by Lisa Fenwick
“Okay. I’m ready to plate, so open the wine and take a seat. The one farthest from the kitchen, please. I’m less likely to trip and spill everything all over you that way.”
Between the simple leftovers she’d brought me before I went to South Carolina and the tantalizing aromas coming from the kitchen, I had no doubt that I was in for a treat. I just hoped that my poached pears would measure up.
“Where are the wine bottle and glasses?” she asked, bringing a platter to the table.
“All three are over to my left for now.”
“Good catch,” she said, edging up to the edge of the table to set the platter down. I waited patiently until she was finished bringing our dinner in and started serving. I finished up by setting her wine glass in front of her.
“I don’t know of a good toast,” she said, lifting her glass and holding it out in front of her. “So, to your continued lovely time out here in Berwick to find what you need.”
“In a quiet way, these past few weeks have been some of the best of my life. Thank you,” I said and clinked my glass against hers.
It took me a while as we ate to figure out why I found dining with Amy so strange. She had absolutely no self-consciousness about eating in front of me. Every woman I’d ever been on a date with or a business dinner with and even just eating take-out at home after years with Ashley gave off clues that the woman was self-conscious about eating in front of me. Every time I’d sat down with a woman, she was always aware of my presence, and it affected the way she ate. Amy was completely free of that deep-seated need to look properly lady-like and dainty or whatever societal expectation she was trying to live up to. It was the same as when I watched her walk around, get up from a chair, and pet Smokey. She really didn’t care how she looked doing these things. It was so refreshing to see a woman so free in that way.
We didn’t talk much during dinner. I couldn’t read her lips while she was eating. The food was good enough that I didn’t mind much, though. It gave me a chance to savor every bite without the distraction of conversation, just the distraction of watching the pretty woman sitting across from me.
I finished my plate a bit before she was done. “Let me get dessert finished,” I said, taking my dishes to the kitchen. A few minutes later, I saw her reflection in the window as she came to join me. All I really needed to do was heat up the pears a bit, grate the ginger, and dollop the mascarpone topping onto them.
I saw my phone light up. “You would tell me if my cooking was an abomination, wouldn’t you?” Amy had asked.
“I would. I’d find a really nice way to say it, though. But you have nothing at all to worry about. That was excellent.”
“I know that I’m competent. I just worry that I've spent so much time optimizing my cooking for my palate, because I never cook for anybody else, that it’ll be unpalatable to people who aren’t me.”
“But you do eat things made by others, right?”
“I do,” she said.
“So, you’ve always had some reference point to come back to.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Now it’s your turn to go sit down and relax until this is on the table,” I said.
“As you wish, Mr. Gold.” Despite my best and repeated efforts, I still hadn’t managed to teach my app to recognize my name from anybody.
Before I put dessert on the table, I had to take a little taste to be sure I wasn't about to embarrass myself after what Amy just fed me. Fortunately, my offering seemed up to the task, so I could set a plate in front of her without embarrassment.
“You don’t seem to be bored with me yet this evening, but if you do need me to go after dessert, I’ll understand. It’s been a pretty rough couple of days for you,” Amy said before taking her first bite.
“I’m not bored at all, and the company is lovely. This was what I needed right now, much more than being alone.”
“You’ve got Boy,” she said.
“He’s good company, but it’s not the same. He’s nowhere near as good a conversationalist.”
Amy stopped herself just before she took another bite. “Does your phone let you know if he’s barking at you? You mentioned that you’ve programmed it to recognize the doorbell here and some other important sounds.”
“Yes. He’s been trained to make a certain howl if he’s distressed. Like if I accidentally locked him in a bathroom or something, the phone would pick up that specific sound.”
“Good. I’d hate to think he’d have no way of letting you know if he needed help. Like Smokey, I’m sure Boy gives you a lot, and you’d want to know he could rely on you if he needed.” She took another bite of pear. “By the way, this is amazing. The ginger right at the end makes it.”
“I toned it down a bit. If left to my own devices, I’d put in enough to make my mouth numb.”
“I could get that way with cloves. I made a spice cake with a ton of ground clove in it. I’d need to feed you a few more times before I spring that on you.”
“I look forward to that. It means more dinners together,” I said.
“Yes. This has been a great night, just what I needed.”
I looked out into the living room to check in on the dogs. “Smokey is out cold right now. I wouldn’t want you to have to wake him up.”
“Yes. We should let him sleep,” Amy said. “Though if we decide to take this to the sofa, we might disturb him anyway.”
“I would love to take this to the sofa,” I said. “There is a bit of wine left. May I top you up?”
“Please.”
Chapter Seventeen
Amy
The Present
I was right. I heard both Smokey and Boy wake up as Noah and I came into the living room. There were a couple of big yawns and a little bit of shuffling around, and then they were quiet again.
“Are they going back to sleep?” I asked Noah.
“Yes. They’re rather cute together, to tell you the truth.”
“I imagine they are.” I held out my wine glass, and Noah took it so I could feel my way to the sofa and sit down. He sidled up next to me, close enough that we could easily touch but still keeping a little air gap between us.
He handed me my glass, and our fingers brushed as I took it from him.
I found myself incredibly nervous. I wanted to break the awkward silence, but I was afraid that anything coming out of my mouth was going to make me sound like an idiot. I really didn’t want Noah to think of me that way, but he did know that I was inexperienced. Yet, I hadn’t told him about Rocky. Then again, the kiss was over before it began, so there was nothing to tell him.
I heard him take a sip of his wine. The silence between us was that heavy. I wondered if he was feeling the same way I was. It would have helped a lot if I knew exactly what I was feeling. I was happy and impatient, excited and terrified, eager and paralyzed.
I took another sip of wine and decided I’d had enough. I knew that a little bit of buzz would relax me, but I also wanted to be completely present. One more sip, and I had just enough courage to open my mouth.
“Um, Noah. I'm about to do something I’ve never done before.”
“What is that?” he asked. Oh, there was such a delicious anticipation in his voice!
I decided it was maybe a bad idea.
“Take this,” I said, holding out my wine glass. As soon as I heard it settle onto the end table, I reached my hand out. I found his shoulder first and let my hand wander up to his neck, his cheek. I could hear and feel his breath start to come shallow and rapid. I felt less nervous knowing that he felt this too. And he wasn’t pulling away or tensing up or leaning back. My thumb brushed the corner of his mouth, and his lips parted slightly.
I opened my mouth just a little bit as well, and slowly approached. He leaned in to meet me, and our lips touched. It was not the first time I’d kissed a man, but it was definitely the first time I’d initiated the kiss and wanted it. I was glad that the last thing we’d had to eat was Noah�
��s sweetly spiced pears and that the wine was sweet. He tasted so good, so divine.
I let myself drift away into the kiss for several breaths, then I pulled my head back.
“Did I step out of line?” I asked.
“No,” Noah said. “Not at all.”
I felt his hand come behind my neck and pull me to him. He was much more confident about it than I was, obviously much more experienced and knowledgeable about how these things went, so I let him take charge. By following his cues, I could focus more on what it felt like and just enjoy it instead of fretting about whether I was doing it right or not.
I liked the way that he played with the rhythm and the pressure. Sometimes, he pulled me close and our lips pressed together hard. Other times, he teased me with little flutters. I liked hearing the little contented sighs that escaped him when his kisses were between those two extremes.
I crawled on top of him, straddling his lap. As I settled my weight onto him, I was surprised at feeling his arousal right up against my own tingling body. I jerked up involuntarily at the sudden jolt of pleasure I got from it.
“Sorry,” I said, laughing. “I, well…”
“You’ve never done this before,” Noah said.
“No.”
“I’ll be patient,” he said.
“Not too patient, please. Don’t rush me. But don’t treat me like a fragile porcelain doll or like I’m too pure and innocent to touch or anything.”
“I won’t,” Noah said with a purr. Then I felt his hands lower to the hem of my skirt, and he adjusted the fabric, un-bunching it from where it got caught up around my legs when I climbed up on top of him. It also pulled the fabric of the skirt from between my legs.
I lowered myself down onto him again. There was only my tights and underwear between his jeans and me, but I knew what to expect. Noah shifted his legs a little closer together, which made it more comfortable.
I didn’t let myself press completely against him, but as we started to kiss again, I did some exploring with my hips, touching lightly, exploring the different sensations. It was certainly not as intense as when I’d touched myself, but coupled with the kisses, his hands on my back and sides, his scent, and his sounds, the pleasure of just grazing myself against him was more complete than any I’d ever given myself.
I felt his hands start to slip under my sweater. I straightened my back so I was looking directly at him. “Yes, please,” I whispered. He started to lift the sweater, and I raised my arms up so he could take it off me.
“Don’t stop there,” I said. His hands slipped behind my back, and my bra loosened. I shrugged out of it and felt around the front of his shirt for buttons.
His hands moved around to the front of my body, and he cupped my breasts, palms over the nipples. I gasped and completely failed at undoing the button in my fingers. I decided to just put my hands on his shoulders and ride the experience for a while. He put a hand on my back, pulled me forward, and started kissing at my collarbone, clearly with the intention of going lower. I knew that if he started kissing my nipples, I was going to be completely useless, so I started feeling around for buttons again.
He must have decided there was a race going on. As I fumbled with the buttons, he intensified his kisses. Sucking at my skin, licking it, even daring a little nip with his teeth. He chuckled when that caused me to lose grip on the button again. That right there told me he was indeed actively distracting me from my task. I had most of his shirt open, so I felt around until I found his nipples. I tickled at one with a fingertip, until he groaned my name, and temporarily broke off from what his mouth was doing to me. That gave me the opening I needed to find the last button.
He slipped out of his shirt and wrapped me up in a big hug. The incredible warmth of his skin against mine enveloped me in happiness and contentment. I felt like I could stay like that forever, bare chest against bare chest, kissing, his hands rubbing up and down my back. But as I relaxed more and more, my body sank down, and I got another powerful jolt of pleasure through my body that reminded me of what I really wanted. He brought his mouth close to my ear and whispered, “Bedroom?”
“Yes,” I whispered to him. I stood up, offered my hand, and led him to the cottage’s little bedroom. I heard Smokey’s tags as he lifted his head up to watch us go, then he settled back down. I turned around and backed up to the edge of the bed.
“Are you sure?” Noah asked, making sure that I wanted to go all the way.
“I’ve been dreaming about this since the first time we met,” I said. It was all I could choke out with my throat dry and my heart pounding. I let myself fall backwards onto the bed.
Noah climbed up next to me and crawled to one side. “Good,” he said. I heard him patting the pillow. I wriggled up next to him, putting my hand on his side. His bare skin was still so deliciously warm. It was getting dark in the bedroom. Evening had started to settle in, and the sun was setting. The curtains were drawn.
“If you want to be able to talk to me, I’ll need to turn a light on,” he said. “In case you’re shy.”
“You can turn on the light. I’m shy about a lot of things but not really about how I look. Not right now. But I’m still terrified that I’m going to do something wrong.”
Noah switched on a bedside lamp. “What happens next is just human nature. Think of it like falling off a bicycle.”
I laughed. “I’ve never been on a bicycle. How about tripping over a curb? I still do that a lot.”
“That will work,” Noah said, with a beautiful chuckle. “If you don’t feel ready, just let me know, and I’ll stop. Otherwise, just let things happen as they may. If something feels good, just smile at me, and I’ll keep doing it. If you do something that feels good, I’ll make happy noises to let you know.”
“Is it really that easy?” I asked.
“Let me show you,” Noah said, rolling up on top of me. He started up with the line of kisses from throat to breast again, this time taking my nipples into his mouth and sucking on them and nibbling a little bit. I was distracted by trying to figure out how he was going to see me smiling with his face buried in my chest. I put my hands on his shoulders and rubbed my fingertips up and down. He made a happy noise at that, to let me know that touch would work for him just as well as facial expression. I dragged my fingernails gently across his back and got an even happier noise and some more enthusiastic attention to my breasts.
Maybe it really was just that easy?
Noah came up to his knees and loomed over me. I heard a zipper, and a thrill rushed through me, thinking the moment had finally arrived. I felt the bed move as he slipped out of his jeans. I reached back and unzipped my skirt so I could take it off. I'd already taken off my tights and was just about to slip out of my panties as well when I felt Noah’s hands lightly grab my wrists.
“Not yet,” he said.
I let out a whimper then remembered he couldn’t catch something like that. “Why not?” I asked.
He laid down on top of me, his lightly furred chest tickling me a little bit. “The tease is part of the fun. Besides, there’s no rush,” he said, taking a gentle, playful nip at my lower lip.
I put my hands on the sides of his head and pulled him back so he could see my mouth.
He pressed his hips forward, and I opened my legs wide for him. If I thought the feeling of his manhood touching me there was divine while I straddled him on the sofa with both of us fully clothed, feeling him grind gently against me without just a couple thin layers of fabric between was transcendental.
“One step at a time,” he said.
I realized that he was the master and I needed to let him have full control. “Yes,” I whispered as I put my hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer, to give me something productive to do with my mouth. My other hand ran down his back and into the waistband of his boxers. I rested my hand on the muscle that was powering the rolling in his hips and was slowly driving me mad. I wrapped my legs around his and brought my other han
d down.
If I kept concentrating on the effect he was having on my most secret parts, I was going to turn into some sort of wild woman, rip my panties off, and demand he take me. The thought of being so bold and brazen filled me with both a powerful, erotic thrill and also a strange sense of embarrassment. I knew that I had to be blushing just at the thought of ordering him to skip the warmup and go straight to the main event.
But I also couldn’t help but savor the moment as well. It was the first time anybody had ever kindled that particular flame in me, and I was enjoying it. I realized that as much as I wanted Noah to finish undressing me and show me exactly what our bodies could do together, I could also just lie there under him, feeling the restrained strength of his upper thighs and lower back and gloriously firm backside forever.
My body was nowhere near so patient. It didn't let me distract myself for long with the gentle massage I was giving him while we kissed deeply. I whispered into his ear, “Please, now. Please…”
“Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”
I nodded my head, slowly but unmistakably signaling, “Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
I knew words would be wasted with the two of us cheek to cheek. He wouldn’t hear them, and there was only so much I could communicate with nods of my head. I started to pull his boxers down.
He took the hint and finished getting rid of the last of that meddlesome garment. I took advantage of the opportunity to slip out of the last of my clothing as well. I tapped his shoulder as I felt one of his knees come between my thighs and guide them apart.
“Yes?” Noah said.
“Before we do. Can I touch you?”
“Yes. Explore as much as you want.” He rolled to lay on his side next to me.
I turned to face him and reached down. I took him into my hand. He was hot and unbelievably stiff, and I could feel his pulse pounding through it. “Is this even going to fit?” I asked.