Hero Worship Pt. 08

We went through all of the traditional numbers, even a mother/son dance. It was, I think, the first time I'd ever seen my mom dance. There'd been no dancing at Michael's or Esther's weddings, of course. Eventually the emcee opened the floor for everyone. I glanced over at my father, who was looking on with disapproval. He didn't hold with dancing, as it made people happy. He probably had some other reason couched in scripture to explain why it was of the devil, but I'm pretty sure I knew better. In fact...

"Hey, baby." I stood up and held out my hand to Aly. "Come dance with me." My little girlfriend beamed up at me as she stood, linking her arms in mine as we made our way toward the rapidly filling floor. My arms moved around her waist as we began to sway to the rhythm, and the world seemed to fall away for a few wonderful minutes. That is, until I felt a hand slip under my elbow and pull me determinedly off the floor.

"I have tolerated your presence thus far, young lady, but my patience has limits." The coldness of my father's voice caused an initial, bone-deep fear. Even after so many years, I could gauge his level of anger by the simple tone of his voice, and I struggled to recall a time when it had been this icy.

He turned me around, eyes blazing with frozen fire. "You are finished embarrassing this family with your ... unnaturalness ... at your brother's wedding. Now leave, and take your harlot with you."

Hearing him call Aly that horrible name finally snapped me out of my stupor, and I pulled my arm away from him and stepped back. My father was over six feet tall, and weighed a solid two-forty, very little of which had gone to fat as he'd aged. He'd been a multi-sport star in high school, and seeing that much man seething in cold fury would have been deeply intimidating, even if he weren't my father.

But I hadn't come all this way to let myself be pushed around. "Don't you dare call her that." There was still a quaver in my voice that even I could hear, and he didn't miss it.

"I'll call her what she is, Ruth Taylor. And if you want to thumb your nose at God you will not do it here. Get it through your head, young lady, until you come crawling on your knees in repentance you are not wanted or welcome."

"Yes she is, dad." My father rounded on Gabe, who was suddenly standing to my right. "I asked her to be here, and she is welcome."

"Be quiet, Gabriel. Don't you dare start coddling sin like this, not on your first day as the master of your family." He turned back to me, an ugly, derisive sneer. "You have to see her for what she is!"

I summoned every bit of courage I had and stepped forward. "And what's that, Paul?"

He bristled at my use of his first name. "An abomination! An evil, shameless demon given over completely to sin." He took a step forward. "You're nothing more than a whore of Satan, Ruth, vile and disgusting in God's..."

SMACK!!!

My spirit had been starting to shrink under the barrage when it happened. The small shape to my left stepped between me and my father and smacked him, hard and open palmed across the cheek. His face snapped to his right, mouth hanging open in shock.

His hand went to the red mark on his skin as he straightened up, but Aly didn't give an inch. Her voice was frozen Helium. "Don't you EVER talk about the woman I love that way again."

My father was dumbfounded. No one had spoken to him like that in decades, likely, and he didn't know how to respond. People, especially women, did not stand up to him. Never in a million years would my mother have done so. He towered over my diminutive girlfriend, nearly a foot taller and more than a hundred pounds to the good, but for all my father's many faults, violence was not one of them. As far as I knew he'd never struck my mother, or any other woman, in his life, but I wasn't sure how long his control would prevail in this case.

Aly stared at him, fire raging in her eyes. "Your daughter is amazing. She's talented and brave. She saves lives for a living. She saved my sister's life. What the hell have you ever done? And she sees beauty in everything. All you can see is hate. Anyone with half a brain, or half a heart would be ecstatic to have a daughter like her. She deserves so much better than you. Than either of you." Aly sent a pointed glance back to my mother, who was standing nearby.

She looked around at the small crowd of people that had gathered. Aly pointed at me. "She is the most wonderful, incredible person I have ever met. And I love her, and she loves me, and That. Is. Not. Wrong! And I have no time for anyone who would rather celebrate hate than love. And I have something to tell you, Mr. Knox. I am going to spend my life making sure that your daughter knows how incredible she is. I am going to surround her with a family that loves her, like you were supposed to do. Shame on you."

My father's face was red, and he started to shake with anger. He moved toward Aly, and I stepped between them. No one was going to hurt my baby. I wouldn't allow it. Gabe moved forward too, and my mother even took her husband's elbow from behind.

"Paul, let's just go back to our table. Come on."

My father looked around at the people watching our little scene, and I watched him force his face into a mask of composure, standing taller and straightening his shirt. His eyes moved from Aly to me, and we held each other's gaze for a moment.

There was anger in his eyes, but it was impotent, and it came crashing down on me that this man had no say in my choices, and no more control over my emotions than what I gave him. And I wasn't going to be giving him any more.

As he turned away I slipped an arm around Aly. "Hey, you okay?"

She was still shaking, but she still reached up and took my hand, looking over her shoulder at me and nodding. "Yeah." She took a deep breath. "You?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Gabe was standing nearby, and Christa and her parents, but the only one I cared about was holding my hand.

Aly kissed my arm. "C'mon. I wasn't done dancing with you yet."

"Yes ma'am." We made our way back to the floor, where Aly wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned her head on my shoulder. I held her close to me as we swayed to the music. My cheek rested in the softness of her hair, and I let the warmth of her love fill me. It resonated inside my body, my own feelings amplifying it, and there on that dance floor, for the first time I truly surrendered. This was the woman I loved, the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with. And I knew, with every fiber of my soul, that Aly wanted that, too. My Aly. Forever.

There were joyful tears rolling down my cheeks by the time the music stopped for a second, and Aly looked up with a misty expression of her own.

"You're crying?"

I smiled at her. "I'm fine. Can we sit down for a minute?" Aly nodded and I led her off the floor as the DJ picked up the pace. We watched as the bridesmaids and Christa danced in a circle with a few of the younger girls as some little boys chased each other around the tables before their parents yelled at them. Mark and Darcy were dancing, Mark spinning and dipping his wife as she laughed in his arms. Then Gabe and Christa were dancing again, and I watched simple joy wash over them as they held each other close.

We stayed through the traditional stuff. Rich caught his sister's garter, and Aly went up to try to get the bouquet, but that was snagged by the maid of honor.

She shrugged as she walked back to me and sat in my lap.

"Good try, baby."

Aly's eyes glinted with mischief. "Were you nervous about me catching it?"

"No. I don't need any signs to tell me I want to marry you."

The effect on Aly's face was instantaneous, her eyes watering as a smile stretched across her face, and I pulled her in for a kiss.

Eventually the bride and groom disappeared to change out of their wedding clothes, and we saw them off with the appropriate fanfare. My parents completely ignored my existence, as did my older sister and brother and their families. Mom and dad disappeared almost immediately after Gabe and Christa's exit. It hadn't been anything like the perfect reunion, but I knew I'd done what I needed to do.

Aly and I gathered up our coats and bid a fond farewell to Mark and Darcy and their family. When I turned around I was surprised to see Martha standing shyly nearby with a young man I'd only seen in pictures until today. He had a kind face, not overly handsome but personable and earnest.

"Ruthie?"

"Hey, sis."

"Hi. Um, this is my husband, Derrick. Derrick, this is my sister Ruth, and her girlfriend Aly."

He held out his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Ruth."

I shook it, and Aly did as well.

I turned back to Martha, who was biting her lip, her eyes downcast. "I'm sorry I didn't invite you to our wedding, Ruthie. Daddy was paying for it and he, um, I'm sorry."

"Hey," I put my hand on her shoulder, "hey, it's okay, I understand. You guys are always welcome for a visit in L.A., you know. I miss you." I choked over the last words.

"I miss you, too, Ruthie." With that my sister broke into a sob and we embraced, a tear slipping free from my eye.

When we separated I placed a hand on her pregnant belly. "And I'm looking forward to meeting you, too." That made my sister laugh, and after another goodbye Aly and I slipped out into the cool night air.

I drove back to the hotel, and we walked through the lobby with our arm around each other, making our way back to our room. Once inside I pushed Aly up against the wall, kissing her hungrily as she slid her leg up and down over my thigh.

I unzipped her skirt and pulled it down before raising her arms over her head and peeling off hertop. Her bra went next followed by her panties and shoes until she was wearing nothing but a garter belt and thigh high stockings. I only stopped kissing her when absolutely necessary before carrying her back to our bed.

I laid her down, whispering in her ear that she had been wonderful today, before stepping back and beginning to disrobe myself. I didn't rush, enjoying my baby's eyes go wide as I revealed my body to her.

Once nude I climbed onto the mattress, pushing my Baby back into the pillows, covering her with my body and whispering into her ear. "You were amazing today, baby. And I'm going to give you your reward."

I pressed my lips to her neck as she whispered, "Thank you, My Lady." I nuzzled around the choker she wore, the one marking her as mine. I moved further down, nursing on one of her lovely round breasts for a few moments. Aly was sighing and moaning at my attentions, but I knew my baby, and I knew she wouldn't let herself really enjoy herself until she'd been given an opportunity to service me, so I got up on my knees, turning and straddling her face and lowering my dripping sex to her mouth.

She took me in hungrily as I reached down to play with her lovely, wet pussy. She made the cutest little whimpering sounds as I toyed with her, the vibrations from which resonated through my sex as she ate me with a fervor. I rocked my hips against her mouth as her talented tongue took me closer and closer to the edge, and then drove me over with practiced perfection.

I rode her face as my orgasm shook me, letting her drink in my release, before sliding down her body and kissing her deeply and looking into her eyes. "That was wonderful, baby. Now I'm going to make you feel so good. Because I love you. I love you more than I can say." I stroked her hair. "My forever."

With that Aly's wide eyes filled with emotion, and I began my work. I worshipped every inch of her body, peeling her stockings off one at a time, kissing my way down each leg. When I finally settled on her sex Aly's whole body was trembling, and I only held her in suspense for a few minutes before I whispered my permission for her to come.

She exploded into my mouth, her body jerking and jumping as her insides seized and relaxed in ecstasy. I kept my ministrations going, pushing her back into her bliss over and over again, until somehow I instinctively knew she was done and kissed my way back up her lovely body.

I pulled her to me, holding her close in a tangle of arms and legs. My fingers on one hand ran through her hair while the nails one the other softly traced over her back. I reveled in the happy little sounds she was making.

"Did you enjoy that, baby?"

"Oh, yes, My Lady. Thank you."

I pressed my lips to her forehead, earning a little coo. "You are very welcome baby." I pulled the covers around us and we cuddled together, my baby sighing before speaking.

"I wish we didn't have to go home tomorrow."

"Well, do you have to go back to school on Monday?"

Aly looked at me with those soft brown eyes and shook her head 'no.'

I grinned at her and reached over and grabbed the phone, and punched zero.

"Front desk, Ezra speaking."

"Hi, this is Aly Winterberg in room 106." Aly's eyes went wide as I said it, and I just smirked at her and continued to talk. "We were just wondering if it would be possible to extend our stay for a night?"

"Let me see." I heard tapping at a computer. "Yes, ma'am for one more night only, I'm afraid, but we can manage that."

"Excellent. Put us down for that."

"Will do, enjoy your night ma'am."

I hung up the phone. "There. Now we can relax."

Aly snuggled in close. "So, what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"I've got some ideas." I reached up and turned off the light and pulled the woman I was going to marry close to me. Now, I just had to figure out how to ask her. As sleep closed in a vision formed in my mind. I needed to get back into my studio.

- Aly -

I knew I was exhausted, but with my body still humming from what Taylor had just done to me, and my mind spinning from the events of the day, I found sleep hard to come by. The crazy thing was that with everything else that had happened, there was one sentence that stuck out in my head.

She said she wanted to marry me. I mean, she didn't exactly ask, but she'd said it, didn't she? Was I ready for that? I was hoping I'd move in at the end of the school year, that sounded more like the thing to do. I pulled in a deep breath, taking in her scent and feeling her strong arms around me. This was really nice. I could live with this for a very long time.

I loved her. I've been telling myself how completely I was devoted to her. I guess this was the business end of it, huh? I opened my eyes and looked at My Lady's sleeping face. She was so beautiful. Could I spend a lifetime loving only her? Hell, yes, I could. I could absolutely do that. Peace settled over me like a blanket, and, there in Taylor's arms, I slept.

The next day was wonderful. We had a nice long lie in before stumbling down to the breakfast provided by the hotel, and then we just went driving. She took me up into the mountains.

"I'll have to bring you back up here in the summer some time. It's even more beautiful."

"It's wonderful just like it is." There was indeed a lot of snow on the mountains, but it was breathtaking.

"There're a lot of more amazing places, but I'm not trying them in February with your fake SUV. And without chains we can only drive on the plowed roads, anyway."

"Chains?"

Taylor looked at me funny. "Yeah, y'know, chains for your tires. To give you grip in the snow." She chuckled at my dumbfounded expression.

"You put chains on your tires?"

"Only when there's snow on the roads."

"Mountain people are weird."

Taylor laughed. "I'm not mountain people. I'm city folk. Hope you never run into real mountain people."

"Why?"

"You seen 'Cabin in the Woods'?"

My mouth hung open for a moment.

"Yeah, just hope we don't break down out here. It wouldn't go well."

I stared at her until her mouth cracked into the barest hint of a smile. I slapped her on the shoulder. "Stop it, you're just trying to scare me."

She gave me a grin. "Maybe a little."

We got back into Boise just before dark and headed to a local restaurant called Lock Stock & Barrel.

"No fancified California food here. Just good, all-American carnivorism." Taylor had a gleam in her eye, and she was right. She ordered me a big steak and baked potato and I'll admit it was amazing. Afterwards we got some ice cream to take back to our hotel room, and we attempted to recover from our food comas in our hot tub.

I set aside my empty tub of mint chocolate chip and hot fudge and leaned back against Taylor, luxuriating in both the warmth of the bubbling water and my lover's strong arms, giving off a contented sigh.

"Good day, baby?"

"The best. I love just spending time with you."

She kissed my head. "Me too, baby." As she held me her energy changed slightly, and I knew she had something she wanted to talk about.

I pulled the back of her hand to my mouth and kissed it. "Is there something on your mind, My Lady?"

Taylor laughed once. "How do you always do that?"

"Because I know you. I pay attention to how you're feeling. It's my job."

She hugged me close. "I don't deserve you. But you're right. I've made a decision." I tensed up for a second, wondering if she was going to propose, but that wasn't it at all. "I've decided that I'm going to take you parents up on their offer, and go back for my senior year."

My cheeks broke into a smile as I spun around in her arms. "That's wonderful! I'm so proud of you."

She hugged me. "Thanks, baby. I just have to figure out how to pay for it."

"But, my parents..."

"I don't mean the tuition. I still have to pay rent and buy food and gas and stuff. I can work on weekends, but it'll be really tight."

I bit my lip for a second before I decided to try. "You could get a roommate."

She smirked at me. "There's only one bed baby." Her tone told me she knew exactly what I was getting at.

"Might not be a problem for some." I ran a finger down her arm. "In fact, I know someone who wouldn't mind sharing a bed at all."

Her voice got playfully stern. "Are you asking to move in with me, Aly?"

I tried to look innocent. "See, I'm trying not to ask."

"You stinker." She pulled me close, nuzzling my neck for a moment and making me giggle. "I've made another decision, baby."

"What's that, My Lady?"

"After you finish with that school of yours, you're going to move into my apartment, so I can have you every night if I wish. I'm growing tired of sharing you, baby." Looking at them now on paper, the words seem almost harsh, but you weren't there. You didn't hear the emotion in My Lady's voice as she spoke, how it dropped to a gentle whisper as she finished. There was such a depth of feeling, of her longing to have me near, that it broke my heart.

And I knew, in that moment, that I was home. Home is where you are safe and loved, wanted and cherished. It's the place that isn't quite complete if you aren't there. And, for me, that place was Taylor's arms. It may happen in our little apartment to start, or in the house I was going to design and build for us eventually. But in truth, home would always be Taylor's arms, her strong presence, her warm embrace.

I looked over my shoulder at the woman I loved, who was smiling down with contented happiness, and a peace I don't think I'd ever seen in her face before. But it was beautiful. There was only one thing to say, really. Maybe two.

"Yes, My Lady." I put my hand on her cheek as a tear slipped free from her perfect blue eyes. "I love you."

Emotion washed across Taylor's face, and she kissed me, deep and long as I melted into her. We started in the tub before moving to the bed, making love deep into the night. We held hands as we drove home the next day. She talked about the pieces she was working on for her show in April, and I talked about my senior project and how I was progressing with building my model.