Push Me Ch. 03

"There," I said, finally satisfied. "That's exactly where you belong." She held her arms out to me. I crawled between then and kissed her hungrily. She gasped, and then moaned into my mouth. I had to break away several hours earlier than I wanted to. "As much as I want to do that all night..." She dragged my face back to hers and attacked my lips. I relented for several extremely pleasant moments. Eventually, we both needed air. Gasping, I restarted.

"As much as I really want to do that all night," I panted, "I have some other things planned that, while probably not that enjoyable, should make tomorrow even better."

"Aww," she protested.

"Patience, my sweet."

I took her hands and pulled her up off the bed. Arm-in-arm, I led her back down to the lobby. I had the doorman grab us a cab and give the driver the address. Ten minutes later, we arrived at our first destination for the evening.

I had found a shop that sold formal wear and did quick turn-arounds on alterations. Her eyes lit up when she saw where we were going. Kid, meet candy store. She was out of the cab before the driver even gave me the total. He chuckled as he did.

"Daughter?" he asked. I was horrified. Did I look that much older than her? Yes, the beard had some white, but, damn.

"Date," I stated simply.

"Lucky you," he replied, with a lecherous grin. I thought about punching him. Then I remembered what had become the primary reason we were in Chicago.

"Yup." I exited the cab.

Paying the driver had only taken a moment, but a crestfallen Moira was waiting inside the store.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I can't afford anything here," she lamented softly.

"Woman, please. Let me worry about that. The special date starts right now. We're here to make sure everyone knows how stunning you are, not that you need a fancy dress for that, and that's what's going to happen."

She looked at me, unsure. "Why are you so good to me?"

"I want to be. You're amazing. You've filled my life with more joy in two weeks than I've felt the rest of my life. You make me glad to be alive just being near you, just knowing that I might be near you again." She flung her arms around me and I held her close for a few minutes. She looked up at me.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," she told me, with just a hint of fear in her eyes.

"I think I just said the same thing." I leaned down and kissed her softly. "Now, go, peruse." I stroked her cheek. "Blow me away." She shot me the sultry dancer smile I love, scanned the racks near us, and then slunk off down an aisle, watching me over her shoulder as she went.

I always feel like a walking obstruction in tight spaces like this. So I stood back a bit as she examined the dresses on display. My tux was due to be delivered to the hotel this evening, so I didn't have a thing to do but enjoy watching her.

She flitted from place to place, at first giving few items more than a cursory inspection. After at least a dozen examined dresses, she found one she liked. It was a brilliant green, simple, straight and shimmering. A salesclerk for the store found her, introduced herself as Nikki, and offered to put it aside for her while she shopped. The dress was placed in a changing room, and Moira continued her mission.

After selecting another half-dozen dresses, Moira found me, wrapped her arms around mine and pulled me toward another part of the store. "You have to tell me what you think," she explained.

"Are you sure? For some reason, I thought this would be a big reveal tomorrow night."

She frowned up at me. "You're right. That would be much better." She paused to think. "OK, there are two that I don't really like, and I just want to see on me. I'll try those on, you tell me what you think, and then I'll chase you out."

"Sounds like a plan to me," I said, wondering if I'd get to watch her change, too.

I didn't.

She came out of the dressing room first in a black cocktail dress. It fit her like a dream. It molded to her shapely ass and thighs and had a plunging neckline with an open back. "Wow," was all I could say. She smiled at me, and then frowned at the mirror.

"Too short, too...trampy," she announced dismissively. "Needs to be more elegant." She nodded at the mirror, and then turned and went back into the dressing room. When the Nikki came back into the dressing room area to check on Moira, I took the opportunity to speak to her.

"I'm not going to get to see her final choice," I told her, "so, I need to ask a favor of you. Don't let her balk on something because of the price. Make sure she chooses the one she wants, not the one she thinks she should get. OK? Please?"

She looked at me curiously, and slightly disapprovingly, until I said please. "I wasn't sure about you at first," she told me.

"Do I look so sinister? Is it the gray in the beard?" She stared at me, thoroughly confused.

"No, I just wasn't sure what the story was. You're too young to have a trophy wife-"

"Bless you."

"But I don't think you met her in a dorm," she continued. "So I just wasn't sure what to think. I saw how you looked at her just now." She smiled at me. "She beautiful." I turned toward the dressing room, a distant smile on my face.

"I know."

The door popped open, and Moira came out in what I think of as a China doll style dress, buttoned to her neck and snowy white, with jet black embroidery. The slit on one side went all the way up to her hip. I thought the other dress hugged her curves. This one was skin tight on top, and showed off her narrow waist, and the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra beneath it. My jaw went slack.

"Needs more boob," she stated succinctly after a cursory examination of the mirror. She turned to me, about to say something, and then stopped, seeing the stupid grin on my face. She smiled, shaking her head and sighing with mock exasperation. "You're obviously not going to be much help," she said. She came to me and kissed me quickly. "Go sit down. Nikki can help me decide. She'll be impartial, and coherent." She kissed me again and waved me out of the dressing area.

I found a spot out on the main sales floor and relaxed. I pulled out the book I had been reading on the plane, and passed almost an hour, occasionally looking around for sight of Moira or at least Nikki. I spotted Nikki first, who waved to me, took a large white box from behind a counter, and then returned to the dressing room. She returned five minutes later with the large box, and Moira in tow. I went to meet them at the cash register.

Moira slipped her arms around my waist as we came together. "I hope you like it," she said.

"I hope you do. That's what's important. If you feel beautiful wearing it, I'll love it."

An "Awww" drifted from behind the counter where Nikki was ringing up the dress. Moira and I turned our heads in her direction, both of us grinning. Nikki blushed, and then smiled. I paid for the dress and arranged for it to be delivered to Moira's room at the hotel.

"Is there a shoe store nearby you would recommend, Nikki?" I asked.

She looked around conspiratorially. "There's a little boutique I love, just a few streets away. I stop in there every payday. I don't tell many people, because I don't want it being overrun, and all the good stuff getting taken, but she deserves the best." Nikki said, giving me a very pointed look. "If Caroline is there, just tell her Nikki sent you. She'll take care of you."

"Thank you, Nikki," I said, offering my hand. She shook it, and then came around the counter and hugged Moira.

"Have a good time tomorrow," she said as they embraced.

"I'm sure I will," Moira replied with an eager smile.

We left the shop and headed in the direction of shoes. Caroline was there. She even knew we were coming. She and Moira were best friends two minutes after we got there. I even got an approving smile this time.

Moira described her dress in a hushed whisper so I couldn't hear anything, and told Caroline roughly what she wanted. Caroline disappeared into the back room. As soon as she left, Moira pushed me into a chair, straddled my lap, and made out with me. Shoe shopping rules.

When Caroline returned, she delivered a melodramatic, "A-HEM." Moira climbed off my lap, grinning sheepishly.

Somewhere around the tenth pair of heels we hit pay dirt.

"Those are sexy as hell on you!" Caroline said emphatically.

"I know! I love these. They'll go great with the dress," Moira answered.

A pair of gold and white heels with an intricate matrix of calf-high straps went back into a box. I got the box. Moira got another hug from someone she'd just met, I got my first of the day, and, with shoes purchased, we left the store.

"What's next?" she asked. "I'm kinda worn out. I'd love to sit down for a bit, and I'm starving."

"You're in luck. Up next is a cab ride to dinner. I do hope you like Colombian food." Her eyes lit up, brilliant in the twilight.

The Colombian place I'd found was just a mom and pop place, the best kind of restaurant in my opinion. This time, Moira guided me through the menu, telling me what was what, and making some recommendations. Every morsel was delicious, and we ate well. We spent another hour just talking. She told me stories of Colombia and her parents, even one about her brother. She was quiet for a moment when she finished, but her smile never wavered.

"I think I need a nap," Moira said as went left the restaurant.

"Once again, thanks to my superior planning, the day is saved. I was planning to take you back to the hotel and just spend a few hours relaxing with you."

"Good. Because I was going to make you if you weren't."

Thirty minutes later we had changed into comfortable clothing and were snuggled up on my bed. I got comfortably drunk off her heat and smell as she burrowed her nose into my chest. She felt so perfect in my arms.

At some point, she began running her fingernails up and down my bare back. Her touch gradually became more aggressive, transforming from a caress of silk, to a line of searing fire, to an arc of muscle-jolting lightning. I pressed her against me as my heart began to pound. She tilted her chin up to me and I kissed her hungrily. Her nails dug in and she mewled into my mouth. I rolled on top of her, nuzzling her neck, enjoying the satiny skin against my nose and lips. I held her against me and put my head beside hers, listening to her breath, trying to calm down. After a few moments, I felt her hands relax and lay flat on my back. Her breathing slowed.

"Cards on the table here," I told her. "The only reason I have any sense of control is because of the plan, and I don't know how long that's going to last me. I'm afraid to move with you pressed up against me like this. I want to have my hands and mouth on you so badly right now, but I know I'll never stop once I get started."

Moira shuddered. "I don't think I'd want you to," she said. We spent a few more moments motionless, just enjoying the proximity.

"It's probably a good thing you got two rooms," she said after a while, giggling. Laugh at my desire will she!? I kissed her hard. She cried out into my mouth, going rigid, and then clutched me tightly. I broke the kiss after only a few seconds.

"Yeah, it probably is," I said.

"You suck." She glared at me.

"Wait until you see what I suck on tomorrow," I whispered into her ear. She shuddered. I spent a few more moments holding her against me, and then, painfully, let her go and we stood up.

"Walk me to my room?" she asked.

"Of course."

Once we were there, she directed a devious smirk at me.

"Your punishment for torturing me earlier is to undress me for bed," she informed me.

"Shucks," I replied. I stood behind her and lifted her shirt slowly, dragging my fingers up her ribs, cupping her breasts, sliding my palms over her nipples, and then pulling the shirt over her head. I knelt in front of her, kissing her stomach as I slid off her pajama pants, caressing each leg as I helped her step out of them. I scooped her up and placed her gently on the bed. She slid down and I pulled the sheet up over her. I leaned down and kissed her softly.

"Goodnight, Moira."

"Goodnight, Craig."

I woke up around eight the next morning, quickly showered and dressed, and went to Moira's room. I knocked, and she opened it, wearing a hotel robe and sporting a hotel towel holding her hair.

"Can we go here!?" she asked excitedly, bouncing back from the door and waving a brochure. Suddenly, she froze, her face deadly serious, as if she had just realized something was terribly wrong. "Wait." She grabbed my shirt and pulled me to her, kissing me. "Good morning," she said with an angelic smile.

I kissed her back. "Good morning to you too." I smiled and caressed her cheek. "Now, whacha got there." She handed me a pamphlet for the Hyde Park School of Dance.

"They're giving a performance today! Look!" she gushed as her finger jabbed excitedly at a calendar on the back.

"Well, as it just so happens, I had planned to have a leisurely room service breakfast, followed by a few hours of anything you wanted to do. This says the show is at noon. That's perfect. How does that sound?"

She flew at me like an attacking cat -- all four limbs leading the way. With her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, she mauled my mouth with hers. My hands caught her behind her knees, and then slid up her legs, thrilled to find she was naked under that robe. I gripped her perfect ass with both hands as she kissed me with everything she had.

Before things could escalate, she broke for air. Smiling sweetly and breathing heavily, still wrapped around me, she prompted, "Breakfast?" I smiled, and then had a sudden flash of memory. I snorted with laughter before I could suppress it. "What?" she asked.

"I was just thinking of you and the muffin," I told her.

"What's wrong with the way I eat muffins?" She glared at me, unwrapping her legs and sinking to the floor.

"Just the way you torture it for information first," I replied, snickering. She paced slowly to the loveseat, picked up a pillow, brushed some imaginary lint off of it, and then threw it at me. I caught it, and then leaped across the room at her. She fled toward the bathroom with a squeak, but I caught her at the foot of the bed, picked her up, and tossed her onto it. She giggled and flailed her arms, trying to grab me as she sailed through the air before bouncing on the bed. Cornered, she attacked, lunging at me, trying to tickle me. I tackled her, and we rolled around, tickling each other, our dialogue a series of vague threats and bursts of outrage, broken up by manic giggling.

"Enough! I yield!" I declared, collapsing onto my back. Moira sagged onto my chest, grinning and panting. I stroked her back and smiled down at her. Once she caught her breath, she closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek on my chest. As always, her proximity was intoxicating.

"So, about that breakfast...," she said without opening her eyes.

"Your wish is my command," I replied.

We tracked down the room service menu, made the call, and spent the time waiting for the food snuggling on the loveseat. She tried to pry information out of me regarding the rest of the day, but I wouldn't talk. She even went so far as to offer a virginity two-fer, whispered in my ear after licking my earlobe while she straddled my lap, still very naked under her robe, which almost had me spilling my guts, but my iron determination resisted her extremely pleasant onslaught.

Room service knocked at the door, interrupting her attempts to break me. She ducked into the bathroom while they trundled in the food. She came back in a pair of short shorts and a thin, tight tank top, definitely not wearing a bra.

"Good, my breakfast is here now, too," I said.

"I thought I was dessert tonight," she replied, coyly. I shuddered.

The food was excellent, and we were contently full long before it was all gone. Moira, excited to leave, bounded up the minute she was done and started getting dressed. She put on a flowery, high-waisted dress and wrapped her hair up in a wide yellow band. A fabric sunflower sat off-center on her head.

"You're glowing," I told her. She kissed me and wrapped her arms around one of mine.

"I'm so excited!" she replied, wriggling against me.

"Well then, shall we?" I escorted her from the hotel. We took a cab to the Hyde Park School of Dance, arriving about thirty minutes before the show. Today's performance would be held outdoors on a raised wooden floor assembled for the occasion. We wandered around, looking for a good spot from which to watch. The school was using the show as a recruiting drive and advertising tool as well.

"You should take one of the application packets," I told Moira.

"Why?" Moira asked.

"Why not?" I replied. "You don't think you'd like learning to dance here?"

"Yeah but..." She paused. "You're right. Why not?" She smiled at me, and then went to pick up a folder of forms and information. She came back with it clutched to her chest like a beloved possession. We stood quietly, holding hands and waiting for the show as Moira's eyes devoured everything in sight.

It wasn't a long show, a little more than an hour, but they demonstrated everything they could squeeze into that time -- solos, couples, and groups in every style of dance. Moira was totally enraptured. She squeezed my hand with excitement when a man in a fur loin cloth hoisted a woman in a fur bikini over his head with one arm. She bounced along with a group of five hip-hop dancers. She snuggled closer to me when another couple, her in a flowing pale gray gown, him in a white tuxedo, swirled across the stage in an elegant waltz. The entire time, she never took her eyes off the stage.

It was over far too soon for her, but she wore a broad grin just the same. Several of the dancers were talking with the crowd after the show. Moira found the waltzing woman and told her how much she enjoyed the show, and her, specifically. She thanked Moira and asked her if she was going to be a student here. "Maybe someday," Moira answered.

"Well, I hope I see you here if you do join us. I'm Cassandra," she told Moira.

"I'll make sure I look you up if I get to come here," Moira replied. They hugged briefly. That small gesture made me realize something -- EVERYONE hugged Moira. I had done it two minutes after I met her. There was something so magnetically endearing about her. Opposite poles of a magnet had a better chance to resist each other, really.

After that, Moira wandered in the general direction of the exit, lost in thought. We strolled through Hyde Park, barely talking. Eventually, we found a shady bench and sat.

"Are you OK?" I asked. "You're really quiet."

"Yeah. Just thinking"

"About?"

"How amazing it would be to take dance lessons here." She beamed up at me and wrapped her arms around me. "Thank you for this. For all this. You don't know what it means to me."

"Moira, thank you for coming with me. For rescuing me from having to decide between sitting beside an empty chair and a complete stranger by being completely amazing. This has been my complete and total pleasure." I paused. "I can't imagine ever knowing someone I'd rather be here with than you." I squeezed her tightly. We sat quietly, holding each other for a while.

Eventually, I checked the time on my phone -- a few minutes after 2PM. "Moira, we need to head back to the hotel. I have something planned for us." She kissed me, and then stood up from the bench, holding out her hand to me.

"Then let's go." She gave me such a look of peaceful contentment that I almost teared up. She was an angel, and a happy angel at that. I'm not a religious man, but right then, for a second, I Believed. I took her hand, stood, and pulled her to me. I brushed my lips against hers, agonizingly slowly, and then kissed her, relishing in the feel of her lips on mine. I slipped an arm around her waist, and we went to find a cab.