Once Samantha was standing before him in her underwear - white strapless corset and briefs - she turned to him and pulled him close to her, to re-engage their kissing. Tom let her set the pace, undressing him when she was ready to, and once they were naked and lying together he revelled in tonight letting her take control of everything initially, but then his confidence grew and he knew he needed to have his own share of being in control.
As she lay back on the bed, this being his very first view of her without any clothing on whatsoever, Tom took his time and raised himself onto his knees as he looked at her from head to toe and back again.
Finding her body then being lightly kissed on every little part, Samantha felt like she was a cat, wanting to stretch out and purr at the feelings being invoked in her. She was used to him touching her, to a degree, and him seeing her wear very little, but this - being kissed lightly everywhere - was new for her and she felt like she could lie there all night indulging in it.
Together they explored, touching, kissing, learning much about how it felt to touch and be touched. Tom was in heaven, and even though he was inexperienced, he was at least knowledgeable enough to know what to try, which resulted in Samantha having her first orgasm.
Tom watched her face as she recovered from it, and when she opened her eyes he was close to her, smiling broadly in the knowledge that he had done pretty well for a first try. She knew the look well and laughed at him.
Lying on her back, she guided him over her and between her legs but before he moved forwards … inwards … she saw a serious look come over his face.
"We haven't talked about the timing of children yet," he said to her and she stroked his face as they looked at one another. "I am in no hurry, and I think your career is just starting to take off. Shall we wait?"
Samantha nodded at him.
"Yes, please. Sorry, we should have had this discussion so we could be prepared…" she started to say but instantly he was moving off her and for a moment she thought she had upset him, but then saw him coming back with a large smile on his face and a box of condoms in his hand.
"I'm prepared!" he said happily, making her laugh out loud before she looked down his body and smiled cheekily at him.
"Yes I can see that you definitely are," she said and saw him blush deeply before he laughed out loud at her suggestiveness.
After some time of them trying to figure out how to put the condom on … a process that had them both laughing in the embarrassed relaxation that came from them as such good friends trying something so new for both of them, finally Samantha lay back and let him take control of what came next.
Tom kissed her deeply and slowly edged forward, hoping everything would literally fall into place, and soon he found a new feeling as he was welcomed inside her. He watched her face and saw her eyes focused on his.
"Oh, Samantha … oh, I've never felt anything like … oh! Are you alright?" he asked her softly and she kissed him in acknowledgement, adjusting to the new feeling, and very happy that despite all their years of fighting in the beginning, despite all the time that they had stopped being friends, and despite the men she had dated and been involved with before the two of them finally accepted each other, Tom was the one man who she finally shared this with.
Tom moved inside of her, excited but soon finding the new sensation overwhelming and it wasn't long before he was experiencing his own climax. He lay on top of her, feeling the sensations flowing through his entire body, and Samantha held him tight, waiting to see where things went from this - how they would go on from this. Finally he pulled his head away from her shoulder and looked at her. He wanted to speak to her but his head was fuzzy and he couldn't find any words.
"Hmm," he said simply, making her giggle at him, which in turn made him smile broadly at her and kiss her again.
Samantha happily lay under him. For the most part, during their friendship she had been the dominant one - the one who said when they would spend time together and when they would have time apart - the one who said what they would do, and where they would do it. But in this she was very happy to let Tom take on the stronger role as her husband.
She watched him as he carefully withdrew from her, both of them immediately noticing the feeling and moaning at it at the same time. Tom held up the condom, wondering briefly what to do with it before he finally stood up and took it to the rubbish bin in the bathroom. When he came back he saw Samantha still stretched out, looking like she might never want to move.
Samantha watched him as he walked into the bathroom and now came back toward the bed … toward her. She felt speechless at the fact that she was naked in a bed and Tom was there with her, now her husband. She wanted to be happy but suddenly emotions overwhelmed her and he saw tears come to her eyes as he lay down with her and pulled her close.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked, deeply concerned at the appearance of tears, but she smiled at him and placed one hand against his cheek before she kissed him.
"No," she said, sounding like she was laughing and crying at the same time. "I just feel so happy!"
Tom laughed at her and kissed her forehead, like he had done so many times before.
"Oh my beautiful wife Samantha, you are a funny girl, to be laughing when you are crying," he said to her, suddenly feeling tears come to his eyes also, which made her laugh louder still.
"Now you are crying!" she cried out and for the next few minutes they enjoyed having their simple giggle together, before Tom really looked at her and kissed her again.
"I love you, Samantha. I've always loved you."
Samantha felt a tear now run down her face, which she didn't even bother to wipe away.
"I love you too."
~~~~~
Downstairs on the dance floor, Anthony held his wife tight, breathing in the scent of her.
"I want to tell the world of our news," he said quietly and she laughed softly at him.
"Well we aren't doing it at Tom and Samantha's wedding!"
The look he gave her then almost melted her, it was so full of love.
"Do you think it will be a girl or a boy? Should we find out, do you think?" he was asking and Alexis beamed at him.
"Oh I hope it is a little Anthony. But if we have a baby girl, I shall be pleased with that. After all, it is only the first of many, right?"
Anthony smiled brilliantly at her and kissed her again.
"Too true. Yes, we must keep working on that - keep up the practice to keep the production line moving along smoothly, and all that."
She laughed at him, herself happy that she was pregnant to a man who so eagerly wished to be a father.
"Can I cut in?" she heard a male voice - the voice - say and Alexis looked at Anthony to see how he would react, but he simply nodded and let Lincoln move to put his arms around Alexis, as Anthony moved to quickly save Hannah from having just been stranded on the dance floor.
Hannah was surprised and a bit saddened by the action of her partner, and Anthony could sense it.
"Do you remember what you said to me that first night I met you? When the two of them were talking at the art gallery? That nothing will happen between them again, and there is nothing to worry about," he said to the older woman in his arms, and she looked up at him and nodded.
"I know, and I know there is nothing to worry about but sometimes…" Hannah started to say but immediately realised she couldn't - shouldn't - really say anything about her doubts and concerns, since Alexis and Anthony were so obviously in love.
"Hannah, you are a beautiful, gracious woman. Did you never marry?"
"No, I was always too into my … work."
"Your work? Or your boss?" Anthony dared to ask, but saw that she was not offended by his straightforwardness.
Hannah smiled at him.
"Yes, it could be that I worked so close to him all these years that other men who approached me never stood a chance really. Even when Diana was alive, my thoughts were … forbidden."
"But now thing
s have changed between you, I sense. Since that first time that I met you."
"Yes, the employer / employee line has definitely now been well and truly crossed, no doubt about that" she said softly. "But if I am honest with myself, Anthony, I do not know if he really is into being with me, or if I am just the woman who is there. Sometimes I feel like I am just a 'she'll do' woman, filling a gap in his life."
Anthony looked at her sharply.
"You shouldn't feel like that, Hannah. You deserve so much more."
Hannah went quiet in his arms. She had thought the same thing to herself at times, but still, even at her age and having known Lincoln for so much of her life, trying to keep perspective about him and make decisions, was still so difficult for her. A part of her wished he would ask her to marry him. But a greater part of her knew that he never would.
"You are a very mature young man, Anthony. Alexis is very lucky to have found you," he heard Hannah say quietly.
"No. I am very lucky to have found her. And if you aren't being treated as well as you deserve to be, you should let another man find you, Hannah."
In that moment Hannah, despite being so much older than Alexis, found herself extremely envious of her. Because despite her youth, she had broken away from Lincoln when she knew she had to. When she knew her life would never be normal if she didn't. When she simply knew that there was something … someone … better waiting for her out there.
"Thank you, Anthony. I appreciate you dancing with me and saying such things."
Anthony looked at her face, all of a sudden feeling concerned for her. He remembered when they had met at the gallery that his first impression was that she was so much older than him but was still so beautiful and gracious. To hear her now talk as if she held no value was a horrifying thought to him, and he subconsciously wished for the evening to be over, so he didn't have to look at - or even think about - Lincoln Kokiri anymore.
~~~~~
Lincoln held Alexis in his arms. He hadn't been thinking about her in a long while, and when he had thought about her it hadn't been in any romantic or sexual context, but looking at her tonight something had changed in him and he knew it. He should have not approached her, feeling like he was, but he had been drawn to her with the needing that he had felt so many times before, in the years before. He hadn't even given Hannah another thought. Even though the four of them were on the dance floor, he had absolutely no awareness whatsoever about his partner being led around in the dance by another man.
Alexis let him lead her, in that moment not feeling anything but gratitude toward him for all that he had done for her friend.
"You are very generous to do this for Samantha," she said to him and when he looked at her then - looked right into her eyes - she recognised something different in his eyes … in the way he was looking at her. For a moment it startled her, before she told herself she must be imagining it - that it must be a residual fear from long ago.
"I am not doing this for Samantha," he said simply, leaving the words completely open to interpretation, almost as if he knew it might fluster and confuse her. But after a few minutes he seemed to wish to move on from those words, and spoke again. "It is good business, Alexis. Investing in her is already paying off for my company, so helping her with something like this isn't just a kindness. It is another part of my investment."
Alexis said nothing, suddenly feeling a slight panic inside of her. There was no reason to be panicked - since they had seen each other at the art gallery the night before Anthony had proposed to her, they had hardly spoken but when they had, he had always been civil and it had almost seemed like nothing bad had ever happened between them. Like they were simply old friends or old colleagues.
But right now, in this moment, she felt something coming on and she wasn't sure if she was imagining it or it was real. She chose not to noticeably react … not to give any outward indication of what she was feeling … especially with Anthony and Hannah being so close by. But as the seconds passed Alexis felt the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck start to rise and she knew and remembered the feeling well. She fought to remain calm, despite what her body was telling her. She kept telling herself, over and over, that it must be her imagination. It must be.
Lincoln, meanwhile, revelled in being so close to her and tightened his hold on her as he pulled her closer into his chest. He felt like he was getting drunk on the feeling of her being in his arms. Like a drug he had once tasted but not had recently was finally starting to flow through his veins once more. Slowly at first but quickly picking up momentum in accessing part of his body and his mind.
He had forgotten Hannah, and he had forgotten Anthony. In fact, he had forgotten every other person in the room. And as he concentrated on the adrenalin running vigorously through his system … when he could hold back no longer … he leaned in even closer to whisper in her ear.
"I want you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for reading my book, 'Friendship of Desire' (Book 3 in the Painful Deliverance series). I greatly enjoyed writing this story and I appreciate your enthusiasm for reading it.
If you enjoyed 'Friendship of Desire', I hope you will consider taking a moment to place a review in Amazon.
If interested in receiving up to date details of freebies, price drops and new releases, please contact me via my website to leave your name and email address, and I shall be glad to send you news.
Thank you,
Ann M Pratley
NEW RELEASE: THE GOLDEN DESIRES
By Ann M Pratley
He wanted to escape. They needed to survive.
When Isabella starts to dream of a stranger, she is awakened inside with feelings she has never felt before. She knows he is not someone she has ever seen before, and he is not of her village. He is a stranger, and she is desperate to determine if he is real or he is a part of her imagination.
Far away a businessman desperate to escape the noise and stress of the city, embarks on a journey to find peace and the solitude he increasingly needs and desires. But at his destination he will find much, much more.
BONUS EXTRACT: TOTAL FREEDOM
(TOTAL FREEDOM SERIES - BOOK #1)
By Ann M Pratley
The Drabs, that's what we had been known as, as a band in our home town of Dunedin, New Zealand. We weren't the greatest band and only played a couple of original songs, but we were happy doing what we were doing and over time the crowds did seem to come to love us. That was back in the days of what seemed to be equally the best and worst time of my life. Things have changed so much since then.
When I was 14 years old I attended high school like any other 14 year old, I dressed like any other 14 year old, and I got abused like any other overweight 14 year old - and like too many 14 year olds, I couldn't handle the abuse and as a result I let myself go and believed every word of what I was told. No friends, fat, ugly and totally useless - that's what I was told by people all around me and that was what I became.
Even as a teenager I was well aware of the concept of nutrition and weight maintenance, but day after day everything just felt painful, like just getting through each day was work for me. Like no matter how hard I searched, I just couldn't find where or who I was meant to be. And I became used to using food as my therapy - when I ate, I felt a comfort, like it was the one thing that never hurt me.
Through that period I fell into a comfort zone visiting a local café that sold a wide plethora of foods - nutritious and not so nutritious, but I naturally veered toward the latter. Friends were non-existent to me - in my universe I was a nobody who no-one else ever even noticed.
But one day, walking into my favourite café, something changed. Sitting in there was someone who I noticed and who immediately captured my attention because they were also alone, and looking like they were as miserable as I was day after day. Immediately my feelings didn't seem quite so important - but his did.
<
br /> Approaching him I didn't feel the usual nervousness or anxiety that I did when contemplating saying hello to someone new. This person had such a look of despair and unhappiness that it actually felt natural for me to approach him and ask if I could sit with him. When he looked up he had such a look of surprise, but stammered out a quiet 'okay'.
After I sat down in front of him, I could see that he wasn't far away from my own age, but I had never seen him before. He looked at me with such intensity in his eyes, periodically removing his eyes from my gaze as if he were not only shy but also extremely uncomfortable talking to people.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, without even introducing myself. "You look … unhappy."
He looked utterly confused, like it was a completely new experience, having someone ask him anything. But he then seemed to find some core strength as I saw him take a deep breath, as if summoning a hidden inner confidence, and hold out his hand.
"I'm Craig," his quiet voice said with a level of doubt in it that made me think that it was a natural thing for him to expect someone at this point to turn and walk away.
I held my hand out and shook his briefly, suddenly feeling strange at this new thing happening - someone was shaking my hand? I couldn't remember when even either of my parents had touched me.
"I'm Debbie," I replied, embracing this moment of physical connection with another human being, and not rushing to remove my hand.
We looked at each other, not saying anything, perhaps both understanding in that moment that we were enough alike - enough able to understand exactly where each other was right in this moment in our thinking and our lives - that a friendship was about to be formed. Something we both were so unfamiliar with.
Friendship of Desire (Painful Deliverance Book 3) Page 14