Passionate Escape

*Today*

"Are you OK?" Jenny asked Paul as she stood outside the closed bathroom door of their hotel room.

Paul stood in front of the mirror shirtless and wearing his pajama pants. He had changed into them fifteen minutes earlier when he first entered the bathroom. He was leaning over the sink and gazing at his own somber visage. He sighed at the sight of his swollen, red eyes. It had been a long day.

"I'm fine," he said. "I'll be out in a second."

"It's OK if you need to take a minute."

Paul turned toward the door and smiled. Jenny had been great. All week.

He then stood straight up and took a deep breath. "I'm good. I'll be out in a second."

"OK," Jenny said as Paul dabbed his eyes with a cold water-soaked towel. He then fought to steady his nerves as he turned toward the bathroom door.

Paul really liked Jenny - his feelings for her even bordering on the L-word. He hoped that taking her on such a tragic trip after dating for only two months hadn't ruined a promising relationship.

********************

*Two weeks ago*

Paul's upper body hovered over Jenny as he laid between her legs and fucked her. He could see the passion on her face as they stared at one another while he filled her body with his slow, steady strokes.

Paul then balanced on one arm as he moved the other hand toward her center. Jenny gasped as his thumb touched the top of her pussy where his shaft was gliding in and out. Her body then jerked as he grazed her clitoris. Her hand flew toward his and gave it a reflexive shove away from her center.

"Wow," Paul said with a grin. "You're really sensitive."

Jenny nodded. "Yeah. That... that was weird. It... tickled."

"Tickled?" Paul said, looking confused. His grin then returned as he eased his thumb toward her clit and gave it a flick.

Jenny gasped as her entire body convulsed. She, again, slapped his hand away. "Oh god!" she said as she panted. "Why does it feel like that?"

"Like what? Like this?" Paul said, again grazing Jenny's clit and sending a deep chill throughout her body.

"Oh god!" she said, pushing his hand away and covering her clit - careful not to touch it herself. "What are you doing?" Jenny said as they smiled at one another.

His shaft still inside her, Paul looked at Jenny with wide eyes as he said, "What? We're just having sex." He then reached for her clit as she backed away from him.

A giggling Jenny slid him out of her and covered her entire pussy with her hands as he reached to touch it.

"Stop it!" a red-faced and laughing Jenny said, climbing from beneath Paul and sitting at the head of the bed as he attempted to wrestle her hands away from her center.

"I thought you liked it when I fingered you," Paul said as his cheeks ached from smiling at her reaction to being touched.

"I'm sensitive!" Jenny said through her laughter.

They then heard Paul's phone. He stopped wrestling with her and turned to look for it as Jenny was cautious in keeping herself covered. They were both smiling as he climbed off the bed as he answered it.

"Hi mom... Here with Jenny," Paul said as he stood, nude, and stared at his girlfriend. Jenny grinned with wide eyes as she watched him talk. His smile then slowly faded as he sat on the side of the bed. "When?" he asked, feeling Jenny moving on the bed. "OK. I'm coming to Memphis."

Jenny crawled toward Paul, placing a hand on his shoulder as she sat behind him.

"Are you sure?" he said. "OK, mom. Get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow. I love you."

Paul ended the call and took a deep breath.

"What's wrong?" Jenny asked.

Without turning around, Paul said, "Mom... She's in the hospital. She passed out at the house. She was unconscious for a while. They're not sure what happened. The doctors are running tests and they'll know more tomorrow."

"Oh god. I'm sorry," Jenny said as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Paul nodded and sighed. "She said she'll be fine. She sounded fine. I just... Mom's never had any health issues... but she's getting older."

"I'm sure she'll be OK. She's at the hospital now so..."

Paul was nodding to Jenny's words as he, again, heard his phone.

"Mom?... She's my new girlfriend," Paul said as he turned and looked at Jenny. "OK?" he said with a smile, pulling the phone from his ear. He turned around and mouthed to Jenny, "She wants to talk to you," before putting the phone on speaker. Jenny looked horrified, covering herself with the sheet - as if Paul's mom could see her - and sitting next to him.

"OK, Mom," Paul said, holding the phone between them.

"Jenny?" his mom said.

"Hello, Mrs. Tatum," Jenny said, clutching the front of the sheet and staring at Paul as he flashed an easy smile.

"Oh, how sweet. But, please don't make me feel old. Call me Carrie, OK?"

"OK... Carrie."

"So how long have you been dating my son?"

"Almost two months."

"Are you tired of him yet?" Carrie asked as Jenny laughed.

"No. Not yet."

"Really, Mom?" Paul said.

"Hey, I survived 19 years with you. But you're my son... and the law said I had to."

Paul and Jenny laughed as Paul shook his head.

"So Jenny, are you cute?" Carrie asked.

Jenny chuckled as she looked at Paul. "I... uh..."

"She's gorgeous, Mom," Paul said, staring back at Jenny as they smiled at one another.

"Good. Is she as gorgeous as me?"

"Prettier," Paul said.

"Not possible," Carrie said as Jenny giggled. "Jenny, take care of my boy. And keep him there in Seattle. I don't want him flying across the country because I'm a little ill."

"OK, Carrie," Jenny said.

"I'll talk to you soon, Paul. I love you."

"Love you, Mom," Paul said before ending the call and looking at Jenny.

"Your mom is awesome," Jenny said.

"Yeah. She's the source of my awesomeness."

Jenny tilted her head. "But she's more awesome."

"Not possible," Paul said. He then reached beneath Jenny's sheet, attempting to touch her clit. Jenny tightened her legs around his hand as they laughed and resumed their wrestling.

********************

*Today*

Paul opened the bathroom door, making sure he was wearing a big smile when he looked at Jenny, who had changed into her pajama shirt and shorts. She wasn't convinced. His puffy eyes gave him away.

"You wanna watch some TV?" Paul asked.

Jenny nodded. "Sure. If that's what you want to do."

"Toss me the remote," Paul said as he sat in bed next to her.

He wouldn't look at Jenny as seeing her sympathetic countenance was not helping him keep up his chipper facade. Flipping through channels, he said, "I'm in the mood for something funny. What about you?"

"Sure."

Paul glanced at her, seeing that she was forcing a smile. He then returned his focus to the TV, though he wasn't finding anything to his liking. He then heard Jenny chuckle. He paused the television on a sporting event to turn toward her.

"What?" he asked with a grin.

"I was just thinking about that phone call I had with your mom."

Paul nodded, turning back toward the TV and continuing his search. "Yeah, she was always doing stuff like that."

After another chuckle, Jenny said, "That's when I knew."

"Knew what?" Paul said, still trying to distract his hair-trigger emotions with the television.

"That I love you," Jenny said.

Paul's hand stopped pressing the remote. His heart swole as he turned toward a smiling Jenny, who was gazing at him.

"I was always taught to judge a man by the way he treats his mother. And you had a great relationship with yours. And you obviously got her sense of humor, which is my favorite thing about you."

"I love you, too," Paul said, realizing in the moment that he had been holding those words back for a while.

Jenny's smile widened. Paul then leaned forward as they gave one another a brief but tender kiss on the lips.

After a few seconds of staring at one another, Paul said, "I was worried about this trip. That it was too soon in our relationship for... for something so... I thought you might be put off by my asking you to come."

Jenny shook her head, holding one of Paul's hands in both of hers. "Oh, no. Not at all. I'm glad you did. Something like this is hard enough to deal with without someone with you to help you through it."

Paul nodded. "Well, thank you. It's helped... having you here." He then lowered his head. He chuckled before saying, "Mom liked you. I could tell from the phone conversation. I'm glad you got to meet her. It would have been better in person, but..."

"Yeah. Me, too," Jenny said as her smile faded.

Paul's body then began to tremble. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes as Jenny's declaration of love tore through the paper mache wall he had constructed to hold back his emotions.

"That was the last time I talked to her," Paul said before sniffling. "I should have flown out here sooner. I'm never going to get to talk to her again."

Paul looked up at Jenny. His tear-filled eyes began to wet his cheeks as his girlfriend's heart broke for him. Jenny's own lip trembled at seeing Paul in so much pain.

********************

*A week and a half ago*

Paul took a deep breath to steady his nerves as he sat in the restaurant booth awaiting Jenny's return from the restroom. It was a big step to ask someone to move in with him and he was feeling the pressure of the moment. He had just about gotten his nerves under control when a smiling Jenny reappeared. He could feel his hands shaking as she approached.

"So, are we going to get dessert here or did you want to try another place?" Jenny asked.

Before she sat down across from him, Paul motioned for her to join him on his side of the booth.

"Are you OK?" Jenny asked. "You look like you're not feeling well."

Paul chuckled. "No. I'm fine. I feel fine. I just wanted to talk to you about something."

Paul took Jenny's hand in his. She then gasped. "You're not about to propose to me here, are you?"

Paul's brow furrowed. He then shook his head. "No. But, for future reference, it might ruin the moment if you ask me that."

"Oh my god," Jenny said, covering her mouth.

"Yeah. Well, I'm glad this wasn't a proposal," Paul said with a grin. "But I do have something important to discuss with you."

"OK. No more guesses," Jenny said before asking, "Wait. Are you pregnant?"

"Um... no, Jenny. I'm not pregnant."

"Good. OK, that was my last guess," Jenny said as she sat staring at Paul with a pseudo-serious expression.

He then laughed at her joke, which made her grin.

Paul took another deep breath before starting. "Jenny, I really like you. A lot."

Her smile widened. "I like you, too."

Paul nodded. "Actually... it's a little more than..."

Paul was interrupted by his phone. He planned to silence any incoming calls, but it was his sister in Memphis. "I'm sorry," he said, looking confused as he answered. "Hi, Julia. What's going on?"

Paul's heart dropped and his breathing grew shallow. Any trace of happiness was erased from his face. Jenny looked terrified as she stared at him and listened for a hint of what he was being told by his sister.

"When?" he managed to ask, breathing as if his body was recovering from running a sprint. "I thought... I thought... she said she was fine."

Jenny's eyes widened and her mouth hung open as she said, "Oh, no."

Paul glanced at her but had no energy to communicate to Jenny as his sister spoke. He nodded before saying. "OK. I'll call you back a little later. Love you."

Paul ended the call and stared at Jenny. His eyes watered, trickling down his face as his girlfriend sat catatonic. "Mom... died," he said as he and Jenny squeezed one another's hand.

"She told us she was alright," Jenny said. "She sounded fine over the phone."

Paul shook his head.

Tears then began to cascade down Jenny's face as the two sat together in the half-full restaurant, with their choice of where to eat dessert being the furthest thing from their minds.

********************

*Today*

"I'm sorry," Paul said, standing from the hotel bed as he wept.

As he took a step away from her, Jenny grasped his hand and halted him. "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom," he said through sobs. "This is... I can't..."

Jenny pulled Paul back to the bed. He began to wail as she wrapped her arms around him. She eased his head onto her shoulder and stroked his hair as a storm of his tears flowed.

It took a couple of minutes for Paul to regain any semblance of composure. He finally took a deep breath and eased himself upright as Jenny handed him several facial tissues from the bedside table. As he attempted to dry his soaked face, he watched her dab her own red eyes.

Paul shook his head as he chuckled. Sniffling, he said, "This is way too much for a two month relationship."

Jenny looked him in the eyes as she said, "Stop it. Your mom died. You didn't plan this. It is what it is. We're a couple. Couples go through tragedies together. We don't get to pick when they come."

Paul smiled at Jenny. He attempted to find a dry spot on his tissue with one hand as his other fell on her thigh. He noticed the feel of her silky pajama shorts. He loved the way her body looked in them, though they weren't designed to be sexy.

Paul took a deep breath. "I don't think I have ever cried this much in my life. Even as a kid."

"It's understandable," Jenny said, rubbing his leg.

Paul nodded as he looked down at her hand. He then noticed that his full erection was showing through his pajama pants. He looked up at Jenny, who also noticed. "Oh, god. I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm so... It's a little inappropriate at the moment."

"It's fine," she said, continuing to massage his leg. "I'm just as..." She then chuckled. "It feels weird being as wet as I am."

"You're wet right now?" Paul said, looking between Jenny's legs as if he would be able to tell.

She nodded. "Very. It's almost uncomfortable." She then rolled her eyes and laughed. "Your family is going to think I'm some kind of sex-crazed mad woman."

"So, you're saying my family's happy for me?"

"Stop it," Jenny said, grinning as she slapped Paul on the thigh. "This is the South. I'm supposed to be a good girl."

"You're a very good girl," Paul said with a brow raise.

"Stop it!" she said, shoving Paul in the arm as they laughed. "I already thought your sister was going to spray us with a water hose our first day here."

Paul's brow furrowed. "Yeah, we were all over each other. What was up with that?"

Jenny shook her head. "I don't know."

********************

*Two days ago*

"This is my uncle Patrick," Paul said to Jenny. "He helped..."

"... helped raise you," Jenny finished his words with a smile as she hugged yet another of his relatives. "It's nice to meet you, Uncle Patrick."

"Nice to meet you, too," Patrick said with a grin. He then looked at his nephew. "How did you get someone so good-looking to date your ugly ass?"

Paul shook his head and smiled.

"Ugly? My baby is gorgeous," Jenny said, squeezing Paul at the side and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Paul looked surprised. He then turned toward his uncle with a satisfied grin and said, "Gorgeous."

Patrick chuckled. "Now you sound like your dad." He then let out a sigh as his smile faded. "I sure miss Darin. And now Carrie?" Patrick bit his bottom lip as he shook his head.

Paul put his arm around his uncle's shoulder and held him. Once Patrick composed himself, he said, "I miss 'em both," before walking away from the couple.

Paul turned to Jenny, who gave a sympathetic look. The two then held hands as they moved through the living room and toward the kitchen where Paul's sister stood.

Julia was refilling a punch when she looked at her brother and his girlfriend. Their clasped hands caught her eye. She scowled as she said, "Can you two not go five minutes without touching?"

Paul looked confused as he glanced at his and Jenny's hands. "It's not like we're fondling each other."

"Mom died, Paul. It's a somber occasion. This isn't the time to parade around your new relationship like some horny teenager."

"What the hell is your..." Paul said before Jenny tugged at his arm. She then led him to the backyard. He wore his own scowl as he said, "I'm sorry about that."

"She just lost her mother. She's in pain."

"She is a pain. She always has been. Don't give her an excuse."

"Well, don't worry about her right now," Jenny said as she clasped her hands around Paul's hand and laid her head on his arm.

Paul turned toward her, detecting the vanilla scent from her hair. The smell always calmed him. He took another whiff of her fragrance, allowing it to fill his senses.

Jenny snapped her head around, looking at Paul. "Are you sniffing my hair again?"

Paul shrugged. "It smells great. Plus it reminds me of birthday cake."

"So... you want to eat me?"

"I really do," Paul said as he raised his eyebrows. He then lowered his head and nibbled on Jenny's neck, which tickled her as she giggled.

"Paul!" Julia said, standing behind her brother. His head shot up at the terseness of her voice. "Would you act like you have some respect for your mother?"

"Excuse me?" Paul said with furrowed brow as Jenny rubbed his arm.

Patrick then looked at Julia and said, "Leave them alone. They're in love."

Paul's heart leaped at the sound of someone articulating his emotions for Jenny, which suppressed his anger at his sister.

"You don't think he's being inappropriate considering the circumstances?"

Patrick turned and stared at Paul and Julia for a few seconds. He grinned as he said, "I think your mom is smiling at them. Your dad, too."

Julia rolled her eyes before storming back into the house.

Patrick walked by the couple and patted Paul on the shoulder before following Julia to talk to her.

Paul and Jenny gazed into one another's eyes as they continued to hold hands. He then leaned toward her ear and whispered, "Is it strange that I want to have sex with you now?"

Jenny gasped, grinning as she looked at Paul. He shrugged.

********************

*Today*

"Why was I so horny?" Paul asked.

"I don't know," Jenny said, shaking her head as she touched his erect shaft through his pajama pants. "Apparently, you still are."

Paul chuckled. His smile then faded. "Julia was pissed."

"She's in a lot of pain."

Paul nodded. "We all are." He then closed his eyes as he felt tears welling in them once again. His entire body trembled with emotion as his breathing grew shallow. "I don't know how to... I can't believe she's gone."

Paul couldn't stop his tears from pouring through his closed eyes. As he opened them, he could only see a cascade of water obscuring his vision. Attempting in vain to compose himself, he felt Jenny rise from the bed. He wiped his eyes to see where she was going, hoping his outburst hadn't made her too distraught.

As he looked up at her, she unbuttoned her pajama shirt, pulling it off along with her bottoms. She then laid, nude, between Paul's legs. His heart raced and ached as she pulled down the front of his pajama pants and grasped his stiff shaft. She looked him in the eyes as she stroked it with her hand. She then took his tip into her mouth.

Paul's body shuddered at the warm, smooth feel of her tongue. His mind attempted to flash to his family gathering at his sister's house, seeing his mother in her casket, and even his near-hysteria as it was lowered into the ground. Those thoughts were short-circuited by the sight of his girlfriend's head bobbing as her hand and mouth eased up and down his cock.

Jenny continued to study Paul's face as she wet and massaged his shaft. Paul felt a tightness in his temples, as if his head were going to explode from the rush of competing emotions. There was then a burst of passion for Jenny. All he wanted in the world, at that moment, was to make love to her.