If a person were asked to describe Thunderlane at this exact moment in his life, there could only be one possible word: Downbeat. His life wasn't in shambles or anything like that, no lost job or anything dramatic, but, the guy had a been doing the same thing day-in and day-out for what had seemed like his whole life. It was the same story every year, he'd keep on working in the weather station on the outskirts of town, and when recruitments started, he'd apply. And every time, the return message would be the same. It was a routine he'd become all-too familiar with, and he was sick to death of it.
Repeated failure to achieve what you want in life would get anyone down, and as such that was why he was here. Wearing his usual black ensemble of jacket and trousers, Thunderlane came here, his usual bar, after work just to make the hours go by. It wasn't the most popular hang-out spot, as the rather small number of customers could testify, but it was familiar to him, which sufficed. As he nursed his second drink of the evening, he would occasionally hear the unmistakeable sound of giggling from behind. Looking over his shoulder, he would see the same thing he'd seen several times by now. A pair of girls, just a few years shy of his own age. Thunderlane knew these two, Flitter and Cloudchaser, co-workers and fellow applicant hopefuls of his. They were happily chatting with each other, excited at the prospect of being chosen.
Thunderlane would never wish to take away from that, but even so, their cheerful demeanour was not what he needed right now, so he endeavoured to ignore them as best he could. Turning back to his drink, he caught sight of the barkeep, a rather portly fellow by the name of Doughnut Joe. Decent guy, used to run a doughnut shop not too long ago, before healthy eating became the new trendy thing for young people, hence his new job here. The man looked over to Thunderlane and walked over with his usual welcoming smile before he broke the silence.
"Can I get ya another, Thunder?"
Thunderlane shook his head, somewhat irritated by that nickname people kept giving him.
"Nah. I think two will be plenty tonight.”
Joe's expression became one of concern as he heard Thunderlane's rather dour tone.
"Ah. They said "no" again, didn't they?"
Thunderlane said nothing, but nodded in response, giving Joe the very clear message that he did not want to talk about it right now. Never one to pry too much, Joe turned around and went off to prepare more drinks in the back rooms. Thunderlane would have just carried on with his drink then and there, but he was rather rudely interrupted by the very loud sound of the bar's door crashing open. Snapping his head to attention, he caught sight of who was now entering the place, and it was not what he was expected. It was a woman, perhaps a bit older than him and certainly taller, by a few inches at least, looking around the place with a combined look of annoyance and disdain.
She wore an open jacket underneath which Thunder could see she wore a white shirt, and whose collar was adorned with what looked like white fur. Down below she was wearing long trousers which went down to mid-shin-level black leather boots. Aside from the boots, her attire stood in stark contrast to most of the people there, bereft of many of the bright colours that people usually liked to wear, instead opting for a somewhat light-brown look instead. Her hair was a bright white and bore a distinctive swept-forward look, complete with light-purple highlights. Her skin was clearly tanned and to top it all off, those piercing eyes of hers were a bright yellow. "Imposing" was perhaps the best way to describe this woman.
Thunderlane looked on as this new arrival scoured the place, whose customers had also taken to watching her with more than a little fear, until her eyes locked onto him personally. He tensed up a bit as she began to walk forward, closing the door behind her just as loudly as when she came in. The young man prepared himself, but fortunately for him, she was not on any kind of warpath but rather just walked past him, to a vacant seat next to his, right up in front of the bar. Sitting down on it, she leaned on the bar and gave a loud whistle, immediately catching Joe's attention from the back rooms. He poked his head out to see the source of the sound, who then flagged him down.
"I'll take the cheapest you've got.”
Her voice was a little deeper than a lot of other women Thunderlane had known, but it was foremost a direct tone, and got results. Joe took one look at this woman and got to work, rummaging around the selection of beverages on the back wall before picking out something for her. He was getting ready to pour it into a glass before the mystery woman just swiped the can from his hand, which was swiftly followed by her just gulping the whole thing in less than ten seconds. It was a sight, that much Thunderlane knew, and he and Joe just exchanged unsure glances before the latter just carried on with his work in the back. Thunderlane meanwhile kept his eyes on this new arrival, until she'd finished her drink and cast a sideways glance at him, her eyes narrowed somewhat.
"What's the matter, kid? Never seen a Griff before?"
It was as if a light had suddenly gone off in his head. A Griff. He should have known from looking. They were an ethnicity who mostly lived in the region just north of Equestria, though many of them had taken to living and working among Pones like himself. They were marked by their distinctive white hair and larger-than-average height, both of which should have tipped Thunderlane off about this woman the moment he laid eyes on her. But, during his thoughts on this, he failed to notice that he was still staring at her, which had now earned him an angry glare from her. Not wanting to anger her, he turned his attention back to his drink.
"Sorry," he said quietly.
The woman scoffed before looking down at her empty can.
"I've got enough problems without dealing with more idiot Pones today.”
That remark led Thunderlane to take an action that, in hindsight, probably wasn't the smartest. He answered back.
"There's no need for that! We've all got problems."
His words led to the expected result, as the woman turned to face him with an angry look in her face. Under normal circumstances, Thunderlane would have hit himself for having been this foolish, but since this person looked like she'd been doing that herself rather soon, there would be little point. Leaning forward, bringing her face within an inch of Thunderlane's, the woman spoke.
"Listen here, kid. I've had a really bad day. My best friend turns against me all because of her new-found friends in some backwater village down South, and the last thing I need is some guy mouthing off to me!"
Thunderlane looked at her, and the real rage growing in her eyes, and considered his next move carefully. Clearly this woman had gone through some stress and seemed to be going through some personal stuff right now. Any smart person would have just given her a wide berth and left her alone, which hopefully would have just made her go away soon afterwards. Unfortunately for him, Thunderlane was not a smart person, and instead continued to go forward with what he'd been doing.
"Look, lady, I'm sorry if you're having a bad day, but so am I, and you barging in here and acting like you own the place isn't helping me any more than it's helping you!"
As had happened many times in his life, only after the deed had been done did Thunderlane realize just how stupid he'd been in provoking things further. The Griff woman stared at him intently in utter silence, and Thunderlane could feel himself on the verge of sweating in fear. He fully expected to be on the receiving end of a very angry fist in a few seconds. Instead, what happened was the exact opposite of that, as the woman actually cracked a smile. Well, technically it was more of a smirk, but her expression had softened a bit, and she now moved away from his face before speaking out again.
"Always nice to meet a guy with a spine for once.”
Before Thunderlane could react to that, he looked down as the woman offered him her hand for her to shake.
"Name's Gilda.”
Thunderlane looked a bit unsure at all this, but was at least not foolish enough to reject an olive branch when it was offered. So, he took her hand in his and shook it, making a mental note that this Gilda had quite a strong grip.
"Thunderlane.”
Barely a second had passed after that before a voice could be heard from the back rooms.
"We call him Thunder!"
Thunderlane slapped his forehead in frustration over that.
"Damnit Joe!"
In spite of that horrendously embarrassing moment for him, Thunderlane could at least take comfort in the fact that Joe's little outburst had caused a small chuckle in Gilda, which admittedly defused a lot of the tension that he’d had been feeling until that point. In spite of himself, he actually gave a small laugh himself, shortly before getting back to his drink. Gilda meanwhile, kept her eyes on the guy, watching him as he started drinking again. Every once in a while, Thunderlane would cast a glance in her direction, but couldn't quite figure out what was going through her mind. It was as he was getting to the bottom of his glass when she finally spoke again, thought it was not what he'd been expecting.
"So...wanna go to my place?"
As one might expect, this lead to Thunderlane practically chocking on his beverage, to which Gilda observed with an amused look on her face. Thunderlane coughed and spluttered for a bit before finally recovering. After catching his breath, he looked at her, trying to see if there was some hint of a joke in her expression. But there was none. There was still that smirk on her face from before, but apart from that, her expression was an honest one, which led Thunderlane to just stare at her with disbelief.
"You...you're serious? Your place? Just like that?"
The Griff woman nodded silently at that, leading to Thunderlane to continue to fumble his words.
"Um...may I ask why?"
Gilda shrugged her shoulders at that question.
"Guess I'm just in the mood tonight.”
Looking at Thunderlane, and the still taken-aback expression on his face, Gilda raised an eyebrow at that.
"You got a problem with that?"
Thunderlane considered that before answering.
"Well...it's just that...we've only just met. And..."
Looking rather annoyed now, Gilda interrupted him.
"Are you saying you're not interested?"
Thunderlane started flailing his hands about at this, trying desperately to both figure this out and do so while not offending her.
"Well, it's not that...but you see..."
Gilda just gave a small smile before hopping off her chair and standing tall again.
"Great. Glad to hear it. Come on then.”
Thunderlane would have, had he the will, tried to talk things out further with her before going ahead with this, but sadly for him, he felt a sudden tug at the neckline of his jacket as Gilda began to drag him away from the bar. In a moment of quick-thinking, Thunderlane cast some cash on the bar to pay for his drink before Gilda really started pulling at him. Thankfully, Thunderlane was able to stand on his own two feet shortly afterwards, and instead opted to just walk beside her as she led on out of the bar. The night air was cold and Thunderlane closed up his jacket to keep warm. Gilda though, who was a few steps ahead of him, just kept striding forward, with him trying his best to keep up.
They didn't have long to travel though as they arrived at a set of apartment blocks just down the street from the bar. Gilda led him inside and the two took the nearby elevator up a few floors before eventually finding themselves outside Gilda's front door. She took out a key from her jacket pocket and unlocked it, allowing them both inside. It was dark briefly before Gilda turned the lights on, and Thunderlane took a good look around. It wasn't the best of apartments, but it was pretty decent. TV, sofa, dining table, and all the usual stuff you'd expect to find. It wasn't the best-kept place though, as there were more than a few discarded magazines and items of clothing lying around the place.
And speaking of which, Gilda now removed her brown jacket and just threw it onto a nearby hook on the wall. It was here that Thunderlane saw that what he originally thought was a white shirt underneath was in truth just a vest. It allowed him to see that she had rather muscular arms, certainly more than most women he knew. He kept his eyes on her as she walked over to her adjacent kitchen, where she took out a soda from the fridge before silently offering it to him, which he politely refused. Shrugging, Gilda just drank the thing as Thunderlane took off his own jacket and placed it on a hook next to the one Gilda's was hanging from.
After that, Thunderlane noticed a small table near the door, upon which stood an old picture-frame. Looking at it, Thunderlane could tell that it was taken during Gilda's youth, during her early teen years most likely, as she was far younger in the picture. But what caught Thunderlane's eye was the fact that the Gilda in the picture had her arm wrapped around the neck of a younger girl, clad in blue shirt and shorts and possessed of startling rainbow-coloured hair. Both girls were wearing the biggest smiles on their faces, and Thunderlane wondered if this was the "best friend" Gilda had mentioned earlier.
It was here that Gilda finally spoke, catching Thunderlane's attention.
"So, what's a guy like you doing in a low-town bar like that anyhow?"
Thunderlane raised an eyebrow at that.
"Guy like me?"
Gilda nodded.
"Yeah. You don't seem like the drown-his-sorrows type.”
Thunderlane looked away from her, not wanting to make eye-contact.
"It's...not something I want to talk about.”
He heard a chuckle from Gilda at that, leading to him looking at her once more. She'd walked over to her sofa and sat down, placing her soda can on a table in front of it. Reaching down, she unbuckled both of her boots and yanked them off, revealing that she'd been barefoot underneath. Propping her feet on the table, she leaned back onto the back of the sofa, rested her hands behind her head and gave Thunderlane a somewhat expectant look. It was clear to him that she wasn't going to give up until he relented and just told her what was going through his mind. So, sitting down next to her on the sofa, he spoke.
"It's just...you ever hear of the Wonderbolts?"
The Wonderbolts. The greatest aerial acrobatics team in Equestria. Their piloting skills had earned them the respect and admiration of entire generations of children. But joining them was no picnic, and it often took rigorous physical and mental exercises to be considered even eligible for basic training. But even so, to go up there in one of those famous Wonderbolts jets, soaring high above the clouds, looking down on everyone else. It was a dream held by many, Thunderlane included.
However, it was clear that not everyone held the same reverence for them, as Gilda's expression suddenly turned somewhat sour. She turned away from him, picked up her soda again and took a sip before answering him.
"Yeah, I've heard of them.”
Ignoring this rather strange reaction, Thunderlane continued.
"Well, I keep trying to be enlisted, but they keep saying no. I've done this for several; years now, and...well...hearing that many "no's" tends to get a guy down.”
Rather than sounding understanding or sympathetic, Gilda merely scoffed at his words, leading to Thunderlane giving a rather irritated look before she spoke.
"The Wonderbolts. I swear, you Cloudsdale types are obsessed with flying."
Had anyone else criticised his situation like that, Thunderlane would have most likely tried for some retort. However, something Gilda said to him in that caught him off-guard, and led to a rather confused expression on his face.
"Wait...I never told you I was from Cloudsdale.”
Gilda shot him a glance, and looked a little embarrassed at what Thunderlane had just said to her, as if some terrible secret had just been revealed. Putting her drink down, she endeavoured to explain herself.
"Well...I used to live there for a few years when I was a kid. Used to hang out with this girl I met there. She never shut up about the Wonderbolts. "Oh! I'm going to be the best and join them!" she'd say, pretty much every day. No joke but one day I just walked around with cotton balls in my ears so I wouldn't have to hear it.”
Thunderlane looked at her as she gulped down her soda. Bit-by-bit, he was learning more about this woman and the kind of person she was. And so far he'd gathered that there was a lot of bitterness in her life. As such, he decided to try and put a more positive spin on things.
"You know...having dreams isn't all that bad. It gives us something to strive for.”
That remark earned him another scoff from Gilda.
"You sound like a holiday card or something. Personally I'd rather just find another fun girl to hang out with. Most don't stay long though. The last one kept complaining during our date about her little fashion show up in Manehattan. So annoying.”
Thunderlane was just on the cusp of trying to get her to see things in a less negative light than she'd been doing, before stopping when he realised what she'd just said. Gilda turned to look at him as he began fumbling his words a bit. Eventually, he finally managed to get out a semi-coherent sentence.
"Wait...you said "her", right. So...does that mean...you...?"
It took only a moment for Gilda to figure out what Thunderlane had been trying to get out, but rather than be offended or annoyed by the question, her smirk returned as she gave a raised eyebrow along with it.
"If you're asking if I "play for the other team," then yeah, I do".
To say that he was surprised would have been an understatement. He didn’t have anything against women like this, but now that he thought about it, this was probably the first time he'd ever actually met one who swung that way. Whether the women he knew were ones or just didn't like to talk about, he'd never known, nor ever even thought about. But regardless, it did put Gilda's invitation to join her at her place in a somewhat strange light now. Gilda meanwhile had been patiently waiting for him to give a response to this news about her. And he, in his usually bumbling way, gave one.
"Well, that's...good?"
Gilda just shook her head at that and gave a brief chuckle before leaning her head against the sofa again. Thunderlane had clearly made a mess of that moment and did his best to hide the look of embarrassment on his face, to little avail. After a few minutes of utter silence between them, Gilda spoke, though what she said was not what he'd thought she'd say.
"What about you? Straight?"
Thunderlane looked at her with wide eyes, clearly taken aback by that question.
"Well...I, er...I don't know.”
Gilda looked at him with a confused look, and Thunderlane could not blame her. It was not unreasonable that she'd find it strange that a guy wouldn't know what way inclined he was, especially at his age. He could see her trying to put the pieces together in her mind, and he knew it was inevitable that she'd figure out the real meaning behind his response. Eventually, her eyes widened with understanding, and Thunderlane looked down at the ground. She'd sussed it out, and faster than he would have liked.
"Oh! You mean you've never...?"
Thunderlane said nothing, but gave a silent nod in response. This was perhaps the first time in the admittedly brief period he'd known her that Gilda had been the one to be shocked or surprised at something. As one might expect, this particular aspect of his personal life was not something he usually discussed with others, especially not with strangers, which Gilda technically still was at this point. Still, to her credit, she didn't mock him or anything that he knew others would in her situation.
Instead, Thunderlane looked on as she seemed to be thinking something over, something that perhaps had not crossed her mind until he'd made this confession to her. After a few moments of a rather awkward and uncomfortable silence, Gilda's expression changed to a somewhat more mischievous one, as she looked directly at him with her eyes bearing a half-lidded look. As Thunderlane looked at this expression, and feeling more than a little nervous from it, Gilda spoke.
"Well... I know how I'm going to spend the rest of the evening.”
Thunderlane looked at her with a raised eyebrow, clearly confused at what she meant by that. As he sat there, trying to figure out her words, Gilda continued to stare at him, with a look on her face that could only be described as amorous. As the moments passed, Thunderlane began to truly understand what she'd been implying, and his eyes widened a great deal in surprise over it. Having suspected that Gilda might deliver another drop-the-bomb moment on him, he'd forgone having a drink when she'd offered. But even so, nothing could have prepared him for this, especially considering what he'd learned about her, which naturally brought about some confusion.
"What? But...I thought...you know...you preferred...?"
But before he could continue, Gilda raised a hand, stopping him.
"Oh, I do. And trust me, if I had the choice, I'd pick a dame over a guy any day of the week. But when was the last time you saw another like me?"
Thunderlane opened his mouth to give a reply to that, but soon found himself thinking on what he'd considered back when Gilda first told him about herself. He already knew that she was the first he'd known, so it was more than likely that such people were fairly uncommon around here. To her, it must have been like looking for a needle in a haystack. Given that, he sort of understood why Gilda was willing to settle for someone "not her type". For a moment, he couldn't help but think just how frustrated she must have felt most days, given the circumstances. But even so, this understanding did not dampen other lingering confusions about why she'd made such an unexpected suggestion.
"But...why me? I mean...we've only just met, and..."
But Thunderlane was interrupted for the second time by Gilda, who was giving him a look of irritation.
"Look. I'm at a bit of a low-point right now, and so are you. And yeah, you're not the kind I'd usually go for. But you know what? You and I just need a bit of cheering up right now, and I figured this was about as good a way as any to do that. Besides, you seem like a cool enough guy, in a dweeby, sad, loner sort of way.”
Back-handed compliment aside, he certainly couldn't argue with that logic, however blunt it might have been.
"Well...I suppose I could..."
But before he could finish that, Gilda had already hopped off the sofa and stood tall before looking down at him.
"Great! Let's get on with it then."
Before he could stop her, Gilda had already walked off and into a door in the nearby wall which, presumably, led to her bedroom. Thunderlane looked at it, thinking over her words. She certainly wasn't wrong when she said that they were both pretty down at the moment. And it wasn't as though he wouldn't have been interested entirely. But even so, for a woman he'd only just met to come out of the blue like that and make this kind of offer to him was not how he'd thought his evening would go. If someone had told him this was what would have happened to him today, he'd have called them mad.
However, his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Gilda's voice coming from her room.
"If you're having some kind of inner monologue in there, just know that I do not appreciate people making me wait.”
Realizing that he'd been sitting in silence for longer than he intended, Thunderlane abruptly got up from the sofa and, in an effort not to annoy his new partner, he hurried off towards the door, where he then poked his head in to see what the situation was. As he'd suspected, this was a bedroom, and like much of the rest of the apartment, it was kept fairly well, albeit somewhat spartan, with very little furniture here except for the double-sized bed and a desk beside it complete with a lamp. The only decorations were a few posters of local rock bands stuck to the walls. However, it was Gilda who now caught his attention, and for good reason. For she was standing just to the right of the bed, her hands on her hips and, to Thunderlanes's surprise, was already completely unclothed, with her garments casually discarded in a pile on the floor not too far from her.
It was here that the guy saw that it was not just Gilda's arms that had been well-exercised. Looking her over, he could see that she had very definite tone all over her body. It would not surprise him if she told him that she had not one ounce of fat on her. It wasn't overboard, like he'd known some bodybuilders to be, but there was enough there to show that there probably wasn't a single day of the week when this woman wasn't at the gym. But her muscles had not done anything to take away from her figure. All the right curves in all the right places, Thunderlane thought to himself.
However, as he looked her in the eye, he could see that there was some slight annoyance in her expression, which was explained in her next words.
"So are you going to do this with your clothes on or what?"
That snapped him out of his daze and he began to, rather nervously, prepare himself for this. As he began to unbutton and remove his shirt, Gilda moved onto the bed and laid down on it, crossing her legs and resting her hands behind her head as she leaned into the pillow. Thunderlane had never undressed with an audience before, and he could feel Gilda's eyes on him the whole time. It didn't take him long to be just as bare as her though, and soon Gilda was able to give him just as much of a look-over as he'd given her.
To his shame, Thunderlane was not as well-defined as she was, even though he still took personal fitness more seriously than most of his friends. Still, the look Gilda gave him showed that she was at least mildly impressed with what she saw, and Thunderlane had to fight the urge to breathe a sight of relief over that. His new bed partner, then gestured to him, signalling that she wanted him to come over, which he did. As he stood next to her side of the bed, looking down at her lying there, she spoke.
"Since this is your first time, I'll assume you don't know how to do this?"
She was as blunt as ever, but that still made him no less uncomfortable at her question. But it wasn't as though he was completely oblivious to what went on during couplings like this, and did his best to try and explain that.
"Well, I know I'm supposed to go in and out repeatedly and..."
But, yet again, he was interrupted by a raised hand from Gilda, shortly before she let out a groan.
"Thought so. Typical biology-lecture talk. Guess we'll have to go to basics. First off, get on top."
Thunderlane's eyes widened at that.
"Um...what?"
And that was in turn followed by Gilda narrowing hers.
"Get. On. Top!"
That was not the tone of voice that one could simply ignore, so he figured it was best to do as instructed, especially given his own inexperience in the matter. So, he slowly climbed onto the bed, noticing as he did so that Gilda was parting her legs, thus giving him full view of what Thunderlane knew all women had, but he'd never seen before. Like when he saw her naked for the first time, he could have slipped back into staring, so he looked up and tried to keep eye-contact once he was fully on the bed, kneeling on the soft mattress in the space Gilda had made in-between her thighs. Once he was there, Gilda spoke again.
"Okay. Lesson one, don't just start off like you said. We both have to build up to being ready first.”
Her eyes darted down briefly before she looked back up and him with a sly smile.
"And judging from your "little friend", I'd say you're pretty much there already.”
Thunder's face turned crimson as he looked down to where she'd been looking, only to see that she'd been right. He'd felt it for a while, but given his circumstances one could forgive him for having other things on his mind. Still, as much of a novice in all this as he was, even he knew that, though he was clearly ready to proceed, she would not be yet. He was expecting her to give some sort of instruction on how to get her excited and prepared for what was to come. What he did not expect was for her to lean forward from her lying-down position, grab both of his hands, and then plant his palms directly onto her chest. It was an act that had rendered Thunderlane's ability to speak completely moot, which Gilda noticed as she continued to explain.
"Touching me there gets me excited pretty quickly. Just don't be too rough with them.”
As she let his hands go, leaving them on her chest, Thunderlane continued to just be astounded at where he was and what he was doing. But, as he noticed Gilda growing somewhat frustrated with his lack of action, he began his movements. Most of the time he just moved his palms in circles, but occasionally he'd press down into her chest a bit more. It seemed to do the trick, as Gilda would sometimes close her eyes and let out a soft moan, which was not a sound he'd thought he'd hear from her.
During this, his thoughts, naturally, turned to the mounds in his hands. Gilda's bosom was by no means the largest he'd seen on a woman, but she was still relatively well-endowed, with each one being a good handful. Having grown up in Cloudsdale, he'd spent the first few decades of his life getting used to seeing women with very athletic physiques, complete with fairly flat chests, much like Flitter and Cloudchasers seemed to be earlier. That was not to say he found them unattractive or anything, far from it, but it did make it quite a shock when he saw what women were like outside of his hometown.
His motions on Gilda's chest though seemed to be yielding the desired effect, as her expression became far softer and more relaxed than it had been during the first few minutes of this session. Needless to say, Thunderlane had become increasingly excited himself during this, never having been this close to a woman before, at least not this intimately. Eventually, Gilda's eyes shot open again and she reached forward to hold onto Thunderlane's hands again, stopping him. She gave a small smile before speaking.
"Alright then, I think that did the trick.”
Gilda looked down, leading to Thunderlane following her gaze. Like she said, there was quite a clear sign down below that she's been excited by his actions. Even though it was his first time, Thunderlane took a moment to feel some measure of pride, knowing that his actions had led to a woman feeling that way, though that pride was dampened somewhat by the reminder that he'd only done so under her instructions. Still, results were results. But, now that this step had been finished with, Thunderlane knew what was going to be expected of him. Gilda's expression, which had regained it's amorous look from earlier, made that all-too clear for him.
"You know what's next. Whenever you're ready.”
She leaned back so her head was once more resting on her pillow, as she waited for Thunderlane to take the next step. To say he was nervous about this would have understated things a great deal, but he knew he'd come too far to stop now. Although showing clear hesitation, Thunderlane inched himself forward, bringing his body in line with hers, all while Gilda watched him. It wasn't long before his tip came into contact with her opening, and that touch sent a tingling all throughout his body. He took a few deep breaths, preparing himself for crossing this threshold, before steeling himself and pushing forward, entering her completely.
The effect was immediate, as Gilda's legs immediately shot upwards and wrapped around Thunderlane's waist. Looking over his shoulders, he saw that she'd crossed her ankles behind his back, surrounding him entirely, just before she used them to pull him in closer. When he looked back down at her, he saw her look up at him with a hungry look in her eyes. She looked like a predator, satisfied at having caught her prey. As her muscular thighs pressed in on either side of him, threatening to squeeze the air out of him, one thought was prevalent in his mind: By the almighty sisters! There are probably boa-constrictors out there that don't grip as tightly as this woman's legs!
But, as overwhelming as Gilda was being on him, it was nothing compared to the feeling he was getting down below. It was a new and unfamiliar feeling he'd never had before, but even so, he knew what it was. Inexperienced he may have been, but his instincts were kicking in with the new sensation. As he felt his body heat increasing, the new sensations became almost unbearable, like a beast trying to break free of it's cage. Although he'd known Gilda for only a short time, even he could tell she wouldn't be happy having their little session end this early. However, to his surprise, Gilda looked at him with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Stay still.”
Thunderlane looked unsure about that.
"But..."
Gilda's expression became more serious as she repeated herself.
"Stay still. This is your first time and you're not used to it. Let your body calm down a bit before you do anything else.”
It seemed unthinkable that he could come away from that precipice as easily as she seemed to think he could, but he nevertheless did as he was told. He remained as motionless as he could and took a few deep breaths. The feeling of being inside her was incredible, as would anybody's first time, but, to his surprise, Gilda's advice seemed to be working, as his body began to cool off and that earlier feeling began to retreat. Gilda watched him as his body relaxed from this, and she nodded at him.
"Okay, good. Now then, I want you to start the motions. But don't overdo it. Start off slow.”
Nodding at that, Thunderlane took a few more deep breaths before he carried on. This part he already knew, as he so awkwardly tried to say to Gilda before this whole thing started, so he needed no instruction on how to go ahead with it. Ever so slowly, he moved back, pulling himself out of her, before pushing back in at a similarly slow speed. Gilda's advice was right on the money on this one. If he'd started fast, he'd have already gone overboard by now, so he carried on at this rate for some time, only gradually getting faster with his movements every couple of minutes.
While he was doing this, Gilda had her head back on her pillow and had closed her eyes, letting out soft moans as he carried on. It was enough to let Thunderlane know that she was enjoying this, but also enough to show that he was still new to all this. He knew deep down that if he continued like this until the end, it was unlikely she'd think of him as anything impressive. So he wracked his brain for a way to please her further, which was difficult as he had more immediate sensations on his mind.
But, as his movements had become slightly faster, a thought came to him, and a devious smile crept onto his face. Looking down at her, he saw that her eyes were still closed, and so took this opportunity to do something she probably wasn't expecting. Raising one hand, he placed it gently onto her chest, just like last time, and began to massage her there much like he'd done previously. He'd clearly pushed the right button, as this caused her eyes to open as she let out a sharp gasp. He kept on doing this, along with his continued motions down below, and the look on Gilda's face let it known that she was starting to enjoy this more.
As she looked down at the attention her bosom was getting from Thunderlane's hand, she looked up at him and raised and eyebrow.
"And just what do you think you're doing?"
The rather deadpan way she'd said that led to Thunderlane regaining his earlier nervous expression as he responded.
"Um...trying to make sure you and I "cross the finish line" together?"
Gilda stared at him for a moment, all while their movements together continued, before letting out a sigh.
"You Cloudsdales. Always making a competition out of everything. Pointless.”
Thunderlane couldn't help but feel somewhat disheartened by those words. Everything seemed to have been going fine until then, but that rather disdainful look she had certainly brought him down a little, as evidenced by his somewhat disappointed tone.
"You don't approve?"
Gilda shook her head.
"No, I mean it's pointless because..."
Before Thunderlane could react, he felt Gilda's legs somehow become even tighter around him. This was followed by Gilda using this hold on him to pull him onto the side and making him land on his back on what, until that point, had been the unused side of the bed. With Thunderlane on his back, Gilda was now the one on top, with her thighs still on either side of him, and her strong arms pinning his to the bed, all while the two had stayed, quite literally, joined at the hips. Thunderlane looked up at her to see that same hungry look from before.
"...I always win!"
This was, to Thunderlane, both the scariest and most exciting moment of his life. Rearing up so she was no longer looming over him, Gilda got to work, moving her hips. Although the motions were the same as Thunderlane's had been not too long ago, she was clearly more adept at it, moving with grater rhythm, rather than Thunderlane's more clinical style. But, perhaps most of all, her movements were getting results, as Thunderlane could feel the very familiar feeling from earlier on in their union. He knew Gilda was a pro at this and it wouldn't be long before he went over the edge.
Looking up at his partner, he saw that the smirk on her face once again, making it clear that she too knew he was on his way out. Like she predicted, it was unlikely she's finish before him, and with her reared up like that, it was unlikely he'd have the opportunity to even things out by reaching up for her chest again, which he'd suspected she'd done deliberately. Even so, he wasn't particularly fond of the idea of his first time being so one-sided, and as such, like Gilda had noted about him earlier, his competitive streak kicked in and he thought of ways of evening the playing field.
Reaching up with his hands, he clasped her hips on either side while she was moving them, a move that didn’t seem to do anything other than alert Gilda to what he was trying to do, though she did nothing to discourage him. As he held her, a thought came to mind and he moved his hands further behind her, where, for the first time in all this, he was able to get a hold of her rear. In contrast to the rest of her toned body, her rump was perhaps the only part of her that Thunderlane could accurately call "soft". More importantly, this move did the trick, as Gilda let out another sharp gasp, much like the one she'd let out earlier.
But, rather than stop him, she just looked down at him with yet another mischievous look in her eyes, and for once, Thunderlane returned it. Upping the ante, Gilda increased the speed of her rhythm, and Thunderlane knew from his increasing body heat that it was only a matter of moments before she pushed him over. In an attempt to make Gilda "catch up", he held her rear with an even firmer grip, giving it the same motions he’d given her chest not too long ago. That seemed to do it, as Gilda closed her eyes and began breathing heavily, and Thunderlane noticed that it wasn't just her legs that were gaining a tight grip on him right now.
This carried on for longer than either thought was possible, but eventually, the climax was reached. It was unlike anything Thunderlane had ever experienced before, a sensation that shot right through him. He began to almost shudder involuntarily at the new feeling, letting out a moan of his own that betrayed his feelings to Gilda. He’d failed to make her finish first, but, feeling the way he was right now, he didn’t care. He was just focused on how amazing this had all felt to him. Besides, it wasn't that long before Gilda too reached the same point as him, throwing her head back and almost reaching scream-levels of noise, all while Thunderlane began to feel a very warm feeling down under, making it clear that she'd probably let loose just as much as him.
With that over and done with, Gilda practically collapsed on him, her sudden weight almost knocking the wind right out of him. The two remained like this, with him still inside her, as they tried to catch their breath, waiting as their bodies began to cool down after that rather intense session together. After a long time of panting and letting the sweat roll down their bodies, Thunderlane broke the silence.
"Well...that was...quite something."
Gilda let out a chuckle in-between pants before replying.
"I'll say. You're not bad...for a first-timer."
That remark earned a smile from Thunderlane, just before Gilda spoke again.
"Now I guess you'll be able to tell your friends that you've done it with an exotic foreign lady whose done it with other ladies."
Thunder gave a small laugh at that.
"They'd never believe me, even if I told them. But this does answer you question from earlier."
Gilda raised her eyebrow at that remark, prompting Thunderlane to elaborate.
"I'm definitely straight.”
The two shared a moment of laughter together after that. Both of them had gone into this hoping to cheer themselves up after the rut they'd experienced in their life, and after this, it was pretty certain they'd accomplished that. Once the laughter died down, Gilda spoke again.
"Guess it'll be hard for you after this. Starting out with a woman like me then going back to trying to get with those feminine types most guys like. Must be quite a downgrade for you.”
Thunderlane considered that, admittedly arrogant, remark, and as he did so, he looked over Gilda, or as much as he could see while she was lying on him like this, before cracking a rather sly smile.
"Oh, I don't know. You're looking rather feminine yourself right now.”
That comment earned him a rather scornful look from his partner, clearly having been somewhat irritated by his words. But unlike the last time she looked at him like that, Thunderlane wasn't worried now. Instead, he raised his still-weak hands and gently used his palms to caress the curves on the sides of her torso, leading to Gilda's expression softening, albeit only a little. Once he'd finished with that, he spoke, still smiling at her.
"And, if I may say so, it's a beautiful look for you.”
Gilda remained silent, keeping her eyes on him like a hawk. But eventually, her stoic demeanour broke and she gave a warm smile as she shuffled herself along, bringing her face within an inch of his.
"Cheater. Saying sweet nothings after I'm too tired from lovemaking to fight back? Sneaky.”
The two shared a chuckle at that and, in a move that surprised Thunderlane to no end, Gilda closed the distance between their faces and brought their lips together in a kiss. He'd already gathered that Gilda was a pretty aggressive woman in bed, so he was rather taken aback by the fact that this kiss she was giving him was, for lack of a better word, tender. Her lips were soft and it wasn't long before his eyes were closed and he allowed himself to enjoy this moment. They stayed like this for a few moments before Gilda pulled back a bit, and the two looked at each other.
"You're still not my type. But, you're pretty fun to have around," she said.
Thunderlane smiled at that, but it led to a thought emerging in his mind. He knew what this arrangement was between them. There was no love there, and both had gone into this knowing that this was mostly to make themselves feel better. And though that had been achieved, he kept on thinking about going back to being alone after this. His expression reflected this, turning more serious than it had been the last few minutes. He knew it might be a mistake, but he had to at least ask her.
"Tell me, Gilda. What does this mean now? Was this just a one-time thing, or what?"
Gilda looked rather taken aback by that question. It could well have been that all she wanted was a one-night stand, and if that was the case, Thunderlane wasn't going to hold it against her. But, rather than earn him a scornful look, Gilda's expression became quite thoughtful as she mulled that question over in her mind. A full minute passed before anything happened and her face regained it's usual mischievous smirk.
"Well...that was the plan. But after tonight, there's no way in Tartarus that I'm letting a fun plaything like you get away that easily.”
Thunderlane smiled at that. It wasn't what others would call a "real" relationship, but it was something he was willing to accept. Besides, if this woman, one who tended to have different preferences to most was willing to get like this with him, that pretty much spoke volumes. The two exchanged a look and, without words, agreed that this was something they were willing to carry on with. To call them "boyfriend and girlfriend" might have been a stretch, but they both knew that this little affair of theirs was definitely going to be interesting.
But before all that, Gilda reared up once again, looking down at Thunderlane with a sly look.
"So then...ready for round two?"
Thunderlane's eyes widened with shock upon hearing that. He was still pretty exhausted form their little union earlier, but one look at Gilda made it clear that she had plenty of energy to spare for more. The prospect of going through another session as vigorous as that in his condition was, needless to say, a rather daunting prospect for him, and one he was more than willing to voice to his partner.
"Round two? Er...wouldn't it be better just to relax for the rest of the night?"
But Gilda merely chuckled at that, shaking her head and making a "tsk" sound before leaning forward and planting a quick kiss on his lips again before speaking.
"My dear Thunderlane...I won't be letting you out of this all night."
Thunderlane looked at her with his eyes still wide. But, as he looked at her, with her amorous eyes staring back at him, his face relaxed and he broke into a smile.
"Well then. If this does kill me, I can certainly think of worse ways to go."
