Patience

"Okay," she said and followed him out to the living room.

"How about a movie?" he asked. She nodded and he grabbed Quigley Down Under off of the shelf. He put it in the DVD player and turned on the TV. They sat on the couch and Rafe put his arms around her. Slowly she relaxed. They watched the movie without too many comments. Rafe ran his hand down her arms and across her shoulders as they watched the movie. Timidly, Rose finally put her hand on his knee.

"Where do we go from here?" Rafe thought.

*

They settled into a routine. Rafe worked his part time job and Rose worked when she had work. Otherwise she worked on the house and kept the computer business running when Rafe was gone or busy. In the evenings, they ate together and then watched a movie. Snuggling on the couch was fine, but once the movie was over, Rose went back out to the guest house.

Rafe wanted to be more intimate, but was afraid to spook Rose. They had fallen asleep one night on the couch, and she had panicked around 1am when she woke up. It had taken him a good thirty minutes to get her to calm down. He still didn't know why she was so skittish. He'd even run into the ex at the library one afternoon. Rafe had a client who promised to meet him at the library, and so he went early to scout out the place. It was a nice enough building. While he was examining the card catalog, a man had come up behind him asking if he needed help. Rafe shook his head and went off to look for the client. Watching from the stacks, he watched the man and realized just who it was. Rose was right. Very nice in public, but with a sheen of nasty that peeked out. On the way out of the library, Rafe heard someone ask the ex about Rose and the moment the woman's back was turned, the ex's whole demeanor changed. It was almost frightening.

Rose was off at a meeting. She'd gotten a job writing for the local paper. It didn't pay much, but it helped with the bills and made her feel better. It was 9 pm, and he realized that he was checking the clock. She was due home soon. "You're falling for her," that voice in his head was saying. "Duh!" he answered. He put water in the kettle for tea. That was something else Rose had started him on. English tea. The kettle had just clicked off when he heard the door open.

"How was the meeting Rose?" he asked from the kitchen.

"Great! Right up until the moment the damned ex walked in the door," she growled.

Rafe stopped what he was doing and walked into the office area where Rose had sat down at her computer. She was pounding out the meeting on the keys and into an Open Office document. He wasn't sure if she was angry or ready to burst into tears. He went to put his hand on her shoulder when she turned.

"Stop. Don't touch me until I have this written. Don't talk anymore until I have this written, and I'd love a cup of tea," she said and then turned back to the computer screen.

Rafe nodded and then went out to the kitchen and finished making tea. He put her cup on the pot holder she used as a trivet and walked away.

Thirty minutes later, she shut down her computer and came over to the couch where he sat reading.

"Care to tell me what happened?" he asked.

"The meeting was going well. No new surprises with this bunch. All the arguments were last month and now everyone is playing kiss and make up. Then, ten minutes before the meeting was over, he walked in and sat down next to me. Whispered that he wanted to talk to me. I was stuck. So, after the meeting, he walked me to the car and talked," she finished.

"What did you talk about?" he asked. He had an idea of where this was going, but hoped he was wrong.

"He wanted to let me know that he still loved me and would take me back even now. That he understood that there weren't too many people my age who'd be interested in dating me, so he'd take me back so I wouldn't be too lonely," she said almost spitting she was so mad.

"What?"

"From what I gathered, someone told him I looked happy, and asked if we were back together. Of course he said yes. Therefore, he had to hunt me down and try to get me to come back to him."

"Good grief. Why didn't he just tell the truth?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm also pissed that he insinuated that I couldn't get a date if I tried, because I'm too damn old! Not that I have one, but dammit, I'm not that desperate," she growled.

Rafe thought for a moment. "Rose, you aren't that old."

"Rafe, I'm 50," she said.

"So, it doesn't mean you're sexually dead."

"No, but I don't exactly have men beating down the front door," she said.

"That's because you are too busy trying to fix the world to see anyone," he said softly. "Now you're in for it buddy boy!" said that voice in his head.

"What?"

"Rose, in case you missed it, we have been dating, of a sort, for the last few months. Or, did you miss that was what the kisses and hugs good night were about?" Rafe asked.

"Umm... I um.... I. Oh hell. I'm sorry Rafe. You're right, I get so wrapped up in things I forget everything around me. And I'm so use to being ignored by the ex, that I forget that others might pay attention to me if I just slow down for five minutes," she said.

"Yes, and it is time to stop running away. I enjoy your company and want to know you better," he said as he took her teacup out of her hand and put it on the table. Then he pulled her to her feet and wrapped Rose in his arms.

"Rafe, I'm scared. Afraid to let my guard down," she admitted quietly.

"I know. Your panic the night we fell asleep on the couch told me that. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But, you have to step over your own shadow," he said and raised her face for a kiss.

Rose nodded and accepted the kiss. Rafe's hands moved down her back in a more suggestive manner than he had dared to before. She was soft and warm in his arms. Before she could protest, he took her hand and led her to the bedroom.

*

Rafe's bed was on the floor. He didn't have a frame for the mattress and box spring he'd gotten at the yard sale. There were pillows and a heavy quilt across the top. He took off his shoes and laid down on the bed.

"Rose, lay down," he asked softly.

Rose stood there for a moment and then kicked off her shoes. She sat down on the edge of the bed. Rafe reached for her hand and pulled her closer to him. She finally relented and put her head on the pillow next to him.

"Where I come from, no means no, maybe means no and yes means maybe. From here on in, those rules apply. Do you understand?" he asked.

"Yes. It's just been almost three years and... gods, what on earth do you see in me?" she asked.

"Don't let her run, fool!" said the voice in his head. Rafe put his hand to her face so that she had to look at him. "I see a lovely woman who has been lonely for far too long. I see an intellect to cut steel with and eyes that stop my brain. I see someone I'd like to be intimate with if she wants," he said.

"Eyes? Is that why you won't look at me sometimes?" she asked.

"Yes. Can't think if I do."

"I wondered," she said.

Rafe nodded and decided that they'd talked enough. He started kissing her. As she responded to the kisses, he let his hand roam across her arms and hips. Rose began to respond to his kisses and his touching. His hand moved to her breast and there was a gasp from Rose.

"Rose, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, It just feels so good. I had forgotten how nice it was to be touched," she replied.

Rafe reached for the buttons on her shirt. "May I?" he asked as he touched a button. Rose nodded. Rafe unbuttoned her shirt to reveal a bra slightly worse for wear. He leaned forward and kissed the skin above the bra cup. Meeting no resistance, he continued kissing her as he opened her shirt more. Rose responded more and more, with her hands running up and down his chest and back in concert with his caresses.

"Rafe,"

"Yes Rose," he answered her wondering what was on her mind.

"Do you really want to go further?" she asked.

"Yes. Do you?"

Rose nodded and stood up to undress. Rafe followed her lead. Before she could do more than unbutton the last of the shirt buttons, he moved to help her undress. Rose looked up a little startled, but didn't stop him. He slipped the shirt off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. Then he stood and waited for her. It took her a second, but then she started to unbutton his shirt. When it was on the floor, he moved to unbutton her jeans. He slid them past her hips and down to her ankles. Once there, she stepped out of them. Standing there in her bra and panties, she started to unbuckle his belt. The leather was stiff, but finally gave way. The jeans were a bit more problematic. His erection pulled the material tight, and once the button was undone, the zip practically undid itself. Rose gingerly pulled the jeans down his legs. Standing there in their undies, Rafe smiled and then turned Rose around. He undid her bra and moved the straps off her shoulders. As it began to fall, he wrapped his arms around her and cupped her breasts with his hands as he cradled her in his arms. Her breasts were warm and soft, and heavy.

Rose turned around in his arms and the bra fell to the floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. His erection was pressed between them as they hugged.

"Want to lay down?" Rafe asked.

"Yes," she said and crawled under the covers.

Rafe joined her and they went back to touching, kissing and exploring each others body. Rafe couldn't wait any longer and moved his hand to her crotch. Reaching between her legs, he discovered that her panties were soaked. Touching her made her moan. Rafe moved away for a moment and took off his underwear. His erection bobbed softly against her leg as his hand went back to her ass and down her leg.

Rafe felt Rose's hand move down his hip and then across his pelvis touching his cock. Her hand was warm and gentle. It was his turn to moan.

"Rafe," she said sounding uncertain.

"Yes, Rose,"

"Um.. You're... um... bigger than I'm use to," she finally said in almost a whisper.

"It will be okay. I'll go slow and you let me know if it is too much, okay?" he said.

"Okay," she replied and tried to hook her fingers in her undies.

"Let me do that," he said.

She nodded and moved her hands away. Rafe removed her panties and brought his fingers up her legs in a long caress. Rose moaned and opened her legs. He moved his hands in and touched her lips which were wet. His fingers moved up and down and then into her. She was so wet, that his fingers went in easily, finding that inner g-spot. Rose groaned with pleasure and bucked against his fingers. A few more strokes and she started to orgasm. She came with a gasp.

"Are you ready for more?" he asked.

Rose nodded and moved onto her back with legs open and knees up. Rafe moved between her knees and placed the head of his cock between her lips and slowly moved into her wet opening. Rose moaned and brought her hips up to meet him. Rafe moved slowly, not knowing how she was built. Each stroke pulled him in deeper. It felt so good. He moved his hips slightly and then slid in as far as he dared. Rose kept moving in rhythm with him and didn't cry for him to stop. "Go for it!" said the voice in his head. Rafe slid all the way in, something he hadn't been able to do with his ex. Pulling out, and then sliding back in brought no complaints from Rose.

"Rafe,.... don't stop. Feels soo gggood," she managed to gasp as she orgasmed.

"Okay, I won't last much longer, been too long since the last time," he gasped. Rose was starting to orgasm again, and the muscles clamping around him were almost too much. Her legs wrapped around his waist and pulled him in tight. Their rhythm increased until Rafe didn't think he could go much faster. Rose hit orgasm, and wave after wave of pleasure rolled over her and seemingly over Rafe. It was more than he could take, and he felt his own orgasm surge up from the tips of his toes and rocket out of his body.

They frozen in time for a split second, orgasms washing over the two of them. Only the groans from their lips gave any sign of life to the pair. Then, Rafe felt Rose collapse under him. He disengaged and moved off of her and laid down next to her on the bed. Pulling her close, he touched her clit and gave her another orgasm. As she came, he swore he was sharing it. She squeaked as she came, giggled over the noise and then cuddled up tight to his chest. Both were asleep in moments.

*

Rafe woke, and realized that Rose was gone. The bed was still warm and he knew she hadn't been gone long. Looking around, he saw that the bathroom light was on. He got up and knocked on the door.

"Rose?"

"Out in a minute," she said.

He waited. Looking around, he could see that her clothes were still on the floor. At least she wasn't trying to leave. Or, maybe she was. He stood there naked, and waited for her.

The door opened and Rose walked out. "Oh! Sorry, I'll get out of your way," she said as she tried to move out of his way.

"Rose, it's okay. Just come back to bed," he said and took her hand.

"I,... I really, um..." she stuttered.

"Rose, come back to bed. Mrs. Grundy doesn't get a vote in your sex life, and neither does your ex. Besides, I have this proposition for you," he said and pointed down to his cock which had sprung to life again.

Rose looked down and giggled. "Oh my. I really shouldn't..." she started.

"Shouldn't make excuses about having fun? Enjoying yourself?" he asked as he led her back to bed.

They crawled back under the covers and Rafe cuddled her next to him. "Now, was sex that bad that you want to run off and sleep alone?" he asked.

"Oh, it was wonderful. I was afraid you'd be too big, but oh it felt good," she said.

"Have to admit that I was a bit worried, but you are a delight to bed. Do you always orgasm like that?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Share every emotion and orgasm so hard without any extra stimulation?"

"Maybe once in a blue moon. Otherwise, I usually only came when the ex would use his fingers. I've never had an orgasm like what we did a bit ago. Sort of blew my mind to be honest," she said.

"What? Good grief. Didn't he know any techniques to help you out?"

"No, I guess you could say it didn't matter to him."

Rafe just held her close. If he let go of her at this point, he'd probably hit something, or someone. "What an idiot her ex is!" that little voice in his head murmured. Kissing her on the lips, he began to caress her. Rose responded to his kisses with little moans and her hand worked down to his cock. Her touch made him moan. Then Rose surprised him. She kissed down his neck to his chest, and from there worked down his stomach until she reached his cock.

"I hope you like my kisses," she said and then started kissing around the base of his cock. Working up the underside, she sucked on that tender bit of flesh just under the head. Rafe moaned. Then she took as much of his cock into her mouth as she could. He felt her tongue move up and around his cock as her mouth moved. It was almost too much sensation, and felt heavenly all at once. She opened her mouth and sucked air in so that it felt cool along his flesh. Then she closed her mouth again, bringing heat back in a way that sent shivers up his spine.

"Rrrrose,..." he groaned.

She stopped what she was doing with a long tight kiss as she pulled his cock out of her mouth. "Yes?" she asked.

"Come here, I don't think I'll last much longer if you keep that up," he said softly.

Rose moved up and straddled Rafe, guiding his cock into her and slowly settling down until their hips met. They rocked slowly back and forth until Rose started orgasming. They sped up. One second, they were moving, and the next Rose froze in orgasm, followed quickly by Rafe. Once again, that feeling of shared emotion washed over him. "How on earth didn't that idiot notice this with her?" he wondered. Rose collapsed on his chest, and he rolled her over so that they were still face to face, but on the pillows.

"Oh gods that was good," she panted.

"Oh yeah. I thought the blow job was good, but that was better," he said rolling over to touch her again. He liked the way she wiggled against his fingers. That and the way she tried so hard to be quiet.

"Oh! OH-oh-oh-oh-Oooooooohhh!" she moaned much louder than she intended as she orgasmed.

Rafe smiled and did it again. This time, she squeaked and then passed out.

"Rose? Are you okay?" he asked gently.

Rose fluttered her eyelids, blinked and then smiled. "Oh my," she said with a giggle in her voice. "That was... was... oh my," was all she managed. Kissing Rafe on the lips, she curled up tight to his chest. She was asleep in seconds.

Rafe held her and fell asleep soon after Rose.

*

Rose finally got all of her stuff out of the guest house and into the regular house at Rafe's insistence. They had played musical beds for a few months until Rafe got tired of freezing in the winter going from the house to the guest house.

Rose closed the drawer and stood up to find Rafe standing right behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Rafe had come to understand when she was feeling touch hungry and needed extra caresses, hugs or sex. In fact, there were days she wore him out. However, she gave back emotionally too. Sex with Rose was neither ordinary or boring.

Rafe had also learned just how vanilla her sex life was with the ex. Not that he was overtly kinky or anything, but he knew more than three positions and had introduced Rose to sensory play. Plus, sex wasn't all about pleasure for him at the expense of his partner's pleasure.

"Feeling a bit rough today?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I know we've been lovers for a while, but actually moving in seems..."

"A little more real?" he finished.

"Yes. A lot more real. Plus, the divorce papers go in next week. I've lived apart from him, but this is real change. I don't know how he'll react," she said and turned in his arms so that she could wrap her arms around him. "Sorry to be so touch hungry. I just can't seem to cope some days, and I'm having a lot of those days lately."

"Rose, it's okay. I have my days too,"

"Not as often, and most of yours are fueled by nightmares. Mine are fueled by the stress of dealing with the ex," she said.

"Not much difference really. I'm just remembering my stress, and you are living it. Which reminds me, are we going for a drive later this afternoon?" he asked.

"Umm... Let me get done with this and I think I can postpone the rest of the stuff I need to do until this evening," she said as she hurried to put the last of her things in the dresser.

Rose was done in fifteen minutes and they were out the door five minutes after that. They got in the car and were just heading out of town when Rose realized she didn't know where they were going.

"Rafe, where are we headed?" she asked.

I figured that we'd kill two birds with one stone. We'd drive the back way into town, so that we could enjoy the scenery, and then when we get to town, I'm taking you to our favorite Chinese buffet, and shopping."

"Shopping? We've got groceries. Did you need something that I forgot?" she asked, with a tinge of worry in her voice. Even after all this time, there were moments when she felt she had screwed up and would go all apologetic.

"No. The shopping is for you."

"Okay, now I'm confused. I don't need anything," she said.

"Yes you do. Watching you put your clothes in the drawers confirmed something I had thought but had no firm proof of until today."

"Huh?" she asked totally confused by this point.

"You need clothes. You have a small stash of professional clothes. You have a huge pile of things that don't fit well or are fine for hiking and gardening. However, you have nothing for you. You have the same undies and bras that you did when I first undressed you, and they were worse for wear then. So, we are going undies shopping." he said. Rafe had been aghast to see that she wore stuff that was more appropriate to his grandma or some maiden aunt.