Love Me Tonight

by Gwynne Forster

  “Why so?”

  “Because I won’t be the only woman there, and I’m sure some of those women will recognize the Lord’s perfect handiwork. You look magnificent.”

  He hoped his expanding chest wouldn’t pop one of the buttons on his shirt. “I wanted to please you.”

  He observed her throughout the evening as she introduced him with a show of pride. She didn’t work the room during the cocktails prior to dinner, but moved to people with whom she seemed well-acquainted.

  “I thought you’d be in Albania about now,” a senator said to her.

  “I speak several languages, Dirk, but not that one. I don’t see how one can serve effectively if one is saddled with an interpreter.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more,” he said. She shook hands with the man and, with a finger at his elbow, she signaled to Judson to move on. He appreciated that; she never left him to trail behind her.

  After dinner, he was ready to leave. He had met and spoken to the president and the first lady, and he’d had the company of the most desirable, elegant and beautiful woman there. And he was leaving with her.

  “Do you want to stay and dance, or should we leave now?” she asked him. “It’s been a long day.”

  “I want to spend what’s left of the evening with you.”

  Something quickened in her eyes, and her hand reached out and grasped his arm. Her lips moved, but no words came. “Are you ready to leave?” he asked her.

  She nodded, and as if she feared losing what she saw in his eyes, she didn’t shift her gaze from his. He led her to the cloakroom, for he guessed that a ladies’ room would be nearby. As he suspected, she asked to be excused and went in. He pulled out his cell phone, phoned the hotel and placed an order to be sent to his room. Luck was with him, and he ended the call seconds before she came out of the women’s room. He’d confirm the order when they returned to the hotel.

  “If what you’re going to do this weekend has a potential for danger, don’t tell me,” he said.

  “It doesn’t have, though it has great potential for failure. We have an official ambassador there and two advisers, but the problem remains. Not that they aren’t competent. They are. But if you have to socialize with people they sometimes don’t take you as seriously as they should in business matters. I won’t have a single drink with anybody.”

  He stared at her.

  “What is it, Judson?”

  “I’ve just now realized that your work can be dangerous and that the thought unsettles me.”

  “Don’t worry, I get plenty of protection, more than I want, in fact. You may rest easily. But thank you for caring.”

  “Of course I care!”

  Their car arrived, and they settled into its luxurious comfort. He put his arms around her. “This is something I’ve wanted to do since you appeared in the lobby at five-thirty this afternoon,” he said and bent to her lips.

  She melted into him as quickly as if she had been longing for him to possess her, parted her lips, took him in and feasted on his tongue, sucking on it, giving him unmistakable evidence that she wanted him. He sensed the car slowing down, guessed that it approached the hotel and broke the kiss as gently as he could

  “Sweetheart, we’re almost there,” he explained.

  The car stopped, he got out and assisted her, tipped the driver, and they headed to the door as news cameras flashed. “Who is the lovely lady you’re with?” one man asked, microphone and pen in hand.

  “We’re nobody special,” he said and attempted to pass.

  “Come on, Mr. Philips. Introduce your lady friend. ‘Nobodies’ do not get invited to White House receptions.” He looked to Heather hoping she’d speak up, but she clung to him as if she hadn’t heard the man’s question.

  “Good night, gentlemen,” he said and, holding Heather’s hand, plowed through the mass of reporters. He stopped at the receptionist’s desk and confirmed that he had ordered refreshments to be sent to his room.

  “We may have to leave here separately tomorrow,” he said, as they got in the elevator. “A five dollar tip to a receptionist and Google will tell a reporter who you are. I’m sorry.”

  She handed him her key card. “Would you like to come in?”

  He opened the door, walked in with her and closed it behind him. “And thank you for inviting me to accompany you tonight. It was my first time in the White House, and I’ll never forget the experience.”

  “Judson, I’ve been to all kinds of formals and receptions, but I knew tonight was the first one I’d ever enjoy, so much the first in which I felt at ease and as if I belonged. Being with you made it so special. I was so proud to be with you.”

  “I’m the one who was proud. I had the cream of the crop. I knew it and so did every man there.”

  She reached up, caressed the side of his face and, as if that weren’t sufficient, she clasped his nape and brought his lips to hers. She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, and fire shot through him. He heard her small silver purse hit the chair, realized that she’d tossed it away to gain full use of both hands, and he had a rush of excitement. Her right hand loosened a shirt button, stole inside his shirt and caressed his chest, the first time he’d felt her hand on his bare body.

  He held her away from him. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  “Probably not,” she said, “but I’ll take my chances.”

  He stared down at her. She was not an innocent. A virgin wouldn’t kiss the way she did. But she was in some respects naive about male-female relations, and he’d better be careful.

  She peeled off his jacket and laid it across the back of a chair. She removed her earrings, dropped them on the desk and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Kiss me as if you mean it.”

  Watching her unskilled seduction efforts had already heated his libido to fever point, and he wanted to take over and love her senseless, but he knew that by letting her do it in her slow and almost torturous way, he’d be the winner in the end.

  He brushed his lips gently over hers, teasing and testing until she seemed exasperated. “Stop teasing me. Give it to me,” she said, parting her lips and he shoved it into her mouth. He knew how she wanted it, and he obliged, lifting her to fit him and with one hand on her buttocks and the other at the back of her head, he held her. When she began to moan softly, he increased the pressure of his hands on her buttocks, rubbing and stroking. She raised her dress, wrapped her legs around his hips, rocked against him and he jumped to full readiness. She tightened her legs around him and pressed his buttocks as if to fasten him to her.

  “Kiss me,” she whispered. “You know I want you to kiss me.”

  He increased his passion.

  “I want your mouth on my breast,” she said, her voice urgent.

  He released the part of her left breast that wasn’t visible, sucked it into his mouth and enjoyed the sound of her cry. He loved the sweetness of her flesh, and he suckled her as if he’d never get enough. She began to undulate wildly.

  “Do you want me? Do you?” he asked her. “Tell me.”

  “Yes. Yes. Don’t walk away from me this time. I couldn’t bear it. I need you.”

  He settled her on her feet, unzipped her dress, threw it across a chair, turned to lift her and gaped. She stood before him in the tiniest pink bra and string bikini. “My Lord, you’re beautiful.”

  “Put me in the bed,” she said. Adulation was not what she wanted. She wanted him.

  “Don’t worry.” He walked over to the bed, threw back the cover, lifted her and laid her on it. He pulled off her shoes, leaned over and kissed her knees, and she could hardly control the movements of her body. He got out of his clothes with breakneck speed. She looked up at him standing above her nude but for the G-string that cupped him, pulled it off him, spread her legs and opened her arms. Like a drunken man, he stumbled into them and wrapped her tightly to his body.

  “Tell me you’re mine,” he said. “I don’t want any other man near you.”

>   “I don’t want anyone but you. Love me. I need to know who I am in your arms.”

  He kissed her eyes, her ears, spread kisses over her face, tender and loving kisses. At last she had his tongue in her mouth, but no sooner had she begun to enjoy it than he moved to her neck. She held her breath, waiting for the moment when she’d feel his moist tongue brush over her nipple.

  “You’re teasing. You know what I want, and you won’t give it to me,” she pouted.

  “Be patient, love. Before I leave you tonight, you’ll have every experience with me that you can think of.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth and began to suckle it feverishly while he rubbed her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She didn’t try to hold back the moans.

  “I want you in me. I need you.” He pulled off her panties and kissed her belly. She thought the feeling of his tongue sliding along the inside of her thighs would incinerate her. “Please, honey,” she said, frantic for relief. He slipped his finger into her and teased until he found the spot. Then he hooked her legs over his shoulders, kissed her and then let her feel the thrust of his tongue. She moaned. She couldn’t help it. She needed that, but it was a tease. She wanted more. He stilled her undulating hips, sucked, nipped and kissed until heat flooded her feet. He suddenly stopped.

  “You can’t leave me like this,” she cried.

  “I’m not.” He kissed his way up her body, looked down into her face and smiled a smile so beautiful that she thought she would melt.

  “Take me in your hands, sweetheart.” She did. “Now look at me. This is something we can only experience together.” She brought his penis to her vagina, he touched her, and she imagined that her eyes grew bigger. “We’ll take it slowly…”

  Before he could complete the sentence, she grabbed his buttocks, swung herself up to him and forced his entry. “Easy, sweetheart.” Slowly, he moved. “How do you feel?”

  “Fine,” she gasped. “Why does it take so long to get started?” she said, pulling him closer. He sucked her nipple into his mouth and stroked her clitoris until she released. Seconds later, he was thundering inside of her, around her, under her, over her, everywhere. She saw stars, moons and a kaleidoscope of images as he took her to another world. Suddenly the pumping, squeezing began in her vagina. Her legs and thighs trembled uncontrollably. He increased the power of his strokes, then slackened, increased them again. Each time she thought that at long last she’d reached the summit, he denied her.

  “Honey, I can’t stand this. I want to burst. Don’t stop.”

  “Shh. I won’t. Give yourself to me. Do you feel me? I mean is it different from this?” he asked. He stroked in another way.

  “Yes,” she screamed. “Right there.” He poured his power into every stroke, and like a slowly revving engine, it came upon her until her entire body shook. She felt herself clutching him and squeezing him.

  “That’s it, sweetheart. Ah, yes.” He tightened his hold on her, stroked rapidly and she screamed in relief.

  “Yes, yes. Oh, Judson, honey, I love you. I love you.”

  “And you’re mine. Do you hear me? Ah, sweetheart! Baby, I love you,” he said and collapsed in her arms.

  After long minutes, she stroked his back. “That was wonderful. You were wonderful. I never dreamed that I was missing something so precious.”

  “Whether it’s precious depends on who you experience it with and, especially, how you feel about that person. It can be plain sex, taking care of your needs and feeling nothing but release or, if you love each other, it can be wonderful.”

  “Uh…was it the same for you as for me?” she asked him.

  He rose up and looked at her. “It was the most precious experience I ever had with a woman. You’re perfect for me, and I suspected that you would be. Were you telling me that it never worked for you before?”

  “I made love the first time because I was nineteen and the only girl I knew who was a virgin at that age. It didn’t work at all. I did that the next time because my libido suggested it. But that didn’t work either, and I decided I was not cut out for it. I’ve never been in love, and never needed anyone until now. I liked one man a lot, but he let me down. I didn’t have girl friends with whom to gossip and learn. One day I’ll figure out why. Annie shies away from intimate matters, and my dad would have had a trauma if he’d known I was interested in sex. Scott was my first real buddy, and I wouldn’t consider discussing such things with him.”

  “Now, you don’t need to,” he said and kissed her left breast. “Hey, what’s this?” he asked her when he felt in her a series of weak contractions.

  “Is that normal?” she asked.

  “Absolutely,” he said. He knew her now and knew her body. He shifted his hips and, like a bee to stamen, he hit the mark and took them on a fast trip to ecstasy.

  “Where are you going?” she asked him minutes later when he swung his legs off the bed and reached for his pants.

  “Across the hall to my room. I’ll be back in a minute.” He put on his shirt, buttoned every other button and grinned at her. “We shouldn’t have been so quick to tell that guy on the registration desk that we didn’t want connecting rooms.”

  “I was thinking the same thing. Bring your toothbrush.”

  He stopped. “Unless you don’t want to,” she said quickly.

  “Don’t be shy, sweetheart. It’s what I want, too. And after what we’ve experienced here, I think it’s natural for you to want us to be together. Be right back.”

  She got out of bed, went to the bathroom, freshened up and got back in bed seconds before he knocked and walked in. “What’s that?” she asked him.

  “I ordered some refreshments and snacks, but I didn’t want to be so presumptuous as to have them sent to your room. The wine is still cold. We have some little sandwiches and some sweets. Would you like some? No, stay there. Don’t get up. I plan to get back in that bed and eat there.”

  She’d never done that. “What about the crumbs?”

  “What crumbs? You may be messy, but I’m not.” He put his pants and shirt on the chair and got into bed. At least he’s wearing shorts, she thought.

  As if he’d read her mind, he said, “I usually sleep nude, but I put these on to appease your modesty.”

  “How did you know what I was thinking?” she asked him.

  “Another one of my clever traits. Here. Have some of these.”

  She ate the little ham sandwich, resting her head on his shoulder as she savored it. “What will you do this weekend?” she asked him. “Are you going to Frederick?”

  “Absolutely. I intended to suggest that we leave here tomorrow morning at eight o’clock. I’ll take you home. Then, I’ll go home, check my mail, pack a few things for overnight and be on the road to Frederick by ten o’clock.”

  “I wish I was going with you.”

  “So do I.” He drained his wineglass, covered the tray of sandwiches, gathered her to his side and turned out the light.

  “Are you tired?” she heard herself say, though she wasn’t sure she had planned to.

  “Not one bit.” He leaned over her. She locked her hands behind his head, parted her lips for his kiss and took him in. Minutes later, he began their dance and soon swept them both into an ecstatic oblivion. Later, with one hand on her breasts and the other below her belly, he nestled her in front of him, and she slept in his arms.

  The next morning, he asked her, “Are you happy?”

  “Oh, yes. I feel as if I want to stand on top of this building and shout it to the world.”

  He held her close.

  Later, alone in her Baltimore apartment, tears trickled down her cheeks. Nothing that wonderful could last. She had opened herself to the possibility of great pain. She’d let her happiness depend on the love of a man. She thought about her father and his twenty years of loneliness. Please God, don’t let me be sorry.

  She walked into the embassy in Bogota, Colombia, at five o’clock that Saturday afternoon. “We’ve ar
ranged a reception for you at eight this evening,” the ambassador told her. “I hope you can get through to these guys. They seem hell-bent on destroying themselves and everybody else.”

  “Yeah,” she said, not hiding her contempt for the matter. “If we could make it inconvenient and unprofitable, they’d cooperate in a minute. The problem is that it’s making them filthy rich.”

  “I know, and making it less profitable is pretty close to impossible.”

  “Putting them in jail won’t make it less possible—they do business from their cells. Getting good-paying jobs for the men who grow and harvest the stuff will make them unavailable to the drug barons who exploit them. They would rather have good, legal jobs, make a living for themselves and their families and not have to stay on the run to escape or pay off the police. So let’s start there.”

  The ambassador appraised her with respect. She was used to that, and it didn’t impress her. “There are some people in the government who agree with you. We’ll get them here Monday morning. This time, we may make some progress. There’s a mineral miner here who may be willing to support a good project.”

  “I want to meet him,” she said. “See you at the reception.”

  Judson was about to leave home for Frederick that Saturday morning when his cell phone rang. “Mr. Philips, this is Hank Fields in Hagerstown. My pastor spoke to me and said you were looking for Fentriss Sparkman. Is that right?”

  He leaned against the front doorjamb and braced himself. “That’s right. Do you know his whereabouts?”

  “I worked with him for nearly ten years. He built a number of buildings in Frederick, and did a lot of work with some boys, getting them in school and that kind of thing. The police credited him with breaking up those street gangs. If you run into him, give him my regards. He’s a good man.”

  “I’m in your debt, Mr. Fields. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

  “Well, I hope you find him.”

  “Thanks. So do I.”

  He made the fifty miles from Baltimore to Frederick in a little less than an hour and made the News-Post his first stop. He handed his card to the receptionist. “I’d like to speak with the managing editor. It’s very important.”