Promises, Rules and Their Breaking

"Is that the guy who told you to get out?" Robbie was still asking dumb questions.

"That's him. Finn isn't scared of much, but Nathan's his big brother. That and a baseball bat saved you a beating. What were you thinking?" Jeez! She could slap him for being so stupid.

"I wasn't. He was upsetting you and I... I guess you could say I saw red."

"Promise me you'll never do anything that stupid again. Promise me." They weren't moving at all now. Ellie was almost shouting. She was angry and she was shaking with all the adrenalin.

"I promise."

"You could have been really hurt. Those guys wouldn't care that you're blind. They've spent their whole lives bullying people weaker than they are."

"Ok. I get the point. It was stupid. I'm sorry. I won't do it again." Robbie got defensive.

"Sorry." Ellie hugged him and started to cry. "It's..."

"Its over now." Robbie put his arms around her and held her tight. He seemed a whole hell of a lot calmer about it all than Ellie felt.

"Nobody ever tried to be a hero for me before." She shook as she sobbed against his chest.

* * * * *

"You'd better come up and get dry."

"I better not." Ellie had been really quiet since she'd stopped sobbing.

Robbie had let her stay quiet until they reached the foyer of the hotel.

"I think I really must insist on you getting out of those wet things. I promise not to peek." "No... I really need to go home." Ellie protested, even as the elevator doors closed on them.

"What you really need is to get dry, get warm... And perhaps a little brandy." The elevator opened and Robbie rummaged in his jacket pocket for the key card. "After you." He held the door for Ellie. So polite, she thought as she brushed past him.

"Oh my!" She stopped just inside the suite.

"Never been up here before?"

"No. Not to any of the suites. Not even any of the rooms. It's huge." She was moving around now, taking it all in. "I've heard about these."

"Heard about what?"

"These pictures."

"They're Eric Kruppa's. I guess the management didn't mind him redecorating, since he rents this place by the year. The bathroom is through there, on the left. There should be plenty of towels and robes."

"Thanks." Ellie found the bathroom. "I must be mad." She said to herself - to her bedraggled reflection -- as she peeled down to her skin.

She was shivering so she turned the shower on hot and stepped into it to warm up. The water felt scalding at first, making her gasp, but it soon grew more comfortable. She quickly washed her hair because it was splashed with little flecks of Finn's blood. Ellie was still shaking when she got out of the shower, but not because she was cold. She guessed Robbie was right: she needed a drink.

And not just for the shock. She needed a little bottled courage if she was going to spend the night. She was honest enough to admit she wanted to, but... how many commandments did that break? Fuck it! Robbie had been so brave. She couldn't help feeling impressed by the way he'd defended her, when he of all people had an ironclad excuse to be a coward. Yes, she'd been mad at him outside, but only because she'd been scared for him inside. He was sweet, he was brave, he was polite and he didn't expect her to stay. Why on earth wouldn't she want to? Feminine logic won the day. She retrieved her perfume from her purse and dabbed it on all the right places, wrapped herself in a robe and opened the bathroom door.

It wasn't locked. She only noticed as she left that she hadn't locked herself in. Maybe she wasn't as insecure as she felt right now. Robbie's clothes were on a chair in the bedroom, dripping onto the carpet. Ellie tutted and took them back into the bathroom, running a few inches of cold water into the tub and leaving his bloodstained clothes to soak. There was quite a lot of blood on Robbie's clothes. She wondered, in passing, if Finn was badly hurt.

* * * * *

"I've put your clothes in the tub to soak." Ellie found Robbie in the main room. "It's not good to let blood dry on."

"Whose blood?"

"Finn's. You broke a beer bottle in his hand, remember?" Ellie picked a seat opposite Robbie instead of the place he'd clearly left next to him on the sofa. She noticed that space and wondered if Robbie was expecting more from her? So she sat apart from him to not be too obviously easy.

"I didn't know. Was he badly hurt do you think?" How could Robbie sound so sincerely concerned about the guy who would have happily broken all his ribs not an hour ago? It couldn't be an act. Robbie really had to be that nice.

"Probably not. But if he is, it serves him right. He shouldn't have been picking on a blind guy."

"Actually, it was picking on you that got him hit with my cane. I'm pretty much immune to jokes at my expense."

"I know. And that's my problem."

"Problem?... Ah, that'll be room service." They both heard the elevator door. "Want to run and hide, or have your reputation ruined by backstairs gossip?"

"My reputation is probably already ruined. The receptionists saw me come up with you." Ellie stayed where she was while Robbie went to the door.

"I ordered cocoa and brandy. I didn't know what you'd prefer."

"Allow me." Ellie touched his hand to stop him groping for the tray, then handed Robbie a large glass.

"Thanks."

"Ugh! I hate brandy." Ellie quaffed hers and exchanged an empty glass for a full cup of cocoa.

"What would you prefer? Order anything you like."

"Cocoa's fine. It takes away the taste of the liquor. You're shaking."

"I guess the shock's getting to me." Robbie still sounded quite calm though, placid even.

"Me too." Ellie looked at her own hands and the cup trembling between them.

"Still?"

"Still." She sipped her cocoa just a little noisily.

"Come and sit here." Robbie patted the vacant bit of sofa beside him.

"Do you know how many promises I've broken tonight?" Ellie didn't move.

"You didn't make me any promises."

"But I did promise myself."

"How many then?"

"After breaking up with Finn, I promised myself six months of no men. I promised myself I wouldn't go out with you. I promised myself I definitely wouldn't come up here and I've always promised myself I'd never, ever -- not under any circumstances -- lose my underwear on a first date."

"It's a good thing this isn't a first date then. Any promises you haven't broken yet?"

"Only one." Ellie got up, put down her cocoa and moved around the table to settle beside Robbie, lifting his arm and snuggling under it, wrapping it around her shoulders.

"One moment." Robbie reached for the phone with his free hand and dialled. "Hi, Reception. I have a guest this evening... Oh? You already know? ... Well, your diligence is commendable... Can you find her a room please? Just send the key card up to my suite... Thank you. Oh, and if you'd be so kind as to have a word with housekeeping, I'm sure they must have a uniform in Ellie's size, for tomorrow morning... No, don't send it up: just have someone put it in her room. Thanks... No, that'll be all. Goodnight." He put the phone down again and pressed his lips to the crown of her hair, briefly. "No more broken promises tonight."

"Thank you." Ellie couldn't help herself. She started to cry. Not because he was rejecting her implicit offer -- He wasn't and she knew that -- but because she'd never had a guy who actually respected her before. It felt good to be cared about.

"Why are you crying now?"

"I don't know." She sobbed, turning her face to kiss him properly.

A knock at the door brought their first kiss to an abrupt end just as Ellie was wondering why Robbie wasn't taking the hint and undressing her. The knock snapped her out of it like a bucket of cold water. She unfolded from his embrace and almost ran to the door.

"Goodnight Robbie." Ellie's voice carried from the door. She closed it behind her, not trusting herself to stay longer.

She went down in the same elevator as the bellboy who'd brought her room key. He smirked at seeing her wet hair and bathrobe so she said. "That guy needs a seeing eye dog. I got soaked and I don't think my dress will ever recover. It's dry clean only." She felt guilty for bad-mouthing Robbie, but she thought he'd probably understand. He wanted her reputation unsullied, didn't he?

At least it stopped the bellboy from smirking at her.

* * * * *

The first thing Ellie did was call home. "Georgie? Hi. I'm just calling to tell you not to worry. I'm staying over at the hotel tonight."

"Blind Boy's got lucky huh?"

"No! And his name's Robbie, not Blind Boy." Ellie felt herself blushing at the blatant deceit of her shock at Georgie's suggestion. She was keenly aware that her sister was only wrong because Robbie was better at guarding her reputation than she was herself.

"Whatever you say, little sister." Georgie sounded sceptical.

"We got into a fight with Finn then got very wet... You've noticed it's still raining? ... So Robbie insisted on getting me a room here. Nothing romantic." Like hell! The shock had gone away but she still felt horny, thinking about what Robbie had done to Finn.

"So you and Finn argued again? There's a surprise."

"We didn't argue. I told you, Robbie picked a fight with him."

"With Finn? Blind Boy?" Georgie clearly couldn't get her head around that concept.

"Please don't call him that. And Yes, with Finn. Actually, it was Finn's fault."

"No surprise there."

"He... Finn came over and started trying to bait me. When Robbie spoke up for me, Finn tried to pick a fight and Robbie accepted the invitation by smashing a bottle in Finn's hand with his white stick. Then it got ugly-"

"Like the presence of Finn wasn't enough ugly?"

"-Yeah, well his buddies were all set to really go to work on Robbie but Nathan got us -- Robbie and me -- out of there."

"But you're ok?" Georgie was genuinely concerned now.

"Sure, just a bit shaky. I've had brandy and hot chocolate though, so I'm calmer now."

"It sounds like the first date from Hell."

"It wasn't a date!" Ellie let her voice get just a bit too shrill.

"Sorry Sis. Ok, get a good night's sleep and you can tell me the whole story tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Georgie."

"Night."

Ellie took off her robe and looked at herself in the mirror. Her nipples were like diamonds. She touched them gently, enjoying their sensitivity and wondering what they said in Braille. Probably "Fuck me!"

She touched herself between her legs. Jeez! How wet was she? She almost went straight back up to Robbie's suite. She got as far as picking up her robe before she talked herself out of it. "No." she actually said out loud. "If you want this, Robbie, you've gotta come and get it."

Instead, she lay on the bed with all the lights out and imagined what it would feel like to be touched all over the way Robbie touched her face. She didn't try touching herself all over. She only had two hands and one was busy between her thighs while the other massaged her breasts, so tender and sensitive right now. But in her head, Robbie was slowly, patiently exploring every inch of her.

Her fingers slipped and slid over her labia, trapped between closed thighs as she curled up on the discarded robe. Her clitoris sent jolts through her at every light caress and her juices leaked out of her vulva, making her labia and thighs slick. She worked two fingers deep inside her vagina, feeling the heat inside her as her body responded to her manipulation and her fantasy of Robbie's touch. She recalled the pornographically explicit, but oh-so-beautiful, photographs on the walls of his suite. She'd never been into other girls but there was something compellingly erotic about seeing those images. Maybe because Ellie knew that two of the girls in those pictures were the only two girls Robbie had ever 'had'. She unfolded herself, spreading her legs wide and abandoning her breasts to peel apart her sticky labia and spread herself, like the photographs, imagining Robbie exploring her sex inside and out with his fingers and tongue. Even in the dark, holding herself open like that, legs akimbo, felt totally exposing. Her juices were bubbling out of her now. She rubbed frantically at her clit, her other hand plunging two --three fingers into her gaping hole, pumping in and out as fast and as hard as she could manage. Her climax, when it came, came like a crescendo at the end of a symphony. She wailed in ecstasy, barely having the presence of mind to roll over and press her face to the pillows, muffling the noise.

As her excitement subsided and she lay face down, sobbing again, this time with pleasure, her hands still underneath her, pressed protectively over her sensitive crotch, her first coherent thought was "Damn, Robbie! Why didn't you follow me down here?" She hadn't come like that in years, certainly never while she was with Finn. If just thinking about Robbie could get her off like that...

It didn't occur to her that the adrenalin and shock of earlier had played their part. Robbie got all the credit.

* * * * *

"Sorry I left so quickly last night." Ellie went straight over to Robbie as soon as he showed up in the coffee shop.

"Did it work? Are the gossip hounds on your trail?"

"Too soon to tell. The usual?"

"Please."

"Coffee. Your pancakes won't be long." Ellie brought his coffee and sat down opposite him. "Wasn't last night the worst first date ever?" Her voice was low but cheerful.

"Actually, it was my first first date. Wasn't it meant to be like that?"

"Your first... You mean you've never been on a date before?" Ellie found that hard to imagine.

"Never. I only ever asked one girl out in High School: She turned me down. B and Kelsey don't count. They just turned up and took charge."

"No wonder."

"No wonder, what?"

"No wonder you suck at dating. You got me thrown out of my favourite bar, ruined my favourite outfit and, just when - against all the odds - I decided to stay over, you threw me out." Ellie contrived to sound disappointed about that.

"Didn't I do anything right? I mean... I thought the kissing went well."

"Ok, I'll give you that. You kiss well. One minute." She left, returning with Robbie's breakfast.

"Thank you. Ellie, I have a favour to ask."

"Sho ashk." Ellie had brought a second fork and helped herself to a mouthful of Robbie's blueberry pancakes.

"I'm worried about Finn's hand."

"Don't be. I called Nathan last night. Finn's going to be fine. He'll still be an asshole, but his hand will be fine."

"Good." Robbie again sounded totally sincere about that. Ellie couldn't help but think it sweet that he cared at all about Finn.

"But we will have to find somewhere else to go tonight. Nathan's barred us both."

"But not his asshole brother? Figures... Tonight?"

"Unless you have other plans? You still owe me an evening out, Mister."

"No... No other plans."

"I'll see you later then." She got up and went back to work, leaving Robbie looking more in shock than he had at any point last night.

* * * * *

"Can I ask a personal question?" Robbie asked. They were in another bar and, touch wood, hadn't got into any trouble for a whole hour.

"You can ask... I may not answer you." Ellie was wondering if Robbie would ever get onto the subject of her staying over.

"Last night, Finn called you Elephant. Have you lost weight?"

"No. It's nothing to do with weight... It's really embarrassing... Can we not talk about it now?" Ellie hadn't been expecting that! Damn that ass hole, Finn.

"Sure."

"My turn with the personal questions." Even though she'd basically refused to answer his.

"Fire away."

"The extra sheets? Rampant sex or did you spill a glass of water?" This was the biggest single item of housekeeping gossip about Robbie and Ellie decided she really had to know the truth.

"Rampant sex." Robbie sounded smug about it too.

"And the noise from the bathroom?"

"Guests have no privacy, do they? I was sucking Kelsey's toes in the bath. Any more questions?" Robbie didn't seem to mind telling her. Ellie wasn't sure how to take that. Again, she found herself thinking, he doesn't behave like a normal guy.

"One more. Last night... After I'd gone?"

"Cold shower."

"That wasn't what I was asking. Did you think about coming to my room?" But she was a bit disappointed to hear that he wasn't as aroused as her. Then again, maybe he was, if he needed a cold shower.

"Not after you left so quickly. I didn't know which room you were in anyway and asking Reception... Not a good idea."

"I didn't mean to leave like that. I guess I panicked a little. For what its worth, I very nearly came back up." Very very nearly.

"I'm kinda glad you didn't. I've had all day to think about it and I really don't want you to be the subject of gossip. I think we should keep this platonic." Robbie dropped a bombshell.

Ellie was stunned for a moment. Didn't he want her? Of course he did. He was just being noble again. She reminded herself that he was old-fashioned in some odd ways.

"Thank you. I appreciate that." She had her own plans but it was nice that he was so thoughtful, even if he was making decisions for her -- which was one of the main reasons she'd dumped Finn. When Robbie did it, it made her feel cherished.

"Another drink?"

"Not for me. Can I walk you home? I have to work in the morning."

"Sure. Ok."

* * * * *

"Shall we say goodnight here?" Robbie asked when they reached the lobby of the hotel.

"No. I'm coming up." Ellie had pondered the idea all the way from the bar and she was as certain as she was ever going to be that this was what she wanted to do.

"But... We agreed to-" Robbie, poor boy, sounded confused, bemused and puzzled.

"I didn't agree to anything. I just thanked you because you were being so nice about it." She led him into an elevator. As the doors closed on them, she flowed up against him, silencing his objections, at least temporarily, with a kiss.

"Mm mmm." Robbie tried to speak, found it impossible with two tongues in his mouth, finished kissing Ellie, and then tried again. "I've gotta know. Why elephant?"

"You'll find out soon." The elevator stopped and Ellie reached into his pocket for the key card to the suite, letting them in. As the door clicked shut, she moved within hugging range of Robbie again, feeling much more relaxed than she'd expected to about what she was about to do.

"Remember yesterday, you said that grabbing every pair of tits that come within reach could get you into trouble?"

"Yes."

"Tonight it won't." She shut him up again. Robbie accepted both invitations, kissing her enthusiastically as his hands found the sides of her breasts. He couldn't feel more than just the sides because the rest of her bosom was pressed hard against his chest, but even that minimal touch elicited moans of pleasure from Ellie.

"Let me undress you. I want to see all of you." Robbie asked.

"The way you saw my face?"

"Yes." He was already finding buttons to undo.

"Shall I do that?" She tried to take over unbuttoning her shirt.

"Let me." He gently pushed her hand away and carried on unbuttoning. "It's part of the process."

"Of seeing me?"

"Yes. First what you're wearing, then what's under it. It'll take me some time... but we have all night."

"I'm all yours." Ellie liked that he was taking charge. She could feel her nipples crinkling and hardening with anticipation before he'd even unhooked her bra.

When he did unhook it, her bra slid down her arms to the floor and was replaced immediately by his hands, as he stood close behind her, cupping and supporting her ample breasts. As Robbie rolled her nipples between finger and thumb, Ellie moaned out loud.

"You like having your tits touched?"

"Love it. They've always been so sensitive. Don't stop." Ellie pressed back against him, feeling something suspiciously like a hard-on pressing just above her ass.