Could You Be Mine? Pt. 02

"Ellie..." We'd talked almost every day while I was gone, but it didn't make me miss her voice any less.

"How was the flight?"

"Too short for a full night's sleep, but it got me here. I can't wait to see you."

Ellie chuckled, "Same. When will you be done with work today?"

I groaned, the dread of my day at the office loomed up, "Two meetings in the morning, one with Mona at eleven... and then two others after lunch, I think."

"Hurry up with all of that so you can come ravish me."

I sucked in a breath, "Jesus, Ellie!"

"That's what you get for bolting off to Asia for weeks on end. My dreams are starting to censor themselves they're getting so extreme. Last night, I dreamed you took me while I was sprawled over the hood of a car...which is odd, because neither one of us has a car. But it was fucking hot."

Absence makes the heart grow hornier. I scrunched my eyes shut, "Ellie Calder, you... are... killing me," I said quietly into my phone.

"Is that so?" Ellie husked, "Imagine how you'll feel when I finally get you into bed..."

"Uh..."

She chuckled again before dropping her voice by half an octave, "I have all sorts of plans for us tonight. So hurry up."

With only self-interest in mind, I texted my dad to postpone our dinner plans.

{RJ} Move dinner to tmrw?

{Dad} Sure. Why?

{RJ} Seeing Ellie tonight.

{Dad} Good. Bring her tomorrow?

I paused for a nano-second. I'd off-handedly mentioned Ellie to my father a couple times before and I wondered if a dinner together would be premature. He apparently didn't think so.

{RJ} Ok.

Dad texted me back a thumbs-up, and not for the first time, I wondered who taught him how to use emoticons. His facility with his new smartphone has improved exponentially in recent memory, and I was certainly not complaining. I used to wait impatiently as the never-ending "Dad is typing" notification sat unchanging on my screen, only to have a measly three-word sentence arrive at the end of the wait. But that mystery would have to wait for another day... I had my "boss" to deal with.

Mona raised an inquisitive eyebrow when I walked into work. She looked me up and down, "Welcome back to Win-B! Not too shabby for someone who stepped off a flight an hour ago."

I shrugged, "Took a shower in the gym downstairs. What are you grinning at?"

She followed me into my office, "Nothing. I'm surprised you're here..."

"I took the red-eye and the Management Committee meeting is in..." I looked at my watch, "...fifteen minutes, and I'm back to back until my meeting with you! What did you think I was going to do?"

Her grin split wide open, "Oh, I don't know, go running into the arms of one Lauren Calder?"

I tried to wave her off, "Oh... WILL. YOU. STOP. SMILING like that??!!!"

Mona let out a loud laugh, "It's too easy! I've never seen you like this. Sonya called me, by the way, told me you've gone cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs for that woman. I had to agree: Every time we had a check-in call while you were gone, you always found a way to mention Lauren somehow..."

I didn't know I did that! "I did?!"

Mona laughed again, "Yes, RJ. You did. Which is why I thought there was a chance you'd play hooky today."

I lasered her with a look, "Are you giving me the okay to play hooky?"

Mona shook her head, "Not on the day of a Management Committee meeting. Although I did suggest to Denise that she should schedule everything before two p.m. for you today. What you do with that arrangement is up to you..."

I stared at her. That was when she winked at me, patted me on the shoulder and walked out, chuckling to herself.

Mona started laughing at me again later in the day when we met to talk budgets. Let's just say I was having a hard time focusing. She was about to zing me with something snarky when Denise, my assistant, knocked on the door, "Mona, Lauren Calder's on RJ's line but asked to be transferred to you."

My heart started pounding. Ellie's calling Mona?

"Sure, patch her through," Mona nodded her thanks to Denise.

We both stared at the polycom on her desk, waiting for it to ring.

Mona picked up the call the moment the speakerphone trilled. She looked like a Cheshire cat that had suddenly discovered a particularly plump mouse under her paw, "Hi Lauren!"

"Hey Mona!" Ellie replied.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes," Ellie sounded totally professional, "May I speak to RJ for a sec?"

"Of course!" Mona picked up the handset of the phone on her desk and handed it to me.

"Hi, Ellie," I saw Mona watching me closely.

"Am I off speaker?" Ellie asked.

I looked over at the polycom; its lights were off, "Uh, yes, you are. You okay?"

"Mm-hmmm. I have three things for you. You ready?"

"Yes." Where's she going with this?

"First: Do you still have my apartment keys?"

"Yes, why--"

"Good. The second thing is, the doctor says I am officially boot-free; I just got home from seeing her."

Ellie had hurt her ankle pretty badly before I left (one of the reasons more amorous activities were postponed), and I was happy to hear that the boot was off and she was on the mend, "Hey! That's great, what's--"

"And the third thing is, I'm ready to have sex now."

Her words echoed in my head for god knows how long, accompanied by enticing images that stunned me into silence.

"RJ? You still there?" I could hear her smiling as she asked that.

"Uh, yes am," I blurted out. When I saw Mona lean back in her chair and cross her arms, I cleared my throat and tried again, "I mean, yes, I am."

"Well?" Ellie's voice was gentle, seductive.

I rubbed my eyes and tried not to look at Mona, who was enjoying this way too much, "Uh, I agree with what you said, I get what you mean."

"So you'll come over now?"

Fuck it. I'm done with work today. "You bet."

"Bye RJ..."

I held the phone to my ear long after Ellie hung up.

"Everything okay, RJ?" Mona asked slyly.

I handed the phone back to her, and grinned, "Yep. I'm going to move some meetings around in my calendar."

"Eating out for lunch?" Mona crossed her arms again.

I picked up my stuff, the innuendo of her question wasn't lost on me, "Yes... and probably for dinner, too."

"No need to brag," Mona teased.

I feigned indignation, "Not bragging... simply stating the facts, ma'am!"

"RJ, do you know what you're doing?" Without warning, Mona's tone turned steely.

"No, not really... But I know how I feel," I stared at the carpet tiles, "Ellie is different."

"She's straight, you mean?"

I shook my head firmly, "No. It's not that--"

"Because I can understand the thrill of the chase and all that... especially the idea of seducing a straight woman to fall into bed with you... "

I bristled at what she was implying, "It's not like that, Mona."

"What's it like, RJ?"

"It's... it's," I looked around the room, trying to find the words, "It's like everything works when it comes to her. All five steps."

Mona sat up and stared at me, "What do you mean, five steps?"

"Sonya told me there were five steps for long-term relationships... love, co-habitation, marriage. Don't you know this? You've been married for like, forever!"

"I don't understand the words coming out of your mouth," Mona said slowly.

"I'm saying I'm in love with her." There, I said it out loud. It felt good to say it.

Mona's jaw dropped and her eyebrows flew up, "Already?! Is it mutual?"

Mona always knew how to cut to the chase. My eyes returned to the carpet tiles for a while before looking back up at her, "I don't know. I think so. I hope so."

Mona shook her head, "I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks..."

"Very funny, Mona," I looked at my watch. Ellie's waiting.

"I get the hint. Fine. Go. Say 'hi' to Lauren for me," she waved me away.

I trotted back to my office, grabbed my suitcase, and asked Denise to reschedule the rest of my meetings as I headed out.

Did that phone call from Ellie really happen? I'd never been summoned to a woman's bed quite like that before. I liked it. A lot.

A short cab ride later, I made my way into her apartment. I headed straight to her room, where I found her, fully nude, waiting for me. I liked that a lot, too.

"Hi," she said beguilingly as she reclined on her bed and opened her legs. There's that 'hi' again. More importantly, my eyes were swallowing whole the sight of the beautiful woman in front of me.

I think I momentarily acquired teleportation powers because one second, I was by her bedroom door, and the next, I was on top of her. I couldn't quite believe it was happening. I almost didn't know where to touch or kiss her first, so I started from the top and worked my way down. For the first time in a long while, I felt a pang of anxiety. I wanted to make her feel good, I wanted her to like being with me.

Ellie helped me brush any apprehension aside. The moment her mouth engaged with mine, my brain shifted happily into pure wish fulfillment mode and went along for the ride. Maybe it was because we'd been forced to wait, but every little thing was heightened for me. For us. Wherever I touched her, I felt her touching me back (not in the prosaic sense of our skin touching, but in the science-fiction-y mind meld sense of nerve-endings embracing). It was a revelatory feedback loop that was nothing like I'd experienced before.

I kept thinking I was dreaming the whole damned thing, and yet it was real. Ellie was beautiful, arousing, and an incredibly passionate lover. I'd never been able to articulate my 'type' before and now I knew why -- because even my wildest fantasies I wouldn't have been able to conjure up the person in bed with me: a miraculous alchemy of brains, sinew and flesh; busty, leggy, intellectual and athletic, all rolled into one.

We fell asleep hours later, our arms and legs all tangled up and our bodies pressed together. I told her that I loved her, over and over again as we drifted off to sleep.

If not for you
Babe, I'd lay awake all night
Wait for the mornin' light
To shine in through
But it would not be new
If not for you
If Not For You, Bob Dylan

Chapter 2: Lay Lady Lay

In the semi-darkness of the new morning, I looked over at Ellie and knew that something else was different -- I had no desire to leave the warmth of the woman next to me. In the past, I'd always felt a certain distance after spending the night with someone. Sex had always been physical connections that were more than satisfactory, and I honestly thought I didn't need anything more. Last night proved me wrong. The feeling was hard to put into words (something that was happening a lot lately).

I ran my fingers down the midline of her nose and lightly brushed her lips. My heart felt like it was buckling under the magnitude of her presence. I loved her, I knew that and had told her so. I just didn't know what was supposed to come next. I retracted my hand, suddenly unsure.

She opened her eyes, "You're still here."

First, I loved her voice in the morning: it had a low rumble to it that I hadn't expected. Second, I hated that she thought I might not have stayed.

"Yes." It was all I could get my mouth to say; my brain stalled when she smiled. Oh, so this is what comes next... realizing that I am completely at her mercy...

She studied me for a moment, "Honey, are you freaking out?"

I opened my mouth but my voice froze. She called me 'honey,' it was sublime and made me immediately crave hearing it again. The fact that she could tell I was feeling uncertain was terrifying and comforting all at the same time. For lack of any other thing to do, I went with honesty and nodded my head.

She tucked some hair behind her ear. I tried not to get too distracted by the now-exposed skin of her neck. She shifted her weight onto her elbow so her face was level with mine. I tried not to stare at the way her breasts moved. It proved very difficult to do -- they were mesmerizing.

Her eyebrows lifted as her eyes caught my lustful glance, "You can look at those later. I have a couple yes/no questions. Ready?"

I nodded. Yep. Completely at her mercy.

"Do you regret what happened last night?"

"No."

"Me neither. Do you want to keep having sex with me?"

How does she manage to say exactly the thing that makes my clit pulse? "Yes."

"Me too. Do you still love me?" Her fingers traced a path down the side of my cheek.

"Yes." Yes. Definitely. Definitely.

She leaned in and kissed me, "Good. I still love you, too."

"I don't really know what I'm supposed to do next," I murmur against her lips.

She tilted her head back and smiled, "Then we'll figure it out together. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do next either. This is my first time waking up with a woman in my bed."

"So how come you're not freaking out?"

Ellie rolled on top of me, "Because I'm enjoying this far too much."

"Is it really that simple?" Her breasts felt perfect all mashed up against mine.

"No, but again, I'm enjoying this far too much to want to do anything else."

Good point. I rolled back on top and answered her with a kiss.

"What time," Ellie said between kisses, "are you going into work today?"

"Hm?" I didn't want to stop kissing her.

"Work," she said again as she nuzzled my neck, "What time?"

My brain reluctantly engaged her question, "Hm..." I felt the breath from her nose on my earlobe as her teeth nicked it gently.

"The usual eight a.m.?" Ellie's warm voice caressed my ear. -pulse- She just did it again...

I closed my eyes and moaned. Her tongue had darted out and zapped my skin. -pulse- Holy shit, is this what morning-after foreplay is like?

She chuckled, "RJ, breathe. Are you freaking out again?"

Hell, no. As an answer, I trailed my fingers down her neck, through the deep valley between her breasts, over her stomach, and finally rested them on the warm cleft of her sex. Ellie sighed and shifted under me. My fingers sank into her opening and pressed gently against her clit. My eyes lingered on that sight as my fingers began a slow loop of a caress and I heard Ellie sigh again.

I looked up and saw that her seductive smile was back.

"I like waking up with you," she whispered, her hips slowly moving against my fingers.

I nodded my head, "Me too." I leaned in and kissed her, my fingers tipping back and forth over her clit.

The ragged breath she let out spurred me to skip the formalities and feast on her arousal. She tasted perfect. Ellie moaned, deep and low. She placed her hand on my forearm and pushed it lower, "Inside..."

I obeyed. She writhed, and moaned, and shuddered, and throbbed. I loved hearing the sounds she made.

"Holy shit, holy shit," she panted, "RJ... yes! Yes!"

Moments later, I felt her whole body release as she came.

I crawled up and she wrapped herself around me, "Hmmm," she sighed, "I said it last night and I'll say it again: this gay sex business is a keeper."

I laughed. I felt her drop her hand lower and gasped when her fingers began a masterful assault on my clit.

"Ffff-uuuuuck..." I breathed out.

"You like this?" Ellie breathed into my ear, "Does this feel good?"

Whatever novice hesitation she may have had last night was gone and she was playing me like a pro. I held her tighter and tried to remember to breathe.

"Seems like you like it," Ellie's fingers were strumming me hard, "Do you like it?"

"Yesssssssssssssssss," I said, the effects of her voice and her touch slaying me with an intensity I could barely absorb.

When I finally opened my eyes, her eyes were roaming all over me, part curious, part hungry, "I didn't know I could do that!"

I smiled, "I think you did that multiple times last night."

Ellie bit her bottom lip and shook her head, "No, last night I was trying to figure stuff out."

"So you think you've figured me out?" I squinted my eyes at her.

She shook her head, her blonde tresses dancing, "No, I meant I'm only beginning to understand what I can do to this delicious body of yours. It's a particularly pleasurable experience, making a stoic handsome woman like you melt under my fingers..."

-pulse- I felt myself blush, "You like that I'm...'handsome'?"

"I like sooo much more than that about you... but I'm starting to appreciate the uniquely enticing virtues of being with you: you're so very handsome, strong, chivalrous, sexy, but all woman. It's pressing all the right buttons for me. It's kind of the best of both worlds..."

-pulse- "This is all yours. All five foot ten of me."

"Lucky, lucky me," she closed her eyes as I kissed her.

Any motivation I could have mustered to leave her bed faded with every flick of her tongue against mine. All I wanted to do was keep kissing her. Naturally, when my phone started buzzing somewhere underneath our pile of clothes and bedding, I suddenly developed a deep and un-ambivalent distaste for modern technology.

"Ignore it," I mumbled against her lips.

She tilted her head towards the clock on her bookshelf, "Might be the London office..."

I capitalized on the opportunity and started kissing the underside of her jaw. My phone buzzed again.

"RJ," there was a slight warning tone in Ellie's voice, "it might be important..."

As if to agree with her statement, my phone buzzed one more time.

"You should get it, honey," Ellie breathed out slowly as I squeezed her breast.

"Goddammit!" I leaned over and half-heartedly searched for my phone, "Nope, sorry, can't find it." I grinned as I settled back on top of her, "It's five in the morning. It can wait."

She grinned back. She tilted her hips up.

How is this goddess in bed with me? I pressed against her. It made her moan. I pressed in once more. I had to hear her moan again. It was highly intoxicating.

"RJ..." Ellie panted. I flung the sheets off of us and used my knee to nudge her leg to the side. Ellie's pupils shifted as her leg submitted to my bidding. It was all the invitation my tongue needed to descend to its favorite place on earth.

"RJ..." Ellie said again. I began to thoroughly worship her sex. I wanted to pamper every nerve ending until she couldn't speak any more.

I'd like to think I succeeded. Ellie panted, and sighed, and moaned, and gripped my hair... and whimpered. Oh, that whimper completely undid me. It was insistent. It was so, so sexy. And I was the lucky, lucky, soul that got to make that sound come out of her.

By the time the red digits of her clock tipped to seven, we were spent. She was holding me and stroking my hair, whispering my name.

I used to be an avowed non-cuddler. It always felt smothering. But yet there I was, absolutely blissed out lying in Ellie's arms.

"What are you thinking about?" Ellie asked quietly.

I didn't really know how to reply. Everything I could say sounded so trite.

"RJ?" She squeezed me tight.

My stomach flipped happily.

"I'm thinking..." I turned to face her, "...that I want you to meet my dad. Do you, um, want to have dinner with him... and me tonight?" Another first. I'd never invited anyone to meet him before.

Ellie didn't immediately answer and looked at me, her eyes shifting back and forth between mine.

Oh shit. I said something wrong. "You don't have to, obviously. I mean, no pressure at all." I buried my face in her neck, not wanting to look at her, "I don't know how to do this relationship stuff. Is there, like, a grace period or something before step three?"

Ellie leaned back and looked at me blankly, "Step three?"

"Uh, when you ask someone to meet your parents...Sonya says there are five steps..."