| “A new day together” by Sep *** Honor and love to Travis. *** Part 5 The ride home to her place was uneventful, but Jane had decided that before anything else, she was starving. John might be able to survive on one bowl of thick chicken soup, but she hadn't even had that. The coffee was all she'd had today, and it was sitting in her stomach none too happily. He had been quiet on the ride, despite the fact that he had very unquiet things on his mind. She knew even without asking that he was preoccupied with all that was happening around him, maybe feeling a little insecure, and with the things her was feeling inside, it must have been difficult. She sat quietly as well and squeezed his hand, hoping he'd get the little gesture of reassurance. "I'm glad I'm going home with you. It's where I want to be." His smile shone in the passing city lights. "I know, John. I'm glad too but I'm sure you're going to like what Kathleen has planned. You're a smart man, and I think you'll be surprised by the things the tutor will help you to learn. It might even be fun." He looked at her doubtfully and as if for comic relief, her stomach growled, causing them both to laugh. As the cab stopped she paid the driver and eased out into the cold with him coming up behind, his arm slipping around her so naturally. Up the stairs they went and he stepped in front of her as she opened the door to her apartment and went in ahead. His posture was tensed and his face alert for any sense or sign of an intruder, or potential problem, but there was none to both of their relief, and he relaxed, stepping into the warmth of the room and taking off his jacket while she closed the door and locked it behind them. She could see him visibly shaking off the chill and as she sat her own jacket down on the arm of the chair, she ran her hand up over the back of his shirt. "See, if we'd gone back to your Aunt's, you could have a fire in the fireplace to warm you." She made her way into the kitchen and bent to investigate what was readily available in her refrigerator. He came up behind her silently and as she turned around, his presence not a half inch from her was startling. "You can keep me warm, can't you?" She looked at that smile of his, God, would she ever get used to the way it utterly captivated her? He pressed himself closer and she was back against the smooth hardness of the frig. With some amusement it occurred to her that as her own feelings for him had awoken strong and sudden, she may just have awoken an insatiable beast within this man who had never felt such things in all of his life. Well, that was okay, she said to herself, she was up for that all right, but first, she was starving and replenishment must be had. "Hold on, lover boy," She pushed him back and snuck out under his arm. "I have got to get something to eat or I just might pass out. I can't get by on coffee and kisses, John." He settled on one of the barstools and watched her as she got set to make a salad. She was particularly hungry for one of her infamous huge chicken salads and being the modern girl she was, the prepackaged grilled chicken came in handy. While she put that on to microwave, she pulled and picked at the greens, tossing them into a large bowl while John's fingers picked out a piece of this and a piece of that and a question came to her mind. "What did you eat, you know, there, where you were?" She pulled a bottle of wine from the refrigerator and uncorked it slowly while he thought about her inquiry and kept picking at the greens before him. "Leaves, like this. Plants, berries, fruit. There was a lot of fruit. Seeds, roots. Anything I could eat." She imagined that for a minute. "Didn't you ever get sick from eating the wrong thing?" "Sometimes." He didn't elaborate and she could only think with her fertile imagination of what he might have had to do with as food. "What is that in your hand?" "This? Oh, it's wine, sorry, I'll uh, I'll get you some water, or … I don't know do you want some soda, pop you know? I feel like an idiot here John. I don't have the faintest clue what you like to eat or drink." "I want some of that, what you're having. I can smell it from here. Let me see." She handed him the bottle, watching cautiously as he lifted and examined the label and then inhaled the deep fruity fragrance. Before she could say another word he lifted it up and drank down three big swallows. The look on his face as he sat the bottle down was one she'd have loved to get on film. It went from 'wow, what was that', to looking sour, then back again as he proclaimed it to be good and asked for more. Against her better judgment she got down another wine glass before going to get the chicken. As she started to cut it into the salad, her phone rang, and the number displayed was Kathleen's. While she swatted John's hand away and poured the wine into his glass on the opposite counter where he couldn't get to it, she assured Kathleen that he was with her safe and sound, and that he'd be back tomorrow. When John took the knife and started cutting up the chicken, mocking what she'd done, the little gasp she let out was enough that again she had to assure his Aunt through a laugh that no, everything really was fine, and yes, she would take care of him. She hung up and shook her head at the man across from her as he made a face of accomplishment and gestured toward the chicken pieces which were almost shredded rather than chopped, but she loved that he was here, trying, here, just here with her, how safe and normal it all seemed and she congratulated him on his effort and scooped it all in on top of the lettuce mixture. After a toss and some vinaigrette, it looked and smelled delicious, and she gave him a bowlful along with his glass of wine. "No fingers." She said, shaking her head again. "That's part of the education too you know? I want to take you out and show you off, how handsome you are. We can't be in a swanky Manhattan restaurant with you barefoot and eating with your fingers, can we?" "Why not?" The eternal question. "Because John, that's just not the way it's done. Do you like it?" He nodded, but he was lost to the effort of sticking the leaves with the fork and a few times he looked up at her with annoyance, but even he knew it had to start somewhere. The wine on the other hand, seemed to pose no irritation, and he drank it too quickly. When he asked for more, she smiled and pulled the bottle back instead of refilling his glass. "You haven't had any experience with alcohol John, and I'm not going to get you drunk." He reached into his bowl with his fingers and stopped himself as he looked up at her for clarification. She explained in brief how it would make him feel, and how it could be an unpleasant event in the end. "But I want more." She rolled her eyes. His demands were so short, so without pretense that it was incredibly hard to resist him. He was like a child who just couldn't see the reasons, no matter how logical they were, or maybe he saw and didn't care, she didn't know but in any case, she filled his glass a second time along with her own. They both finished their salads with little more talking. She liked to just watch him, and hoped he didn't find it to be a bother. Unthinkingly she reached out and pushed a bit of his hair away from his face. "I love your hair you know." She said, more to herself. "Have I ever told you that? No, I haven't." She hoped she wasn't going to have a loose tongue with only two glasses of wine, but it just came out and he looked up at her, the glass pressed to his inviting lips. Yep, she was feeling it all right. "Your hair reminds me of something. A lion. You know, that's what you're like I think." Why should she care if they might get a little loose with each other, what did that matter when it had been held back so for long. Because Jane, a voice in her head spoke up, he's not ready yet. She switched off that nag and smiled at him as he came around the island counter and up to where she stood leaning back against the sink. "You think I am like a lion?" He laughed. "I know all about lions." My God, he was playing right along with her and as he leaned in, her arousal grew. The feel of his breath against her neck was incredible and sent tingles all over her body. "I know how they hunt, I know how they mate too." Those lips, his lips, soft and full against her throat, then her cheek, yes please, and finally touching hers as his hands rested firmly on her hips. She took him fully, wanting to feel that kiss clear down to her toes. Her arms went under his, wrapped around his waist and she was on fire, wanting all of him at once, her mouth asking for more that he readily answered. Even in his inexperience he was skilled, tasting her, letting his tongue slip into her mouth, seeking her own, breathing in her passion even as he raised it higher. Finally, slowly, they came down against one another and she opened her eyes to look at his and found them full of the very fire she hoped for, the intensity, the pure lust that shone there was primal and alive and as she held her place, he raised his shirt over his head and she drew in a short breath on seeing him once again, his musculature so carved and perfect at the ready for any physical demand. Yes oh yes, he was like a lion. Fierce and proud and hungry, and how she wanted him. The dam had been broken wide open and she thought that all night she could have had him, again and again and again. He stepped back wearing almost a cocky, arrogant smile. In fact she'd have said that was exactly the expression if it hadn't seemed so out of character for him. She was leaning back against the sink, breathless, and there he was, stepping back and looking like he was about to laugh. Oh, she'd hit him if he did, but instead, clever boy that he was, he reached around behind her and grabbed the bottle of wine off the counter and then, leaving his shirt in a puddle at her feet, he was off with in his usual too-quick motion to the darkness of her bedroom. She looked around with amused disbelief and found herself laughing out loud. Dishes and shirts be damned for the night. She had better things in mind. He sat there, shirtless in the center of her bed, tipping the bottle like the most gorgeous wino she'd ever laid eyes on, and as she walked over to him, she boldly started to unbutton her blouse and he watched with evident approval. "More. Let me see all of you." He licked his lips and reached for her as she got to the side of the bed and dropped her shirt, standing there in her blue lace bra which he ran his hand across . She picked up the bottle from between his legs and swallowed down three or four mouthfuls. His hands were on the waistband of her pants and for once she was glad she hadn't worn her form fitting jeans. No, she wanted him to have no difficulty. " Then do it if you want to see. " She challenged, and he paused enough to look up at her with another of those cocky smiles. When he pulled himself up to his knees in front of her, she heard the familiar sound of unzipping in the same instant he pushed the dress khakis from her waist. My, my, what a clever man. She laughed as they came down around her thighs and as she had another sip or two, he leaned in and pressed his lips to the softness of the skin he'd uncovered, making his way down to the thin lip of her matching panties. Oh yes, more, she wanted to say. She had an urge to show him all the tricks she could think of, to give him all the sex ed he could handle in one sitting, or standing, or laying. Whatever. "John please…" Was all she could say and of course he asked please what which only made her laugh again while she moved back enough to kick her pants free and climb up on the bed beside him. Damn if he just didn't have the most magnificent body. It was a landscape she wanted to touch and explore with her mouth, her fingers… Oh yes. He came up beside her and as if he had been reading her mind he took the bottle from her hand and set it aside on the table, then placed that hand onto the warmth of his chest, wanting her touch every bit as much. "Don't say please. I want to feel you. I want more." His hands moved downward around her waist as he pulled himself over top of her. Pants still on, damn him. Those loose silky things that never had done a very good job of hiding the treasure beneath from her interested eyes. She undid the string and pushed them down past his hips. There was nothing underneath but more of that bronzed, firm flesh waiting on her, wanting her, alive as he moved instinctively, begging for her touch. A thick growl came from his mouth against her neck as she let her hand wander down over the slope of his back and then up to grab the flexing muscles of his ass. Oh she should stop. What had gotten into her tonight? It was the wine, but no, more than that. It was their moment earlier in the day, their confession. Everything was laid bare now and there was no need to withhold. They wanted one another beyond the physical and that had come pouring out so easily after being denied all these weeks, and it was freedom for them both, it was permission to take and give all that they wanted. Her hand slipped underneath to find him hard and ready. When she touched him there he pushed forward with that same growl, yes, she thought, like the lion and she the lioness tonight, sleek and feline beneath him, his mate. She leaned up and with an open mouth ran her tongue across his collarbone, up to the curve of his neck and her teeth scraped there, hungry for him. He was savage with desire, the timid curiosity of the night before seemed vanished and she was for a moment afraid he would climax just from pushing against her hand as he had then, but in a second when his strong hand harshly grabbed the thin material of her Victoria's Secret page 43 panties and promptly ripped them away, she had no doubts about where he intended to spend himself. Don't say please, she heard his desperate command over once more in her head and without another plea, without any more words, she moved beneath him and opened herself, telling him all he needed to know. He leaned over to one side, kicked the sheets down, and lost his pants somewhere within them. Then above her in all his strength, he turned and looked down into her face. When his body lowered against her, his hands came up around her face and pulled her to his kiss as he gave some soft, animal sound, rough and possessive, and the thrill of it coursed through her. She wound her legs around his as he moved between them and pressed his hardness against the patch of soft hairs. As he delved into the feeling of the kiss, letting it overcome him, the grind of his body on hers was almost too much to bear and around his mouth, she whispered his name, and ran her hands down the hard muscles of his back as she told him how much she wanted him, where she wanted him, not to wait anymore. Boldly, or perhaps out of that desperate desire, she let one hand move down between them, and there felt his readiness, loving the way he sucked in his breath at her touch. She wanted all of him, wanted to feel every ounce of the primal strength he had inside, and though his staggered breath and the pause of his lips against her neck and throat might have begged her to hold him in her hand and play with him that way, peak him and let him back down, those sorts of discoveries would have to wait for another night, because there was only one thing she wanted right now, and as she leaned up and moved her lips over the heated sheen of his face, she guided him home. He slipped into her wetness so full and hard, and for a moment they were both still, caught up and hung in the sensation of filling and being filled so suddenly, so completely. The way he looked at her, his eyes searching, almost filled with a sudden fear at what he felt inside brought her hand to his face gently. "John, yes…" She encouraged him. "Don't stop, please. You know what to do, I know you do. You know what feels good. Doesn't it feel so good John?" He nodded and licked his lips as he leaned in to her caress. Slowly he eased himself back from within the warmth of her body, and then again forward, closing his eyes to feel it throughout as he murmured, brokenly. "So good, yes. I want it so much. Want you." He was smiling, breathless, a look of need swam undisguised in his eyes. "Then take me John, do it, just like that. Give me all of you hard and strong. Show me how it feels!" That sound again from deep inside of him as he first pictured it, just for a second, and then rose up and thrust himself deep, his lips sought her skin, his teeth played over her in any place they could find and while one hand supported his weight, the other roamed upward along her curves and bravely cupped her breast, holding it firmly as he led them both into rapture. It was like nothing before, nothing he had ever known in all of his life. With harsh breaths he told her again and again. The feel of him inside her, above her was more than she too had ever known. With no other had there been this newness, this connection of body and soul in and out and back again. As she touched him he would arch his back, close his beautiful eyes and feel her touch in every nerve. He was learning, slowing himself, then again taking her in hard demand until at last she cried out and gave way to the flood that had been waiting and building inside her. Please, she thought, don't let him stop. He might think he'd hurt her, when that was far from the truth, and to bring him to that moment, to hold him inside, she pulled her legs up onto the sculpted curves of his hips, grasping firmly to pull him in with her well-toned legs, pressing her heels in and pulling too with those muscles inside that quivered around each thrust he delivered. His hand moved from her breast up to her face, her hair, brushing it back from where it had fallen, sticky with sweat to her face. The other moved back and under, grasping the underneath of her thigh as it rose against him. She couldn't close her eyes even though she wanted to do just that. It was better watching him feel the surprise at how he was able to push into her deeper as he held her in that position. He looked down into her eyes as he caught a deep breath and held it. "Jane," The word, let free in a stutter as he exhaled and felt every urgency within her that she tried to quell, wanting to let his moment come as he felt it but the fire in his eyes told her it was already time. He couldn't get out another word, and instead his face filled with an almost hostile expression, as the pent up fuel inside of him raged upward, seeking release. The room filled with the sound of them, grunting and moaning loud, deep, and full as he came against her, so hard, letting loose, filling her with all he had to give. The sound of him, the sound of the blood rushing in her veins as she lifted to meet him, her own climax coming again in time… All of it, roaring, deafening and depleting until at last, he lay against her, and there was the opposite, a rushing wave of silence only broken by their softly labored breathing. And then something more. As he lay there, breathing into the damp folds of her neck, as her legs came slowly down and rested around his calves, there came a sound so soft at first she hardly noticed it. She smiled and stroked his hair, letting him catch his breath, and as the noise came again, just a bit louder, she understood what it was. Against her neck, he turned his face, and the sob escaped him while his arms reached up and curled around her head. He tried not to let them come, choked back his emotion unsuccessfully, and yet another soft release, another small sob wracked him in her arms. She ran her hands over his back and quieted him, but let him have the moment, understanding that it was too much for him to comprehend and feel all at once. Underneath him she moved, feeling him softer inside, the product of their union warm and viscous within, making her smile. "Ssh, John, it's okay baby, ssh." A gentle kiss to his cheek came back salted with tears, and her own threatened to erupt. Never had a man cried when he made love to her, but then there was only ever going to be one man like John, and he was here with her now, and she loved him. She'd said it to him, and if she could have, maybe at this moment she'd have shouted it to the world or at least to all those people who'd seen it all along while she had denied the clarity of her feelings. He loved her too, and that at least in some way she'd known all along. "John," She lifted his face in her hands and went to say something more, but warm and wet with his tears, his lips silenced any words she could have offered and his kiss was deep and true, sealing the love they shared. "I'm sorry, Jane." He said as he lifted onto his elbows, watching her as he calmed. "I have never known this, and together, now, with you…" That smile, the smile so tender that she'd already memorized in a dozen different ways. "It is more than I ever have had inside." "I know. You don't have to say you're sorry." She brushed his hair back and felt him pull from her slowly. That alone was a feeling that might have been reason for her own tears. Instantly she missed his weight and that solid, feral presence. "I can, I mean, I do believe you. I'm sure this, " She laughed just a little as did he while he moved aside. "I'm sure you never had anything even remotely like this before. But you know what John? You can believe me too when I say it's never been this way for me either. You're just like a whirlwind in every corner of my life and it's incredible to me, just incredible." He looked at her puzzled maybe by a word he didn't understand, but he was beyond wanting to put up his usual barrage of why and what as he lay down beside her. There was no doubt in her own mind about what she meant. Oh how it had just been. She felt a shiver when she closed her eyes for a moment and pictured them together, heated and wild with passion, she heard the memory of his growling hunger, and with a soft blush she turned on her side and traced a line down his chest. It was enough that she was sure now that the first time for them, and now the second time would not be the last. In that arena, there was so much more to explore and learn about one another, and in time it would come. He was on his back, breathing deeply and lazily he let one hand fall back to touch her face. It was at once gentle, and yet possessive. It was a gesture that said, 'come to me, look at me, let me see you'. She moved against him and lay on the bareness of his chest, feeling it rise and fall beneath her. They talked for a while, laughing here and there about how fortunate they were that Nicki hadn't been home, about the tutoring Kathleen had planned, what he wanted to learn and it was all so very normal and safe, that both of them gave no thought to the other things in their world that posed heartache and frustration. For a time that was all forgotten, and in that time, gradually, she heard his breathing change as his muscles relaxed. Sleep, soft and gentle had claimed him and as she moved back on her side of the bed to turn off the small little light, her eyes caught the magnificence of his form. With that innumerable thoughts ran through her mind, from all they'd shared, all she'd seen him do and all that others never saw in him. The light was off, and as she moved back against him she could see the blackness of the night sky outside the window, the stars beyond hidden by the ambience of the city lights. As she closed her eyes with her cheek on the warm rise of his side, she knew they were up there somewhere, and with her last waking thought, she thanked the heavens for the man by her side and whatever had brought them together – at last. *** Written and Completed 11.24.03 COPYRIGHT @2003 Shannon Peirce All rights reserved. No unauthorized reproduction. 399Comments to: sep@minuo.org |