It Only Took Twenty Years Pt. 02

It is said that ninety percent of what we perceive as flavor comes from the sense of smell. Her full breath, passing through my olfactory sensors as she exhaled, allowed me to taste Dawn in a way I'd never experienced with anyone. It was another delicious gift.

She released her lips slightly and whispered, "You try."

I did the same thing she had. I felt her quiver in my hands.

We shared several repetitions. I trailed my hands up the sides of her torso, then back down, into her back pockets. With her last exhale, I simultaneously inhaled. My lungs filled with her breath. Already depleted of much of its oxygen, it made me serenely light-headed. She backed away.

"Naughty boy, touching my tushy without permission."

She playfully and softly kicked my shin with an unshod foot. While I maintained her gaze, I sniffed my fingertips with a deliberately lewd expression.

It was her turn to burst out in laughter. She approached me yet again and brought me to her chest. She ran her fingers through my hair as she gently held my forehead against her breastbone. I brushed the sides of her thighs. The sensation of finally having her body in my hands felt so good, but I resisted the urge to go higher lest I be admonished again.

"Wow. We could have had so much fun over the years," she commented softly as she played with my hair. "Are you okay?" she asked, with genuine concern, raising my head so our eyes met.

"Yeah, I am. I'm just tired and a little stressed. Ellena isn't well, though. She dislocated a shoulder knocking down a man who was pissed off at me and wanted to have a few words. He fairly well demolished the office before she got him under control.

"He had some sort of baton or nightstick or something on him and smashed most of the windows, tore up the blinds, Ellena's desk, all kinds of stuff. If I'd have gotten to work on time, I might have been able to prevent it."

"Are you an idiot?" she asked, stepping back, looking steely-eyed. "It was on the news just before you got here. They said the guy was hopped up on something."

"She used a taser. It made him relieve himself all over the carpet in the sitting area." I chuckled. "Ben told me to take the rest of the week off so they can clean up the mess and repair all the damage."

"Listen, my friend. Ell did her job, and apparently did it well. Did you know the guy?"

"Not really. I fired him last week. The thing is, he wasn't a layoff. He was actually near the top of the retention list, but IT security discovered he was exfiltrating intellectual property to a competitor. I only saw him face-to-face a couple of times. He is a big dude. Bigger than me. Probably six-six and three hundred pounds."

"Good girl, Ell!" Dawn praised and toasted the air then took a sip. "So, what do you want to do tonight?"

I chuckled. "This might surprise you, but you know what? Right now I think I just want to simply exist with you. Just you and me. I'm just glad to spend time with and simply  be with you. Is that okay?"

"That sounds absolutely perfect." She paused for a moment. "Can I tell you something which might sound weird?"

I nodded and sipped.

"I'm nervous. I feel like a teenager right now."

I laughed out loud, and she didn't care for that.

"Hey!" she barked. I just bared my soul! Don't make fun of me!"

"I'm not. I only laughed because I was just thinking the exact same thing and was trying to decide whether or not to say it."

She smiled at me apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Will, I really didn't mean to snap that hard," she whimpered, then kissed my lips.

I did feel like an addled teenager. It'd been a long time since I'd even been on a date. I was out of practice, but there I was, in a very nice hotel room, with a beautiful woman I'd known for decades but felt I'd just met. I had no idea what to think.

Dawn refilled the whiskey glass we'd shared then fetched a clean one, filled it with ice, and poured her own.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"The Bluefire."

"Really? Downstairs? What did it cost you?"

"Are you ready for this?" She chuckled dryly. "A hundred twenty dollars. I'm not worried. I think I can afford it," she said as she sat on the leather sofa and curled her legs underneath her.

I laughed hard again, only my second time the whole day. "Yeah, buying a bottle of liquor from a bar can be pricey. You should've asked me to pick up one of mine on the way over here."

Dawn just looked at me. "I love you. I wanted you here and didn't want to wait."

My heart leapt in my chest. "I love you, too. Do you know how good it feels to hear you say those words to me? It feels even better to say them to you."

I looked at her smiling face.

A adopted a British accent and asked, "Ma'am, may I touch your beautiful bum again?"

I'd caught her mid-sip. The uncontrolled reaction of laughter caused whiskey to exit between her lips at high velocity. I laughed at her laughter.

"Since you're such a good bloke, yes, you may boop it again."

I pronounced her name as precisely and expertly as I could manage. "Vo Vinh Nhung, I love you so very much."

Dawn's eyes flew wide open. "Ohmygosh! What ?"

"Vinh Nhung, you are such a beautiful woman," I said, then explained my sudden success. "I asked Thien to coach me via Skype. Vietnamese phonemes are damn-near impossible to us Texans, you know."

"Thien Nguyen? I'm surprised the goofball didn't con you into saying a vile, vulgar curse instead. By the way, I'm Texan, too, Wirr Lichards . Say it again."

I laughed hard at how her beautiful, unmistakably gorgeous Asian features worked together as she mocked the stereotype.

"Vo. Vinh. Nhung. I adore your soul."

She yelped gleefully and shook her clasped hands in joy in front of her. I felt pride in honoring her by learning to correctly pronounce her true name.

"Oh, I love it! You may more than boop me," she happily screeched, glancing down at her upturned hip.

I fell deeper in love with that woman with every word she spoke. I took her suggestion and softly stroked her offering.

"Your suspicion of Thien is well-warranted," I said. "He tried to teach me something else. But I could tell what he was saying sounded way too different than your name, and I called him on it. When I bribed him with a bottle of my single barrel, he came into line."

"Do you remember what he tried to get you to say?"

"Vo Doe Mah, I think?"

She laughed. "Oh, that jerk-wad !"

"What did I say?"

"Um … you said … mother eff-worder Vo. If you're patient and willing, you can get him back something fierce. You're going to get revenge. I'll teach you some choice Vietnamese insults."

To be fair, Thien had been included in a close-knit circle of friends and coworkers for almost as long as we'd all known each other. He had not a single mean-spirited bone in his body but was definitely a skilled prankster.

"I'm in."

"Are you hungry?" Dawn asked.

"I'm starving. I skipped lunch. Does this suite come with a chef?"

"Wouldn't that be nice? I had a crap-ton of points which were going to expire in a few months, so I upgraded. It's called the Premium Suite. It's nice, huh?"

"It sure is."

We sat together on the sofa and scanned the Bluefire room service menu. We both opted for cheeseburgers and fries. She ordered hers with pepper jack, and I ordered mine with Swiss and extra pickles, no onions on either.

After our order was placed, Dawn connected her iPhone to the TV with an HDMI adapter and asked, "What do you want to watch?"

"Chick-flick, thriller, action-adventure … Doesn't matter. Just not horror. I'm happy just to be with you."

She tickled my ribs. "You're a putz. We're watching Survivor."

She giggled when she saw me roll my eyes. She scrolled through several pages of Netflix offerings. "Oh! The Martian . Have you seen it?"

Though I had at least a half-dozen times, I answered, "What's it about?"

I kicked off my shoes and lounged comfortably on the couch as it started playing. She settled into the crook of my arm and nestled her right leg between mine as the opening scene began. I relished the warmth and closeness of her presence.

We watched the first thirty minutes of the movie in constant contact before there was a knock at the door.

"Food!" Dawn cheered as she jumped up and skipped to the door.

After signing the tab and wheeling the service cart into the bedroom, disconnecting and taking her phone with her, Dawn removed the covers from the plates. She motioned a suggestion to recline in the bed. I did, and she brought me my plate.

"Dinner in bed? This is messy stuff. Shouldn't we eat at the table?" I asked.

She didn't answer, but instead opened one of the four miniature bottles of ketchup situated on the cart alongside similar mayo and mustard jars. She selected a french fry from a basket and placed it halfway into her mouth. While holding her long hair carefully out of the way, she dipped herself forward like a drinking bird toy and dipped the free end of the fried strip of potato into the opened jar.

With swaying hips, she strolled to me and said with a sultry voice between partially obstructed teeth, "Eat me ."

I laughed as I reclined into a pillow. I opened my mouth like the young of the bird she had just imitated, and she carefully placed the ketchup-tipped fry between my lips. I accepted her offering. Our mouths met as we devoured the morsel.

My love settled into the bed with me and hooked her right leg into my left, wedging her plate between her taut tummy and her other upturned thigh. We continued to watch the movie and nosh on our burgers.

Twenty minutes elapsed before she paused The Martian , sat her plate on her nightstand, leaned into me, and pierced me with her eyes. She kissed my still-chewing mouth and asked simply, "What do you like most about me?"

"Why are you asking me that again? I don't like the question because you're asking me to prioritize things which are only single ingredients in a great recipe. I gave you one answer in the heat of the moment last week. Really, you do have a beautiful bottom, though it's not the best thing about you. What you're asking is the same as asking a baker to identify the best ingredient in a chocolate chip cookie.

"No flour, it's a wet mess. No sugar, they're bland. No butter, they're dry. No eggs, they're too crumbly. No chocolate chips, they're not chocolate-chip cookies."

"Humor me, then. Please. What are my ingredients?"

I sat my plate to the side. "In no particular order?"

"Okay."

"I love your personality. I always have. You are sweet, sensitive, empathetic, compassionate, and have an amazingly quick wit. You can be hilariously acerbic when someone is an idiot, then turn around and educate them if you deem them worthy. I know no one with your level of genuine patience and mercy. None of that has changed in the twenty years I've known you, though your form certainly has. You are intellectually brilliant. I've been thrilled to watch you grow right along with me in your career, constantly challenging the status quo.

"You know when you're out of your element. I like it when you come to me for advice and actually listen. Whether you choose to act on it or not, I know you've considered it thoroughly. And I like that you've done the same for me. We've been on a long ride together. We've mentored each other, and I think we can both take some credit for each other's successes. You are physically a remarkable sight. I mean … I wish you could look at yourself through my eyes, because you're gorgeous .

"I admit to you now that the reason I let you walk in front of me is not only manners. I've always loved watching you walk because the way your bottom moves is downright hypnotic. Your long, silk-like hair gives me the shivers," I said as I passed the full length of her braid through both hands with just enough tension that her head cocked. Staring squarely at her chest, I said "Your breasts⁠—"

"I don't have breasts," she interrupted, so I quickly flipped her onto her back.

Her eyes widened as I placed my mouth to the left side of her chest, feeling the softness of her flesh yield to me. She gasped in surprise as I mouthed her through several layers of clothing. I could feel the knit of her shirt rasp against the fabric of a brassiere hidden underneath. I inhaled deeply and quivered. She cuddled the back of my head with her hand.

"There's something else I can't explain. It's like the chocolate chips. You can make cookies without them and they'd still be sweet and tasty. I simply … I don't know what it is. When you walk in front of me, I feel it in the air through which you've passed. It's like static electricity. I sensed it soon after I met you. I sensed it in Houston years ago. I sensed it on the way to dinner with you here last week, and most definitely in your gift. I've sensed it hundreds if not thousands of times."

I took her braid again and brought it to my face to smell her hair.

"I definitely sensed it when I walked through your door tonight, and when we shared our breath. I don't know what it is, Dawn."

She was silent for several long moments. Tears formed in her eyes. They worried me.

"I want to test a theory," she said.

She ran her fingers through my hair, then kissed the top of my head. I heard her inhale through her nose.

She straddled me, then nuzzled and licked behind my left ear, causing gooseflesh. She pressed her opened pelvis to mine before continuing her descent, running the tip of her nose down the side of my neck, clavicle, and settled into the axilla of my arm with a subtle inward breath.

Dawn pulled my shirt from my slacks, baring my chest, kissing insistently along an uncertain path until her tongue lapped squarely across a nipple. Not once or twice, but three times. I gasped at the pleasure I felt.

"Oh, lord," she said with a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Will. Do you want me to stop?"

I shook my head. I had no idea why she thought I would.

She buried her face into my sternum, inhaled, and lapped into my fur with a groan. Her pelvis pushed into mine. She continued down my torso, plunging her tongue into my navel. She whimpered as she continued her trek down my trunk, past my belt, inhaling through her nose until she settled against my pocket. She paused and inhaled again.

With gentle nudges, she parted my legs and nestled her face into the crevice between my right thigh and scrotum. She panted and pushed the leg farther aside, burying her face into my body and placing her hand on my hardness. Whatever worries I had about the aromatic effects of a long, stressful day quickly disappeared when I heard her sigh into me. I could feel her warm breath through the fabric of my pants.

I rocked my hips, instinctively pushing myself into her hand.

She quickly rotated her body in a full one-eighty, straddling my arms and shoulders with her widely spread thighs. The suddenly explicit view was indescribable. My pupils must have dilated because everything appeared in such clarity. Dawn carefully buried her face deeply into my groin. Her breathing was staggered as she nuzzled into my slacks.

"Screw it. Please forgive me, Will. Screw it. Screw the fucking line," she hissed.

She was straddling my chest, so I couldn't prevent her from unbuckling, unbuttoning, unzipping then pushing down the front of my slacks and briefs. I wasn't prepared for that, nor when she took my glans into her mouth. My head flew off my pillow in utter surprise. I was overwhelmed, and I climaxed far sooner than I anticipated or wanted.

"Dawn! " I practically screamed the warning before ejaculating.

She sat motionless until I could recover. My breathing evened.

I covered my eyes with my forearm in some shame and embarrassment. She released me from her hand. I felt her gingerly pivot her leg over my face and shift her balance to stand up. She softly took my hand and withdrew my arm from my eyes. Only then did I see her face. Her broad smile eliminated my concern.

She grinned, pointing at her cupped palm which resembled my splattered stomach. "I did that?"

"I'm sorr⁠— Sorry it happened so fast."

She sat next to me on the edge of the bed. "Why are you sorry, sweetie?"

She trailed a finger up my torso, then dabbled it in her wet palm, brought it to her face and examined it before placing the tip into her mouth. She suckled it and smiled again.

"Will, you just fulfilled one of my fantasies. Did it feel good?"

"Hell yeah. Of course it did," I answered with a weakened grin.

She smiled richly then trotted off to the bathroom where she washed her hands and moistened a washcloth with warm water.

She returned to the bedside and tenderly cleaned me up. She kissed my still-exposed nipples, then lowered my shirt, tucked me back inside my briefs and carefully zipped me up.

"Be right back," she said.

The happiness in her voice thrilled me. Did that really just happen?

She trotted back to the bathroom with an actual skip in her step, swinging the door behind her. It stayed ajar a few inches. I heard her tinkling, and my eyebrows shot up with my eyelids in tow. I sat upright where I was, and squared my gaze so both ears could hear the sound.

I had, of course, heard the sound of a woman taking a wee before, but not once found it erotic. Until that moment. Dawn had somehow cast a spell on me. The toilet flushed. I heard the bidet run for a minute or two, then the sink again. She returned to the room, so I availed myself of the facilities as well.

"You're a racehorse!" I heard her yell a few seconds after I'd started, causing me to instinctively and painfully cut off the flow. I shot a look at the door. It was, indeed, latched, and I heard her laughing a few seconds later.

"Sorry!" she called out.

I was laughing inwardly, but it took me a moment to relax myself enough to finish my business.

I settled back into the mussed bedding. Dawn had propped her back with three pillows stacked against the headboard. Her socked feet were crossed at the ankles. I laid almost perpendicular to her, resting my head on her left thigh, my left hand on her right knee.

"Feel better?" she sweetly asked.

"You're mean," I answered in a mock offended-schoolboy tone.

She giggled and ran her fingers across my back and through my hair then continued her gentle caresses.

The entire experience was so relaxing. The chaos of the day evaporated as she softly stroked the nape of my neck with her nailed fingertips, occasionally slipping her hand beyond the collar of my shirt to my upper back. The pleasant sensations gave me gooseflesh which I'm sure she could see and feel.

I desired the creature. I'd experienced lust before, but what I was feeling was much more than that, something very different. I slowly adjusted my position, resting my head on the left front pocket of Dawn's jeans. I softly stroked her thigh from her knee to just below where my face met her body.

There it was.

Just barely detectable. Her fragrance. I sighed deeply and snuggled my head more comfortably into its soft resting place. Dawn snaked her fingers through my hair again, but tightened her fingers together ever so slightly and very gently tugged my hair through them. She slowly ran her manicured fingernails across my scalp. My eyes rolled back in my head in bliss. I took another slow, deep breath through my nose.

Dawn uncrossed her ankles and tucked her right foot under her left knee. She softly nudged my head lower on her tummy. She knew what I was relishing and what she was doing. Her radiant heat and aroma increased. She reached down to my hand with her free one and intertwined her fingers atop mine, and slowly guided my hand to her pubis and held it there, exerting mild pressure, pushing my palm firmly against her pubic bone and stifled a groan.