"Wow," I breathed. It looked like a museum. Not the same kind of museum as downstairs, but like one of those coffee shops that play new world music. There was a sitar in the corner of the room for God's sake! There were Eastern looking fabrics hanging from two walls, a lithograph poster with writing that was not Latin based. Greek maybe? Or was it Russian... There was a frosted glass sculpture of head of some other type of God on his dresser. And pictures. All over were framed photographs of him in exotic places. He looked like one of those tour guides on travel shows. His facial hair grown out to accentuate his square jaw, a bandana tied around his throat. It was like I was looking at a different person. A distorted reflection of a reflection of the Teddy I knew. There was a large black and white framed photo of the Great Wall of China hanging over his bed. I walked instinctively toward it because, even in black and white, it was a stunning photo. There was another on his night stand so I sat on his bed and picked up the photo. The foreground was a minaret in shadow, the background was the most vibrant orange sunset I'd ever seen.
He sat down next to me and gently took the photo from my hands then, studied it reflectively. "This was taken in Turkey."
"It's beautiful."
"I'll take you there one day," he said softly and reached over me to put the photo back to hold my hand, which normally would've made me melt but I was too busy staring around the room in wonder. In every corner, on every wall and surface there was a trinket from another exotic place. Suddenly I was intimidated by him. Something else I'd separated from Teddy was his age. He said he was in grad school and told me he was twenty-three but, until that very moment, it had just been a number. Now, I felt the distance of experience between us. I felt, suddenly, like a little fish in an enormous pond. No wonder he was afraid to touch you, Charley, you idiot! You're just a baby to him.
"What?" he asked tentatively. I must have been making a face and I didn't want to talk to him about it then. It wasn't the right time.
"Nothing it's just...this isn't at all what I expected."
"Oh?"
"No I mean...What is all this?"
"I spent quite a bit of time abroad. That's why it's taken me so long to finish school."
"Wow. I mean, when you said you wanted to travel...it didn't occur to me that you already are. Well-traveled."
"I'd love to do it full time, but I have no idea how to make that happen."
"I do."
"You do?"
"Were you serious about being a doctor?"
"I mean...yes..."
"Because I figure since you've already got a degree in business, you've got half your requirement for pre-med. You could spend this next semester and one more getting the rest. You do well on your MCAT and you'll get in any med school you want. Have you heard of MSF?" He shook his head. "Well, here we refer to it as 'Doctors Without Borders' but it's got a French name. They require that, after your residency of course, you have at least two years of experience in your field. If you specialize in infectious disease like HIV or TB for two years and then...wait, do you speak French?"
"Oui."
"Spanish?"
"Si."
"Of course you do. Well, then you're a lock. When they see how smart you are and your linguistic skills, they'll have to accept you. By the time you're thirty you could be curing TB in Sri Lanka or delivering babies in Egypt. It's perfect for you."
"You researched all of that for me?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"In the car. A smart phone is for more than gaming, Teddy."
"Why?"
"I don't know, ask Steve Jobs..."
"No, I mean, why do that for me?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Teddy reached his hand out to cup my cheek and his warm fingers slid behind my neck and ear. He brushed his fingers lightly over my cheek, the sensation of which did things to my body I’d only ever experienced with him. My mind shut off and my eyes fluttered shut.
“It’s not that obvious to me,” he whispered huskily mere centimeters from my face. Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me! He was so close that when I licked my lips in anticipation, my tongue touched his bottom lip. The feel, the taste, made my mind swirl. I was numb except everywhere our bodies touched. The side of my face, our knees, thighs and ankles pressed together on the bed, his breath humid on my face until he finally closed the space between us. His kisses began as a sweet, gentle pressure. They shortly quickened into an intense exploration of my mouth. For as much as we’d done that morning, we still had to make up from our time apart. In one swift movement, he laid me down onto his pillow and was half on top of me, stroking my cheek, swishing his tongue across mine in ravenous circles. It still shocked me that after Adam, I was enjoying the touch of a man. I never thought it could feel the way Teddy made me feel. I was wholly and pleasantly surprised. So much so that I couldn’t restrain myself. I didn’t care that we were in his parent’s house, with a party full of wealthy, hoity-toity guests downstairs. All I wanted was Teddy and the way he made me feel when he touched me. He was slowly unbuttoning my shirt-dress from the bottom up, running his fingers from my ankle up to my thigh. His hands were warm on my legs and the feel of his lips on my thighs made my legs quiver.
“You okay, baby?” He asked throatily, staring up at me from the last snap of my dress above my waistline. All I could do was nod. He took in the view of my now soaked pink satin underwear and shook his head slowly. “Well, look at that,” he said with a raised eyebrow as he slid my underwear all the way off. The draft on my sensitive area snapped me into reality and I realized how bare and exposed I was. As if he could read my mind he looked me in the eyes and something in his expression calmed me immediately. He opened my dress the rest of the way and kissed all the way down my front starting with my collar bone. “You. Kiss. Are. Kiss. Beautiful. Kiss. Charley. Kiss.” His nose was level with my navel and the anticipation of what he was going to do to me was making my breathing labored. He spread my legs out on either side of his head and slowly he lowered his face until I felt the soft press of his tongue next to my most sensitive area. It was so different from the feeling of his tongue this morning that I gasped. He wasn’t afraid of what the gasp meant and I could feel him smiling. Then his tongue started to stroke slowly swishing back and forth, up and down. I couldn’t help myself and I gripped his hair to keep him buried between my legs. That feeling was building again and I knew if he kept going I was going to fall apart. Right as I was going to he pulled his head away and lifted his hand. He slipped his fingers inside me. The sensation was new and jarring but felt perfect. He watched my face as all of the sensation registered and then started to move his finger inside me. The movement sent my head lolling back onto the pillow and I bit down on my fist so I wouldn’t scream. “Charley,” he whispered. “Baby, look at me, please.” He pled with me without stopping what he was doing with his hands. I picked my head up and looked into his hungry expression. “Do you want me to stop, baby?” He asked but there was humor on his face. He knew the answer. Of course he did. Now he was teasing me. I wanted to smile or make some snarky remark, but all I could do was shake my head and whimper. He smiled a devious smile and while I was propped up on my elbows looking at him he dove his head down between my legs again. The combination of what was happening outside and what he was doing to me inside sent me over the edge. I gripped the sides of his bed until my hand cramped up and rode out the wave of my second orgasm.
As I lay there panting, Teddy disappeared off to a bathroom adjoining the room and came back with a towel. “Don’t move baby, I’m going to clean you up and get you dressed.” I couldn’t move even if I wanted to, so I lay there while he placed the warm wash cloth on my over-sensitized nether region. Then languidly buttoned my dress back up until he was laying beside me on his bed, arm propping up his head so he could look down on me. “God, Charley,” he whispered placing a soft kiss on my temple. I chuckled and turned on my side to face him.
“You said that already,” and we both
fell onto our backs in stitches. Teddy tucked me up into his side and dragged my thigh over the top of his legs. In doing so I felt the evidence of his arousal and felt guilty. “Teddy,” I said into his chest.
“Hm?” he asked.
“Let me…” I couldn’t finish the statement but I touched my fingers to his belt. He clamped his hand down on top of mine quickly.
“No baby. I told you, this is about making you feel good. I love you, Charley. I don’t need anything in return. Not until you’re ready. That was what sealed it for me. He loved me. He would never ask me to do something I wasn’t comfortable with, and I trusted that more than I trusted anything.
“Do you trust me?” I asked him. He looked taken aback by the question and stared unblinkingly for what felt like a long time.
“Yes,” he said finally. So I sat up on my knees and soundlessly unbuckled his belt. I put my hands into the waistband of his pants and reached down through a tangle of coarse curls until I felt the smooth skin of him. His eyes closed briefly and he breathed deeply, but he didn’t try to stop me. I sprung him free of his pants and for an instant the same sick feeling I had with Adam rose in my throat, but it only took one look at Teddy to know this was different. He was looking at me intently -he probably saw the same fright cross my features so he reached out to push some hair behind my ears. “Wait,” he said and his voice cracked. The same old insecurities started to rise up in my mind but Teddy leaned over to a drawer in his night stand for a small container of a waxy substance. “It’s coconut oil,” he said hoarsely. “Here,” he reached for one of my hands and motioned for me to dip my hand in the container. I scooped out a little and held it on my fingertips. “Warm it with your hands.” I did and very quickly it was no longer solid but slippery and oily on my palms. Teddy shifted underneath me and I hesitated because I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do next which was embarrassing in the moment but Teddy didn’t make it awkward. Patiently he guided one of my hands down onto him slowly to the base. He did the same to the other and showed me how he wanted me to stroke him. He was patient and gentle with me until I found my own rhythm and felt him clench his muscles underneath me.
The experience was wholly unnerving because, save for the very beginning, I didn’t think once about Adam and I found myself getting turned on by what I was doing, by the sounds that Teddy made. It was a heady and powerful feeling being in control and I silently thanked Teddy for unknowingly fixing something that was broken inside me. He gave me the power in the bedroom, something that Adam took away from me all those years ago. “Oh, God, Charley,” he bit out and his hand snaked up around the nape of my neck and tensed just before he came. He cleaned himself up with the towel he used to clean me up with earlier, and I washed my hands in his lavish bathroom. When I came out he was lying on his back with a satisfied grin on his face. I stood admiring the beautiful man who made me happy and who allowed me to make happy. He popped his head up and noticed I was staring. His grin got wider and he patted the bed beside him. “Get up here, girl.” We lay together for all of a minute when the door flew open and two relatively young people, with their hands all over each other and their tongues down each other's throats came stumbling in.
"Hey!" Teddy shouted and instinctively protected me from the couple who were falling toward me on the bed.
"Oh," the man sighed straightening his shirt and his pants. Ew! "Sorry dude, oh shit, this is your room!" The girl was giggling uncontrollably from behind him and was smoothing down her bottle blond hair.
"Mick, what the hell dude," Teddy was trying to stay composed but he was starting to crack up, too.
"Sorry, man, me and Shell were trying to get in a quick one before dinner," he made an obscene gesture with his fist then took a glance over Teddy's shoulder at me and winked, "but it seems you had the same idea."
"Charley," Teddy beckoned and I noticed his face was an adorable shade of pink. I smoothed my skirt and walked to him. He stood me in front of him and took me in both his arms. I was glad he held on tight because my knees went weak at the contact. Even after all we did his touch sent shivers straight to my bones. "Mickey, this is Charley, my girlfriend. Charley, this is Mickey my asshole little brother." He was still coming off of whatever high that giggling bimbo had him on, so he didn't shake my outstretched hand. Instead his eyes slid lasciviously over my body, despite the fact his brother could see him and his girlfriend was present. I felt instantly dirty and silly for standing there with my hand in his face so I dropped it to my side. He ignored me after he got a good long look (I shudder to think what was going through his mind) and he looked at Teddy with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Dude, is she even legal," before Teddy could answer he addressed me, "How old are you doll face?" Something in the way he said ‘doll face’ made me feel icky. I felt Teddy's entire body tense and I couldn't tell if he was mad at Mickey for asking or if he was worried what I might say.
"I'm legal, Mickey," I said calmly, "though just barely. I'm eighteen." Teddy must have been worried about my legality because his grip slackened a bit.
"Whew, that's a relief. Really didn't want big bro dragging the family name through the papers. No offense, doll."
"None taken," I liked Mickey, vulgarity aside. He reminded me a lot of Teddy. They had the same spunk and over confidence, though if I was comparing, which I wasn't, Teddy was far more handsome. Mickey had the same amber blonde hair but his eyes, though blue, weren't quite as blue, his frame, though nice, wasn't as tall or as muscular, his jaw not as square. He was like a cartoon version of Teddy. That didn't seem to bother the blond who was casually running her hands along his chest and stomach from behind.
"Mickey," she said in a juvenile whine, "aren't you going to introduce me?"
"Right. Teddy, Charley, this is Michelle Nichols," she giggled and held out a limp fish hand for a handshake. I noticed that he did not mention she was his girlfriend. Was it because this was implied by the vigorous face sucking when they fell into the room, or were they sucking face because they were casual fuck buddies, I couldn't say.
"Just call me Shelly, everyone does," she giggled. Again. This time it was squeaky like a baby toy and I wanted to throw up. I shot Teddy a look to see if he thought it was as annoying but he was working something out.
"Nichols. As in Barron Nichols? The mining guy?" Teddy asked her.
"The one and only. That's my daddy!" She squealed. Actually squealed. Like a piglet. The more I looked at her the more she reminded me of a piglet. Her nose was a little upturned, her ears stuck out a bit. It didn't help she was wearing a hot pink dress. I swear I wanted to check her rear for a curly tail.
"Oh?" he said in his uniquely Teddy way. He was staring down at his sheepish looking brother who just gave him an innocent shrug in response. That seemed to tell him all he needed to know. It's amazing how brothers communicate, I thought. I'd seen Adam and Caleb have similar silent conversations that no one could decipher, those were times I longed for a sister.
"Well," Teddy said after an awkward silence, "we should all get back to the party."
"Yeah," Shelly giggled. She took my arm in hers as the four of us made our way to the staircase girls before boys. "Oh Charley, I'm so happy you're here. I would've felt all alone. And you're so pretty! I love your hair. Is it real? Oh what am I saying; of course it's real, but is it yours?" I couldn't tell if she was high or if she really was that stupid so I avoided the question. When I didn't answer, she took the liberty to pull curls from the end of my ponytail, at my upper back, all the way straight, to my lower back, let go and say: "ping!" then squeal and snort. Yep, just like a piglet.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs three people, one I instantly recognized, made their way into the grand foyer. As soon as I saw those long legs and blond hair I knew, in addition to the awkward beginning, that this evening wasn't going to get any better for me. Mickey somehow dislodged Shelly from my arm and Teddy took her place, partly shielding me from Lacey and, I assumed, her parents,
with his body. I was grateful for this protection though it seemed unnecessary. As Lacey and her folks made their rounds she pretended as if we weren't even there, though she made a show of giving Mickey and even Shelly air kisses. Shelly was too stupid to notice the snub. I was half focused on Lacey's retreating back when an dashing older gentleman ambled over and gave Teddy one of those super brief man hugs. He was good looking, had great hair for a man of his age, though it was graying. He kept his hand on Teddy's shoulder and asked in a deep, yet surprisingly soothing voice: "Teddy! How goes it, man?"
"Hey Andy," Teddy smiled. "Good. You?"
"Ahh," he said chuckling to himself, "you know how it goes with that one." He discreetly gestured over to where Lacey and, I assumed, her mother, were standing. I wasn't sure which "one" he was referring to but I had inkling. Teddy squeezed my hand and looked down at me -Andy seemed visibly stunned that I was there either because of me (the way I looked), or because he hadn't noticed I was there before and thus heard their entire exchange. He looked at me face on, and held a hand out in greeting. Seeing his face I was taken by how kind it was. He had smile lines that only seemed to accentuate his pretty green eyes. They were the same color as Lacey's but that's where the similarities ended. His were kind. Warm. Inviting. I should've thought it strange to be swimming in this man's eyes considering he was a stranger, considerably older and married, but I couldn't help it. I was mesmerized. I robotically placed my hand in his and he grasped it in both of his hands, brushing his lips to my knuckles.
"I don't think we've had the pleasure," he said. His voice was like the ocean, deep, calming and hypnotic.
"No we haven't," I squeaked. That was it. I couldn't get anything out because I'd forgotten my name. That never happened to me before.
"Andy," Teddy cut the awkward silence and took me out of catatonia, "this is Charley, my girlfriend." While I was looking at Teddy, Andy was looking at me. I could feel the side of my face burning under his stare. When I turned back he was smiling.
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