Page 321 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

While it lasted, it had been an idyllic time.

Walli put on the new Beatles album, Magical Mystery Tour, then made coffee and rolled a joint. They sat on a giant cushion, Walli cross-legged, Beep with her feet tucked under her, and passed the roach. Soon Walli drifted into the mellow mood he liked so much. "I hate the Beatles," he said after a while. "They are so fucking good."

Beep giggled.

Walli said: "Weird lyrics."

"I know!"

"What does that line mean? 'Four of fish and finger pies.' It sounds like, you know, cannibalism."

"Dave explained that to me," Beep said. "In England they have seafood restaurants that sell fish in batter with French fries to go. They call it 'fish and chips.' And 'four of fish' means four pennies' worth."

"What about 'finger pie'?"

"Okay, that's when a boy puts his finger up a girl's, you know, vagina."

"And the connection?"

"It means that if you bought fish and chips for a girl she would let you finger her."

"Remember the days when that was daring?" Walli said nostalgically.

"Everything's different now, thank God," said Beep. "The old rules don't apply anymore. Love is free."

"Now it's oral sex on the first date."

"What do you like best?" Beep mused. "Giving oral sex, or receiving?"

"What a difficult question!" Walli was not sure he ought to be talking about this with his best friend's fiancee. "But I think I like receiving." He could not resist the temptation to add: "What about you?"

"I prefer giving," she said.

"Why?"

She hesitated. For a moment she looked guilty: perhaps she, too, was not sure they should be discussing this, despite her hippie talk about free love. She took a long draw on the joint and blew out smoke. Her face cleared, and she said: "Most boys are so bad at oral sex that receiving is never as exciting as it should be."

Walli took the joint from her. "If you could tell the boys of America what they need to know about giving oral sex, what would you say?"

She laughed. "Well, first of all, don't start licking right away."

"No?" Walli was surprised. "I thought it was all about licking."

"Not at all. You should be gentle at first. Just kiss it!"

Walli knew, then, that he was lost.

He looked down at Beep's legs. Her knees were pressed close together. Was that defensive? Or a sign of excitement?

Or both?

"No girl ever told me that," he said. He gave her back the joint.

He was feeling an irresistible rush of sexual excitement. Was she feeling it, too, or just playing a game with him?

She sucked the last of the smoke from the roach and dropped it in the ashtray. "Most girls are too shy to talk about what they like," she said. "The truth is that even a kiss can be too much, right at the start. In fact . . ." She gave him a direct look, and at that moment he knew that she, too, was lost. She said in a lower voice: "In fact, you can give her a thrill just by breathing on it."

"Oh, my God."

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