The bar buzzed with that particular strain of artificial energy office parties always carried—laughter just a little too loud, posture just a little too casual, everyone pretending, aware of who was watching them. She sipped her drink, a gin and tonic, well made, but more prop than pleasure. Her smile was perfect, angled just enough to seem easygoing, her posture was open, turned toward the group of men nearby. She wasn’t...

Outside, the city had quieted. The music from the bar faded behind us, replaced by the low hum of traffic, the clink of silverware from a closing patio, and the rhythm of our footsteps. Her fingers stayed laced with mine. Our arms swung a little now, the tension replaced by something almost buoyant. We didn’t need to talk about what we were doing. We both knew. And somehow, that made it easier to laugh. “I can’t believe w...

(From the end of Part IIa) The soft light played over her skin, casting shadows in delicate creases and glinting where her wetness caught the light. Everything about her pulled me in—the flush that once rose up her chest but now painted all the way here, the way her thighs shifted slightly instinctively posing herself. The softly curving valley created by her swollen outer lips. The slightly wrinkled curtain of her inner...