Hope Falls: Almost Merry (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Frances Elliot

  As he slowly undid the buttons on her blouse, he went on. “Right now, I think we should stay in the moment, as they say. On the other hand…” He paused to open the blouse and forgot what he’d been about to say.

  She wore a fancy, lacy bra that almost matched the color of her skin and somehow made her look more naked, more vulnerable. This was the kind of thing that drove him crazy. He groaned inwardly and reached to trace the top of the cup with a fingertip. “Did you wear this for me?” he asked.

  “I bought it for you,” she answered quietly and leaned back, bracing herself on her arms.

  “Is that so?” he said, just as quietly. “Nicest gift you could have chosen.”

  In a faraway voice, she said, “Oh, remind me later I have something else for you…”

  With his lips pressed to the firm swell of her breast above the bra, Joe murmured, “Mm-hmm,” and then “I’ll get back to this in a minute.”

  Trailing his fingertips along her torso, he moved his hands to undo her pants and stood to pull them off. The sight of the matching panties made him sigh aloud. He knelt again between her legs, lifted her foot and propped her ankle on his shoulder, then began to slowly kiss his way up her smooth inner thigh.

  When he reached the edge of the panties, he repeated the process on the other leg, savoring the feel of the silky skin beneath his lips. His cock throbbed with need but he was content for the time being with this pace. Emily’s breathing was slow, deep and even – she was still propped on her elbows, sometimes watching his progress, sometimes letting her eyelids flutter closed.

  It was time to re-arrange her on the narrow bed; he stood to turn and lift her, place her head on the pillow. Her eyes followed his hands carefully as he undressed, watched him undo the shirt buttons and unzip his jeans. He sat on the bed, and starting at the base of her throat, let his fingertips glide down her body, over and past her sex to slide beneath and curl under her ass.

  She shifted slightly. He left his hand where it was and leaned over to lightly touch his lips to her flat belly, flicking his tongue now and then. At the edge of her panties he stopped and sat up. As slowly as he could, he slid his hand from between her legs, pressing his middle finger against the fabric that covered the cleft of her buttocks and the lips of her sex.

  He looked at her as he moved his hand to the top of her thigh to slip his finger beneath the elastic of the panties and slide it along the top of her leg. Her face was so peaceful, so dreamy, her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted, her hands on the pillow beside her head. “You are the loveliest woman I’ve ever seen,” he said softly, knowing it was true.

  He stood to slide her panties down and off, leaned over to open the closure at the front of her bra, and laid down beside her. As he brushed his fingers across her breasts, her lips curved into a smile, but she didn’t open her eyes. “Opened little snaps like that before, have you?” she murmured.

  “Ahh, but I never found anything like this,” he answered and closed his lips around her nipple. While he sucked lightly, flicking his tongue and feeling the nipple harden even further, he used his fingertips to caress the fullness of her other breast or trace a slow circle around that nipple.

  She let out a long, purring sound of pleasure and arched her back, pressing her breast against his lips. Sliding his hand back down her torso, he let his fingers drift briefly into the moisture between the lips of her sex and heard her moan softly. Her legs fell apart; she moved her hand to the back of his head, urging him to suck harder.

  He obliged her, and used the edges of his teeth to tug gently while he moved his hand back to the other breast and began to roll that nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She moaned again and he lifted his leg, slid it between hers, pressed his cock against her hip.

  For a moment he lifted his head to look at her face and saw she was slowly turning her head from side to side, her teeth biting the corner of her lip, her skin flushed and moist. Her fingers were curled into her hair; her throat was stretched and taut. He decided he could wait no longer and reached for the condom.

  When he began to roll on top of her, she responded instantly, spreading her legs and lifting her hips to meet him. He let his cock press against her, then he guided himself inside, groaning with pleasure. He put his weight on his arms and placed his hands at the sides of her face, whispering her name.

  She opened her eyes, gazing up at him as he began to slowly move his cock in and out. “Watch me,” he said, “watch how you make me feel.”

  Her legs wrapped around him to press him even closer and he felt the muscles inside tighten around him each time he took a stroke. Their gazes were locked together but he could see her eyes losing focus, growing dreamier as her arousal increased. He kept the rhythm slow, but he seemed to grow harder with every thrust, his cock swelling even more as if he could not fill her completely enough.

  With her eyes still on his, she lifted her head from the pillow, then dropped it back, stretched her neck and began to moan. Her breathing quickened; she put her hands on his shoulders and lifted her hips, urging him deeper. He felt her hands move to the back of his neck and pull down and at the same time, she raised her head again to kiss him.

  As their lips met, her body seemed to soften around him and grow fluid in his arms, as though they were melting into each other, becoming one. He felt her hesitate – a deep shudder ran through her and her hands twisted into his hair. She moaned beneath his lips, shuddered again, broke the kiss and began to pant softly.

  Now she looked directly into his eyes again and he heard her start to whisper something, then catch her breath. She tried again, slightly louder. “You’re making…you’re making me come,” she said, and a thrilling surge of power ran through him.

  Instead of increasing his speed, he slowed, changing the angle of his thrusts to heighten the contact with her clitoris. She gasped, trembled, seemed almost to freeze for a moment, shuddered again. As she jerked and the muscles inside began to spasm around his cock, he came, too, throwing his head back and groaning.

  It took a long time for her to quiet, her body still twitching beneath him, her breathing still quick. She put her hands at the sides of his face and stared into his eyes as if searching for something. He rolled to lie beside her and heard her small sound of dismay at the broken contact. They lay face to face without speaking. Lifting a hand, he tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her, gently.

  “Every time is different with you. You’re like a million women in one,” he said, and kissed her again as she began to smile.

  “And we just got started,” she said.

  She lowered her eyes and he saw her expression grow pensive. Without looking up she said, “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” he answered, stroking her shoulder. “I know people do long-distance all the time – I just don’t know how they stand it.”

  Now she looked up to his face, scooted closer and draped her arm over his hip. “If you go back to school, you’ll be surrounded by pretty girls batting their eyelashes at you. You’re not a bad looking guy, you know. Maybe a little over the hill, but…”

  “Ah, well luckily for you, I’m not real big on eyelash-batting.”

  “What about pretty young girls?”

  He pinched her ass, then rested his hand at the top of that sweet, firm curve. “I have a feeling my Big Man on Campus days are over.” He thought for a moment. “I’ve never asked – did you remember me at all? From high school, I mean.”

  “Oh, I was far too young for that. Still in nursery school, I believe.”

  Leaning close to her, he kissed the tip of her nose. “I think from now on I’ll make it a policy to accept anything you tell me, no matter how ridiculous. We’ll avoid all kinds of arguments that way.”

  Emily rolled onto her back and folded her arms behind her head. “Think we’ll argue much?”

  Joe was sorry to lose contact with that incredible ass. He began to run his fingers along her side. “Actually, I do. Th
ere’s a lot of…I don’t know, electricity, passion, I guess, between us—” He stopped, suddenly aware of how easily and naturally they had begun to talk about The Future. It frightened him; he took his hand off her side and rolled over to stare at the ceiling.

  Instantly sensing his change of mood, Emily was quiet for a moment and then said, “Let’s go get some more chicken.” She got up, looked around for her panties, stepped into them and found her blouse.

  Leaving it unbuttoned, she sat beside him and put her hand on his chest. “Joe,” she said, and her voice was serious. “Joe, I have to ask you one thing…” He winced and tried to prepare himself for whatever she might say. “…why is it so fucking hot in here?”

  He looked at her then, saw her smiling face, relaxed and laughed. “Well, it’s better than last night, isn’t it? Those are the choices around here – you’ll have to get used to it because the furnace is screwed up.”

  “Thank god. I was afraid you liked it this way or something.”

  She got up, leaned over to scatter a few kisses around his chest and he felt the first stirrings of renewed desire. “I’m going downstairs, are you coming?” she asked.

  He watched her walk away, admiring her legs, then shook his head in wonder, rose and got his pants on. By the time he caught up with her, she was standing at the kitchen counter, holding a piece of chicken with her teeth and using her hands to open another bottle of beer. “You do this a lot, don’t you?” he said.

  After a big swig of beer, she said, “What?”

  “Get laid, then get something to eat.”

  She looked off into space for a moment. “Yeah, I guess I do. Is that a problem?”

  “Oh, quite the contrary,” he said, moving closer. “I think it’s very, very sexy.” He took the bottle from her hand and drank. “You are a woman with…an appetite.” Setting the bottle down, he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her hips close to his. She put one hand on his shoulder, held the chicken in mid-air with the other and looked into his eyes.

  “Then get me a napkin and the salt shaker, please.”

  He laughed and released her. “Care for a plate?” he asked, opening a cabinet.

  “Well, la-di-dah. Certainly,” she said and sat down.

  He got a beer for himself and took the chair across from her. “That chicken is perfectly seasoned, by the way.”

  “Not for me,” she said, using the shaker.

  “No palate at all. Tsk, tsk.”

  “Well, here we are already – our first argument. No, wait – of course it’s not – we argued on the way to the airport last month.” She shivered. “That was horrible. Let’s not do that again, okay?”

  There was a short, slightly uncomfortable silence, and she tilted her head towards the SAT book. “How’s the prep going, whiz kid?”

  Joe noticed the deft way she’d again swerved away from his uneasiness with the obvious fact that the relationship was more than a fling. He felt grateful. “Well, I’m absolutely killing it compared to the original owner of the book. I think that kid may be slinging hash somewhere,” he said.

  “Or running a multi-million tech start-up,” Emily said.

  “Yeah, there’s that.”

  Looking at him seriously again, she said, “I still don’t see exactly how you think all this can work.” His face must have changed somehow, because she hurried to add, “I mean school, and the house, and everything.”

  Oh that, he thought, okay. “Well, it’ll be spring before I finish this place and get it sold and then I can just sort of camp at the new one while I work. Take over a few necessities, sell the rest.”

  “And school?”

  “Oh, if a miracle happens, I’ll live out there, of course, and get back here to work on the house when I can. It’s not like there’ll be a ticking clock or anything.”

  Sometimes he could read her so easily. He watched her think a moment, start to respond, think again. When she spoke, he thought of someone slowly easing herself into cold water, then screwing up her courage and deciding to take the plunge. She took an obvious deep breath and said, “Okay, I see. Well, uh, it occurs to me that San Francisco is a big market, TV market I mean. Bigger than Boston. It would be a step up for me, really.”

  The unexpected surge of joy he felt took him by surprise. He smiled and said, “Is that so? It’s a little closer too, isn’t it?”

  “Little bit.”

  “You wouldn’t interfere with my pursuit of eighteen-year-old coeds, would you?” he asked.

  “Every chance I got,” she said.

  Joe laughed a little and after a moment’s thought, decided to jump into the water himself. “Emily, I’m not stupid.” He stared at the tabletop, traced one of the ugly blobs with his fingertip. “Anyone can diagnose me, easiest thing in the world – I don’t get attached to things because I’m afraid they’ll be taken away.”

  She was nodding and he reached across the table, took her hand and went on. “But I want you to know it’s okay to…push me a little. I don’t want you to be afraid of upsetting me.”

  He took his hand back and ran it through his hair. “I don’t know, I guess I need upsetting.” After a pause he added, “You know how much I’ve changed since I met you. I suppose I should say thanks.”

  Now he felt slightly embarrassed, aware that he didn’t know how to do this – he’d never had a conversation like this in his life. He looked over to her beautiful, understanding face to mutter some kind of apology.

  She was smiling at him, looking slightly embarrassed herself. “Okay, but you’re the one doing all the work, aren’t you? And I don’t like upsetting you – I get scared, I guess, when it seems like you’re shutting down. Anyway…” She trailed off, then abruptly shoved her plate away and got up. “Wait right here a sec – I’ll be right back.”

  When she reappeared she held a small wrapped package. Joe stared at it for a moment, and looked up to her. “You know what? This is the first present I’ve ever gotten from a, a…” He realized he didn’t know what to call her, couldn’t think of a word that encompassed everything he felt.

  “Girlfriend?” she supplied.

  “Oh, well, I don’t know if I’d go that far. How about ‘girl I hook up with once in a while’?”

  “And I thought you were different from all the other guys,” she said with an exaggerated sigh. “Go on, open it up before I change my mind and give it to someone who appreciates me a little more.”

  “Not possible,” was all he said.

  The soft shearling gloves were opened, tried on and admired; he really did need them and told her so. He got his gift for her from one of the kitchen drawers, presented the small box and watched as she did exactly what he’d done – simply stare at the wrapped package for a little while. “Oh, Joe, is it jewelry? It looks like jewelry and I know you’re saving every cent. You didn’t have to get me anything at—”

  “What an annoying girl you are. It’s an umbrella and now I feel terrible.”

  Laughing, she undid the wrapping and looked inside. He watched carefully as she lifted the necklace, a chain that held a small silver square engraved with a block-letter capital “E.” He saw her examine it more closely, notice the tiny numeral “1” just below and to the right of the letter. “It’s a—”

  “Scrabble tile,” she said, looking up to him, her eyes wide.

  “So I guess you remember the night we met, when you did your best to drive me totally crazy before we…”

  “I’ll never forget,” she said, almost whispering.

  Getting up, she slipped the necklace over her head, came around to sit in his lap and put her arms around his neck. “I love it. I’ll wear it everyday, even if it reminds me of you when I should be thinking of other things. How to walk, or feed myself, for instance.”

  “Sit back a little, let me see.”

  The charm nestled beguilingly between her lovely breasts and he moved the edges of her blouse aside. “I can’t quite see,” he murmured.
/>   “You can see just fine,” she said and got up again.

  “Wait, stand right there for a minute,” he said, reaching for his new gloves and pulling them on. “We’ll both wear our Christmas finery.”

  With his eyes on her face, he put his gloved hands at her waist and moved them up to caress her breasts, saw her shiver slightly at the new sensation. He slid his hands down again, first along the outside of her thighs to her knees, and then very slowly back up the inside. Her eyes closed. “Ahhh,” she said.

  He rested his hands at the top of her legs, stroking her, teasing her with his thumbs. “I think the necklace looks lovely on you,” he said. “What do you think of the gloves?”

  She had to put a hand on his shoulder for balance. “Oh, I’m not sure…it’s…strange. But I want you to do that again.”

  Instead, he stood up, put his hands at her waist and backed her up against the side of the refrigerator. With his hands on either side of her shoulders, he boxed her in and leaned his lips close to her ear. “Emily,” he said softly, “you know, you are an usually…responsive woman and I was just wondering something, sweetheart. Has anyone ever tied you up?”

  When she didn’t answer, he ran his finger along her jaw line and lifted her chin. Very briefly, she raised her eyes, then dropped them again and whispered, “No.”

  Her breasts were moving up and down with long, deep breaths. He took hold of one edge of the blouse and pushed it back and around, tucking it behind her, then did the same with the other side. Leaning back slightly, he trailed his fingertips across her collarbone, down and over her full breasts, and closed his hands possessively around them. “I think it will be…interesting,” he said.

  He knew she’d noticed the “will be” when he heard her short quick intake of breath. Beneath his palms, her nipples were hardening and the breasts seemed to swell and soften. He leaned in again, nipped lightly at her earlobe and murmured, “But unfortunately, I think we’ll have to wait until we have a place that’s a bit more…comfortable…for that kind of thing.”