Rule Four of the Lease Said No Overnight Guests novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: The Fern

On Sunday Mina waters the landing fern in front of Lena, then ends up on her knees in Lena's kitchen; Lena says the rent has nothing to do with this and Hannah's photo is on the fridge.

Sunday morning at nine, I stood on the second floor landing with a green plastic watering can.

The fern sat on a wooden stand by the window, huge and glossy, with fronds as long as my arm.

Lena stood at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed and watched me.

I poured the water slowly, in a circle.

"Not so much," she said. "It was Hannah's."

I stopped pouring.

"Who is Hannah?"

Lena's face closed.

She did not answer.

Her eyes went to the fern and stayed there.

I understood there was a lot behind it that I would not be handed on a landing.

"I'll be careful with it."

"Good."

She came up the stairs, took the can out of my hand, and set it on the floor.

"Rule Five is done. Come downstairs."

"Is that a rule?"

"It's a request."

I followed her down to her door and into her apartment.

It was exactly as tidy as its owner.

The kitchen had a wooden table, two chairs, a row of hand-planed shelves, and a coffee pot already steaming.

Every surface was clean, and every tool in the open drawers lay in a straight line.

She poured two cups and put one in front of me.

She leaned against the far counter with her own.

I did not touch mine.

"Last night," I said.

"Yes."

"You didn't let me touch you."

"No."

"Why?"

She looked at the window over the sink, and she took a long moment.

"Because I haven't been touched in two years," Lena said. "And I wasn't sure what I would do."

My throat tightened.

I put my cup down and stood up.

"Then do whatever you want," I said. "I'm not going to break."

"Mina."

"And I'm not paying you for this, and you're not charging me. The rent is the rent."

Something flickered in her eyes.

"The rent is the rent," she agreed, low.

"It's due on the first, at my door, before nine. It has nothing to do with this."

"Good. Then this is just me."

I crossed the kitchen and stopped in front of her.

She set her cup down on the counter without taking her eyes off my face.

I put my hands on the buttons of her flannel shirt, and she let me.

I opened the top button and then the next.

Under the shirt there was a plain grey undershirt and a thin silver chain.

On the chain hung a gold ring.

My fingers stopped.

"Don't," Lena said, very quietly.

"I won't touch it."

"Thank you."

I left the ring where it lay against her breastbone.

I slid my hands down over her flat stomach, to the hard buckle of her belt.

Then I went down on my knees on the kitchen floor.

She sucked in a breath above me.

"Mina, you don't have to."

"I know." I looked up at her. "Tell me what you want."

She stared down at me with her lips parted, and for a moment I thought she would say no.

"Take my belt off," she said, hoarse.

I did.

I unbuckled it and unbuttoned her jeans, and I slid the zipper down.

"Take them down."

I pushed the jeans over her hips, along with her plain grey briefs.

She kicked her boots off, one and then the other.

She stood there in the daylight with her shirt open and her jeans around her knees, lean and pale and shaking.

Her pussy was neat and pink and already wet, and the smell of her went straight to my head.

"Hands on the counter behind you," I said.

She put them there, gripping the edge.

"That's good, Lena. Now open for me."

She spread her feet as far as the jeans allowed, and I put my mouth on her.

She cried out, sharp and startled.

I licked her slow and flat from bottom to top.

She tasted of salt and warmth, and her thighs shook against my cheeks.

I found her clit with the point of my tongue and drew a small tight circle around it.

"Oh, God."

"You taste so good."

"Mina, I can't."

"You can."

I sealed my lips around her clit and sucked gently.

Lena made a sound I will hear for the rest of my life.

Her hand left the counter and came down into my hair and tightened there, not pulling me away, just holding on.

"Don't stop," she said. "Please don't stop."

"I won't."

I pushed two fingers into her, slow and deep, and her inner muscles clenched on me.

She was so tight and so hot.

She rocked her hips against my mouth in a small broken rhythm.

I curled my fingers up while my tongue flicked fast over her clit, and the whole length of her body went rigid.

"I'm going to, I'm going to."

"Come for me, Lena."

She came with a long ragged cry.

Her pussy pulsed around my fingers, and her thighs locked, and her fingers pulled my hair hard enough to sting.

I kept my mouth on her and rode it out, lapping gently while she shuddered.

She folded forward over me and whispered my name.

When I finally pulled away, her face was wet.

She was crying, silently, with her eyes closed, and the ring on its chain swung against her chest.

I stood up and put my arms around her waist.

She stood stiff for one breath, and then she put her face in my neck and held on.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be."

"It was a long time."

"I know. I'm right here."

We stood in her tidy kitchen, her jeans around her knees and my knees aching.

Neither of us said anything for a long time.

At last she lifted her head and wiped her face with the back of her wrist.

She did not let go of me when she turned her head toward the refrigerator.

A photograph hung there under a magnet, held a little crooked.

It showed a dark-haired woman in a yellow raincoat, laughing with her eyes shut.

She held a watering can in one hand.

"That's Hannah," Lena said. "My wife."

"She's beautiful."

"She died two years ago in this kitchen." Her arm tightened around my back. "She would have liked you."

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend