Bloom

"Are you sure," he replied, eyes staring deeply into hers.

"I've never felt surer. I love you so much."

"I love you too," he replied, his voice a breathy whisper.

They kissed again and Annabelle felt she'd be happy for Felix to ravish her here and now, in the kitchen, on the kitchen bench maybe, or against the wall, she wanted him inside her badly, wanting to join their bodies and souls.

Felix had other ideas, leading her by the hand to his bedroom, where he kissed her again, and she tugged at his belt, unbuckling it while his lips met her neck skin, her body responding with a delicious quiver, and she felt she might cum without him even touching her clit or through penetration.

Annabelle was like fire and she pulled at his jeans, where he helped her, kicking off his shoes and socks, then he pulled at her top, lifting it, his lips finding her shoulder, hands on skin, to her back, fingering her bra-clasp, removing it, and she unbuttoned his shirt, which he pulled off and discarded.

"Annabelle," he whispered, and hearing her name whispered softly was enough to make her tingle all over, his breath warm on her ear, then his lips too, gently caressing, nuzzling, and she threw her head back, letting him kiss down her neck, feeling his hand on her breast, squeezing.

"Felix, my love," she whispered back, her lips searching for his, via his cheek, jawline, his neck, chin, before finding his mouth, tongues playing together, gently and rough, her fingers among the curly hair on his chest, feeling his muscles before kissing them too.

"I love you," he whispered, his hand deliciously squeezing her breast, not too hard, not too soft, "I really do."

"I love you so much," she said, her heart thumping, her pussy twinging, wetness growing. "Please make love to me, I want you inside me, now."

They manoeuvred to the bed, where he gave her a smile and she kicked her shoes and socks off and lay back, and Felix removed her long, loose pants, kissing his lips down her as she went, his lips on her stomach, and he removed her underpants too, kissing her mound, skirting her wetness, kissing her thigh, and she closed her eyes, waiting for him to kiss her cunt, but he didn't, and she took a deep breath and bit the side of her bottom lip, waiting for him to give himself to her.

Discarding his own underwear, Felix was naked now, climbing onto the bed on hands and knees, and Annabelle looked to him, seeing him approach, looking him over, glimpsing his cock, hard and strong and ready, and she was ready, her pussy twinging, and she smiled and so did he, her eyes on his, and reaching out, she caressed his arm, beckoning him, inviting him, wanting him, desiring him, and he desired her, she knew it, his eyes and smile told her so, and she loved him, her head and heart telling her, plus the butterflies in her stomach, any doubt thrown away long before, like caution to the wind.

He moved over her, his lips on her nipples, breast skin, chest, necks, lips, his eyes close to hers, she gazed into him, wrapping her arms around him, and she felt him, his body, his cock head at her entrance, his waist between her legs, which she brought up to clasp him in place, and he smiled, whispering, "I love you," and she said it too, watching his eyes grow with love and sex, feeling him pushing into her, nice and firm, spreading her, stretching her, touching her, pleasuring her, hearing her own involuntary gasp, his hands in her hair, her arms wrapped around him, pulling him against her, feeling him bottom out within her, feeling his weight and warmth against her, feeling the love as they joined, feeling their hearts and soul become one.

Reaching her face to his, she kissed him, and he kissed back, hard, tongues and lips and saliva and love, and he was moving too, where she felt his hard cock inside her, touching her deeply, their bodies connected with wonderful loving intimacy. She moved with him, surrounding him, feeling him, enjoying him, loving him, their movements slowly increasing, becoming faster and harder.

"I love you," he whispered again, and she kissed him hard, their hands finding each other, fingers interlaced above her head on his pillow, and they squeezed their fingers, and she closed her eyes, feeling him kiss her jaw and neck, her shoulder too, sucking her skin, their bodies moving as one, sweat slippery on their skin, their scents combining and permeating through his bedroom.

They were going hard now, where he was touching her so very intimately with each thrust, his cock hitting the most wonderfully delicious part of her, and Annabelle let herself go, giving into her impulse to moan, hearing herself, letting her voice grow louder, and Felix was grunting too, and this excited her more, and she moved harder with him, tightening her legs against his skin, and the feelings were building, growing from a tingle to a supernova, her body on fire, feeling him, his weight, his breath, his kisses, his cock, him a part of her, and she felt the euphoria right here and now and forever, falling, leaping into the best abyss, exploding through her entire being, his love throbbing into her as wave after wave of love and pleasure surged and pulsed, out of this world, this was bliss.

~0~

Carefully untying the twine and unwrapping the layer of brown paper, followed by tissue paper, Annabelle stood at the head of the table, revealing her painting.

"Wow," Louise said, her hand over her mouth, "It's like a photograph."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Isobel gushed, "You're one gifted artist."

Candice leant forward in her chair, examining the print. "Coffea arabica. Wow, this is incredible, Annabelle. I've never even thought about coffee plants, let alone seen one, and here you bring one to life on canvas."

"Thanks." Annabelle beamed at her friends. "To be honest I'd not seen one before either, but found a supplier and ordered one in as my model. I call her Arabella and she's siting in my shop window if you'd like to meet her. Unfortunately she isn't fruiting so I looked up the fruits on the internet to get them right."

"I thought coffee beans would look like a bean pod," Isobel chuckled, "Not a red berry."

Candice laughed too and Louise smiled at Annabelle. "Look at you, there's little in this world able to wipe the smile from your face."

Annabelle couldn't help it, accepting her friend's praise while thinking of Felix, the man she loved with her heart and soul, where she'd spent weeks painstakingly painting the coffee plant for him, imagining his reaction when he first saw it, knowing he was going to love it, looking forward to the time of giving when she saw him the next day.

She looked at her creation again, pleased with the contrast between vibrant red fruits and glossy green leaves and the detail she'd brought out in the image, but also admiring the blackwood frame, quality workmanship from her framer. And again she thought of Felix.

Isobel sat back in her chair and said, "This would be worth a fortune if you were to sell it in your shop or at the market."

"It's a one off," Annabelle said. "I might do another for prints, but make it different, because I wanted this one to be unique."

"I think Felix should pay you," Candice smirked. "This one looks to be worth at least a thousand...orgasms. Make it two-thousand orgasms."

"It's worth way more," Louise chuckled, "Double it!"

"And ask him to make them multiple orgasms," Isobel laughed.

Annabelle sniggered. "So is that two-thousand multiple orgasms, or four-thousand, or is it eight-thousand normal orgasms?"

"Hmm," Isobel hummed, tapping her chin, "Depends if you have two or three orgasms in a multiple. Why not round it up to ten-thousand?"

"A life time's supply," Louise said with a smirk. "Annabelle and Felix, sitting in a coffee tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Candice and Isobel joined Louise in the school-yard song. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby sitting in a carriage!"

They all laughed, including Annabelle, who said, "I'm not getting married anytime soon, and as for babies, been there, done that, I'm forty and out of the baby making business. Anyhow, where are those drinks you promised us, Lulu?"

"Still practicing though," Candice said, smirking. "And from what I hear, you're pretty good at it."

Isobel grinned too. "Like the old saying says, practice makes perfect, and when you get it right it's satisfying as fuck."

Everyone laughed and with a glint in her eye, Louise stood, looked to Annabelle who began re-wrapping the painting while shaking her head with a smile. "I know several women who gave birth to children after forty. At least one thought she didn't need to take birth control anymore and ended up with a surprise bundle of joy, so never say never, especially with all the practice baby making you and Felix are getting."

"You're hilarious," Annabelle said, scrunching her face with open mouthed sarcastic contempt, retying the twine, "But I still take the pill, so I doubt it very much."

Louise gave her a grin, walking to the kitchen fridge, while Candice said, "Never know, these things aren't infallible. You might get lucky."

"It'll be you, soon, Isobel," Louise laughed, selecting a bottle of bubbly from her well-stocked fridge. "All the satisfying as fuck practice you and your cub, Finn, are getting."

"Cub!" Isobel laughed. "He's not a cub anymore. I've told you all, he only five years younger than me."

Candice shook her head and chuckled. "Isn't he still living with his parents, Izzy?"

"He's looking for somewhere closer to his uni and work." Isobel's response was quick, borderline defensive, and after a moment she said, "It's difficult in these Covid times and rent's atrocious."

"Not to mention landlords," Candice said, now helping Louise in the kitchen, placing the wine flutes on the bench and giving Louise an affectionate nudge with her elbow.

"Hey," Louise said, protesting, "There's benefits to dealing directly with your landlord. But only if you're nice to me."

Candice and Louise made eyes at each other, smiling before sharing a gentle kiss.

"Get a room," Annabelle said, chuckling.

Candice turned to Annabelle. "I take it back, landlords are cool now. Not like real estate agents, eh, Belle?"

"Oohh, thems fighting words," Isobel said.

Annabelle shook her head. "I set you two up, so cut me some slack."

"You totally didn't intend to set us up," Louise said, smiling at Annabelle. "Our getting together was the natural consequence of Candice moving in."

"Maybe I should've warned Candice of your predatory nature. And if it wasn't for the arseholes back at Top Notch, you'd probably not have met."

"So we should go and thank them," Candice said, grinning. "Maybe I'll buy them a big bouquet of flowers."

"I wonder where you'd get one of those," Isobel said, tapping her chin with a thoughtful look on her face, breaking into a grin.

Annabelle shook her head. "No, no, never thank those idiots. Speaking of which, I have a bit of a story about Top Notch and a big bouquet of flowers."

"A story?" Louise asked, popping the cork.

Annabelle nodded and laughed. "Top Notch gossip. Very weirdly, my old boss there, Reece, turned up at my shop yesterday arvo, right before closing. It was weird because I was looking at him standing in the entrance, where he appeared confused, and he wasn't wearing a mask so I asked him to put one on. He recognised me and asked me what I was doing there!"

Louise stopped pouring the champagne and looked at Annabelle. "Really?"

"Yes, really. When I told him I owned the place he said, this is awkward, isn't it?"

"Awwwkwaaaard," Isobel said, drawing out the word with great exaggeration.

"Totally awkward," Annabelle laughed. "Anyway, he appeared nervous where he's normally super self-assured and cocky, and so I asked him if I could help him, and he told me he wanted a bouquet, like a big one, bigger than any I've premade. I told him I could make one but it would cost anywhere between one-sixty to two-hundred, and he says, money is no issue."

"Who actually says that," Candice asked rhetorically, taking two glasses, heading to the table. "Is he the guy you said was sleeping with the receptionist?"

Annabelle nodded. "Yeah, him, but get this, I asked him if the flowers were for someone special, thinking they'd be for the receptionist, Olivia, but no, he says, of course they're for Zara! She's his wife and he sounded a bit distressed when he spoke."

"Flowers for the wife, who'd've thunk it," Louise said, smirking, picking up the other two glasses. "I bet he took them straight to the receptionist."

Shaking her head, Annabelle continued. "So I'm making up this massive bouquet of lilies and there were a few orchids in there too, since price was no issue, and I'm thinking why am I making such an effort, but hey, I'm a professional, right? The slimy bastard's right in front of me making me uncomfortable, and I looked up and he looks genuinely upset and tells me he's in deep shit because Olivia, the receptionist, made an allegation against him. Bizarrely, he says, I guess her allegation's true because I kissed her."

"Of course he did," Isobel said, making a face. "The guilty always want someone to know their sins."

"Exactly what I thought," Annabelle said. "The idiot goes on to excuse his actions, saying he thought Olivia wanted him because she smiles at him, occasionally smokes with him, and get this, she wears short skirts and revealing tight tops for him, apparently! In truth she wore smart skirts and she has largish breasts she can't exactly hide, but anyway, Reece's permanently in the doghouse with Zara."

"Argghh," Isobel said, "I know the type, thinks you only smile or show flesh for their personal enjoyment!"

"Yeah," Candice said, grinning, "Your smile and flesh and what you wear is for the man and not because you're happy and not because you like wearing comfortable clothing."

Louise laughed. "Unless your smile and dress is for the woman."

Candice and Louise were making eyes again, glasses on the table, Annabelle wanting to get to the point. She continued, "So I've made the most expensive bouquet ever and he buys my orchid card too, and he pays without question and even gushes about my artwork, and he tells me floristry suits me more than real estate. I kind of say to him, I've blossomed, then tell him if he needs more flowers he knows where to come. And I kid you not, he looks super sad and says, you think I'm an arsehole, don't you, so why'd you help me?"

"He is a total arsehole," Candice said, "So why did you help him?"

Annabelle smiled at her friend. "Remember, this is the guy who refused my request to negotiate the rent with your previous landlord, telling me it was just business. So I told him, If you think bigger flowers will earn Zara's love and respect, so be it, because what I think won't make a difference. So I've sold them to you because it's just business."

"Ha!" Louise said. "That's awesome, Belle. Throw it right back at him."

"It gets better," Annabelle said, her lips forming a mischievous grin. "Reece was frowning and looking so sad and I remembered the time he told me to lighten up and smile more..."

Isobel's face went from surprise or shock to a big grin. "You totally told him to smile more, didn't you!"

"I might have," Annabelle nodded with a smirk. "Yes, I used his words and told him to lighten up and smile more, right to his face!"

"What a classic!" Candice laughed, slapping her leg. "What'd he do?"

"He looked like he might explode, but he turned and walked out."

"Hopefully with a smile," Louise chuckled, wrapping an arm around Annabelle's shoulders. "Good on you, Belle. Like, it's really great to see you in full bloom."

Annabelle pulled her friend against her, and Candice picked up her glass, grinning. "To blooming friends."

They joined her, "To blooming friends," and Louise added, "Grabbing life by the orchids."

Annabelle laughed, the others smiling, and they sipped their bubbly, pre-drinks for a night out on the town.

~0~

© 2022 Thefireflies, for Literotica

Acknowledgement

A massive thanks to SisterJezabel for beta reading the early draft and making excellent suggestions, including coming up with the perfect title. Check out her stories if you haven't already.