Sara socalong's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Scarlett's hands kept moving on Sara's belly long after the crowd thinned. The crystals on the chair armrests dimmed as the sun dropped. The man Sara had claimed stood at her shoulder, his own hand resting flat above Scarlett's. Sara felt the air gather under her ribs. She let it climb. The burp rolled out slow and low, right over Scarlett's head. Scarlett's hands paused. The man laughed once, short. Sara tapped the contract page in her lap and pointed Scarlett's hands back to work. A small painted sign hung from the post beside the slab, bright letters calling all belly lovers. Sara had not noticed it during the contest. She noticed it now. She pushed up from the chair, contract in one hand, and stepped down off the stone. "Up," she told Scarlett. "You're not done. Bring it inside." She nodded to the low stone building set back from the square, the one with moss running blue along its cracks. The man fell in behind her. Scarlett stood, brushed her knees, and followed. Inside, the walls glowed soft from the moss in the seams. The floor stone carried a worn pattern under their boots. A metal seat sat at the center, low and wide, crystal clusters glowing pink and blue on its arms. Sara sat. She lifted her shirt to her ribs again and set the contract on the armrest where Scarlett could read it. "Both hands," Sara said. "Slow circles. Same as before." Scarlett knelt on the stone pattern and put her hands back on Sara's belly. Sara drew in deep and burped against the quiet of the chamber. The sound bounced off the stone and came back doubled. The man stepped closer. He set his hand on the side of her belly where Scarlett's hands were not. He rubbed in time with Scarlett. Sara burped again, smaller, into his wrist. He did not pull back. He laughed low and pressed a little harder. Scarlett's eyes flicked up to his face, then down to her own hands. Sara let it run. She burped six more times across the next stretch, each one timed to the rub. The man kept his hand on her. Scarlett kept her hands moving. Sara watched Scarlett's mouth go tight, then loose, then tight again. She filed it. On the last burp, Sara reached down, took the man's hand, and slid it under hers on the top of her belly. She left it there. Scarlett saw. "Stop," Sara said. Scarlett's hands lifted at once. She sat back on her heels. Sara folded the contract and slid it into her pocket. The man did not move his hand. Scarlett stood, looked at the man's hand on Sara's belly, and walked out of the chamber without a word. Sara felt the man's fingers spread. She had him alone now.