Nick stroked the hand that lay on him and twisted the ring on her finger. “Perfect fit,” he whispered sleepily.
“Do you want me to move?” she asked in a drowsy tone.
“Not ever,” he replied.
And they drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Earlier, they had made their way up the stairs. Nick excused himself and said he’d come to her room in a few minutes. Abby went into her bedroom and closed the door. She took off her clothes and put on a robe. Earlier in the day, she had done the forbidden. She had turned up the heat in her bedroom. Abby didn’t want to dive under the blankets with Nick tonight. She wanted to see him, all of him.
There was a soft knock on the door. Abby opened it and motioned him in. He was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and carrying the package of condoms. “Do we need these?” he asked.
“I guess not,” she replied, taking them from him and tossing them in her nightstand drawer.
“Hey, it’s warm in here. What’s up with that?” he teased.
“My mother will probably make me sit in a snowbank if she finds out,” said Abby, “but I…I…I wanted to see you.”
Nick crossed his arms in front of him and pulled off the t-shirt.
“Wow!” whispered Abby. “You’re a work of art.” She reached out her hand and tentatively traced one of the little feet tattooed on his chest. “And you can’t ever let my mother know about these!” She dragged a fingernail across his nipple and flicked at the ring.
“Maybe we can get matching ones,” said Nick.
“Owww,” said Abby, laughing. “I don’t think so.”
Then she grew serious. She reached out both hands and raked her fingernails lightly down his chest and across his abdomen. Nick made a sound and clenched his stomach muscles as her fingers trailed across the waistband of his sweatpants and one finger lazily circled his navel.
She slipped her hands inside the elastic waistband and stretched it, allowing the pants to drop to the floor. She tapped his ankle with her foot, motioning him to step out of them.
“Abby,” he whispered and he reached for her.
“Not yet,” she said. She took his face in her hands and she kissed him lightly on the lips. Then she moved her mouth all over his body, tasting him…kissing, licking, sucking…his neck, his chest, his arms, his stomach, the whole time using her hands to stroke and caress him…making him harder and harder. She was lost in him.
“Abby,” he said again, his voice husky. He tugged on the sash and opened her robe. Then he slipped it from her shoulders. Abby’s arms moved up instinctively to cover her breasts. “No,” he whispered. “I want to see you too.”
Abby backed up to the bed. She pulled down the blankets and climbed in. Nick got in beside her. He stroked her all over and kissed her neck and sucked on her breasts, flicking his tongue over her nipples.
“Kiss me,” she pleaded.
Nick complied, pressing his soft lips down on hers and then sliding his tongue into her mouth. She moaned in pleasure and held his head in her hands. He broke the kiss long enough to manipulate himself to her opening and to enter her. Then he put his mouth over hers again and kissed her while he moved in and out of her. It was she who broke the kiss this time, as she leaned her head back on the pillow and arched her back, squeezing her walls around him as they both trembled and shook with the passion that overtook them. They both made noises, tiny whimpers and grunts, as they sailed away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“Aw crap!” said Ronni, as James was unlocking the door of their condo.
“What?”
“I forgot my panties…my thong. It’s on the floor of your father’s study.”
“No, it’s not,” laughed James, patting his pants. “It’s right here in my pocket. I picked it up.”
“Always a detail man, aren’t you, Darling?” said Ronni. James wasn’t sure she meant it as a compliment.
James pulled the tiny black thong out of his pocket. “I played with it in my pocket the rest of the evening.”
Ronni smiled and licked her lips. After they were done in the study, Ronni had cleaned herself up and they had gone back to the party. James headed back to his business discussion in the library and Ronni went back to moving restlessly around the other rooms. She had sobered up by that point and had a headache. And she was starving. She stayed away from the eggnog and stalked the waiters and their trays like a lioness after a wildebeest.
“That was a lovely thing you did, Darling,” said James, loosening his tie. He sat down on the edge of the bed and removed his shoes. He knew that at least one, and probably both, of his business associates knew what he and Ronni had been doing. It made him feel manly and daring.
“What?” asked Ronni.
“You know, planning that little escapade. Dressing up for me, all sexy-like, and then…” He shrugged.
“Oh…oh that…yeah, well…I just wanted to show you how much I love you.” She cast a stray thought in Nick’s direction and then added, “Want me to show you again?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sharon and John Fremont made love for the second time that day, an unusual occurrence in their busy, middle-aged lives. The first time had been passionate…a little surprising to John, but who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth. The second time was comfortable, moving together in a familiar rhythm, reaffirming their love and their life together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Abby stretched in her sleep and reached out her arm. Nick. She opened her eyes. He wasn’t there. She squinted at the clock. 2:40. Maybe he’d gone back to his own room. There was a light on in her sitting room.
Abby slipped out of bed and pulled on her robe, noticing that Nick’s clothes were gone from the floor. She tiptoed into the sitting room. Nick was asleep on the settee. Abby smiled. It couldn’t have been very comfortable. He was much too tall for it. His legs were dangling over the end. He had a blanket wrapped around him. It had slipped off his shoulders and he lay hugging himself for warmth. Abby knew that feeling…when you are too cold to sleep comfortably, but too asleep to get up and do something about it.
Abby reached over to tuck the blanket up around him. Nick shifted in his sleep. Some sheets of paper slipped off him and drifted to the floor. Abby bent and picked them up. They were drawings, pencil sketches. She looked at one after the other.
“Omigod,” she said to herself.
“I couldn’t sleep,” said Nick, sitting up and running a hand through his hair.
“It’s Princess Penelope,” said Abby, looking at him in wonder.
Nick patted the settee beside him and opened the blanket. “I didn’t want to disturb you so I came out here and re-read your stories. Then I just…”
Abby snuggled in beside him. Nick wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. “Do you like them?” he asked.
“Nick, it’s her. How did you do that? How did you get that picture out of my head and onto the paper?”
“You did it,” he said. “I just took it from the story. You put it there.”
“They’re wonderful. Thank you.”
“No problem. I love to draw.” He squeezed his arm around her, hugging her. “Well, I guess we’re idiots to be sitting here…”
“Are you sleepy?” asked Abby.
Nick shifted position and pulled her onto his lap. “No,” he said with a sexy grin. “Are you?”
Abby rubbed her hip up against him and stroked his nipple through his t-shirt. “No.” She reached up and pulled his head down to hers. Princess Penelope fluttered to the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“James, I want to buy a house.”
“Mmmhh?” James Fenton was almost asleep.
“I know you said in the New Year, but you also said ‘last fall’. I don’t want to put it off any more. I want a house. I’m sick of this condo,” pouted Ronni.
“Can we discuss this in the morning?” asked James, sleepily. He was exhausted. He didn’t know what had gotten into Ronni tonight but she had worn him out. It had been fantastic, but he wanted to go to sleep now.
“No, I want you to tell me now that we’ll go looking for a house. That’s what I want for Christmas, a house.”
“Okay, sure,” promised James idly. “We’ll look for a house.” Looking wasn’t finding, he thought. “G’night, baby.”
“Goodnight, Darling,” said Ronni, slipping out of the bed. She pulled the covers up over James and tucked them in around him. Then she went to the kitchen to get a glass of wine.
