by A B Turner
"It was just a thought," I quickly added, not wanting to give him a chance to make up some excuse, "I'm sure you're busy any way."
Tom shook his head slightly and looked directly at me,
"I'm not busy, Carrie, but I don't really want to go out to eat."
For a moment, I was slightly baffled by his answer, until the fact he had stressed the word 'out' finally registered with me.
"Oh right, so perhaps you were thinking of something more home-cooked?" I asked, he smiled,
"Exactly," he answered, "So the question is now, who's home?" He looked expectantly at me, but, however much I wanted to invite him back to my house, I couldn't, I had never had anyone there, it was an integral part of my 'mum' life and I just wasn't ready to blend that, with whatever was going to happen with Tom. As these thoughts made themselves known to me, I knew how ridiculous it sounded, after all, Lainie didn't even live there any more. But it was a line I still couldn't cross, at least, not yet, so I suggested we go to his place.
"It's a bit of a mess," he said apologetically, "But if you're okay with that...."
His voice faded slightly,
"Oh I think I can cope with a few stray socks and a bit of washing up in the sink," I answered, relieved he hadn't obviously been offended by my own lack of an invitation.
He smiled,
"It depends on what you mean when you say a bit?"
I laughed as we walked over to his car, he quickly opened the driver’s door and, as I watched, he started throwing the magazines and empty water bottles which were scattered on the passenger seat, into the back of the car. Once he had brushed the seat with his hand, he opened the door for me,
"Sorry about that, haven't had time to clean it."
I assured him it was no problem as I stepped into the car, as soon as he turned on the ignition, music pounded out of the speakers, I heard him curse under his breath as he reached for the volume control.
"Sorry Carrie, I am such a jerk."
I put my hand gently on his arm,
"No you're not,it's fine."
He glanced down at my hand, smiled back at me, before revving the engine.
"Right then, let's get ourselves out of here."
The car lurched forward, jerked and suddenly roared ahead, as we sped around the car park, Kat's warning rang in my ears about being careful. At the rate we were going, if we made it back to his place alive it would be a miracle. He had explained earlier in the day, the supermarket was about an hour’s drive from his home, so when we stopped suddenly after less than half that time, I was not only surprised but slightly dismayed. I had hoped I would have the journey to try and compose myself, decide what or even if, I wanted anything to happen between us. But as he leapt out of the car, ran around the front and opened my door, there was no time, so from here on in, I would have to rely on good sense. I looked up at him and as soon as my eyes met his, I knew I was in trouble, as I could feel any thoughts of being 'sensible' swiftly evaporate into the evening air.
He pushed open a small iron gate, although he was in front of me, I could see an imposing townhouse looming above us, the path leading to the front door was flanked either side by neatly cultivated borders of flowers and shrubs. He skipped up the three stone steps and looked back at me,
"I hope you are okay with stairs, Carrie, there's no lift and I'm on the top floor."
I glanced up at him,
"Oh I'll be absolutely fine," I replied, my tone sounded remarkably confident, considering my mind was trying to equate just how high this building was to the potential number of stairs.
As we entered the building, almost immediately I was taken aback by the sheer grandeur of the hallway, from the immaculate chessboard style tiled floor, the walls framed by original coving and the whole space illuminated by a chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling.
Tom obviously noticed my reaction,
"It's an amazing place, isn't it? The flat I have used to be my sisters, she's an artist, I suppose that's why she picked this place, but she lives in the States now."
"It really is lovely," I replied, "Are you close with her?"
He smiled,
"We used to fight a bit when we were kids, but now? Yeah, I'd say so, we keep in touch through Facebook, which is cool."
"My daughter lives in Rome, so I had to learn the joys of social media quickly," I replied, I noticed him frown slightly,
"So your daughter must be at least eighteen then? I know this is going to sound like some kind of line, but you must have been very young when you had her."
"Perhaps too young, but I wouldn't be without her," I answered, he smiled and pointed to the staircase,
"Come on, let's go."
As I followed him up the increasingly-steep steps, I found myself starting to wonder how old he was, obviously prompted by his reaction to hearing about Lainie. About halfway to his flat, I could feel my lungs starting to struggle with the ascent, but I refused to acknowledge their struggle, if I was much older than him, I had no intention of showing it, so I trudged up behind him, answering a cheery 'I'm fine' every time he asked if I was alright.
Finally we really reached a large, deep blue door, I had taken the last few steps more slowly, so I wouldn't seem out of breath when we arrived.
"You didn't have any problems at all," Tom said approvingly, "Most of my friends either collapse on the way up or need oxygen when they get here."
I shrugged my shoulders,
"Oh it was nothing," I replied, trying to ignore the fact my heart was banging its disapproval against my ribs at all the exertion. As the door swung open, Tom gestured for me to go first, so I walked past him and into a small hallway which quickly opened out into a large, comfortable room, dominated by huge sash windows, framed by heavy, green velvet curtains. An enormous sofa was placed in the middle of the room, facing an ornately-carved fireplace, on the wall above, an impressive painting of a nude reclining woman took my attention. The sheer beauty of the artwork was breath-taking, as I gazed up, I felt Tom stand next to me,
"My sisters work, it's just amazing, isn't it?" I could hear the understandable pride in his voice.
"It really is beautiful," I answered softly, still completely captivated by the image, I felt his hands on my shoulders as he gently turned me to face him. His normally, sparking eyes were now deep, almost soulful, he raised one hand and gently stroked my cheek with just the very tips of his fingers. I stood motionless, as he slowly traced an imaginary line from my face, down my neck until he reached my collar bone. His eyes didn't leave mine, when he saw no sign of displeasure from me, he carefully unbuttoned my shirt, exposing the white lace bra underneath. I could feel my heart quickening. He leant forward, his tongue brushed my lips before sliding inside my welcoming mouth, we circled gently at first, but I could feel him pull me closer. He seamlessly pulled off his own shirt before pressing his whole body into mine. His hand slipped over the curve of my body until it rested on the erect nipple forcing itself through the lace, demanding his attention. As his fingers started to drift over my breast, I ached to feel his mouth on me, so I pulled back slightly and, with my hand in his hair, I guided him. As soon as I felt his lips, I pushed harder, making him take all of me, the deep, wet, warmth between my thighs forced me to grind my body against him, I could feel him starting to push me back until I felt the sofa behind me. I arched back as he pulled up my skirt, within seconds, he had ripped down my panties and was thrusting inside me. I opened my legs wider with each push, I wanted to feel all of him,there was no other thought in my mind, just the deep desire to have all of him explode inside of me. With his hands firmly holding my still lace-covered breasts, he pushed deeper and deeper, I could feel I was getting carried away on an unstoppable wave. I wanted to try and hold back, to not give in, not until he was ready too, but he felt so good, I was powerless. As the inevitable rush poured from me, I heard him groan and push even harder, suddenly, with one last movement, I felt him burst inside me, before he slumped down o
n my body, breathing heavily. I pushed my hands through his hair, I could feel his sweat, I could smell him, it was, in fact, as if he had taken control of every single one of my senses, as he lay there, still inside me. After a few moments, he raised himself up to look at me, I was still leaning back over the arm of the sofa, my legs now wrapped around his waist. Effortlessly, he picked me up and carried me to the thick, fur rug in front of the fire, and carefully laid me down. As he moved out of me, I felt a warm trickle of cum slip down my thigh, I made no move to halt its progress as he took me in his arms and held me close. As my head rested on his chest, I allowed my mind to think again, and the oh-so familiar questions started to reappear, what was I doing? What did this mean, if anything? And perhaps, louder than any of those, was Kat's voice warning. I glanced up at Tom, he seemed lost in thought too, finally, I could take the silence no longer,
"Are you alright?" I asked quietly, he nodded and looked back at me, I could see genuine concern in his expression,
"How about you?"
"I'm fine," I replied truthfully, on hearing this, I felt his body relax slightly, but there was obviously something troubling him,
"I want you to know, I didn't invite you back here for sex," he paused and I saw a slight smile cross his lips,
"Well, not entirely."
I couldn't help but smile, or resist the temptation to gently tease him,
"Well, I want you to know, I didn't come here for sex..entirely."
He chuckled, his fingers reached under my chin so I had to look up at him,
"So are you saying you had this in mind?" He asked with obviously mock horror.
"A lady never answers that kind of question," I replied simply. He laughed loudly and swung me up on to his body so we were face to face,
"I think I'm in trouble with you, Ms Sullivan."
"Maybe, Tom..er.." I hesitated, as I suddenly realised I had no idea of his full name, he grinned, clearly enjoying my momentary embarrassment. He reached for my hand and shook it warmly,
"May I introduce myself, I'm Tom Garrison."
"Carrie Sullivan, a pleasure to meet you," I answered politely.
"Pleasure? Hmmmm, what a good idea", he replied, pulling me even closer until our lips were almost touching, "Don't you agree?"
I didn't answer, I just ran my tongue over his mouth before easing into him, wanting to feel him meet me once more.
Several hours later, I stirred from a warm, wet sleep, we had made love for hours and I felt satisfied and strangely peaceful. I looked across at Tom, he was obviously fast asleep, so after gently sliding out from under his arm, I eased out from under the blanket and tiptoed across the room. As the curtains were still open, I could see the night sky and was thankful he lived on the top floor and so nothing but the moon could see me nakedly making my way to the bathroom. After opening a couple of obviously wrong doors, I was relieved to finally find the right one. I went in and carefully locked the door behind me, as I didn't want to disturb him. As I caught sight of my reflection, for once, I was pleasantly surprised, I looked disheveled but happy,there was almost a glow about my cheeks. I splashed my face with some water and set about trying to tame my hair, as I pulled and tweaked, I realised I felt none of the familiar urgency to just grab my clothes and leave. At first, I decided maybe this was because Lainie wasn't at home, so there was no rush, but then, I thought again, maybe it was Tom, I didn't want to leave him. As this idea took hold, I smiled at my reflection, could it be perhaps, finally, I had met the right person? I shook my head, as if trying to dislodge the thought,
"Don't get ahead of yourself Carrie, it's only been one night," I said to myself, but even as the words were spoken, I suspected this warning was coming too late.
Once finished in the bathroom, I tiptoed back to the bed and was relieved to see Tom was still sleeping soundly, so I slipped carefully under the covers, trying not to disturb him. I felt strangely peaceful, lying next to him, I could hear the far away sound of the city waking up, but it seemed to have nothing to do with us, here in this room. As I snuggled slightly further under the covers, my leg brushed his, he sighed and without opening his eyes, he lifted his arm and gently pulled me to him. I could hear his heart beating steadily, I watched his chest rise and fall with each breath as my hand rested on his smooth skin. Almost without thinking, I slid my fingers over him, barely touching as I had no desire to wake him, but enough to be able to feel the muscle underneath. I traced over his broad shoulder and gently back down his chest, I felt him shift slightly towards me, still without waking. As my hand drifted down, over his hip, he suddenly turned on to his side to face me, this unexpected movement caused me to jerk my hand back. I glanced up at him, hoping to see he was still asleep as, for some inexplicable reason, I felt slightly embarrassed. But his eyes were now open,
"I hope you weren't planning on taking advantage of me while I was asleep," he smiled.
"Of course not," I replied, returning his smile even though there was still a slight sense of guilt at being caught. Tom sighed heavily,
"Well, that's disappointing, because what am I going to do with this now?"
He flicked back the covers to reveal his erection, I feigned thoughtfulness, although every sense in my body was screaming at me to taste him,
"I can see you do have a problem there," I answered, he grinned broadly,
"Do you think you can help?" he asked with mock innocence, "It does seem to need some kind of attention."
"I could try..." I replied softly, as I eased down the bed until he was right in front of my face. I felt his hand in my hair as I started to caress him, slowly but deliberately, running my fingers along and around him before leaning forward and just touching the very tip with my lips. I looked up at his face, he was staring intently at me, as I allowed my tongue the freedom to explore him. I closed my eyes, I wanted to focus all my attention on just the touch of his skin, the smell of his warm, hungry body, somehow I knew he was still watching me. His grip in my hair tightened as I reached the tip again and allowed him to slide deep into my mouth. I heard him moan as I circled my tongue over and around while still rhythmically sucking as he grew stronger and harder. I felt him start to push deeper into my mouth, reaching further and further into me. I started to lose control, licking, biting every inch of him. Suddenly I felt him pull me up on to his body, for the briefest of moments, I was worried I had somehow hurt him. But when he lifted me on to him and plunged into my now-soaking body, any thoughts disappeared to be replaced with nothing but pure pleasure. As he pushed harder and harder into me, he held my breasts in his hands, squeezing and holding them, my nipples between his fingers. Everything about him felt so good, this firm, strong hands, the rhythmic pulsing of his body as he drove deeper and deeper into me, I let my head fall back, closed my eyes and just give in to the tidal wave of pleasure which swum over me in a seemingly unending wave. Suddenly I felt his grip on me tighten, his whole body stiffened before he yelled out, as he burst inside me. For a moment, neither of us moved, but I could hear him breathing heavily beneath me, I felt tiny beads of perspiration trickling down my arched back as my heartbeat slowly seemed to regain some semblance of a normal rate. I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at him, his eyes were half-closed, his face, which only moments earlier had seemed so full of sexual intent, was now relaxed. As I watched, I felt him sigh before opening his eyes, a slow smile spread across his face,
"Hmmmmm..very nice."
I smiled back,
"So you don't feel I took advantage now then?"
He laughed and pulled me down to him, holding me close to his body,
"You can take that kind of advantage of me any time you like."
As I felt his arms encircle me, I slid back down and pulled the covers over us both, I was completely satisfied but, perhaps more importantly, I felt that same safe feeling. As we lay there, wrapped in each other, I was aware this was the first time, in such a long time, I felt truly peaceful with someone. I could tell he was dri
fting back to sleep, but I was more than happy to stay exactly where I was, allowing my mind to drift. I started to idly imagine us in so many different scenarios, walking along a beach, standing on a balcony overlooking the twinkling lights of a city or maybe just driving along somewhere, in an open-topped car through rolling green hills. My flights of foolish romantic fantasy made me chuckle, so I quickly clamped my hand over my mouth and held my breath, not wanting to wake Tom. He stirred only for a moment, before sighing heavily and resting back into the deep pillows. My thoughts turned away from the dreams and back to a more likely reality, which was nowhere near such a pleasant place to be. There was no question Tom was a decent man, but the simple truth was, yet again, I had just gone with my feelings instead of perhaps stopping to think more. After all those counselling sessions with Charlotte Vale, where we had talked about valuing myself, about believing I was worth more than just a nights' pleasure. Despite all of that time and soul-searching, here I was, waking up in another bed, like so many before and, perhaps worse still, I was giving this time some degree of romance which could only end in my getting hurt. My ever-darkening thoughts were interrupted, as I felt Tom's hand under my chin, he raised my head to look at him,