Those Sublime Moments

More time to spend with John? She blushed at the thought.

Dana shrugged. "Friend from the groom's side. We met coming over here."

Jean smiled again, a mischievous thing that Dana had always associated with trouble. Her friend had been pretty wild back in the day—far wilder than Dana—and that smile had been ever-present. "He's cute," she confided, the whisper deepening Dana's red face.

"I… I wouldn't know," the brunette lied.

"Bullshit!" Jean laughed. She'd had more than her fill of wine that evening, but Dana knew she wouldn't be able to get anything past her old friend. "He's a hunk and you know it!"

Dana thought of her dance-partner's hard and handsome good looks that went along with his sculpted musculature. Truth was, she loved the way he held her, the way he smelled. She loved being with him, even if it couldn't last.

"You want him!" Jean giggled, finishing off the last of her wine.

"Jean, please. I'm married and—"

"Don't. Not tonight," her friend interrupted.

Don't what? Not tonight, what? Dana's mind raced. What was her friend saying?

Before she could ask, or work it out for herself, John was back. He'd retrieved their raincoats, just as he said he would. The staff had already flashed the lights twice; the message was clear: last call, folks.

"Changing venues, you two?" Jean asked, not making a move to stand, even as her friend did.

"John and I are going to check out some of the local bars," Dana explained, adding lamely, "It's too early to go to bed." It's too early to say goodbye…

"Well, have fun. And John," Jean said with that mischievous twinkle in her eye, "take care of my friend."

***

"I can't believe the time!" Dana laughed, setting her empty glass of wine down on the grimy table and leaning forward. John, who was nursing a pilsner glass of Bass Ale, took her hands into his as he confidently met her hazel eyes. Dana shivered. Anyone looking would assume they were a couple.

"You're beautiful," he said with a short shake of his head, as though he couldn't believe it, either.

"John…" she warned, breaking their locked gaze and looking at the table bashfully. They'd found themselves in an Irish pub just around the corner from the hotel. It smelled like stale beer and the fiddle and drum duo was a bit on the loud side, but Dana loved every minute of it.

"Dana?" the handsome man across from her returned, squeezing her hands in his.

She glanced up at him. "You know we can't… this can't…"

"Here's a thought," he replied. "No more using the word 'can't.' Tonight only, anything and everything's possible." His grin was infectious. The reasonable side of her wanted to continue this debate, but he was right: tonight, she wanted anything to be possible.

"So, even getting away with wearing a pink shirt?" she asked with a lopsided grin.

Dana loved John's laugh—loved it even more that she made him laugh. Looking down at his bright pink Oxford (his tie had long gone into his jacket pocket), he said, "No, that's absurd!" Dana's giggles quickly joined his.

"Last call, lads," the bartender shouted in his Irish lilt. "And lasses, of course," he said softer, nodding at Dana.

She shook her head in disbelief, once again. "I can't remember the last time I've closed down not one, but two places!"

"Want another drink?" John asked, releasing her hand and leaning back in his chair.

She did, but only to keep the night going. She'd had too much to drink as it is. "Oh, I should probably just have a glass of water."

"Barkeep, two waters!" he ordered. The man nodded, pulling down a couple tall pint glasses. He turned back to Dana and looked at her like no other man had in so long: he wanted her and knew that she felt the same. "Dana, this is the best night I've had in years. Thanks for that."

He reached across for her again. She met him halfway, their fingers interlacing. "I… I wish it didn't have to end," she admitted. The brunette knew she couldn't have done that without the booze, but it was the truth.

"Well, let me at least walk you back to your room."

"I'd like that." She batted her eyes, again feeling like a little girl with a crush.

They left the pub hand-in-hand. It felt good. It felt exciting. Dana shivered, snuggling against John's tall frame. "It stopped raining," she commented as they walked along the bar-lined street. All around, people were spilling onto the street from the closing bars. Some continued to chatter away while others hailed cabs. Everywhere, she felt the sense of loss. The sense that things were finally coming to an end.

She clung to John's arm, finding comfort in his touch. No matter where tomorrow would lead, she had this moment. Right now. If only for a few more, profound minutes.

"Thanks for tonight," Dana whispered, turning to John at last when they reached the front entrance to the Marriot. He collected her other hand into his and they stood there, facing one another, drinking each other in. "It was… magical."

John squeezed her hands and for a second, Dana thought that would be his goodbye. Then she saw something she hadn't until this moment in his deep, brown eyes: uncertainty. He seemed frozen, something tumbling over and over in his mind like a spinning coin, refusing the settle on one side or the other.

She let him work it out, putting her fate in his. Her body shivered, her heart trembled. Resolve clarified itself on his dark irises. Pulling her close, he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but Dana felt frozen in time. She didn't want it to end. "Should I go?" he asked when their mouths parted.

Dana felt dizzy. She clung to John for support as her mind raced. He was asking her?! This was the moment she'd been fantasizing about all day. This was it, Dana, girl. Go for it!

"No," she said quietly, sliding her small hand inside his larger one and pulling her into the hotel, for the elevators. She didn't dare look back. She didn't dare meet the eyes of the richly dressed hotel staff. She made a beeline for the elevators, afraid that anything could break her resolve.

***

As soon as they entered the confines of the elevator, their mouths found one another again. This time, their kiss turned passionate, wet and hungry with need. Dana felt light on her feet. Light as air. John's tongue found hers, swirling and dancing like their bodies had earlier in the evening.

The brunette felt his excitement rise against her thigh. For her? Was that for her? She draped herself against him, making sure as much as his hot body touched hers.

The elevator chime broke them from their torrid embrace. "This way," she breathed thinly, yanking him down the hallway to her room. Thank God no one was around to judge. No one at all.

As she fumbled for her key—the Marriot still used the old fashioned kinds, heavy and made of brass—she suddenly felt self-conscious. They shouldn't be doing this. The lock clicked open and she paused, glancing up at John. He had a hand on the small of her back, firm yet not pushy.

Their eyes said to one another, "Are you sure?" John wanted it, but she knew he'd back off if this wasn't what she wanted. Her heart trembled. He wanted HER!

Throwing the door open, Dana dragged him into the dark interior. Their mouths swarmed once again before the door was even closed. John spun her around, pinning her against the door as his kiss bore down into her. She swooned in the heat of their embrace. It was raw. It was good.

Pulling back, he breathed heavily, "Are you sure about this?"

Dana replied with a quick kiss, hot and heavy as the last. Just as illicit. Her fingertips trembled as they reached behind her back and slowly unzipped her tight, black dress. John's eyes fixed on her lacy, black push-up bra and the deepness of her cleavage.

"I'm sure," she giggled, brushing by him as she shimmied the rest of the way out of her outfit. She was glad she'd worn the matching black thong—and doubly glad she'd gone with her black thigh highs.

Pausing at the entrance to the room, where the short hallway opened up to the beds, she glanced over her shoulder. John seemed rooted to the floor, left speechless. Because of her? "What?" she asked, resting a hand on her hip.

His eyes dipped to her ass before flickering back to her face. "You're incredible." The words seemed to give him strength. Shaking his head and never taking his gaze from hers, he began untangle his tie, stuffing it carefully into his jacket pocket before removing that.

When his pink shirt went, Dana gasped. Such a man. Such a beautiful man! His broad shoulders worked in harmony with his toned upper body, covered in a delicate mat of salt-and-pepper curls. She worked out and recognized a gym body when she saw one. This man had a regimen.

"I hope I don't disappoint," he grinned as his shirt floated the floor. He sauntered toward her, knowing the answer by the look on her pretty face.

"I was thinking the same thing," she mumbled, turned into him as he reached her. They kissed again, feeling skin on skin for the first, exciting time.

"You haven't disappointed me since the moment we met," he whispered. She could feel his breath on her lips. She began to say something, a thank you, anything, when she felt him reach behind her and easily popped her bra open.

Dana grabbed at the lacy black thing, holding on to her last bit of decency. John caressed her face with this inside of his thumb. "Show me, beautiful."

Feeling her heart sing, she let go of the bra. He pulled her lips to his before it hit the ground, her hard nipples scrapping against his hairy chest.

Again, she felt him twitch against her stomach. This time, she had to feel it. Had to touch it. Reaching between them, she ran her fingers across his bulge. It shifted again, alive in her grasp.

Dana needed more. Clumsily, she unbuckled the belt of his trousers and snaked her hand into his pants. His lips grazed her ear lobe as he kissed along the soft skin of her neck. She gasped, feeling his nibbling teeth at the same time she wrapped her hand around his naked manhood.

"God, you're hard," Dana moaned, the words finding a voice before she could get embarrassed. He was warm to the touch and harder than anything she'd felt in years.

"Because of you…" he mumbled without easing the assault on her neck. His lips and tongue drifted lower, making a wet trail across her collarbone. Her breathing went shallow as she stroked him in the tightness of her boxer-briefs. When his lips found her nipple, hardened into a tight knot, she felt a wave of ecstasy crash over her.

The brunette felt herself being lowered to the bed, although she couldn't find the strength to open her eyes. She felt John's weight next to her. Felt his strong hands cup her breasts. Like Sleeping Beauty, he woke her with a kiss that accelerated from sweet to steamy. It was their relationship in a nutshell. It was exactly what she wanted.

John pulled away and Dana finally opened her eyes. What she saw startled her. "The way you look at me…" she said aloud.

"Does it bother you?" he asked, his deep voice as husky as those impassioned eyes.

"I wish it could last forever," she finished, her voice barely audible.

"Shh…" he soothed, kissing the bridge of her nose. "Tonight, you have no past or future…"

"Only now," she finished, giggling. "Such a guy's mentality." Before he could protest or explain, she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down to her mouth again. The kiss was hard and her own. It was a single. Take it to the next level.

Dana felt his weight shift over her. She ran her hands down the hard lines of his chest, marveling at how fit he was, and met his hands at the top of his trousers. Together, they pushed them over his hips. His boxer-briefs went with them. Their tongues continued to play, only now, Dana felt John's hardness slide along her sex, protected only by the thin lace of her panties.

Uhhhh, he felt good, she groaned inwardly.

Hooking her thumbs in her last line of defense, she yanked her thong down her thighs. Exposed to this handsome stranger, Dana felt exhilarated. She wrapped her hands once again around his excited member, she guided it to her dewy furrow.

"Protection?" he asked, forcing practicality where it was unwelcome.

"I'm on the pill. It's OK," she reassured through gritted, pearly white teeth. As if he needed any more encouragement, she wrapped her left leg around his back, resting a heeled foot on his taut buttocks, and pulled him closer.

He sank into the shallows of her pussy, drawing a prolonged groan from both of them. "It's been a while," she apologized as he let her slowly get used to him.

"We'll take it slow," he soothed. With each shallow, gentle thrusts, he sank a little bit deeper into her wetness. Dana savored every new moment—every new instance of carnal bliss.

"You fit," she blinked sweetly, scraping her fingernails across her rigid chest.

"Like a glove," he agreed, the rhythm of in his hips grower ever so faster. His cock felt so different as it drove in and out of her. So wonderfully new. John fucked like he danced: with a form somehow strong yet gentle. In his arms, she felt like a princess.

She touched his neck, feeling his blood pumping fast. She pulled him down on top of her, needing to feel his skin on hers again. "You're so sexy," he huffed as his lips grazed her ear.

Dana wanted to oblige, but she was beyond words. Instead, she met his thrusts with her own, each punctuated by a high-pitched grunt. A soft film of sweat settled over their naked bodies as they explored one another. Dana held out as long as she could, wanting to feel him cum when she did. But with each firm undulation, that became more challenging.

"Are you close?" she asked, her voice wavering like a reed in the wind.

"God, yes, baby," he groaned in response. "You?"

"Yesss!" she cried, unable to hold back the flood. Her orgasm crashed like a wave against John's hard body. Carelessly, she dug her nails into his back, clawing him like an animal as she came.

John joined her a moment later, a primordial growl tearing from his throat. He slammed his mouth over hers, kissing her loose and wet as his cock came alive inside her. A second wave of ecstasy followed on the heels of the first as she felt his heat fill her. Overwhelm her.

Red. Red was all she saw for a long time. Red and wetness. And heat. Hot kisses. On her lips and cheeks. On her eyes. Across the bridge of her nose. She felt their sweat mingle, hot skin on hot skin.

When she opened her eyes, John was still there, brushing her dark bangs from her forehead. He was shrinking inside of her, although he made even that seem strong. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

"Thank you," he responded, kissing her softly on the mouth. He rolled to the side of her and pulled her into his thick arms. "Thank you for getting into my cab earlier today. Thank you for knowing Jean. And thank you for… seizing the moment."

"What now?" she asked.

He shook his head, brushing his nose across hers. "We have now until the morning. Leave it at that." They kissed again, a slow and tender thing that knew time was short. He pulled her on top of him, collected her head in his hands, and rested her forehead against his own. "Hey," he said, "You're the best thing to happen to me in a long time."

Dana ran her hands across his smooth face, tracing his square jaw and beautiful cheekbones. She couldn't say it—couldn't put it into words—but he was the best thing to happen to her, too. He'd taught her something about herself. He'd taught to cherish those sublime moments. They had no control over what lay ahead, nor the choices they'd already made. Only now. And now felt right.

Dana laughed. How did he do it? How did he know exactly what to say? She kissed him back, already feeling him rise against her thigh. Now was now. She'd deal with tomorrow when it was time.

They made love until the sun rose, basking the room in brilliant oranges and yellows. The clouds had broken at last, just in time for Dana to snuggle into John's arms and close her eyes.

*

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