the opening credits for 'Frosty Stout' started, and within five minutes half the theatre was laughing aloud. Quinlan and his costar Lamont Williams managed to make plausible a Lucille Ball-esque chain of events which left them certain that opening their own brewery would be the best thing since sliced bread. Of course, neither of their families thought this was a good way to spend the beginning of their marriage. The requisite calamities that followed built on their frustration, until finally they gave up on the brewery only to find that selling it brought them more money than they had expected to make in years of running it themselves. The final scene was of them on a new boat some miles from shore, Williams wondering how to operate its motor while Quinlan burned dinner in its small kitchen.

The intensity of Sonja and Karen's amusement grew in time with the flustered confusion of the main characters, which gave way only to scenes that explained how they managed to put up with each other. They had basically the same virtues and flaws, and seemed to intuitively understand each other enough to find each other's foibles endearing. It worked because it was honest, and thankfully nothing truly impossible (as in, say, a Leslie Nielsen movie) happened that might spoil the film's believability.

As they left the theatre, neither Sonja nor Karen could stop recounting the truly silly events they had just witnessed as portrayed by two truly silly actors. The familiarity bred of laughing like idiots for an hour and a half with each other made it almost second nature for them to hold hands as they left. The levity of the film tinted most of the drive from the theatre to Sonja's house, but Karen was able to stifle her giggles long enough to stop Sonja at the front door with a hand on her waist. The kiss that followed was hardly casual or friendly. Being as completely comfortable as she was with Sonja made Karen's attraction to her that much more intense. The kiss she planted on her date's lips wasn't just to say 'I enjoyed our evening,' or 'I'd consider dating you again.' It was more to say, 'I'm comfortable enough to say that I want you in the naughtiest possible way. But goodnight.'

The sly, seductive look in Sonja's eyes as they broke the kiss told Karen all she wanted to know. "So this'll be happening again." Karen smiled and giggled back, "I guess so. When do you want me to call?"

"Surprise me." Sonja pursed her lips, and turned toward the door to open it. Just as she closed it, she gave Karen her most girlish wave. As soon as the lock engaged she spun around as if dancing in a snowfall. She stopped and steadied herself just in time to see Takeshi staring at her from the living room, stifling laughs. "You got it bad." Sonja followed Takeshi into the kitchen, where he had left a plate of strawberry pie.

“So Rachel passed out early?”

“Relatively. She usually does. I thought it was luck for a while, but I guess she gets tired ‘cause we keep her busy.”

Sonja’s mind was still on her date, and it was obvious. "She likes Jake Quinlan."

"Oh, you saw that thing. Looks okay, I guess. But who doesn't like him, anyway?"

"Yeah, but how many people know his stand-up?"

"He does stand-up?"

"I thought so. Have a seat, dear." Takeshi made a show of pouting as he sat before his unfinished snack and Sonja moved to the seat opposite his. A dreamy look crossed her face, as if she were a little girl who had just gotten a kiss from her favorite screen heartthrob. She sighed with awareness of how smitten she looked, and her gaze met Takeshi's. "I want her. I want her bad." She picked a piece of crust from his plate and bit it in half. "I believe it. Any idea when she'll call?" Sonja shook her head. "I don't care when, as long as it's tomorrow night."

Takeshi rolled his eyes and finished his last bite of pie. "Everything from dinner's in the dishwasher already. I think I'll call it a night. We'll probably be out for 3 or 4 hours tomorrow." He placed his dessert plate in the dishwasher, and he and Sonja walked to the patio door with their arms around each other's waists. As they neared the door Sonja asked, "What time do you want to go shopping tomorrow?" Takeshi thought for a moment. "We’re gonna sleep in for a, so...how's one?" Sonja nodded. "Perfect." They hugged and said goodnight as Takeshi stepped out the door onto the patio. As he headed back to his house, the motion-activated backyard lights illuminated the grass. As he stepped into his house, Sonja drew the curtains and went to the dishwasher to turn it on.

When Sonja got to the door of her bedroom, she immediately recognized her baby's snoring. She changed into pajamas as quietly as possible, and slid between the covers to curl up around Rachel. The warmth of the bed and her little girl's body against her own made it easy for Sonja to doze off, despite thoughts of dining out and a movie and a cute personal trainer dancing in her head.

Saturday, 8th December, 2074.

As soon as Rachel realized she was awake, she felt her mother's body heat on her back. She opened her eyes and rolled over, the movement just enough to rouse Sonja from a good night's rest. Sonja smiled and kissed her daughter's lips, and they resettled their heads on the pillow with their foreheads resting against each other.

"How was your date?" Sonja let out a yawn worthy of the laziest housecat, and replied, "A blast and three-quarters. Did you have fun last night?" Rachel outdid her mother's yawn. "Yeah. All the Saturnalia decorations are finished. We're gonna get your presents tomorrow. Is she nice?" Sonja smiled. "Of course, or I wouldn't have gone out with her again. She's so cuuuuute...and sweet...and...well, anyway. You'd like her." Rachel furrowed as much brow as she had to furrow, making a show of squinting suspiciously. "Someone likes her." Sonja laughed out loud. "Bite me, kid."

"Okay." Rachel meant to play vampire and pretend she was biting a la Bela Lugosi, but all Sonja felt was a soft kiss. A soft kiss directly on the 'sweet spot' very few partners had ever been able to find. She moaned and shuddered, curling up around her daughter and barely stifling a gasp as she felt herself moisten. Rachel looked up into her eyes. "Hm?"

An experienced lover might not have known what Sonja's sweet spot could do, and Sonja giggled at the irony. Her last two girlfriends hadn't even been able to find it most of the time, while her little girl had stumbled across it. Even the kiss had been perfect - gentle, dry, playful. "You haven’t any idea what a sweet spot is, do you?" Rachel shook her head as much as possible with it resting on a pillow. "I don't think everybody's got one. But a kiss on the right part of the neck... It just...I don't know what it does. It just feels really good. Sometimes in a sexual sense. I bet you've got one. Want me to find it?" Rachel arched one eyebrow. "Riiiiiight. Okay."

Sonja tilted her face forward and nibbled her way along the side of Rachel's neck, starting just below her right ear and moving down until Rachel reacted as if she was being tickled. Immediately Sonja stopped at that point and changed the light nibbling into slightly firmer kissing. The effect was unmistakable - Rachel tilted her head toward her mother's kiss, even though it meant lifting her head from the pillow. "Mmmm."

"You feel something?" Rachel put one hand to the place that had just surprised her with its tenderness. "Yeah. But I felt it all over. That's neat. Do it again?" Sonja smiled and took directly to the same spot, treating it exactly as she would want her own treated. Rachel didn't know erogenous reflexology, but she knew what she liked. She held onto her mother's shoulders and gradually turned onto her back, inviting Sonja to hover above her daughter and continue pleasuring her sweet spot. Rachel almost involuntarily hugged her thighs together as she felt the tickling in her neck trigger a pleasant warmth in her privates.

She moved one tiny wrist to press against the thin cotton covering her vulva, and decided she needed to play with herself and see what would happen. As she gently pushed Sonja onto her back to snuggle against her from above, she found herself straddling a thigh that perfectly separated her legs and pressed into her sex. She had thought of putting her hand in her PJs, but this was even better. All her weight was on the soft padding of her outer lips, and they sandwiched everything else together. Sonja held Rachel's bottom and gently elevated her thigh against her pelvis, aware that their current position was probably having just the effect on her daughter that it was. "How does this feel?" Distracted by the warmth and pressure between her legs, Rachel took a moment to reply. When she finally did, her response was merely to nod and start rubbing against her mother.

Sonja knew how reliable a form of stimulation this was, especially for a little girl whose outer labia were likely to be just the right thickness to make it work flawlessly. "Are our PJs in the way, baby?" Rachel simply pulled her pajama bottoms off, and Sonja knew to remove her own as well. As she did, she propped up the pillow and slid back into a sitting position. When Rachel replaced her sex against her mother's skin, she was in a more comfortable upright position and could easily rest her head on Sonja's shoulder. She found her thrusting rhythm quickly, and Sonja had only to keep her comfortable. She pulled the blanket up to Rachel's lower back to keep her bottom warm, and held onto her hips as they bounced up and down in her lap.

Rachel felt herself getting moist as she rubbed herself against her mommy's thigh, and the lubrication began seeping between her lips. The effect built upon itself. The more aroused she was the more she lubricated, and the more she lubricated the more exposed and sensitive she became. She wrapped her arms around her Sonja's shoulders and held on, freely sliding her privates along the warm softness that supported her.

Sonja remembered the first time she had pleasured herself by rubbing against a pillow. By the time she had thought of it she was already a reasonably experienced masturbator, but the simplicity and reliability of simply humping something soft had been a welcome surprise. Rachel had probably only been masturbating for a few weeks, and here she was already enjoying a technique she would be able to trust for decades to come. The sex life ahead of her would be a wondrous one.

If someone had walked up to Rachel in that moment and offered her the ability to fly, she would have screamed at them for interrupting her pleasure. Her clitoris didn't tickle or simply squish around. It pulsed, wet and swollen, replacing Rachel's universe with the promise and subsequent delivery of instant pleasure whenever she liked. Her excitement felt like hunger - a need she had to satisfy, but one that brought the sweetest of release when obeyed.

For a few minutes she alternated between fiercely hugging her mother with closed and slack lips, and leaning back a little to catch her breath and fondle herself to find that hard spot that was proving so much fun. The soft skin on top of her hard spot surprised her every time she touched it, until she was absolutely still except for one finger between her outer lips slowly sliding up and down. She kept her hand between her legs, and slowly leaned forward to see if she could keep bouncing up and down and still tickle her hard spot.

Rachel lost her place once or twice, until she remembered the crease at the top of her vulva. This led Rachel's fingertip directly to her hooded clit, and after a few minutes of direct stimulation it was too tender to keep tickling. She removed her finger, and found that the pressure on her outer lips was just enough to make her feel good without tickling her hard spot too much. She kept rubbing against her mother with ease, and her privates just got hotter and hotter.

"Mommy..."

"I know, sweetie. Just relax. Keep going as long as you need to." Sonja slid her pajama top over her head and slowly unbuttoned Rachel's, letting her baby feel Mommy's body heat directly against her skin. Rachel appreciated this, but no longer had the composure to say anything at all. She simply needed to keep rubbing back and forth. She loved every bit of flesh between her legs, and held her mother's body as much to satisfy her privates as to express gratitude. Sonja held her baby's soft cheeks in her hands to help her thrust, and Rachel's reaction was delicious - she gritted her tiny teeth and began to hiss as she angled her pelvis to press down on the shaft of her clit. Her forehead wrinkled slightly as she bore down on the sweetest spot in her entire body, and suddenly she started to convulse.

Having felt this before, Rachel knew what was happening but still couldn't grasp the sheer intensity of sensation in her privates. A month before she had thought that chocolate was the best thing in the world. It was nothing compared to this. She had exerted herself, but now pleasure was simply being given to her without any effort at all. Her kitty felt like it was squeezing and exploding at the same time, and her hard spot practically burned with pleasure. It felt so good she could barely stand it, and she didn't have to for long. Her privates turned from hot and pulsing to wet and relaxed in a matter of seconds, and she collapsed against her mother. All she could manage were moans. She could barely catch her breath. But she was sure her mommy would take care of her.

Sonja knew the blissful exhaustion that followed an intense orgasm, and gradually curled Rachel's body into a fetal position on her lap. This kept Rachel's genitals warm and cushioned, and satisfied her instinctive need to curl up around them when they were so sensitive. Sonja pulled the blanket up around her baby's body to keep her warm, and finally Rachel could relax and breathe. "Are you okay?" Rachel nodded against Sonja's breast in reply and caught her breath for a few seconds. "Mmmm...I'm tired again." As Sonja's fingertips parted her little girl's hair and combed it back, Rachel smiled faintly.

"Can I have some milk?" Sonja nodded and put one arm under Rachel's neck and head. Rachel licked her lips and pursed them around the ripe nipple before her, losing herself in its warmth and softness. Sonja released her milk easily, and didn't even think before telling her daughter, "This feels really good."

Rachel looked into her eyes and released her nipple, holding one tiny palm over it. "Like your sweet spot?" Sonja smiled. "Better." Rachel wasn't interested in a drawn out explanation, and simply returned her lips to Sonja's breast. Her tiny lips perfectly tugged the areola, while her tongue teased the very center of the nipple. Sonja's entire breast felt squishy, hot, wet inside. It tickled-throbbed-burned, so sweetly that her entire body curled up around her teat and her baby's face. More than that, it leaked. Every drop made her think of the wetness between her thighs, of the intense orgasms she had enjoyed when she was pregnant with Rachel. She couldn't bring herself to masturbate, but she and Rachel both knew what was happening. Unable to find any words, Sonja simply stroked her daughter's hair and let her excitement escape as half-whimpered moans.

Rachel's privates were quite satisfied, and her contentment with being nursed was only aided by the fact that she was getting to see what arousal was like for her mother. She wondered what it would be like to see her mommy have an orgasm.