Scarlet's Toothbrush

Marla woke me with a hand on my shoulder.

“Hon, you want to let me out?” Uh huh.

She is fully dressed and made up for work. She asks me to hang on to her heavy coat, as the cold of last night has given way to a warm morning. “I missed cuddling with you last night,” she says. She kisses me, rubbing her hands on my nude body. I play with her hair. I show her to the door.

Scarlet can make any pillow look beautiful.

I want to move her to the bed now vacated by Marla, as it is much more comfortable. “Shhhhh. Scarlet? No questions. Don’t wake up. Come with me.”

I take her hand and she follows, her eyes slits. I put her into bed, and cover her body. I look at her face, her eyelashes. I get into bed beside her and hold her close.

I wake up around nine. I kiss Scarlet’s cheek and get up, closing the door to the room.

I set to cleaning from the night before. Normally, this is a simple task, but it was a messy night. Towels are heaped in one corner of the bathroom. Glasses fill the kitchen counter, and most surfaces. The dinner dishes sit in the sink. Condoms are strewn about.

I cleaned for a while, then caught up on some work emails. I planned to finish this up, do more dishes, get a shower and then wake Scarlet, allowing time for some sex before she had to leave.

As I did the dishes, a wine rack toppled, sending a glass to the floor with a loud crash. I got the broom and heard the shuffle of inquisitive feet.

“You okay?” Scarlet was naked in the doorway, still groggy. I sent her back to bed, warning her to be careful where she walked. I swept up, then went to check on the girl.

I got into bed next to her. “Sorry to wake you,” I said. “Did you sleep okay?” She doesn’t care for the city noises, and they kept her up late. I caressed her face.

I ask what she thought of the previous night. She tells me about fucking Todd. She thought he was very cute, and, she added, “he’s got a very big dick, you know.” She said it got her off, and she tries to distinguish the difference she felt between the orgasm she felt getting fucked by a big dick, and the one she felt with I went down on her.

“Hey!” she says, pointing at me. “You didn’t fuck me last night.”

I put on a condom and a dab of lube. I am in her, fucking her deep and slow. She tilts her head back, and I take her neck.

I pull up, and push her legs back. I fuck her harder, until her legs are shaking. Then again, slow and close.

I pull back, and massage her clit with my thumb as I fuck her. She twists and breathes heavily. I play with that sweet pearl clit of hers, fucking her, watching my cock slide in and out of her . . .

I can’t help but take that pearl in my mouth. She cums fast, deeply.

I wrap my body around her. I catch a glimpse of the clock as we talk. Our time together is ticking away.

I don’t want her to go. I want to remember her sleeping, resting as she is now, content. Blissed.

I want her mouth on me. But I like her contentedness. Her slow breathing. Her arms around me. I don’t want to disturb that. I don’t want her to move.

My head was on her shoulders. Looking up, I could see her mouth—that mouth—very close, blurry. I could see her breast, not the closest one, but the other. I could see her hand on her hip.

I melted into her arm. I put my hand to her cheek. And as she watched, I jerked off, my eyes fixed to her lips.

I got her to the train on time. We kissed, long and sweet, very public. She laughed about her “permagrin.”

As I left her, I thought: that ends my sex life. I’m spending Christmas with Lucy and her family. No more tenderness for a spell.

I went to pick up the kids from school.

After we got home, I saw that Scarlet had left her toothbrush in my bathroom.