Step Something Ch 05 Loose Ends

Step-Something

5 - Loose Ends

Rose was dressed to kill. Low, square-necked red mini-dress with narrow straps, and a bra with plenty of uplift. Heels that made her little shorter than Ben's own six foot. He found himself staring at her nose every time he tried to glance into her eyes. Her gold-blonde hair curled around her shoulders, a few strands free in the casual disarray that probably took a full afternoon at the hairdresser.

When Ben commented about the hot outfit, she'd said, with a grin, "Yeah, I have a date later."

Yeah, right. As if she hadn't been the one pressuring him to come to this party.

Not that he'd had any objection, either to the party or to Rose bringing him as a date. But it wasn't an engineering function. It was hosted by a local software company for the computer science department. Rose had picked up a couple of tickets from a grad student she knew at the golf club. Probably someone who wanted a date. Hell, likely someone she'd dated, or was dating, or would date. She was hardly Ben's girlfriend. They'd spent a few energetic nights together, but neither had any interest in a relationship.

Which is why it felt a little out of place that she'd insisted on this party, with Rose wearing an expensive party dress with expensive party hair and expensive party heels, and Ben in a suit and tie. He could understand CS undergrads dressing up for a potential major employer, but he'd have been happy in an open-necked shirt. There were plenty of casually-dressed couples and individuals present.

The party was being held at one of the better local hotels. It shared a lavish lakeside complex with one of the divisions of the software company and a high-end hibachi restaurant. The taxi dropped them by the lighted walkway down to a huge koi pond. There was a wooden bridge to the hibachi, with the party registration desk on this side of the pond, then a short walk either through the hotel or around the pond to the conference suite, transformed for the evening into a dance area.

Even though the semester was ending and there were only a couple of weeks before Christmas, the weather was mild, and the doors of the suite were open. Rose held Ben's arm as they walked along the path, which clearly wasn't designed for heels.

"Please tell me my dress isn't riding up," Rose murmured to Ben, as she leaned against him.

He leaned back and stared at her ass for a moment, then said, "Nope, it's fine."

"That's good," she said, "since I'm not wearing anything under it."

Ben stumbled. Then he looked up at his date's eyes... well, her nose, first... to find she was giving him an insolent grin. "Just one thing before we go in," she said.

"What's that?"

"Play hard to get," she said. "Make her work for it."

"Make

who

work for

what

?" Ben asked, confused.

Rose just grinned again and moved on. He was forced to stay beside her or risk them both becoming casualties of women's unsuitable footwear.

~~~~~

The party was fully catered, with drinks and food provided. Rose asked Ben to get her a margarita. He had to take both of their IDs to the bar to get the margarita and a bourbon and water for himself. He asked if she wanted food yet. She shook her head, scanning the room as if looking for someone.

Apparently satisfied, she turned back to Ben and held his arm, possessively, wedging his upper arm against her bra. Ben frowned. It was totally unlike Rose to act the girlfriend at all, let alone the needy type.

As he opened his mouth to ask her what was up, movement nearby caught his eye.

"Excuse me, aren't you Ben?"

He turned at the low, female voice. The young woman was already close enough to be within his personal space. She had long black hair with dark, intense eyes in a tanned complexion. Her dress was black, ankle-length, but parted around the upper thigh of one leg, which ended in a medium-heeled sandal. She must have been close to Rose's height - or to what Rose's height would have been without the extreme heels.

The newcomer's dress's neckline plunged almost to the wide black leather belt at her waist. The gap was wide enough and the front of the dress narrow enough that both the front and side views revealed the perfectly tanned surface of her breasts, which were almost as close to his left arm as Rose's were to his right.

"That's right," Ben said. "And you are?"

"Holly," the woman said.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"Not yet," Holly replied, her sultry tone implying he should want to. She glanced up at Rose with a flicker of hostility, then smiled at Ben. "We have some mutual friends."

She glanced at Rose again for an instant, then back to Ben. "Since your...

friend

... isn't dancing," she said, "I came to ask if you would dance with me." Turning her eyes to Rose again, she added, "You don't mind, do you?" but then looked at Ben, without waiting for her answer.

Rose gave one anyway. In a flat tone, she announced, "I don't mind. I might question his

taste

, but I don't own him."

Releasing his arm, Rose moved a half-step back. The evening's what-the-fuck-ness spiked, and Ben almost felt dizzy as the dark-haired woman took his arm and began to lead him away.

He looked back at Rose, and thought he saw her wink briefly before she began to glower at him with his new dance partner.

Accepting the inevitable, Ben caught up to Holly and led her onto the dance floor, disco colors flashing all around. Not sure what she would be wanting, he offered her a dance hold, and she stepped into his arms, proving to be a very capable partner.

After turning her a few times, he spun her close, and asked, "What was all that back there?"

"I wanted to dance," she said.

"What about Rose?" he asked, then waited for a few more turns before she was close enough to reply.

"I've heard about her," she said. "She clings. I figured if I wasn't aggressive, she'd not give me the chance."

Ben wanted to say, "Rose? She's not like that, at all," but he sensed that there was more taking place here than he yet understood.

The song ended, and Ben started to turn back, but Holly held onto him, turning him back to face her. "One more," she said.

Ben shrugged. "Okay."

He turned back toward Rose, who had her arms folded and was glaring at the two of them. Then he led Holly into the next few steps and ignored what was going on behind him.

After the dance, Holly allowed Ben to leave the dance floor, keeping her hand in his arm. When they returned to where Ben had been standing, his whiskey was where it had been, but there was an empty margarita glass and no Rose.

"Maybe she went to the bathroom?" Ben suggested.

Holly shrugged, clearly not caring.

The next ten minutes were uncomfortable, as Ben and Holly both kept looking around to see if Rose was in sight. They tried to make small talk, but it was uneasy. Finally, Holly said, "I don't think she's coming back."

"I think you're right," agreed Ben.

The young woman studied him for a moment, then smiled. "Then I guess I get to keep you for a while," she said. "Get me a Sprite, then another dance?"

"Just Sprite?" asked Ben. "Nothing stronger?"

Holly gave him a wry look. "I'm underage." A touch of amusement returned to her expression as she added, "For drinking, that is."

"Alright," he said. He picked up a Sprite and another bourbon.

Small talk was easier after dancing again. Holly was a CS major and was at the party as a normal student invitee, though she was evasive about who their mutual friends were.

Rose hadn't returned. Holly clearly had an entirely false understanding of her friendship with Ben, or she wouldn't have made the outrageous claim that she was clingy. Rose was manipulative, but not in the way Holly understood it.

Except that Rose had been

acting

clingy, and she had hinted that there was something going on. "Make her work for it," she'd said. Right after telling him she wasn't wearing underwear, which she must have intended to provoke smutty thoughts, which would then transfer to "her", whoever "she" was.

Ben was pretty sure, now, to whom Rose had been referring. He didn't think she'd be back.

And - damn. She'd even said, "I have a date later." That was probably the literal truth. She knew that she'd be leaving in a huff - except that the huff was a fake.

Ben chuckled to himself. Some other guy was going to be the one to discover that she wasn't wearing anything under the dress. He wished them both well, and wondered if Rose had any hustle planned for the poor guy, or just wanted to get laid. Or even just go out on a pleasant date.

Well, in that dress, probably not the last. Especially without panties.

"Why are you brooding?" asked Holly.

"Just wondering where Rose went off to," Ben said. Might as well keep up the charade.

"Forget her," the girl said. "If she can't even let you go for two dances, you're better off without her."

"She left before eating, too," Ben said. "Did you have dinner, yet?"

~~~~~

They put together a light meal from the open buffet and had another drink before dancing again.

For all of Holly's hostility towards Rose, Ben found her likeable, and was seriously in lust with her dress. The vertical fabric of the top was narrow, forming the wide, deep neckline. From any angle he could see her breasts quivering pleasantly when she was in his arms. How they stayed confined without a bra, he didn't know. If there was a sewn-in support, he didn't see any sign of it, and he kept expecting a boob to spring free when she spun.

He just might have turned her a little faster than normal to see if that would happen.

And when she stepped forward with either foot, the center slit broke around her leg, giving a great view of her long, slender thighs. He still didn't know what had inspired Holly to pursue him, but - gift horse, teeth, whatever.

"Make her work for it."

For whose benefit? His? Holly's? Rose's?

After a few more dances, Holly's face glowed. Smiling, she suggested cooling off with a walk through the grounds, taking Ben's arm and leading him from the dance floor.

The outside air had cooled a little, but it was still pleasant. The hibachi may have closed, or at least taken their last set of diners, because there were very few patrons around the wooden bridge. Holly and Ben crossed, stopping to watch the fish beneath the walkway. The water wasn't completely clear, but he could see the enormous fish, and vaguely discern the rocks beneath them.

On reaching the far side of the pond, Holly loosened her grip on Ben's arm, then slid her fingers down to his hand, twining them with his. Holding hands, they walked around the pond to the path that separated the pond from the larger lake.

The fencing around the lake curved out to an observation area. Reaching it, Holly leaned against the fence, then moved the hand she was holding around her back, passing it off to her other hand, positioning Ben behind her.

He leaned forward and rested against her back, his hands on her waist.

"Nice view," she said.

The far bank of the lake was less than a quarter mile away, but the street lights from the housing development reflected from the smooth water. The sounds of the party were muted here.

"That's not the only nice view," Ben said, leaning over her shoulder.

"Maybe you could see more of that view," Holly suggested.

"Maybe I'd like to," Ben agreed.

He moved his left hand to the girl's upper arm and caressed it with his palm. Then he moved it forward, still stroking her arm, but extending his middle finger into the gap between the top of her dress and her body, letting it run down the side of her breast.

When Holly made no move to stop him, he moved his hand further around, into the gap, and began to squeeze her breast, feeling the silk softness of her beneath his fingers.

The girl's breathing became deeper. She shivered when he slid a finger and thumb further into the top, then gasped as he pinched her nipple.

He could sense her growing excitement as he continued to toy with her breast. She leaned back against his chest, her breath shuddering occasionally.

Maybe it was time to do something about Rose's advice.

He rolled her nipple lightly between finger and thumb. Holly made a sound of pleasure, deep in her throat. Then he turned his face toward her, his lips brushing her ear.

"Why the sudden interest in me?" Ben whispered, making the girl shiver.

"Why shouldn't I be interested?" Holly countered.

"You knew about me before we met," Ben said. "You had already decided to be interested." He pinched harder.

"Really?" Holly griped. "You want to play detective now?"

Ben pinched her nipple again. She gasped and writhed against him. "I know I have movie star looks and a magnetic personality, not to mention being the hottest guy on campus, but I've never had anyone show up out of nowhere, insult my date, then drive her away and replace her. I'd like to know what's going on."

He ran his thumb over the upper side of Holly's breast as she sighed unevenly.

"Last week, I was out with some friends when you were flirting with a couple of women at a sports bar," she said. "You know Chloe?"

Ben nodded, holding her earlobe lightly in his teeth.

"She says she never dated you."

"That's true," Ben murmured in her ear, making her breath catch.

"Man, I saw the way she looked at you. Then someone else said she'd heard you were good in bed. As good as you think you are, maybe. But that girl Rose had her claws in you now, and no one else would have the chance to find out. She said you wouldn't go home with either of the women you were flirting with, and you didn't."

"Hmm," replied Ben. He remembered them. He'd struck out with them, but telling her that would spoil her story.

"So I figured maybe I could do us both a favor. And I wanted to know what could fascinate Chloe and at the same time turn her face such an interesting shade of white."

Ben laughed, then tweaked her nipple again. The quivering of her breast beneath his palm made his cock tingle. "You'll have to ask her that," he said.

"I did," replied Holly. "She isn't talking."

Holly seemed disappointed when he released her. Then he ran his hand down her bare waist and over her hips. Moving his fingers against her thigh he pulled her dress to the side, exposing its central slit.

He worked his fingers into the gap. Her breath caught as his fingertips slid to the top of her thigh. Still leaning forward against her shoulder, he could sense when her eyes widened as his touch moved over the front of her underwear and began to stroke.

Her panties were narrow and smooth. They felt like they hugged her skin, with no seams or lace. They were soft enough for him to feel the cleanly shaven contours beneath, and he stroked the lips of her sex. As he did, her breathing became heavy, and soon her panties were slick to the touch.

Ben lowered his lips to the base of her neck. The girl's breathing sped up when he kissed it, rubbing his tongue against her skin.

He lifted his fingers slightly, to feel the nub of her clit between his index and middle finger. Then he stroked firmly.

Holly began to pant. She reached behind her to find Ben's hips, then held his body to hers as she began to rock against his fingers, her ass grinding into the front of his pants.

The girl's breathing became more excited, with a quick, voiced, "uh!" at the beginning of each exhalation. Ben continued to stroke, and she squirmed as he leaned against her back.

He stopped moving his fingers. Holly groaned and tried to push herself against them.

Ben ran his tongue from her neck to her earlobe, then whispered directly into her ear.

"Who told you that Rose was a possessive tyrant?" he asked.

"Dammit, Ben," Holly said, hoarsely. "Another girl. She's a friend of Chloe's. She knows you, but I don't know her. She told me I'd never tempt you away from your girlfriend."

Ben drew his finger over the line of Holly's clit. She made a strangled sound. "What's this person's name?" he asked.

"Stephanie?" Holly said. "No, that's not right. Sofia? Sophie?" She nodded, sharply. "That was it, I think. Sophie."

Ben grinned, though Holly probably couldn't see. The other shoe had dropped. He'd been pretty sure that was the case, but he'd wanted to be certain.

Moving his fingers higher, he slipped them into her panties, then lowered them to find her clit. Sliding his fingers against it he began to caress it lightly. Holly gasped, then began to thrust her hips rapidly against Ben's fingers.

Lightly he pinched her clit between his first two fingers. Holly moaned. Quickly Ben slipped his right hand inside the gap of her dress and squeezed her breast firmly.

Holly's body tensed against him, and she grasped the fence as she panted, bucking her hips against Ben's touch. She was racing towards release when he lifted his fingers from her sex, moving them to the side and sliding the waistband of her panties over her left hip. She groaned at the loss of contact.

"Take them off," he ordered.

Giving him an annoyed look, the dark-haired girl seemed to be about to protest, but then tightened her lips and lifted her dress, to move both sides of her panties down, sliding them down her thighs until they fell to her footwear. Ben stooped quickly, holding them as she stepped out of them, then stuffed them in his pocket.

Then he moved his left hand back to her sex, pushing a finger inside her as he gripped her pussy and began to rock his wrist.

Holly moaned and bucked against his hands, while trying not to move her upper body, supporting herself with her hands on the fence.

Ben's right hand cupped her breast again, her nipple wedged between his thumb and the knuckle of his index finger. He squeezed, pinching her erect nipple. Holly's body twitched against him, then continued to move vigorously against his fingers.

Her jaw clenched and her breath caught. She seemed to be holding her breath against the sound she made. "Nng! Nng! Nnng!"

And then the dam burst. Holly panted rapidly, her movements convulsive. Ben found his fingers in her sex supporting some of her weight as her arms gave way. He squeezed her against his body to hold her in place as she quivered for several seconds.

Gradually her strength returned, and she held herself up again, her breathing slowing, though with a slight sobbing catch.

Ben's left hand was damp as he eased his finger out of her. He released her breast, letting her stand unsupported.

Holly turned to face him, tugging the front of her dress over her breasts. Her breathing was close to normal, though her voice shook a little as she spoke, glancing down at her top. "Damn, I can't go back inside now."

"Why not?" asked Ben.

"You've broken the glue. I can't stay in this dress without holding it closed."

"Your boobs were glued in?" Ben asked.

"How do you think they stayed in place?" she griped. "I need to either get to the bathroom and stick myself back together, or get home."

"My place?" Ben asked, with a grin.

"Duh," she replied, returning the grin. "Obviously."

"I'll call a cab."

~~~~~

Ben kept his hand on Holly's thigh during the trip home, inside the slit of her dress, high enough to be a constant reminder to her that her panties were in his pocket. The young woman's eyes were bright. Sophie must have pulled off an epic sales job.

Most of the apartment balconies were decorated for Christmas. As a ground floor apartment, his had a small patio rather than a balcony, and he had twinkling colored light strings running from the balcony of his upstairs neighbor to a pair of small trees just beyond the stonework.

Holding the girl's hand, Ben led Holly around the building, into the more attractive patio entrance. The living room drapes were open, and the room glowed in the changing colors of the outdoor lights. Ben didn't turn on the room lights. Instead, he tossed his jacket onto a chair, then, firmly gripping Holly's waist, maneuvered her into the corner beside the door. Pressing himself to her, he forced her against the wall, even as she craned her neck to meet his lips with her own.