Pains, smells and memories

The bucolic landscape that unfolded before the window of the small paediatric hospital in the city of Lyon was a delight to Nicole's eyes; from the height of her ninety-three years few were the expectations that life offered her remaining only the memories, good and also bad, always revived in her memory. During the lunch break she savored the meal prepared by the cooks of the nutrition sector and then went for her usual walk through the beautiful garden that surrounded the hospital facility and in which she had worked for almost sixty years; she sat on a wooden bench and stood appreciating the varied aromas of the flowers cultivated with affection by the old gardener in that most reserved area of the garden and as always one of the aromas stood out bringing with it a memory of dreams. The scent of the roses reminded her of Letice ..., that was a long time ago in a dark time for humanity and that radically changed Nicole's life that would never be the same again; the young Nicole had left Chartres bound for Paris to venture into the city of light discovering all the possibilities that could be offered to her; but in that May of the year 1940 everything was pain, fear, disappointment and resentment. Along the Avenue Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe marched proudly the soldiers of the Wehrmacht with their flags and beacons sporting an expression of austerity typical of the invaders who act by force. The infantry was followed by the cavalry and soon after came the armored vehicles, assault vehicles, motorcyclists and cyclists and all faced the pain and suffering in the face of the Parisians who had submitted to their city and country by force. Everyone wept and lamented, including the young Nicole, but she decided that she would not bow down to a cold and merciless invader and would do everything in her power to free her country from the oppressive yoke of the Third German Reich; given her unusual and youthful beauty with her black and shiny hair, her angelic face and her vicious body Nicole could move with a certain delicacy through the streets of the occupied city and when some checkpoint asked her for documents, an inviting smile was enough to make the soldier forget about his obligations. Near the tiny apartment where she lived and whose rent was no longer covered because the owner had fled days before the invasion, she could observe an old police post occupied by a garrison of the <unk>SS<unk> and every day on which she let her patrols dispose of their bicycles, knowing that Nicole could never be the object of audacity. And on a certain morning they found all their means of transport with torn tires and twisted rims; all except one that Nicole had used to escape passing through the Latin Quarter and heading to the most peripheral area of the city where she ended up finding a group of partisans led by Lieutenant Roland who was her acquaintance for life. On seeing him Nicole smiled remembering that rainy night in which inside an old stable they enjoyed a unique intimacy; fleeing from a heavy rain during almost dusk, they found shelter in that poor construction and the boy took care to light a fire so that they could warm themselves. There was no need to exchange words, for their gazes spoke all that was necessary; Nicole was embraced by Roland who searched his lips until he was able to seal them to hers in a warm, wet and long kiss; when they left the young woman did not hesitate to undress herself before the stupefied gaze of the subject who, upon seeing her naked, swallowed her dry; Nicole was a beautiful brunette with pale skin and medium breasts endowed with intriguing firmness that added to the belly that culminated in a vulva covered by a thin layer of hair; her face was a work of art with her enveloping black eyes, thin lips and dark brown hair that granted her a beauty comparable to a realistic work of art made of flesh and bone. The house was entangled by the desire that at that moment had risen above all and everything. Roland wasted no time in improvising a bed with the help of heaps of hay and a used tarp asking Nicole to lie there; while she complied with his request, Roland took off his clothes boasting of an erection so overwhelming that Nicole was not able to contain an expression of amazement; the boy lay down on her and both began an intense exchange of kisses and caresses with Roland devoting himself to savoring the tight nipples while squeezing his partner's breasts appreciating their shape and firmness; between moans and sighs Nicole sighed deeply as she was penetrated by the boy experiencing the inexplicable sensation of being filled by the male member of a male; Nicole was no longer a virgin from that moment on and saw herself surrounded by a carnal ecstasy that made her body tremble in a vibrating frequency that soon led to her first orgasm. And after him came others shaking their bodies under the sway of Roland, who took it upon himself to bestow all the pleasure she deserved; after a good while in which Nicole's senses became both keen and intense she experienced a torpor of almost unconsciousness which culminated in the thunderous revelry of the male flooding her with the hot and thick sap that resulted in a final revelry still more vehemently; sweaty and exhausted they remained united seeking to recover their breath and heartbeat as having sounded the bottom plunge of the fierce rain and the sweet darkness of the night in which they became lovers. Joined by Roland's Partisans, Nicole undertook several missions aimed at shaking up the invader's military structures; these were stealth attacks on small local garrisons, German convoys and raids on weapons and ammunition storage facilities; always agile and gifted and a feverish reasoning, the young woman engendered plans and conspiracies that most of the time worked out; she had learned the handling of firearms, especially machine guns, taking one as her personal weapon soon after a successful attack on a small convoy that was bringing a batch of these armaments into the French borders. On the few mornings when she could enjoy some well-deserved rest, she was surprised by Roland with coffee, brioches and small packs of freshly harvested carnations. She was delighted with the Lieutenant's gestures, but because of the moment they were passing, the desire was shaken among the rubble of a dominated country and there was no room for involvements of any kind; however, that stealthy life always kept unexpected surprises; in one of these situations, Nicole discovered another form of love ..., and this form blossomed in the form of a woman named Elza. In one of their incursions, the revolutionary group was forced to seek refuge from the relentless persecution of an <unk>SS<unk> group, seeking shelter in a cluster of houses located on the outskirts of Chartres; for greater security the group decided to separate themselves, guarding against collaborators and informants disguised as good Samaritans. Nicole ended up finding a Roman masonry house where lived a widow still mourning the death of her husband who was also part of a resistance group <unk>maquis<unk>, whose name was Elza who did not hesitate to welcome her in the face of Nazi persecution. Elza, though a suffering and life-marked woman, still retained an iconic beauty with her long brown hair always tied up, her single eyes and her sometimes curly and sometimes suggestive smile; endowed with a body of exuberant forms, Elza concealed all this beauty in loose and discreet clothes, but still she caught the attention of the young revolutionary who saw in her something that excited her; at first Nicole felt uncomfortable with that feeling, but the intimacy between them became an almost indestructible bond. With winter approaching at a gallop with frosty breezes blowing from the north, the heat of the stone fire was not enough; after tasting an appetizing conversation, they ate a little and El suggested that they retreat. In the widow's room they had improvised a bed with a solid platform, covered by a worn-out feather mattress that served as Nicole's resting place; however, as soon as they entered the room, Elza held the forearm of the guest who felt a shiver running through her skin; turning towards Elza the young revolutionary was unable to resist when the widow stuck her lips to hers sealing a kiss charged with lust and anxiety; Nicole who until that moment had done everything to restrain the excitement that was screaming inside her gave in and accepted the kiss as a permission to surrender to desire. And between kisses and caresses the women did not stop undressing each other until they saw the nakedness of their bodies cloud the little consciousness that still hesitated. Nicole took the lead in stroking Elza's weary breasts which upon feeling the soft and warm touch of the revolutionary's hands did not hold a long sigh followed by a groan which was followed by others even more enthusiastic when the young woman brought her mouth up to her stuffy nipples sucking them with immeasurable voracity; it did not take much effort for the gesture to be reciprocated in the same intensity and in a short time they had lain on the widow's bed indulging themselves in lustful kisses and vehement caresses. Nicole took her hand up to Elza's vulva delighting in the delightful surprise of feeling her very warm and moist. Taken by the desire that burned like a flame within her, Nicole crouched between Elsa's legs plunging her face between them until her tongue could taste the cave in a bold and stubborn caress that caused such an impact on Elsa that she screamed as she experienced a first orgasm after so many years of carnal abandonment. And throughout the night these two women of different destinies enjoyed a hallucinatory pleasure that gave them no respite making their bodies burn for an unsacrificing and delirious joy. It did not matter that on the outside of the house the freezing winds of a harsh winter were stealing the region, for inside was an ethereal fire that scorched bodies and in the minds of these women whose only longing was the myths of the ghosts of the past and the demons of the present. Throughout their time together, Elza and Nicole let desire flow into innovative sensory experiences that always resulted in more pleasure and brought them closer together; one night Nicole used her fingertips to rub Elza's clenched clitoris which produced fruitful orgasms that made the widow's body shake between moans, at the same time that she took the opportunity to kiss and lick the nipples of her partner who enjoyed oral caress. Unfortunately, that union that seemed to be eternal was interrupted with the arrival of Lieutenant Roland's group in search of Nicole; upon seeing him, the young revolutionary knew that she would have to leave; when she said goodbye to Elza, she gave him a bottle with the essence of lavender that she had grown during the spring and asked him to take it with her. "Take it so that you do not forget me!" said Elza with her eyes dizzy; following her instinct, Nicole embraced the widow and kissed her on the mouth before the astonished looks of the Partisans; during the journey to Lyon, Roland did not say a word and even when Nicole intended to give an explanation he prevented her. The group remained in Lyon just long enough to organize and plan further raids against the German army when they returned to Paris; and this return became even more dangerous with unsuccessful attacks, some arrests of comrades and the death of some others; with the reduced group Roland considered as a better strategy a retreat that Nicole refused to accept calling for herself the responsibility of seeking reinforcements for the fight; in a matter of days the young woman had gathered a good group of men and also some women willing to fight the common enemy. It was up to Lieutenant Roland to train them while Nicole was in charge of obtaining weapons, ammunition and supplies. Wandering in disguise around Paris, she came across a bucolic street whose houses were cared for only by women since their husbands had escaped to Vichy adopting a posture of treachery; walking down the street paved with irregular cobblestones, the young revolutionary glimpsed a ground-floor residence set back from the pavement where the rose garden stood out; as she approached she noticed someone opening the door and introducing herself. Nicole was stunned by what she saw; in front of her was a beautiful woman whose cheerful vice was already revealed in her infectious smile. She introduced herself as Letice and invited Nicole in, for she had just made coffee. <unk>Better you don't know how I did it!<unk> Letice replied when asked where she got the coffee powder; surprised by the young woman's wit, Nicole could not control a laugh that soon became a mutual laugh; savoring the drink while Letice told her a little about her life, the young revolutionary could not avoid her intense and curious looks; Letice was a blonde with long flowing hair, crystal blue eyes, and thin lips that always seemed to draw a kiss when she spoke endowed with a slender body with firm, small breasts that were delicately delineated by the fabric of the long shirt and legs woven in heels without heels. Even dominated by a fortuitous excitement, Nicole did not lose focus of her mission and Letice offered to help her in whatever way she could. And Letice's collaboration proved very timely and providential, including offering overnight accommodation for some members of Roland's group; with massive attacks on the German army in their logistical structure, Nicole and Roland were scoring some significant victories, even when they knew that the GESTAPO was also on their heels; once again Roland decided to separate the group by dispersing them around the city and leaving Nicole in charge of taking care of the storage of ammunition and explosives that were transferred in the dead of night from a small depot in Montmartre to Letice's residence where they had discovered a spacious portion. One evening, after dinner, the two women sat talking in the living room, sipping coffee, and Nicole did not restrain her impulsiveness by asking Letice if she still felt desire for her husband; the blonde exhibited a fearful look shortly before lowering her head; the revolutionary thought it best not to insist on the question, but a few minutes later Letice vented that she had never felt desire for her husband as the result of an arranged marriage and dominated by the husband's abuse both in bed and outside of it; feeling confident Letice continued to narrate episodes as painful as Dantesque leaving her interlocutor overwhelmed with everything she heard until it culminated in tears; following an inexplicable instinct, the young revolutionary stood up and extended her hand to Letice whose upraised face lit up with a sweet smile. The next moment Letice and Nicole were embraced enjoying a sweet moment of affection that led to the inevitable kiss full of desire; their tongues performed a ludic dance within their mouths sealed by thirsty lips; the kisses succeeded each other in an eloquent spiral of pleasure and fulfillment making Letice's life full of reason for being; seized by carnal folly, they undressed themselves as they advanced towards the bedroom where the bed awaited them with unimaginable promises of sensual experiences never before known; Nicole could not hide an expression of stupefaction as she gazed at the sweet and also sensual naked silence of Letice with her delicate forms endowed with a divine perfection. Throughout the night the two women enjoyed every possible and imaginable form of sensory and mental complicity especially when both decided to take a superimposed and inverted position enabling both of them to savor the taste of the nectar pouring copiously from their very feverish and damp caves. The entanglement of the burning bodies took place in other even more hallucinatory ways such as the one in which they rubbed their vulvas treasure their legs; and both Letice and Nicole did not cool such was the magnitude of the desire that surrounded them dominating and subjecting their gestures and movements. Letice babbled sweet words addressed to Nicole reaching to utter vows of eternal love in a rapturous congratulation. Nicole made it a point to nestle between Letice's legs insisting on extracting from her all the pleasure possible with her oral skill, using her mouth and tongue to explore, provoke until she achieved a delirious orgasmic succession that brought Letice to the brink of an almost loss of senses such was the voluptuousness of her partner's gestures and actions that she did not tire of claiming that she would give her all the pleasure that life had deprived her of up to that moment. And when a new day dawned, she came to find two naked and intertwined women seized by a delicious and intoxicating exhaustion that made them smile every time their gazes crossed. Together, they took a comforting bath and then prepared their morning refreshment. Nicole helped Letice pick some red roses, and when she asked what she would do with them, she received as an answer a sweet but enigmatic smile; and when the cloak of the night again covered the ground, Letice undressed and helped Nicole do the same by leading her to the room where they found a bed covered with rose petals whose fragrance took over the environment, invading her nostrils and providing a renewed stimulus of desire that soon enveloped them between kisses, caresses and waterfalls of pleasure, pouring out of their thin bodies in a succession of new gestures and movements always geared towards obtaining a renewed and intense joy. The triumphal entry of the Allied military forces into Paris was a cause for euphoric and unrestrained celebration; Nicole saw in the smiling faces of her countrymen the expression of joy mixed with the relief of liberation from the enemy's yoke; for days she searched for Letice without success and it was Roland who took her to a small cemetery where a grave had on it a wooden cross carved with a rose engraved in its center. Letice had become more a victim of the oppression and horrors of war ..., with the end of the war on the continent Nicole began to think about moving on with life and it was in this climate that Roland suggested that they live together, even as a couple knowing of all the adventures that the young woman had enjoyed in those turbulent years; Nicole hugged Roland's face, they smiled and kissed. That memory filled the nurse's eyes with sorrowful tears with the vivid recollection of the sweet and simple face of Leticia, her lady of roses; at this moment a hand extended to her a fragrant carnation; she looked at the flower and then at Roland, the gardener whose crisp face still retained a tiny vice of youth in which they had both enjoyed a stormy night of untamed pleasure perpetuated in their bodies and their minds; with the carnation in one hand the elderly nurse took the gardener's hand and together they walked back to the hospital; inexplicably the next morning she found on the doorstep of her house a red rose whose fresh scent and aroma denounced her recent harvest in her heart ..., she felt that it was a sweet present of Leticia's flower ... Note: Simone Segouin (Thivars, 3 October 1925 - 21 February 2023), also known by her pseudonym Nicole Minet, was a former French Resistance fighter who served in the group Francs-Tireurs et Partisans.