by Diana Kane
“Hey Erin, I just wanted to thank you for moving things along today. I really appreciate your hard work and ensuring we are always ready.”
“No problem, but I appreciate the recognition. How’s Alex doing?”
“Good, really good. A few more weeks off just to be safe and I might be able to clear her to come back. She is physically back to where she needs to be and doesn’t have any after effects like seizures or headaches.”
“So did you tell her yet?” I just smile at Erin as a response. “Really? About damn time! I thought you seemed more relaxed, even happier since you came back from vacation. On Monday I just thought it was because you had a nice trip somewhere. Then I remembered that you are taking care of Alex so I wondered how you did both. Alex is still staying with you right? She hasn’t moved back to her apartment?” Erin has brought up something that I haven’t thought of, Alex doesn’t actually live with me. A sadness flows through me when I think about it.
“Yes. I canceled my trip when Alex had her accident. We had a nice staycation. I’m very happy, thank you. I think Alex is as well. You should text her and get the address. You are welcome to visit her.”
“Really? That would be nice. So how do you two plan on keeping this under wraps?”
“We aren’t. I told the partners yesterday. Once we take care of a few things there we will meet with management here. We want everything sorted before she comes back.”
“Well good luck. Go home and take care of our girl.”
“You got it, thanks again.”
*****
I make it home just after 5. As I park the car I think about seeing if Alex would like to go out for dinner. I open the door and am immediately greeted by a mouth watering aroma. Suddenly dinner in tonight sounds perfect. “Alex?” I can hear soft music playing from the sitting room. I kick off my shoes and deposit my bag and keys at the door. I follow the music, wondering why Alex isn’t answering me. I start to feel panic creep in as I worry that something has gone very wrong. I turn the corner to the sitting room and stop in my tracks, taking the scene in. The fire is lit and before it lies a blanket spread over the floor. Next to that is a small table that sits about a foot off of the floor. It is covered with a table cloth I recognize. A small feast surrounds the three lit candles. It looks like roasted lemon pepper chicken, with red skinned potatoes and asparagus, a salad and chocolate covered strawberries. As I stand there in shock I feel Alex’s strong arms wrap around my waist from behind me.
“Happy birthday baby.” She softly whispers in my ear that she loves me and kisses the side of my neck. I’m overcome with emotion. No one has ever done anything like this for my birthday so my birthday has never felt like a big deal to me. Suddenly it does feel like a big deal and I feel like the most important person in the world. Tears burn my eyes. I turn to face Alex without breaking her embrace. Her hands move from my waist up to my face and I feel her thumbs caress away the tears I couldn’t contain. “Hey what is it?”
“Nothing. I’m happy, just really happy. I feel like the most important person in the world. No one has ever done anything like this for me. How did you know?” Great not only am I crying, I’ve turned into a babbling mess. Alex just stares at me with those green eyes that make me swoon and her radiant smile.
“You are the most important person in the world. I live to see you happy. Taylor called to check in on Monday. Said you hadn’t updated her in a little over a week.”
I laugh because it dawns on me that I hadn’t and I know the precise reason why. “So she knows now?”
“Yeah. She figured it out. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to say anything so I didn’t, but she guessed. So that prompted her to ask me what my plans were for your birthday. I felt like a terrible girlfriend. I didn’t even know when it was.”
“You aren’t a terrible girlfriend. I don’t know when your birthday is.”
“That isn’t important. You hungry?” Alex takes my hand to lead me over to our indoor picnic but I refuse to budge. She turns back and looks at me questioningly. I pull her back to me, take her in my arms and kiss her. I know why she doesn’t see her birthday or holidays as important and it breaks my heart.
“It is important. I want you to feel the way I feel seeing this. You matter and you are important to me.” She eyes me momentarily before resting her head against mine.
“It is in February.” Alex looks down as she tells me this.
“I’m so sorry I missed it. I didn’t—,” I cut myself off. The pieces slowly start to fit together. I know we had been having a lot of tension filled issues around that time. I also remember Abby mentioning that Alex always tends to get down that time of the year, and that whenever Alex was reacting to something emotionally she would tend to call one person. “Brooke?” She drops her eyes and loosens her grip on me, allowing me to walk away if I chose to. I tighten my arms around her and kiss her forehead. “You’re going to have to try harder than that to get rid of me.” Alex finally meets my gaze. “You did nothing wrong when you spent the night with Brooke. I wasn’t honest with you much less myself. Everything that has happened has led us here. Nothing to worry about baby.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I take her face in my hands and gently kiss her letting her know how much I mean it. “Let’s eat. It smells amazing.”
I take my time eating dinner for a change. I want to savor every bite and remain in this moment with Alex for as long as possible. By the time we finish the salad and main course I’m too stuffed to consider any of the tantalizing strawberries. “So you did all of this by yourself today?”
“Sort of. I had Abby pick me up as soon as you left this morning. She ran me to the store for the food and over to my apartment to get something. She dropped me off and went into work a little late. I prepped everything here though, yes. Erin kept me updated all day on your progress and sent me a final message when you left.” Alex stands and leads me to the other side of the furniture she pushed out of the way to accommodate our picnic. There on the floor sits a blanket covered object. “So I didn’t really have any idea what to get you. You sorta just buy everything when you decide you want or need it and since I’m not exactly working right now, money is an issue. I started to make this for you before we had all those issues. It was meant to be a just because gift. Then I was going to give it to you as a thanks for taking care of me gift. But now this feels right.” I pull back the blanket and expose a chest, like the one Alex has.
“This is the second one from your closet isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was never mine though. It was always meant to be yours.” I squat down and examine the chest. It has been finished in a color slightly different than Alex’s, one that matches my bedroom furniture perfectly. I lift the lid and discover that instead of the black material Alex had lined hers with, this one has an interior covered in a beautiful blue velvet lining. I turn and look at Alex. “I wanted it to match your eyes, only there isn’t a material that captures that vibrant shade of blue properly. I got as close as I could.” I stand back up and pull Alex to me, kissing her deeply, letting it linger.
“I love it. Thank you so much.”
“Yeah? I wish I could have done more.”
“Are you kidding me? That is probably the most meaningful gift anyone has ever given me. And all of this? Nothing short of perfect.”
“Really?”
“Really.” The sounds of Momma Cass singing Dream a Little Dream start oozing out of the speaker. I look at Alex and raise my eyebrow. “Well this never struck me as a song I’d find on your playlist.” She smiles back at me.
“It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful. Dance with me?” She pulls me away from the furniture and the feast into a small open space. We lock our arms around one another and gently sway in time with the music. I have no idea how long we spend dancing like that, but forever wouldn’t have been long enough.
“So Dr. Waters, anything else you want for your birthday?” I sigh, knowing there is somethin
g that I want, but I’m afraid to ask. Alex pulls back just enough to look me in my eyes. “What is it? Anything, just ask.” I continue looking at her eyes and see nothing there but love and caring and hope. This is just like before, I have to tell her how I feel.
“I want you.” Alex gazes at me and her naughty grin emerges.
“You already have me.”
“No, not like that.” Alex’s look shifts from amusement to confusion. “I want you to move back in with me permanently. Not to the basement apartment, I want you up here with me.” Alex eyes me and I can’t read her look.
“Is that what you really want?”
“That is what I really want.”
“You don’t think it is too soon?”
“Alex we already lived together once. We basically live together now. I can’t imagine you leaving here and sleeping 10 minutes away from me several nights a week. I don’t want to imagine it. You belong here with me. If you want to stay at Lydia’s I’m happy to cover another month of rent, but you asked what I want and I want you here with me, permanently.” I feel my insides twist as I wait for her response. I’m too invested in this to read her emotions.
“You’re sure?”
“Not a single doubt in my mind. The thought of you leaving here breaks my heart.”
“Well when you put it that way how can I say no?” The grin returns to her face, giving me hope she will say yes.
“What are you talking about, you never tell me no. Are you saying yes?”
“Of course yes. I’ve been dreading returning to the apartment. I don’t want to be away from you if I don’t have to be.” I pull her in for a long, slow kiss.
“Now you’ve given me everything that I could want for my birthday” Alex lets out a soft chuckle against my ear.
“Not yet I haven’t, but there is still time.” Alex leads me back to the fireside. She pulls the cushions from the sofa and other chairs in the room and arranges them into a makeshift bed, draping the blanket back over them. She pulls me down onto them and we make love for hours, no games, no toys, just the two of us reveling in one another, our bodies finding the synchronization that we’ve had since day one. “I love you Catherine” Alex softly whispers against my lips as we slowly rock ourselves against each other.
“I love you Alex,” I whisper back before continuing our bliss.
Epilogue
I roll over and am greeted by a ray of warm sunshine blasting me in the face, further diminishing my desire to open my eyes. The scent of warm vanilla mixed with sex permeates my nostrils and awakens the longing that our time together has yet to extinguish. Catherine lays soundly asleep facing me, her hand draped over my hip, oblivious to the bothersome sunshine that has roused me from my slumber. I look over at the clock and discover it is only 8 am. I’m exhausted, our lovemaking had taken us into the early hours of the morning. I give up on going back to sleep with the persistent ray on my face and leave the bed to fix the dislodged curtain. I make my way around the bed and discover the culprit, Catherine’s jeans. A memory of Catherine hurriedly peeling them off last night and tossing them, shifting the curtain slightly, flashes through my mind. I smile to myself. Catherine had been away at a conference since Monday morning. Despite evening phone sex and a few video sessions we were still on each other as soon as she arrived home from the airport, leaving her bags in the car for another time.
I make my way back around the bed and slowly try to lay back down without waking Catherine. I fail miserably. “It’s too early baby. Go back to sleep, we both took the day off remember?”
“I know I just had to fix the curtain.”
“Ok. Come here.” I slide closer to Catherine and we entangle ourselves in one another, Catherine already half asleep again. “I missed you,” she mumbles as she dozes back off.
“I missed you too,” I whisper as I kiss her forehead. In no time I rejoin Catherine in dreamland.
*****
I lay next to Alex’s slumbering body, watching her sleep. This is one of my favorite things, watching her like this. She typically wakes before me so I take full advantage of my opportunity to just lay here and admire her, gently caressing the outline of her body, ensuring my fingertips merely graze her skin. “Mmmm.” Alex’s low purr pulls me out of my meditation. My hand freezes, suspended just over her hip, the heat of her body teasing my finger tips. She lays still and quiet and I feel my fingers begin moving again, as if they possess a mind of their own. “Mmmmm.” Alex moans again, this time deeper and drawn out. Again my hand freezes, this time over her taut thigh. Recognition fires across my synapses. I glance down at Alex’s nipples and discover that they are erect. She lets out a quick breath and I feel her hips slowly start to rock. This happens every now and again, Alex will have a very vivid sex dream, and will wake from it as she climaxes in the dream, often having a small orgasm as she does. I watch her as she moans again and slightly increases the pace of her hips. I know I only have a few minutes before this opportunity will be lost.
I slide across the bed and make my way to the closet and Alex’s chest. I already know what I’m looking for before I get there. I quickly slide the leather harness up my legs and secure it around my hips. I hear Alex moan again and her respirations increasing. I grab one of our favorite toys and tiptoe back to the bed as quickly as I can. I slide across the silky sheets and lay on my side, facing Alex once more. The heat radiating off of her body coupled with her breathing elicit the response my body always has for her. Alex is nearly impossible to wake when she is like this, yet I take every precaution I can not to do so as I slowly work my left leg between hers and glide it upwards until her sex glides over my thigh. Her pace increases against me and I wonder if the real stimulation has somehow reshaped the events of her dream. Alex moans my name and the flood gates between my own thighs open. Her respirations increase yet again and I can see her pulse has picked up as her carotid begins to thunder in her neck. Any second now she will wake, but the seconds feel like years as she rubs herself against me and my own lips swell and my clit throbs. I long to touch her, for her to touch me but I wait, biding my time. Her lips part as she groans and her body shudders slightly. She squeezes her thighs around my leg as her hips stop moving and her heavy lids move to half mast over her hazy emerald eyes. I press my thigh gently upward and she slowly starts to glide herself along it.
“Mmmm. It happened again didn’t it?” I can’t help but give her my best lascivious grin, as I fight the urge to pounce on her. My desire is amping up with the passing of every second.
“It did,” I whisper. “What was I doing to you this time?” Alex eyes me sleepily and grins, still slowly working herself on my thigh.
“Who said it was you?” I know she is messing with me. I take the hand she has just placed on my face and guide it between her own legs, making her touch herself for a few strokes. I pull back on her wrist and raise her hand to her face as she slides down slightly to reconnect with my thigh.
“Because only I can make you this wet.” She moans as I take her dripping fingers into my mouth and slowly lick and suck them clean. I feel her shift as she guides herself closer to me, increasing the friction between my thigh and her sex. She opens herself a little further and I can feel her engorged clit rub over my upper thigh. I groan and release her fingers, lest I bite down on them. She snakes her hand under the sheet that clings to our hips, seeking out the warmth of my sex. Instead she is greeted by the cool leather of the harness. Her hips stop as she quickly throws back the sheet and eyes my selection. Her fingers snake around the harness and stroke my aching sex. She glances again at the toy before staring into my eyes. She slowly grins as she resumes grinding her hips against me.
“Lucky guess.” Our lips quickly collide as our mouths work to consume one another. Alex breaks off the kiss and looks at me. “Do we have time to go to the lower level before you have to pick Taylor up?” Her fingers never stop working me and she slowly inserts one, teasing me with soft swirls around my inner walls.
“I wish,” I moan as a second finger enters me. “I don’t have to pick her up though, she said she has it covered.”
“Too bad. I would love for you to tie me up and tease me today.” I groan thinking about it.
“Soon, maybe tonight if you’re lucky.” Alex’s eyes travel between us again and take in the toy, then look back to me. She pitches her voice into a perfect southern debutant accent and asks, “Why Dr. Waters, were you planning to fuck me with that?” I laugh. I love that she never takes life too seriously.
“Only if you want me to.” Alex takes the toy and feeds it through the harness, slowly rocking my end of it along my sex, lubricating it. When she is satisfied that it is wet enough she gently guides it inside me and my breath catches as my body accommodates it. She tightens the straps around my thighs and I shift to mount her but she prevents it, quickly flipping me onto my back. She presses her her pelvis against mine and traps the shaft between her legs. She slowly grinds it along her slit, lubing it up for herself, knowing that every motion she makes stirs the end inside me. I moan at the sensations it causes, longing for her to mount the other end. She slowly raises herself up and I guide the head into her warmest part.