Room to Breathe

by Nicole Brightman

“Can I still touch you?” This is new to me so I am a little nervous.

  “God, you better.” One look at the desire in his eyes and I know I would stand on my head if he asked me too.

  I stand up and quickly remove my panties tossing them next to my shoes. I do as he asks and place one knee on either side of his head. Straddling him like this I feel very exposed and for just a moment I feel panic start to set in. Then I hear his voice as he gently touches my thighs.

  “Hey, we don’t have to do this if you aren’t sure.” Once again he calms me easily.

  “Oh no, I am sure,” I say feeling surprisingly relaxed. I lean forward and balance myself over his cock. I again start stroking the base and flicking my tongue around the head. I am devouring as much of him as I can manage. I am completely lost in him.

  He pushes my dress up over my thighs exposing my ass. He gently rubs his hands over both cheeks. Suddenly, I feel a thwack across my right butt cheek.

  “Oh!” I exclaim out loud. Well, that surprised the hell out of me. It stings a little but in a good way.

  “Is that okay?” He asks in a concerned tone.

  “Yes, that is more than okay,” I respond surprising myself.

  “Thank god! Your ass was made for spanking honey,” he says as he smacks the other side. I moan softly and return to worshiping his cock.

  I feel the tip of his tongue brush across my clit. I gasp at the sudden sensation. He runs his very talented tongue up and down my folds a few times before circling my clit. I moan softly pausing to enjoy the feeling spreading through my body. I continue to work him with my hand as his tongue rhythmically laps at my hard button. He slips two of his fingers inside me and I instantly clamp down around him.

  I place my mouth around his cock once again moving my head and hand in time with his. I feel him start to swell again only this time he doesn’t stop me. I feel myself get right to the edge.

  “Mmmm. You are amazing,” he moans against me and I lose it. I feel my whole body overtaken with pleasure tremors. My body is shaking with my intense orgasm but he still continues his lavishing. I am not sure I can handle the sensation.

  “I am there,” he says mercifully as I think I might pass out. I push the tip of his cock to the back of my throat as he explodes in my mouth. I swallow quickly and then collapse next to him.

  “Wow, that was fun,” I say giddily.

  “That is a bit of an understatement,” he says with a little laugh. “Hey, come up here.”

  He helps me adjust so that my head is resting peacefully against his chest. He starts to slowly run his hand through my hair again. I close my eyes and enjoy the feeling of contentment.

  I start to think back on the moment of panic I had a few minutes ago and how quickly it subsided. That is the second time that one of my panic attacks just stopped from his touch and voice. I wonder if I am gaining better control of them or if it could be Eric.

  “Why do you always call me ‘honey’,” I ask dreamily.

  “Well, I like you and it is a term of endearment,” he says with his sly grin once more.

  “No kidding. I mean why always that term.”

  “Well that is what you make me think of.”

  “Honey? I make you think of honey?” I ask surprised as I prop myself up on one elbow to look at his face. I am not sure if that is a compliment or not.

  “Yes, honey. It is pure and sweet just like you,” he replies as he cups my face again. “It happens to match the color of your hair and the taste of your lips as well.”

  I search his face to see if he is joking with me or not. The look on his face makes me think he is being sincere. That is really the nicest thing any man has ever said to me. Oh, fuck. I am really starting to like being with him, a lot.

  “Now, honey,” he says sitting up. “We really need to talk.”

  I swing my legs off the couch and reach for my panties. I pull them on quickly and move to the fire place my back to Eric. The warmth feels so nice. I look at the framed albums.

  “Wow, you really are a Beatles fan,” I point to the frames.

  “Yes I am. I would really like a copy of Abbey Road singed by the whole band but there are only two copies known to exist. I have seen McCartney in concert a few times. I really wish I could have seen them all perform together. As much as I enjoy the Beatles, that isn’t what I wanted to talk about.” He runs his hand through his dark brown hair and I can tell he is getting a little frustrated with me. I should go sit next to him and talk but instead I make my way over to his book cases.

  There are the usual titles I would expect to see in an English man’s collection. There are the mandatory copies of Dickens, the complete works of Shakespeare, some Hemingway, The Great Gatsby, and Moby Dick to name a few. I am a little surprised to see a full collection of books by Tolkien but nothing could have shocked me as much as what is on the shelf next to them.

  “You have three books by Jane Austen?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jane Austen? You really read Jane Austen enough to have three of her books in your private study?”

  “Yes, is that so strange?”

  “Well you are just really manly and Austen really isn’t.”

  “I enjoy reading and I grew up with my mum and sister. Have you ever read her books?”

  “Yes! I love her books. In fact, that was the first thing I thought when I saw this house. It reminds me of something straight out of one of her stories.”

  “I could see that. Can you please come sit down now?”

  “Where is this picture from?” I ask pointing to a framed picture of him and his sister.

  “That is at my favorite castle. It is actually not too far from here.”

  “Oh, I know which one you are talking about. I have always thought it would be fun to explore some castle ruins.”

  “Would you like to go next Saturday? I would love to take you.”

  “Yeah, I would like that a lot.” I feel a little better about this talk he wants to have. If he is making plans to see me next week then it can’t be that bad.

  “Cora, can you please come sit with me so we can talk.” He is scowling at me from the couch. It is clear I really can’t stall any longer. I sit on the couch next to him and I pull my legs up underneath me. He takes my hands in his and furrows his brow. “I don’t know why this is so hard for me to tell you.”

  Chapter 9

  “Just tell me. It can’t be worse than anything I am thinking,” I reassure him as I squeeze his hand lightly.

  “Okay, here it is. You asked me once what I do for a living. I told you that I am a Lord. I am a Lord by birth so my title does come with its own set of duties and responsibilities. Most of them just have to do with what I told you the other night. I have certain functions I am expected to attend and causes I lend support to, that sort of thing,” he pauses, taking a deep breath.

  “That is pretty much what I thought,” I tell him but leave out that I searched the internet after our dinner the other night for what a Lord does.

  “Well that isn’t all I do. I don’t know how much you know about the lifestyle of someone in my position but there are very different expectations put on us than on the average person. For example, if I were to start dating the daughter of another Lord or someone similar it would be expected that I was doing so in preparation of a proposal. There is no such thing as casual dating in that circle. On the other side, if I were to start publicly dating someone from a different, let’s just say circle again, I would have to be very careful about that girl’s motives.”

  “Whoa, are you worried about my motives for hanging out with you? Do you think I am trying to get something out of you? Because you can have your damn clothes back. I thought we were just having fun together,” I can feel my face start to burn but this time it is for a very different reason. He can’t seriously be worried about what my motives are. I mean for the love of god he is the one that was insisting I take his gifts.

  “What? Oh God no! This isn�
��t coming out right,” He scrubs his hands through his hair and over his face. “I don’t mean you. I mean there are other women out there that would want to date someone like me for all the wrong reasons and it can get very unpleasant. You would not be sitting here if I thought for a moment you were that kind of woman.”

  “Okay, go on,” I say as I exhale. I wasn’t even aware I had been holding my breath.

  “Okay, this isn’t working. Let me start at the beginning. Just be patient with me. When Sarah died I was a mess. I had no idea how to deal with the loss, so I did what any twenty-four year old man does when they faced with heavy emotions. I ran from them,” he explains as his eyes turn sad for a moment.

  “I started spending a lot of time with my best mate, Tristan. He is a good guy but certainly not the head of the morality police. We drank and partied a lot. There were always lots of girls around but for a while I barely even noticed them. I was too caught up in my guilt from not being able to save her.”

  “She had cancer, I am sure you did everything possible for her,” I try to reassure him.

  “I know that now but at the time I felt like there should have been something I could do to save her. Then one night I met a woman named Hannah. She was sweet and not like most of the women hanging around. She could actually hold a conversation. She was in school to be a doctor.” Okay why is he telling me about some girl he dated?

  “I wasn’t interested in starting a relationship with anyone but I really needed some stable companionship. So we developed sort of an unspoken arrangement. I allowed her to live in the flat I had in London and took care of her other expenses. She accompanied me to various functions I had to attend and provided the emotional support I needed to really grieve for Sarah.”

  “Okay,” I say scowling slightly. I am still not sure where this is supposed to be going.

  “I am getting to my point, I promise. One night at about one in the morning a woman showed up on our door in hysterics. It seems that she had a similar arrangement with a man who was considered quite wealthy. Only, he had made some poor choices and was now broke. She had found out two hours earlier when he came to tell her that the flat she was living in had been sold and she had to be out by morning. She had nowhere to go and nothing really to her name. I agreed to let her stay at my flat as well for a few weeks to get back on her feet.”

  “Are you trying to tell me that you have some home in London full of single women?”

  “No, not really anyways. So it just happened that I have a cousin I had told about my arrangement with Hannah. He mentioned he would really love to find the same thing. He was just too busy to date anyone but thought it would nice to have a companion.

  I decided to introduce him to Hannah’s friend and they really hit it off. Only this time to protect them both I had my barrister draw up a contract. It was a confidentiality agreement mostly. It had a part that he had to give her a certain amount of notice before taking away a residence from her too. It worked out really quite well for both of them. In fact, it worked so well that within a few weeks I had scores of other men looking for me to help them find similar situations. It has grown in to a rather large production now.”

  “Wait, you help men find prostitutes?” Oh my god, he is a pimp.

  “No! No one is ever paid for sex. Yes, a lot of the relationships turn sexual but that is only if both parties desire it. No one is ever to be paid for anything sexual. I would ban both parties immediately. It is more about companionship than sex. You would be surprised how many men don’t have the time to put into a real relationship or finding the right woman. There are other men that are in bad marriages and cannot get out of them.”

  “You help men cheat on their wives?” Okay, so he isn’t a pimp but he is a pig. What the hell is going on?

  “Sometimes, but not just men. We help women now too. Don’t look so horrified. People in my “position” sometimes marry for several reasons and none of them are love. I know of a quite a few that in order to inherit from their family they have to marry a person in the same circle. That is a small group of people and finding someone that you love is simply not always possible.”

  “Okay,” my head is spinning as I try to understand what he is saying.

  “There are others that marry to bring two powerful families together for business reasons. So yes, occasionally I have helped people in those situations find happiness with another. They are able to be with someone that has no preconceived notions about their relationship and is bound to be discreet. I understand how you might think that is wrong, but I cannot see the harm in people being happy. I think of it as providing a matchmaking service for slightly unconventional relationships.”

  “Okay, give me a minute please. This is a lot to process,” I say as I take a deep breath. He is still holding my hands gently. I look into his warm brown eyes that are so full of worry. I can’t honestly think that he would do something like this if he didn’t really think he was helping people. There is just one point I am stuck on. “So, what happened to Hannah?”

  “Oh, after about a year she finished her schooling and is a doctor now. She lives in Wales with her husband and two children. We communicate via email a few times a year,” he says as his face relaxes. He was clearly braced for a different reaction from me. “So you are okay with this?”

  “I think so. I am not sure I really understand it all. I know I disagree with anyone cheating but I can also kind of understand too.”

  “Well, good because there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about.” Oh dear god, what now? “You see we call the affluent people “sponsors” and the people we set them up with are their “charges”. Charges are given a lot of opportunities they wouldn’t normally be given. For instance, one charge wanted to be a chef so we set her up with a sponsor who loved food and was looking for a charge to live right near a very prestigious culinary school in Paris. It worked out very well for parties. She is now the head chef at a very popular restaurant in London.”

  “Well, that does seem pretty perfect.”

  “That is what we are able to do. We can help people’s dreams come true by providing them a different start. I provide access to any financial planning or legal help at no cost as well. Think of where you could be if money was no longer an issue. You could travel the world and work with different charities without having to worry about providing for yourself. You could do everything you want to do and then some.”

  “Wait, are you asking me if I want to do this?”

  “Yes, I am. Cora, you are intelligent, beautiful, and so much fun to be around. You are exactly the kind of person I can help.”

  “So you just want to pass me off to someone else? I know neither of us wants something serious but I thought we were having fun together. Is this just your way of getting rid of me? If you don’t want to see me anymore you could’ve just told me.” I am completely thrown.

  “No, no! That isn’t what I am saying at all. I like spending time with you, a fact that I thought I made fairly clear earlier. However, you said yourself this isn’t serious and it wouldn’t be right away. You would have to stay here for a while first so we can make sure you are prepared for whatever you might have to deal with. Then once you are ready we would have a get together for you to meet potential sponsors and see if there is anyone you want to work with. It is almost more of a job opportunity than anything else.”

  “But it would be a job where I am always on call. What if I didn’t like any of them or none of them like me?” I can’t help but think that would be humiliating if they all hated me. Wait, am I really considering this?

  “If you don’t like them then you don’t have to be with any of them. As for none of them liking you, that is not possible. It more likely that they with be having fist fights over you,” he smiles his charming smile and it seems my happy Eric is back.

  “Can I have some time to think about this?” My head is so full of thoughts I can hardly think. I need some time to really run through ev
erything.

  “Yes, of course! I would expect you to. Please take all the time you need,” he gently kisses the back of my hand.

  “Thanks. I should be getting home now,” I say as I smile back to reassure him. I slip back on my heels.

  We stand and Eric pauses to press a button on a monitor on the wall. By the time we reach the door Jefferson is waiting.

  “Miss Allen I have already had your belongings placed in the car,” He says holding my sweater out for me. Eric takes it from him and helps me into it himself.

  “Thank you Jefferson,” Eric says as he nods to the butler. Jefferson nods back and disappears down the hall. Eric kisses me sweetly on the lips. “Thank you for hearing me out, Cora. Let me know when you have made your decision or if you have any questions.”

  “I will. Thank you for everything today. It was wonderful,” I reply and then return his kiss. Eric opens the door to reveal a downpour and freezing wind. Angus rushes from the car holding an umbrella for me.

  “I can’t tell you how much I enjoy just talking to you,” he says kissing my cheek once more.

  “Good bye, your Lordship,” I smile and attempt a curtsy.

  “Good bye, Miss Allen,” He smiles as he shakes his head at me. I turn to head down he front steps with Angus carrying the umbrella.

  Chapter 10

  As the car starts the head down the long drive I decide to check my phone. I have three text messages from Maggie asking me to call her. I send her a quick message telling her I am on my way home and will call her when I get there. She responds immediately saying she is coming over. Urgh. I have really had enough of serious conversations for the day. I am about to argue with her when I get a message Eric.

  Thank you again for coming to the house today and for hearing me out. I appreciate that you didn’t just bolt. You should know that you have a perfectly talented mouth as well.

  He makes me smile so easily. I send him a quick message back.

  Anytime and thank you. Your mouth is pretty wonderful too.

  I put my phone down and think back over everything he said. It would be a lot of fun to stay at Greenwood Manor with him and there really wouldn’t be any harm if I changed my mind later. Also, maybe I would find someone I connected with. It isn’t like I have a lot going on in Edgecombe and this would help me travel. There is just one thing bothering me. I am worried that maybe this whole thing with Eric was just a set up for his pitch. I decide to send him a quick text.