Here with Me Ch. 04

Elizabeth whimpers as she feels her climax start to build, and she can tell it's going to be good and strong. "Almost there, baby?" he asks, and all she can do is nod. "I am too," he adds. He pauses for a beat to kiss her, then resumes driving himself in and out of her slick wetness; when he feels it tighten around his cock he knows she's going to come soon. Her hands slide down his back and over his ass and push down on it, as if trying to propel his shaft even deeper into her. She whispers his name, drawing it out several beats, then her soft exclamations of "oh!" let him know that she's very, very close; these repeated exclamations and the grunting noises he makes each time he pushes inside her the only sounds in the early afternoon air, which smells of saltwater and suntan lotion and sweat -- a pretty heady and lustful combination -- and he finds himself borne away on a wave of utter ecstasy as he comes, and he carries her along with him as her climax answers his, and she cries his name when she comes, her soft wetness constricts even more around him as her hands tighten on his rear end.

She sighs with contentment, loving the warm, musky weight of him when he collapses on top of her, and he groans when he feels her muscles continue to clench around him, as if to drain him dry. He takes a moment to regroup, then raises himself slightly to give her a deeply ardent kiss. "Wow," he breathes as he rolls off her and onto his back.

"Wow is right," she jokes weakly, taking her own time to regain her senses, then they're in each other's arms again and she's snuggling against his chest. They rest together, their hands tenderly caressing each other until she confesses in a whisper, "I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to either, baby, but I have to."

"I wish you could stay here with me."

"I wish I could too, Elizabeth, but I can't."

She falls silent for a moment, then wants to know, "Can we get together after work on Friday?"

"I have plans Friday night; how about I come up Saturday?"

"That'll work."

They continue lying together quietly until he reluctantly says, "We should probably get cleaned up and get ready to head out."

"You're right," she tells him, just as unenthusiastically. "I really don't want to but ... I know we have to, Doug, you don't need to remind me," she petulantly adds when he goes to say something in response.

They shower together in silence, then she tells him when they're drying each other off, "If you could tidy up downstairs, I'll clean the bathroom and change the sheets. I'll take them with me to wash at home, and give them back to Greg and Allie the next time I see them." He nods, and once he's dressed he goes downstairs to sweep the floors and empty the trash.

Forty-five minutes later, Doug returns to the bedroom to find the bed freshly made and Elizabeth packing the last of her things. "Need me to take that downstairs for you?" Doug asks, indicating her suitcase.

"Sure," she tells him, as she zips it shut.

Elizabeth follows him to the living room, then waits inside the front door, watching as he takes his bag out to his car. He slams the trunk lid shut and turns to see her watching him from the doorway, a miserable expression on her face. "Elizabeth, baby," he tells her, as he rejoins her there, "there's no reason for the sad face. You'll see me on Saturday." He kisses her, one of his deep, soulful kisses that she loves so much then tells her, "I'll take the earliest train I can, I promise."

"Okay," she replies, her voice small. "Do you want a soda or water for the road?"

He shakes his head. "No, I'm good, E, but thanks anyway," he answers. They stand there together for a few minutes, then he says, "Well, I really should get going if I want to avoid the traffic."

"You're right; I think I'm going to grab a soda and head on out too," she replies. Yet neither makes a move to leave until he says lamely, "Well ... I'd better head on out then."

"Drive safely," she tells him, "and call me when you get home."

"Will do -- you too, E." He bends to kiss her again, and she clutches his shoulders tightly as if to prevent him from leaving. "Gotta go, baby," he adds, as he disentangles himself from her embrace. He kisses the top of her head, turns and leaves her.

Elizabeth remains in the doorway as Doug walks to his car, and when his car's backed out of its parking spot she raises her hand and waves farewell; he does the same. She shuts the door as he drives off and sighs, realizing that she'd forgotten to ask him to clean the small powder room just off the kitchen. She quickly freshens it up, then goes back into the living room. She stands in the middle of it and looks at the sofa in silence.

She thinks of lying there with Doug, her head in his lap and his hands tenderly stroking her hair as they watched television. She remembers the slow smile he'd given her when she playfully blew a raspberry on his thigh -- "I can think of better things for you to blow," he'd joked, making her laugh, while his pale green eyes twinkled mischievously at her. She remembers dozing off cuddled up against him, then waking up and loving the feel of his big strong arms around her, not wanting that feeling to end; then she remembers his surprise arrival on Thursday night, how he had hustled her onto the sofa to fuck her, and how wonderfully exciting it had been to see him, to touch him, to taste him ... "Get a grip, Elizabeth," she scolds herself.

She goes back into the kitchen to get a diet Coke; when she opens it soda sprays all over the recently cleaned counter. "Damn it," she curses, and she pulls a paper towel from the nearby roll. She hesitates for a moment, then impatiently wads the paper towel into a ball and tosses it aside. "I wish we had taken tomorrow off," she says out loud. "Maybe I can talk him into taking a half day tomorrow. He can't be that far away, he didn't leave too long ago."

Elizabeth gets her cell phone out of her purse and calls his, which immediately goes to voice mail -- odd he doesn't have it on, she thinks. "Doug, it's me," she says after the tone. "I can't believe this, you've only been gone for a little while and I miss you already." She takes a deep breath and continues, "I wish you were still here with me, baby. I had a fabulous time this weekend, and I hope you did too. See you Saturday." She disconnects the call, picks up the discarded paper towel and cleans the kitchen counter, a wistful look on her face.

* * *

Doug stops at a convenience store to get gas; as he's buying a bottle of water (should have taken one when Elizabeth offered it to me, he thinks) he realizes that his cell phone has been strangely silent. He takes a quick glance at it and sees that it's shut off -- he could have sworn he'd turned it on when he left -- and when he returns to his car, he powers up his phone.

A chiming noise indicates that he has a missed call, and another a voice mail message, so he looks at the display and smiles when he sees Elizabeth's cell phone number. He then checks his voice mail and grins even wider when he hears her voice, warm and silky, down the line. He replays her message once, twice as he sits in his car, thinking of the pensive tone she used when she said that she already missed him.

* * *

Elizabeth places a bottle of water on top of her suitcase by the front door and decides to make one final check of the house before leaving -- she wants to make sure that the place is as clean as she'd found it on Thursday -- saving the master bedroom for last.

She stands in the doorway, silently staring at the bed they'd shared until she felt tears spring to her eyes. "What is the matter with me?" she asks out loud, as she closes her eyes and presses her hand to her lips, as if to hold back the crying fit she feels coming on. "It's not as if you're never going to see him again," she reminds herself. "Grow up, girl! You'll see him on Saturday!"

But she can't help herself, thinking of all the incredibly sublime things they'd done to each other in this bed (and in the shower, and on the deck, and on the sofa downstairs), and that painful sense of longing, of sorely missing him hits her hard; she sits down on the edge of the bed, picks up the pillow he'd slept on and buries her face into it for a good weep. She imagines she can still smell him on it, which hurts even more.

Then Elizabeth hears an insistent rapping at the front door. "Not now," she thinks angrily. She ignores it, hoping whoever it is will just go away; however, the knocking persists, further aggravating her. She tosses the pillow aside and swipes impatiently at her face, then shambles down the steps to the front door. "I'm sorry but --" she begins to say as she opens the door, then she's stunned speechless when she realizes that Doug's standing on the front step. "Hey, baby," he greets her with a big grin.

"Doug! I thought you were going home!" she finally exclaims.

"I was, but then I got your voice mail message, and I felt so bad when I heard how much you missed me ... so I thought I'd come back to be here with you. At least for a little while longer." At this her face lights up and she smiles; he gathers her in his arms and kisses her. "You almost missed me," she says. "I was getting ready to leave."

"Now that would have been a shame," he replies. "Wait a minute, E ... were you crying?" he wants to know, just now noticing her reddened eyes and tear-streaked face.

She nods. "Call me crazy," Elizabeth tells him, "but I was standing in the master bedroom and couldn't stop thinking about you, about being here with you ... and I just couldn't help it."

"Oh, babe," he says simply before kissing her again. "Why don't we go inside ... I'll make it all better," he adds, a sly expression crossing his face.

"Promise?" she asks in response, just as slyly.

"Cross my heart." Elizabeth pretends to give his suggestion some thought, then says, "All right." She knows once she's got Doug upstairs she'll be able to convince him to stay much longer (oh, she can be very persuasive when she puts her mind -- not to mention other things -- to it), so she takes his hand and leads him back into the townhouse, shutting the world outside with a firm click of the lock behind them.