Chapter 2 - The Bigger Plan

CHAPTER 2: THE BIGGER PLAN

Lunga crossed the red duvet one careful step at a time. At his size, Pearl’s breathing changed the terrain beneath him. Her body was warm under his palms; her laughter came from somewhere above like distant thunder. Every instinct told him to be embarrassed by how much he wanted this. The other instinct, the truer one, kept moving.

Pearl watched him with an attention that felt more dangerous than being laughed at. “Talk to me,” she said.

“I am trying not to look frightened.”

“You are frightened.”

“Yes.” He reached the curve of her hip and looked up. “I am also exactly where I want to be.”

That softened her for a second. Then her fingers lifted him and placed him between her breasts. The soft heat closed around him as she brought them together, not tight enough to hurt, just enough to make the room disappear. Lunga’s breath caught. His small body rubbed against her and he made a sound he had never heard from himself.

“Too much?” she asked.

He found enough air to say, “Not nearly.”

Pearl eased the pressure and let him climb down her stomach, her eyes following every movement. When he reached between her thighs, she gave him time. He touched her first with both hands, then with his mouth, learning the scale of her by feel and by the way her hips shifted beneath him. Her hand stayed near, never taking over, until he stopped and looked up at her.

“I need help,” he admitted.

Pearl smiled like he had finally said the right thing. “That is not a failure, sthandwa sam.”