by Ana Simons
A soft moan escapes her lips and reverberates through me. A wild frenzy begins to stir me up inside; I am nearly insane. I’m lost, with her, in her, as my bared heart whispers into hers that I love her. I have for so long, I don’t even know when it started.
I draw back again, both of us still breathing heavily, and I let my thumb brush her lips, rub against the side of her jaw, slide down her neck and caress her shoulder. Looking intently into her face, into her startled eyes and the naked vulnerability that covers her features now, I let my hand run through her hair, then down her arm until it rests on her hand, which I take and squeeze reassuringly.
“You’ll be all right, don’t worry,” I whisper against her face. “We’re free falling together – but I’m holding your hand, see? I won’t let go until you’re safe.”
24 FALLING HOME
A MIXTURE OF RELIEF and excitement, and hope turned into happiness mingle all together as I close the door behind me with a soft kick.
The moment we get in, I hold her firmly against me, taking her mouth in deep, hungry kisses, our bodies almost wrestling against each other, our tongues intertwining with a passion that goes beyond anything.
I can barely contain the ripple of anticipation that’s sliding up and down my spine as I back her towards the living room without ever breaking our kiss. It’s insane, this wild craving, this reckless rush of desire that is sweeping through me and overtaking my mind completely.
“Brian?”
“Sweetheart?”
“You really came all the way down here for me?” she asks between ragged breaths, her eyes searching mine, her hands moving to rest on my chest.
I nod. My eyes bore into hers, and hers into mine.
“I can hardly believe you actually stepped onto a plane–”
“To see you,” I finish, holding her head in my hands, having her looking at me. “It’s all true, Liv. I meant every word I said.” I run a thumb over the smooth curve of her parted lower lip and bend to capture her mouth again with a long kiss.
“God, I missed you so much.” She clutches me, pulling me even closer, kissing me with the same need, burying her hands in my hair, her mouth demanding more and more from mine.
“You did?”
A soft moan escapes her lips, a sigh that stirs the torrent of feelings coursing through my veins, sending me into a state of near desperation.
I kiss her harder and deeper, my tongue moving with determination against hers, feeling and tasting it shamelessly. One hand creeps to the small of her back, the other snakes under her top, caressing the hot skin and the silky fabric of her bra.
She shivers beneath my touch.
Without breaking contact, I move behind her, feeling her warmth, stroking her skin with my fingertips, holding her steady as I press my hard body against her back.
I diligently undo her bra and Olivia brings both hands up to the straps and slides them off her shoulders. Pulling it from under her top, I toss it to the floor, my hands skimming over her body, feeling her hard nipples through the soft material.
A tingling warmth surges through me, making my senses reel. This is driving me insane, making me mindless with wanting. The bare truth is that I feel like taking her right here, right now.
Though aching to make her mine, I hold my breath and suck in the urge.
Gently pulling her hair aside, I trail kisses from the nape of her head down the soft curve of her shoulder, nibbling the delicate skin, teasing her with my tongue.
“Brian…” She gasps my name and a warm feeling radiates again from my groin and rushes up my chest. Every muscle in me clenches tight. I’m burning alive, barely containing my urgent need to feel her against my skin, under me, around me, melding with me.
I bury my face in her neck to nuzzle against it, to kiss and bite it gently. “So, I heard you wanted to dance with me again?”
There’s a mischievous smile on my face she can’t see, but can sense in the tone of my voice.
She glances sideways, her eyes glittering with answering mischief. “I did.”
I stretch my arm to the side table to grab the remote and turn up the sound system. Some soft, nice beat fills the room.
She tries to turn around, but I hold her firmly in place. I want her back against my chest. Just a little longer.
My arms tighten around her in an entangled embrace, as our hips swing to the slow rhythm.
“I want you,” I whisper against her face, nuzzling her ear with my lips and hot breath.
My hands explore her body, tracing the well-defined line of her waist, gripping the curve of her hips, bringing her closer, rubbing my hard body against hers.
“Brian.” She’s lost, my name’s a faded murmur. Her breasts rise and fall rapidly, in time with her ragged breathing. “I need you.”
One of her arms slips around my neck, sliding into my hair, pulling it, her back arching at my touch, her head shifting sideways searching for me, her eyes fixed on my mouth, her lips parting, daring mine.
And I can’t resist her invitation. I kiss her hard, then I kiss her softly, and then hard again. I breathe in each soft moan of pleasure as I press my lips into hers.
I spin her around and fall to my knees, to kiss her belly and caress the velvety skin. My nostrils flare as I take in her scent, the same flowery fragrance from the night of the wedding, I remember perfectly – it’s indelibly imprinted in my memory.
Her hands clutch my shoulders as she begins to stroke my hair, entangling her fingers in it, pulling me tight against her.
I untie the cord of her jogging bottoms and pull them down, one leg after the other. My mouth covers and kisses her mound, my hands caressing the tender skin of her inner thighs.
“I… I want you too…” Her voice comes out in pants between heavy, dragging breaths. “Now.”
A shudder rushes through me and my entire body clenches in response. I feel absolutely maddened with desire.
Trailing unhurried kisses up her body, I rise slowly, nibbling, brushing my lips and tongue against her skin. And then I stop, the look of frustration on her face, a cute pout of irritation, making my lips twist into a small, devilish grin.
“It’s not like you don’t deserve to suffer a little, sweetie,” I tease as we keep swaying to the music.
A malicious grin breaks over her face as she begins to unbutton my shirt, splaying her hands to push it off my shoulders. Then she reminds me of the embarrassing moment in the church, “Oh, sweetie, one way or another... I know I’m gonna get ya.”
She has already. From the very moment I laid my eyes on her that day.
I cradle her face, gently at first, but then I take her head in my hands and kiss her hard on the mouth, a wet and demanding kiss, one that begs her to kiss me like she really means it.
“I missed you,” I murmur into her hair before I slide the hem of her top up.
“Oh, God.” A soft noise of pleasure rises from within her as my lips glide down her neck, to capture her nipples.
I can’t contain a chuckle.
“What?” she breathes out, looking at me with heavy-lidded eyes, her expression telling me that pure sensation has long taken command of her thoughts.
“I just had an epiphany!”
“Now?!”
I press my hand on her back and bring her closer, her bare breasts touching my chest. “Your boobs. I know why I like them.”
“Oh, you cracked one of the mysteries that science can’t explain?” With a sly smile playing on her lips, she draws back enough to unbuckle my belt.
I place my hands over hers, to help. In between kisses and laughs, my jeans are discarded.
“Because of all those sighs and gasps when I touch them. I could get off fairly easily just with that!”
She smiles, a naughty little grin full of malice twitching her lips as she outlines the top of my boxer shorts with her finger. Ever so slowly she works them down, teasing me, firing me up even more.
The light mood is interrupted when
my eyes lock on hers again, silently communicating I can’t wait any longer. I want her now. Desperately. Like I’ve never wanted anyone before…
*
“So, what is it, the thing you wanted to ask me before you go?”
“What do you think?” Wrapping one arm around her, I pull her closer to my chest, to nuzzle against her hair, and leave a long kiss on the top of her head.
After a weekend that completely surpassed my expectations, it’s time for me to leave.
But before Olivia drives me back to the airport, I had to bring her to the Magic Fountain. We’re sitting on the stone steps next to the cascade, in a quiet corner, away from the flocks of tourists gathered at the foot of the hill.
They all came here to watch the water show. And it’s indeed an impressive thing: several moving jets of water rising and falling, hiding before they burst forth again in a spectacular display of colour and light and music, all in sync like a ballet choreography orchestrated to the very last detail.
But I didn’t bring her here because of the show, we’re here for a totally different reason.
“Olivia,” I start tentatively, and she turns her head in the direction of my voice. “Would you take me, this lovely bloke here, to be yours again? I promise to be kind, caring and affectionate... and you promise I get to see you naked, get all hot and wet and pant like a mad woman every day of our lives?”
“God, that was bloody awful,” she gasps in feigned shock. “In that case, I have a request too.”
“What? You want me to tie you up and spank you a little? That’s not exactly my thing, but if you ask nicely, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Shaking her head, she presses her lips together smothering a snort of laughter.
“Then what?”
“Would you also vow... you won’t come up for air until the moment I don’t know if I should moan, cry your name or leave scratches on your back?”
This is why I love her. I just felt a twitch of happiness in my groin.
“That was hot! Too bad we can’t put it into practice right away…”
“Deal?” She smiles, a twinkle of mischief flashing in her happy eyes.
“This works fine for me. Orgasm etiquette: ladies first. Always. No problem.”
“Deal!” She closes the agreement herself, snuggling closer into my legs, dropping her head back against my chest. “So, this is what you had in mind? To ask me to be your girl again, in the same place where you’d done it before?”
I hum in agreement, rubbing her shoulders.
“The words were rather shitty, I dare say you even did much better last time, but the idea has a lot of potential.”
I kiss her temple. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”
“What?”
“I heard what Kate said the other day. At the wedding. None of that is true.”
She glances over her shoulder. “What isn’t true?”
“That I’ve been doing some… travelling. Well, I have. But alone. I haven’t been with anyone.”
“Oh. So you’re hopping onto planes to be with yourself?” Her tone is calm but also holds irony.
“I can’t tell you what it is, not yet.”
She turns, looking half curious, half scared. “Are you in some sort of trouble?”
“I need you to trust me on this.”
“Brian? Please.”
“You’ll know when the time is right.”
She frowns. “Does it have anything to do with your work?”
I remain silent.
“Your family?”
“Just say you’ll trust me.”
With a frustrated sigh, she nods. I kiss the top of her head and she lets her body relax into mine.
When I hold her tight, it feels like falling home. To the place where you belong, where your memories lie, and your heart is. The warm bed you can’t get out of in the morning, the trusting and familiar space where you can be you and everyone knows the unedited version of yourself. Lots of pictures on the wall everyone treasures, countless memories and laughs no one wants to forget.
It’s the bench on your parents’ back garden. A bunch of kids running amok, driving your sister crazy, but everyone loves them to pieces anyway. It’s where you feel relaxed, reading a book with a cup of coffee and Milo snoring at your feet, because the damn dog just loves you without demanding anything in return.
It’s warmth on a rainy day. That spot across the threshold where you feel wrapped in a soft blanket in front of the fireplace before you drift off to sleep.
Hopefully now, not alone anymore.
Yes, it’s true, the moment I held her in my arms everything clicked back into place.
THREE WEEKS LATER…
25 GLIMPSES
AT LAST. THE GODDAMNED distant echo has finally stopped. And so has the flashing light flickering from the nightstand.
Thank God.
Burying deeper into the pillow, I snuggle down between the sheets, my weary body refusing to wake up after a long and demanding night.
I’m still fully immersed in my sleepy warm morning fuzziness when another beeping sound horns in.
You’d better check that, some nagging voice at the back of my mind utters repeatedly, at the exact same tempo of the rain tapping against the window outside.
With only a shy beam of light intruding through curtains, my senses struggle to adjust to the dark. It takes me a few moments to break through the drowsiness and get my bearings, until I finally manage to prop myself up with my elbow and squint at the mobile still glowing with a notification.
Sue | Saturday, September 26 | 10:20
Hey, you two? Make yourselves decent ;-) Dropping off Josh and Emma in 30 minutes.
Oh sod. It’s not as early as I thought!
It’s Josh’s birthday today and we’ve got to hurry. I promised my sister we’d hang out with the kids until they finished preparing everything for the party this evening.
Wait. 30 minutes?
Carried away by last night’s memories and the perfume that still lingers in the air, I fall back onto the bed and let my hand search the sheets on my left side.
But that’s a lot of time! Enough to spoon, snuggle, your bottom jammed into my crotch… and, well, who knows where all that can take us...
Nowhere, it will take me nowhere.
My hand comes up empty. Apparently, there’s no cuddle session in the programme. I’m girlfriend-less in bed.
I roll out and clumsily shove my feet into my slippers. A quick look out of the window as I put my t-shirt on, just to confirm that there’s indeed nasty weather outside, and I’m now ready to follow the music and the smell of fresh coffee wafting through the house.
When I reach the kitchen door and take a peek inside, I have to swallow a chuckle. She’s by the counter singing and swaying her backside to – what’s that? Cindy Lauper? – pouring coffee into two large cups and checking on the bread in the toaster.
I lean against the doorframe with my arms folded, and stay there for a little while, watching her with absolute delight, my eyes travelling all over her.
From head to toe.
Thoroughly.
Damn, you look sexy in those tiny shorts.
And then it hits me again, the realisation that what she means to me and how she makes me feel goes far beyond all that. It’s like being wrapped up in a warm blanket, soft and comforting. I don’t know, it’s hard to put it into words.
With the thought in mind that I’m a lucky bastard who could really get used to this in no time – to having her around every day brightening up my mornings – I head back to my room. I bought her a present yesterday, nothing big, just a scarf I saw during my lunch hour. It’s a fancy thing with a blueish print; she loves scarves, always wears one, it’s sort of her trademark.
Back in the kitchen, I sneak up behind her, slip one arm around her waist and nuzzle against her ear. “Morning, sexy thing.”
She tilts her head back, smiling and giving me acc
ess to her neck. “Morning, sleepyhead! Hey, when are the kids coming? Shouldn’t we–?”
“No,” I interrupt whatever she wanted to ask and place the nice gift bag on the counter, right in front of her. “I got you this.”
She peeks inside enthusiastically, but the smile gives way to a frown. “But it’s empty.”
“Because I have it here already.” I let the scarf unfurl and caress her arm and shoulder with it and–
“What are you doing, you crazy twit?” She giggles.
I tilt her head towards mine and kiss her.
“Wouldn’t it be immensely fun if we gave it some use right away?” I ask as I trail kisses down her neck and shoulder, my hand already sliding down one strap of her top.
“Hey, handsome, have you seen the time?” She tries to free herself from my grip. “We’re late, we’ve got to hurry. And besides, I need you seated and focused. There’s something I need to talk to you about. I thought we could do it over breakfast.”
“Sure. In a minute. Or maybe in eight or ten...” I pin her against the counter and hold her there with my body. Covering her eyes, I tie the scarf into a knot at the back of her head.
“You’re blindfolding me? Really? You want to do this–”
“Here and now,” I whisper into her ear, my hands already roaming everywhere, her hips, her waist, her breasts.
However, she breaks into a peal of laughter, a really loud one. But the louder she laughs, the harder I press her against my body.
“Listen, beautiful. I woke up to an empty bed this morning. Not funny. That’s why I’m punishing you a little now.”
She keeps laughing like a mad woman.
I spin her around and crush my mouth on hers.
“Is this how it’s going to be? You spoiling me all the time?” she asks in between kisses.
“Sweetheart, we always strive to deliver outstanding service.”
“When... are they... arriving?”