Feeling Myself

She laid naked and panting, alone...

on a soft bed. When she rose to turn over, the sheets peeled slowly from her damp mahogany skin like they didn't wanna let go. Her bedroom was the venue for a lustily sweet after-party of one. The most thrilling conclusion to a girl's night out full of tequila shots and sex talk.

"He made me cum," Nish said in her demure yet mischievous manner. "Like... he spoke and commanded a nut from me. That typically doesn't work but something about him just... eased it on out of me."

She went on to describe a night that should've def been caught on camera.

The details caused Mal's insides to throb in telepathic pleasure. Play-by-plays of her homegirl's rendezvous were the most action she had gotten these days. When in drought, vicarious thrills would have to do.

"Another round, sis?" Nish asked, playfully twirling her third shot of Don Julio in the air before pouring it down her throat like the corniest adult star you've ever seen. Nish was often goofy like this. It was one of the things Mal loved about her most. However, tonight was not gonna be one of those nights where she was swooned by her A-one since day-one's charm and bullshit. "I better not," Mal said in a fake disappointed tone. "Last thing I wanna do is be drunk texting some fool all cuz I got hot fire tequila pussy and a penchant for bad decision making under the influence." "Well... who said it had to be all bad?" Nish replied with a wink. "Bitch. I'm going home," Mal said dryly before leaning down to kiss her drunk bestie's forehead and saying a quick bye to the good folks of their fave hole in the wall before heading out into the night.

"Aight, ya'll!" Mal yelled sweetly to everyone in particular.

She loved nights like this. Five dolla top-shelf, plates being sold in the back and a fly older lady selling pull tabs up front near the pool table. Sure, she could visit the quote-unquote, fanciest spots in town but she felt like a real human being in any old school bar, on any block in the U.S. She'd tested her theory out in Detroit, Lorain, St. Louis... well... anywhere in the Midwest at the very least. These were her folks.

Mal hopped in her little black coupe and immediately rolled the windows down to catch the humid night air. She hooked her phone up to the Bluetooth and scrolled through Tidal to pull up an oldie but goodie playlist. The one aptly titled, u&i.

Now, this is the type of thing someone may do when they leave the club heading to visit that special someone.

Minnie Ripperton's Inside My Love came coursing through the speakers.

"Two people, just meeting. Barely touching each other..." Minnie's voice was like air on the track. Effortlessly gliding past you but leaving the type of impression that would make the hair on your arms stand up.

"Two spirits greeting. Trying to carry it further..." Mal stopped at the light and tapped her fingers on the window frame. A little condensation started to build under her fingertips due to the moisture in the air. She looked over to the left and caught a glimpse of herself in the driver's side window. She was cloaked in red light. She felt excited by the view.

"You are one. And I am another..." Minnie went on. "We should be one. Inside each other," the songstress pleaded convincingly.

Mal allowed the pure ecstasy in Minnie's voice, the instruments, the breeze, the moonlight, the winding tree-lined road to her home to transport her to a specific time and space. The moment her best lover caringly bent her over a wedge pillow and filled each gap but one - allowing her the opportunity to recite his chosen name over and over and over again in pitch and on beat.

She too, was a musician when she wanted to be.

Sure, she thought fondly of him and his gift but it was the sound of her own voice that really did it. She couldn't get it out of her head.

Pulling up to her garage, Mal parked and paused to take a deep inhale followed by a soft yet thorough exhale before stepping out the whip and into her home.

She caught another glimpse of herself in the mirror right inside the doorway. Mal had taken to putting mirrors up all over the place recently. It started with just a few of your standard pieces - full body in the closet, a little vanity-sized one next to the front door... then she went there and had one installed on the ceiling above her bed. Was it trite? Maybe. Did she care? Hell, no.

Mal admired her hair, her body, her lips and then broke the glance long enough to make her way to upstairs to the en suite bathroom for an indulgent nighttime routine. Tonight felt like a twelve-step skincare session complete with an essential oil bath, foot rub and bedtime glass of merlot.

She finished and stepped into her bedroom. She set her glass atop the nightstand for later and pulled back the lilac-scented bedspread before removing her satin robe and gingerly placing her deliciously oiled legs between the crisp sheets.

She set her gaze above at the hedonistically situated mirror. She cupped her breasts and turned over to her right side, indulging in the silhouette she'd formed. She pretended she was a centerfold.

Mal laughed at herself, breaking character. Her chest heaved up and down turning her nipples into little Hershey's kisses. Firm to the touch but melty under the right amount of pressure.

She rolled over on her back and tapped them gently first using the softest part of her ring finger pad before twisting them between her thumb and forefinger with just a tad bit more aggression.

She bit her lip and parted her legs. Solo sessions weren't a frequent occurrence for Mal but when they did happen... that shit was epic.

Her hands moved from her breasts up her neck in a dramatic massaging flourish before floating gently down her collarbone, breastplate and abdomen before meeting her thighs. She caressed them, moving from the soft inner side to the outside in a soft, sweeping motion. Like a sensual wax-on, wax-off moment.

Her right thumb brushed her waiting, swollen clit once the sweeping...the waxing got a little deeper. She flicked her thumb back and forth against it while the rest of her hand found its way inside. She explored for a while. Trying this thing and that for no other purpose than to just feel. To be...

The song Mal once sang loud enough for her lover to hear despite her mouth being muzzled by the mattress, rang again in her mind.

A few moments later her soft panting turned louder before giving way to a new harmony. The notes bounced off the walls before landing on her ears. She loved the sound.

Mal journeyed there and beyond...

At the moment of release, a gentle stream escaped... forming a small, warm puddle beneath her supple backside. Mal relaxed her legs on the bed one by one - planting each heel in an opposite direction. The wetness reached the dip in the small of her back.

She turned over and swaddled herself in the sheets, allowing her breathing to naturally return to a resting pace.

Mal curled in tighter, holding her arms across her chest. She closed her eyes as a smile of  contentment settled on her glowing face.