Stock Ch. 01-18

By then Elizabeth had stopped crying and was listening intently. She had calmed down a bit and seemed ready to talk but Sean still had much to say. "He stayed like that for another four years. Going off to college didn't change anything he just met more people to alienate himself and call them friends. And his life went on. But then one day he met another person, but she was different. She took away the loneliness, not mask it. She made the loneliness unnecessary. She breathed life into him. The lonely man was no longer alone." Sean looked at Elizabeth, tears streaming down his own face, with painful intensity. "And I'll be damned if I lose her."

"What about Cheryl?"

"What about her?" Sean answered. "She kissed me not the other way around. Surprised me when she did, but not as bad as when you walked in right then. If you gave me another minute I would have kicked her out. I still did, but I could have been nicer about it. She was a good friend of mine."

"Was?"

"Well," Sean put his words together carefully, "Let's just say she said some hasty words that I did not like listening to. She's out. She hasn't been more than a friend to me for a very long time. And of the friendship we had, she just forfeited it. I won't be speaking to her ever again."

"Really?"

"Really." Elizabeth broke down in tears again and crawled into Sean's lap. He held her tightly, as if he could pull herself into him.

"Sean, I'm so sorry. When I saw you two together I thought that I was being a played a fool again. But I was so sure of us and then I saw you two and…and…"

Sean hushed her. "It's all right. No apologies, remember? I can imagine how it must have looked. I don't know how I would react if I saw you with someone else. Anyways, it's over now. I'll probably get lip from my friends but I think I can manage." He gave her a gentle squeeze. "But first let's get you cleaned up. You look awful!" Those words worked and she laughed.

"Yes, I suppose I do, don't I?"

"I still love you, though." And he kissed her. He poured all his fear, all his panic and anguish into it. Trying to purge his soul of the experience and she did likewise. But as these things usually turned out they both got really turned on.

"Ahem."

Sean and Elizabeth let go of the others lips and saw Vanessa standing in the doorway holding a mug of herbal tea. "I take it everything is patched up nice and pretty now?"

"Well, besides your door and my car, yes."

Elizabeth looked at Sean. "Your car?"

"Yup," answered Vanessa. "Looks like your boyfriend had a run in with a street lamp on his way here."

"The street was wet," Sean defended.

"And you were probably going eighty on a residential street."

"Well…" Sean fumbled.

Elizabeth started laughing and the others stared at her. "Let me get this straight. In one move you managed to get back the woman you love and gain the freedom to buy yourself a new toy." The others laughed with her.

"Hey, when you're good, you're good," Sean quipped.

"Arrgh." Elizabeth playfully shoved his face.

Sean got up and then picked Elizabeth off of the floor. "So who's this Eric guy?"

"Oh, just a neighbor of mine. Usually keeps to himself though. He's really quiet."

Sean led the way into the living room and saw the damage he had done. It was clean break, the hinges were ripped from their placement in the frame but it wouldn't be too hard to fix. "If they bill you for the door I'll pay for it."

"Sean," Elizabeth said, amazed. "You did that?"

"Well, Vanessa wouldn't let me in." Sean walked over to the window and saw a police officer down by his car. "Looks like the cops are here. Better get this cleared up."

The four of them took the elevator down and met the officer. "Sorry about the mess, officer," Sean said. "That's my wreck. The street was wet and I lost control of my car. I just went to my friend's apartment and then you showed up. I guess I don't have to make that phone call."

"License and registration please."

They took care of the paperwork and Sean had a fine to pay but otherwise things went smoothly with the authorities. A tow truck was on its way and all they had to do was wait. They went back to Vanessa's place; Eric was invited in as well. Vanessa was right, Eric was a quiet guy.

"Thanks for coming over, Eric," Vanessa said. "Let me introduce you. This is my best friend, Elizabeth, and her boyfriend, Sean. Guys, Eric."

There was a general murmur of greetings. "I heard the door being smashed so I came to investigate. I worried about Vanessa and came to make sure things were okay. Well, everything seems alright now so I guess I'll head back to my place."

Eric made to leave. "Oh, no you don't," Sean called out. "How about you join us for dinner? You can be Vanessa's date. The least I can do for someone who comes to a friend's aid." Sean watched Eric carefully for his reaction and knew his hunch was right. "So who's in the mood for pizza?"

Elizabeth and Vanessa groaned.

"What?"

Chapter 11

Sean took them to a grill house instead where they had steak. The Friday evening turned out to be pleasant. Eric didn't say much but he did stay in the conversation. Born in Ohio, then moved for college and just stuck around in the same city ever since because the place grew on him. He made his living as a writer of fantasy novels, although he used a pen name. He didn't get out much but attended Renaissance fairs on occasion. There wasn't much else to him. Eric liked living a simple life.

Sean saw through it though. He knew right off the bat that Eric was like him. "Tell me, Eric. Those Ren Fairs, they have duels and jousts there don't they?"

"Yes," he answered. "Almost every time. They're quite the event. A lot of times they have battle reenactments and such or just a plain melee. Everyone enjoys them. Quite safe, mind you, but still thrilling."

"You ever participated?" Sean trapped him in an answer.

"Yes, I usually do."

"Thought as much. Being an author doesn't account for rough hands." Sean raised his callused hands.

Eric smiled in response and raised his own callused hands in kind. "Nice to meet a fellow swordsman. You'll have to show me your collection one of these days."

Sean took another bite out of his steak. After he had drawn Eric out of his shell the conversation really picked up. Eric became more animated and told a few stories about his past. Sean couldn't help noticing how Eric looked furtively on occasion at Vanessa. It was pretty obvious that he liked her to Sean, but he wasn't sure if the ladies could tell. The evening died down and the four of them left the restaurant. Sean and Eric exchanged phone numbers and then Eric and Vanessa headed back to their apartments. Sean asked Elizabeth to drive them back to her place.

"Now that I've made sure that you aren't going to run away with some young slip of a girl, what am I going to do with you?" Like the first night they made love, Elizabeth attacked Sean at the door. "I think you'll let me break the rules this once and let me apologize to you properly," she said as she smiled wickedly with that seductive arch of her brow that instantly had him hard. She didn't give him a chance to answer as she locked lips with him. She deftly unbuckled Sean's pants and had them around his ankles in no time. The woman dropped to her knees and immediately devoured his cock and it instantly sprang to attention as she sucked him while her hands massaged his balls. "I'm sorry *slurp*, I'm sorry *slurp*, I'm sorry…"

"Oh God, Elizabeth. You keep this up and I won't be long."

Elizabeth's expert tongue swirled the tip while her head bobbed up and down more rapidly at his words. Sean groaned and his head lolled back as he shot a thick stream down her throat. He slumped back and leaned on the door as she continued to suck every ounce of cumm out of his dick. In no time she had him sparkling clean and Sean back to half-mast. He slid his back against the door and then leaned in for a kiss, he didn't mind the taste of his own jism; actually he found the taste on her kind of sexy. The kiss was lingering and sensual and soon had both of them rolling on her thick carpet. Clothes were discarded at a frantic rate and Sean soon had an unobstructed view of Elizabeth's wonderful nude form. "I will never tire at how beautiful you are," he kissed her as the thought of almost losing her surfaced in his thoughts and his hungers subsided. "And to think, I was almost unable to see you ever again. Promise me," Sean was shaking with fear. "Promise me you won't do that again. I can't even begin to imagine losing you. There's so much I want to show you, so much to tell you. I'm so tired of being alone. I…"

Elizabeth smothered his next words with her lips and wept with him. Their tears mingled on their lips. "Seems to me I've been doing a lot of crying ever since I met you," Elizabeth whispered. "But for the first time in my life it's because I'm happy." She kissed him again. "I promise. I promise with all my soul I won't leave you like that again. It was just…It was just seeing you with someone else and all of a sudden I thought I had been fooled again by another Charles. You can't imagine the things he…"

"Oh, I can imagine quite a bit. You'll have nothing to fear from people like him ever again if I can help it. Elizabeth, I know he hurt you." Sean thought of how some nights she tossed and turned, how her arms and legs always struggled as if bound. "You…well, you talk in your sleep sometimes." He vowed he would do whatever was in his power to exorcise those dreams.

Sean cradled the love of his life in his arms. Elizabeth tilted her head up to him and kissed him powerfully. The world spun dizzyingly and the world slipped away. Sean stroked her velvety skin, relished in its every breathtaking texture. Poets would be at a loss for words. And the smell of her, the womanly scent of soap and shampoo mingling with the rising tang of her arousal, Sean was lost in a sea of it. Sean's face and fingers roamed freely over her amazing features, drinking in those soft, brown eyes, her dark halo of black silk hair, and the salt of her skin. Minutes passed as he explored her every minutiae. Elizabeth was panting with heat as her legs wrapped around him and then worlds of entirely new sensations washed over Sean as his manhood plunged into her. He put as much tenderness and care as he could into his every stroke and all his senses seemed to fade into a realm beyond sensation; flavors beyond taste, feelings beyond touch, and sounds beyond hearing. Awash in a sea of roiling passions, Sean was no longer conscious of what he was doing. A building heat grew within him as he greedily fed Elizabeth his cock which she hungrily devoured into her nether regions. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered her unintelligible screams of passion, her thirsting breath, her demanding cries of joy and he drove onward, harder and faster until everything was a blur of infinitely building sexual energy. A damn burst and Sean poured into Elizabeth's awaiting depths. Time stopped and passed them by as he held himself within her until his convulsions stopped. Sean's ardor was unflagging and he soon resumed his passionate driving. He couldn't stop. He wouldn't, as if if he did then she would disappear. Sean poured himself into her again. And again. And again. He drew wave after wave of heart-seizing orgasms from her, fed on them, and then continued on to feed again like a thing possessed.

Spent, Sean untangled himself from Elizabeth's limbs and looked up to see the first light of dawn peeking in through the window. Bleary-eyed and exhausted, he figured they should get into bed. Sean looked down to find Elizabeth's unconscious form lying on the off-white carpet and wondered just how long she had been out. He smiled as he watched her sleep for a while. He was so lucky to have her.

Sean touched her cheek and almost instantly her face curled up to his hand, drawing another smile across his lips. But he didn't have much time to spend watching her right now, no matter how much he wanted to; he was too exhausted. Gently, he wrapped her arms around his neck and picked up her sleeping form. The climb up the stairs was harder than he thought but he managed. Sean had them both under the sheets and his last thoughts were of how wonderful life was with Elizabeth in it before he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Your turn to spill, Vanessa," Elizabeth teased over the phone. She was tired but in a happy way after yesterday and was in a bit of a mood for playful mischief. "I saw how you and Eric were looking at each other. So spill."

"Damn," Vanessa smiled, her emerald eyes aglitter. "Well, nothing really happened last night. He just walked me to my door and said goodnight."

"That's all?"

"Well, then I stopped him…"

"Thanks again Eric for coming over," Vanessa said as she was walked to her door. "You know, we've been neighbors for two years now and this is the first time we've really talked."

"Yeah, well, I tend to keep to myself and you always seem so busy," he said quietly.

"I keep busy because there's nothing else to do," she replied.

"Well, good night," Eric said and shuffled back towards his door down the hall. Vanessa couldn't believe that she was literally giving him an opening to ask her out and all he could do was say good night. Once Sean had been able to get Eric to talk he turned out to be a very interesting man. Soft spoken but very profound, Vanessa was very intrigued by the man. He was cute, too. With his cowboy like features, he might have been a stand in for the Marlboro man. She was going to have to grab this one by the horns.

"Wait," she called out. She had never asked a guy out before. "Maybe we could go out some time. You know, just to catch up on being neighbors and stuff. If you want to that is." Vanessa waited nervously for his reply.

"I'm not much for going out," Eric said and Vanessa's confidence faltered. "But maybe you'd like to come over and join me for dinner or something later. I make pretty good roast chicken."

"Sounds wonderful," Vanessa beamed. "How about tomorrow night? Seven okay with you?"

"That'll be fine," Eric said and then strode back to his place.

"…he seems like a really nice guy, and cute, too."

"Yes, you did mention something along those lines," Elizabeth laughed.

"How about you?" Vanessa asked. "Did you two smooth things over?"

"Oh we got things smoothed out all right," Elizabeth tittered. "He smoothed me right into the carpeting in the living room. We stained it but I don't think I want to wash it out." Elizabeth went into explicit details about the previous night.

"He made you pass out again?"

"Mm-hmm," she bubbled. "I lasted until just the very end but I was just so exhausted. I didn't know he could last so long. He's got the stamina of a horse. If I weren't in such good shape I think I might have run for the hills. I'm deliciously sore but so is Sean. He's still asleep but I can tell he's going to wake up stiff in more ways than one." Elizabeth heard her friend laugh over the phone. "God, he's got me feeling friskier than on my honeymoon with Charles. What am I talking about? Charles is a total flub compared to Sean. Oh, I think he's starting to wake up. I'll talk to you later."

Elizabeth watched as Sean stirred awake. He really was a handsome guy if it weren't for the fact that he seemed to go out of his way to appear otherwise all the time. Too much time spent as the outcast of society had left an indelible mark on him. Well, she could change that. Maybe she could build more confidence into him, at least when it came to physical self image. Come to think of it, if she did do that then he would definitely attract more girls. Elizabeth would really have to think carefully about that. Sean's eyes opened and the smile on his face when he saw her melted her heart on the spot and felt every inch a woman.

"Morning gorgeous," he said to her.

"Hello there yourself, handsome," Elizabeth felt his hand hold hers and she gushed into his arms, snuggling up to him. "How you feeling, darling? I'm quite sore from last night."

"A bit sore but not too bad. Had quite the work out last night didn't we?"

"Indeed," Elizabeth said and tried burying deeper into his warm body. "So what do you want to do today? We slept through most of the morning so you made us miss out on our cartoons." That was one thing she always loved to do, watch Saturday morning cartoons, and Sean always watched them with her. "So what now?"

"Well we could always…"

"Don't even think about it," Elizabeth said. She knew he was thinking about sex just by the tone of his voice. "You and I will fuck each other to death at that rate."

"But you have to admit that it would be a great way to go," Sean chuckled as Elizabeth slapped his shoulder playfully. "How about we discuss it over brunch?"

Elizabeth agreed. "Woman can't live on cumm alone."

"Really? You seemed to try to prove otherwise the other night. But I applaud your valiant efforts."

"Why thank you. It's nice to know when you're appreciated."

"Oh, you're definitely more than appreciated," Sean held her left hand to his lips and kissed it. "I'd kiss you proper right now but I think it wiser if I brushed my teeth first."

Elizabeth happily agreed and dragged him out of bed.

Chapter 12

"Delicious meal as always," Sean said after swallowing a final forkful of eggs.

"Thanks," Elizabeth replied. "So what are we going to do now?"

"Shopping."

"Shopping?" Elizabeth snapped to attention at the word so quickly it gave Sean shivers.

"Please don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Become hyper-attentive at the mention of the word ‘shopping'. It simply gives me the willies," Sean said and shivered to emphasize the point and then laughed. "Gods you're cute." He gave her a peck on the nose. "I meant car shopping."

"Do you have any particular car in mind?"

"One or two. Nothing too flashy but something sporty. Maybe a Mercedes or Vanessa's Audi. I was practically drooling when I saw it."

"I noticed."

"Any recommendations?"

"I prefer Mercedes but Audi's are nice, too."

"There are a few others I might want to consider. Mind if I jump on the net for a while?"

"Only if you let me read over your shoulder."

Sean and Elizabeth cleaned up in the kitchen and then walked over to Elizabeth's office. Everything was done in sleek wood and steel modern furniture. It was nice but Sean preferred more wood, particularly oak. They booted up the computer and Sean grabbed his girlfriend around the waist and plopped her down in his lap. They surfed for a while and then Sean decided on neither the Mercedes nor the Audi. "To the dealership, my love. Time to talk price."

Elizabeth was bubbling with excitement. Vanessa is going to turn green with envy. She didn't tell Sean but he just selected her best friend's dream car. The rest of the day was spent talking details and prices. Sean got black everything, interior and exterior, plus all the perks with a fully installed security system. Then they haggled with the dealer about price. Sean was able to save himself some money by working from the base price up. He didn't have to haggle but Sean said that it was the right, and expected, thing to do; again his ethics playing a part of his life. Sean and the dealer shook hands on the deal and called in the order. Luckily the dealership had one ready with his exact specification in a warehouse a few cities over and could be brought in by helicopter within the hour. Elizabeth and Sean drove to a burger joint and got an early dinner while they waited, car shopping made for hungry work. They waited another few minutes at the lot and then Sean was on the road with his brand new car. Elizabeth called him on his cell phone and asked if they could drop by Vanessa's. Sean was more than happy to show off his new ride and was at Vanessa's apartment in no time.