Love Comes To Me

*****

They were sitting down on the couch together, afterwards, when he asked the question that had started to bother him.

"Julie, when did this all start?"

"What's that?"

"This... relationship, I guess. You focusing so intently on me."

She considered it for a moment.

"I don't know. It's tough for me to remember. I'm sorry, Michael."

"It's alright. I've been wondering about that second night. When I told you that I would take care of you, it seemed like you fell asleep immediately. And then after that, you were different."

"I think so, Michael."

"Julie, I'm concerned that I don't match up to your expectations. I don't think that I'm the man to make you as happy as you deserve."

She took his hand.

"Michael, you may not realize this, but even with everything that happened, I am still happier now than I have ever been. I don't believe that you can fail me."

The trust she had in him gave Mike shivers.

Chapter 12

The evening passed as the last few had and when they went to bed, Julie once again requested permission to make him comfortable. It continued to astonish Mike that she would have been more disappointed at him turning down a blowjob than him asking for one.

When he woke the next morning, Julie was, of course, pressed against him.

Julie's dedication to him may have been instantaneous, but he was finding his own love for the girl to be building. He hoped it might someday overwhelm the fear he constantly faced of hurting her.

He definitely was feeling more affectionate of her. As these thoughts were running through his head, Mike had been absent-mindly running his hand up and down her flank. He was astonished whenever he touched her at the sensation of her warm and soft skin.

Mike realized that she was awake and watching him as he stroked her side.

"Julie, is this alright? I wasn't thinking."

"It's alright, Michael. I have been wanting you to touch me." She had a small smile on her face.

He smiled. "Where would you like me to touch you?"

"Where would you like to touch me?"

At least he had gotten used to having questions returned at him.

"You aren't going to make this easy on me, are you?" He couldn't help but ask.

"It seems like you've already made it hard." She was giggling as she cupped him.

He couldn't take it anymore. Reaching over, he grabbed her by the neck and pulled her into a kiss. She melted against him.

After a few minutes, throwing caution to the wind, Mike started to maneuver so that he could enter her. He was sure she would be willing.

Julie pushed him to make him stop. "No, Michael!"

Mike shrunk back, realizing what he had just done. The overwhelming guilt was nearly instantaneous.

"Julie, I'm so sorry... I just..." Mike despised himself in that moment.

He was surprised by the look she gave him.

"Michael, you know what I told you. I'm yours, but I just can't let you do that until I get the STD results back. I don't think I could bear it if I hurt you."

Mike was speechless. This was the first time he had seen her stand up to him. It touched him what she was willing to risk to protect him.

He pulled her into his arms, just to hold her.

*****

Much of the rest of the day went as the last few had. Julie made breakfast before they spent the morning working on the training materials he had developed. She became progressively more helpful and whenever he told her so, she beamed.

During lunch, Mike dropped a plate by accident. When it splintered into pieces, Julie immediately started to head to clean it up. She had bare feet.

Mike, more emphatically than he meant to, told her to go sit on the couch. He was focused on making sure she didn't cut her feet. Surprisingly, she walked over to the couch immediately and appeared to sit contentedly while he cleaned up the mess.

He didn't have time to think about it until later. When they had a chance, he asked her.

"Julie, I was short with you about the broken plate, but you seemed perfectly happy. Why weren't you upset?"

"You told me what you wanted me to do, and I knew that it was to protect me. Why would I have been mad?"

He pondered that for a moment.

"Julie, do you like it when I ask you to do something and say please?"

"Sometimes." She seemed unsure.

"Like when?"

"I guess when you seem a little uncertain of what you want or if you are asking me to do something for myself."

"And the rest of the time?"

"The rest of the time, I would prefer you did not say please."

"Why?" This confused him.

"It confuses me. I want to know what you would like me to do. When you say please, it makes me wonder whether you really mean it."

"But isn't it more polite to say please?"

"I guess." Her voice was obviously noncommittal.

"What about when I say thank you?"

"I like that." She gave a smile.

"Is there anything you like more?"

She seemed uncertain.

He continued, "It's alright. You can tell me."

"I like when you tell me you're proud of me or tell me that I did a good job. It gives me that feeling in my stomach."

"And what would you say if I told you that I wanted to please you?"

She seemed a little confused.

"I don't know..."

"What if I said that it would please me, to please you? Would you be able to help me with that?"

She gave him a smile. "I could try."

Mike took her into the bedroom. Once they were there, she started to strip out of her clothes but instead he tossed her onto the bed.

"Let me!" He put more force into his voice than he was comfortable with.

Mike reached down and began to pull her clothes off of her, insistently. Julie was smiling widely, and her chest and neck were already beginning to flush.

He pushed her onto her back, with her butt on the edge of the bed. Mike did it as forcefully as he dared and used his arms to hold her down, even if it wasn't truly necessary.

He put his mouth on her slit, and began to lick her.

It was a surreal experience for Mike. He had never considered him to be skilled at cunninglingus and he was a little uncomfortable with being forceful with Julie, but her reaction was undeniable. Within a few minutes of him starting, she was writhing on the bed.

Then he felt her legs clamp around his head, involuntarily. She did not even seem to notice it was happening.

Julie orgasmed with a sudden shiver and then lay back limp. When Mike maneuvered them lying next to each other on the bed, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself. He stroked her body again.

"You came so beautifully. How was that for you?"

She smiled, and even blushed a little. "I have never done that before, it was incredible. I could feel you between my legs and I had that feeling in my stomach as you held me down."

"You needed to know that it was what I truly wanted?"

"Yes, Michael."

They lay happily next to each other for a few minutes.

"Julie?"

"Yes."

"Am I always going to need to be forceful with you to please you like that?"

"I don't know, Michael." She answered honestly.

Chapter 13

The rest of the two weeks passed peacefully. They spent the time working on his training, with the exception of a few visits to the gym. During that time, Mike made a point of it a few times of performing cunninlingus on her. He found that he needed to hold her down each time, and continued to be somewhat uncomfortable with it. For her part, Julie took every opportunity he allowed her to please him. The basic inequity of the balance also began to bother Mike.

During that time, Mike found an opportunity to sit and talk alone with his sister. He needed her advice on the situation. As it turned out, her advice was simple.

"Mike, keep taking care of her like you are now."

Her response surprised him. He had expected his sister to be outraged at him for her submissive attitude.

"Don't you think... I mean, it doesn't seem fair, you know?"

"If you're asking whether I am uncomfortable with the situation, than yes, I am. But if you're asking whether a girl with a traumatic past spends her days happily smiling when she's around you, that answer is also yes."

"Do you think this will ever change, Kathy?" He was asking hoping that she would tell him it was a phase.

"I don't know, Michael." He couldn't help but smile a little at her sassy response, imitating Julie.

"Do you want my advice, though?" She continued.

"Yes!"

"Keep her near you. Listen when she tells you something. And try your damndest to figure out how to make her happy, and not just happy that you're happy."

*****

Mike and Julie were sitting on the bed just before they left for the airport.

"Do you like Seattle, Julie?"

"I think I will. You will be there so I will be fine." She gave him a shy smile.

"You don't get homesick?"

"Not anymore."

He gave her a confused look, which was her typical indicator to try to explain.

"I used to, but I haven't since I met you. The only time I've felt like that, Michael, was when you were gone."

"So you'd travel anywhere with me?"

"Yes."

"Even back to the Middle East?" He winced as he said it. That had not been a good thing to ask her.

She didn't even hesitate. "Yes, Michael."

He again said what he knew he shouldn't. "I don't know why you trust me like this, Julie. I don't think I match your expectations, and never will."

"I think you already do, Michael." Her faith in him was absolute. It was terrifying and reassuring at the same time.

*****

They were sitting in the airport, at the gate. Mike noticed that Julie seemed a little nervous. She was squeezing his hand lightly every few minutes, as if to reassure herself that he was there.

"Julie, are you nervous to get on the plane? I know you have a painful history associated with long flights." Mike was concerned.

She gave him a small smile. "I am a little nervous, but I will be fine as long you're with me, Michael."

Julie's faith in herself was justified. Mike put her in the window seat, hoping it would reassure her, and once on the plane she simply curled up against him and fell asleep. Julie slept most of the flight.

Hopefully you enjoyed that a little bit.

I stopped where I did because that was as far as I could take the story at the moment, I have no idea what should follow or how their relationship develops. If anyone has recommendations, I'm happy to hear them. Honestly, I don't know if I'm capable of fully finishing this particular story.

A couple of my thoughts if you're at all interested in the story... or if you're having difficulty falling asleep and couldn't find your phonebook to read:

1) Sleeping appears to be a very heavy handed metaphor that I regularly use to represent being at peace.

2) Apparently I was reading too many Victorian romances when I wrote the beginning of this. There is no factual basis to the initial part of the story except the fact that some of the government documents rank a few middle eastern countries high on human trafficking nation lists.

3) How they got out of the country, why they didn't get the police involved, how she recovered so quickly... those are all questions I can't answer. I thought about trying to, but I was focused on the dynamics between the two.

4) Within my little 'experiment', Julie becomes his during the conversation when Mike promises to take care of her. For the purposes of the story, I saw that as an unconscious (at least for him) agreement between them to the relationship.

5) If you ask why the female character was so gorgeous, it's because I spent a few days writing this story and it made me a little uncomfortable. So I thought, if I'm going to spend this time being vaguely uncomfortable thinking about this master/slave relationship, than at least I'm going to also get to spend it thinking about an impossibly gorgeous woman. I wrote the story, so I'm the damned boss. You'd better recognize.

Be Kind, Please Rewind.