Wheels In Motion Ch. 05

"Holy crap, it's hot," I complained, as she led me away from the station. "How much further are we walking?"

She grinned at me as she led me down the sidewalk. "We just spent three hours sitting in the sun, and you're complaining about a little stroll?"

"I'm complaining because we sat in the sun for three hours. Heat is cumulative you know."

"No, it's not wuss," she teased me. "Besides, I knew we were going to be dying when we got out of the game, so I have a plan."

"I hope it involves, oh, say... a bathing suit."

"Got it in one!" she said, with a laugh.

After a ten-minute walk (for me, a roll for her), we arrived at a DoubleTree hotel. Liz led us into the elevator and up to the second-floor lobby to check in. The woman at the front desk took Liz's ID and credit card, then she handed us two key-cards and two small bags, each containing a bottle of water and a chocolate chip cookie.

"Nice touch," I said, checking out the contents of my bag as we rode up in the elevator. "How did you know about this hotel?"

"I have friends from Bragg who come up to run the Ten-Miler every year and they usually stay here. It's a really nice hotel and right across from the Pentagon where the race starts. I usually hang out with them here the night before."

We got out on the fourteenth floor, and Liz headed right towards a hallway of rooms. I noticed a sign on a door to the left of the elevators.

"Whoa! The swimming pool is up here?"

She laughed. "Right? How cool is that? Let's get changed. Teasing aside, I'm as sweaty as you are."

We found our room, which turned out to be a suite with a panoramic view of the Pentagon laid out below us with the Capitol dome and Washington Monument rising over the city beyond.

"This is beautiful," I said, looking out the window. The living area was tastefully appointed and I saw a big king-sized bed through the door into the bedroom. I felt myself flush at the thought of what might happen there later.

She rolled over to me and tugged me down to sit on her lap. "I'm glad you like it," she said softly, "I want tonight to be special for us. It's going to be really special for me." She leaned her upper body against mine and kissed me. I circled my arm around her neck. Her lips were so eager against mine.

"Do you want to go check and make sure the mattress is comfy? You know, in case we might need to change rooms if it's bad?" I asked breathlessly after a few minutes.

"I would love nothing more," she said and kissed me again, "But, I'm hot and stinky. Let's go swimming first." She pushed me up off her lap.

"...really?!" I asked in mock frustration. "You sit me down and kiss me like that, then you want to put me on hold?"

She grinned. "Payback for you revving me up last Saturday night. Remember, I'm in charge today."

LIZ

The glass-enclosed indoor pool on the fourteenth floor had the same magnificent view as our suite. Until a group of rowdy teenaged tourists came in, we'd had the pool to ourselves for almost two hours, and by then we were as wrinkled and prune-y as we could stand anyway.

I loved swimming. I hadn't been much of a swimmer as a kid, but during my recovery at Walter Reed I'd learned that I felt much less handicapped in the water. The sleek one-piece that Addison wore made it even more enjoyable for me.

After the pool, we took turns getting showered and I put on a dress for the first time since my undergrad commencement ceremony. Fortunately for me, the hotel had a suite with a handicapped accessible bathroom.

The Skydome on the top floor of the hotel was an honest-to-god revolving restaurant, making a full circle once an hour. When the Pentagon slowly came into view for the third time, I realized how long we'd been there. It just as slowly occurred to me that I was stalling.

We had shared an appetizer, then salads before the main course. Then I'd insisted we share a dessert.

"Should we get the check?" Addison, asked me, her thumb stroking the back of my hand as she held it. She seemed to love that gesture. So did I.

"Sure... or, do you want coffee maybe?" I could hear the tension in my voice, and saw Addison's eyes as she caught it as well.

"Liz... what's wrong?"

I turned and looked out the window at the Pentagon as my vision started clouding up. Damn it.

"Hey, hey... what's the matter?"

"I'm scared," I heard myself whisper. I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth.

"What? Why are you... oh. Liz, we don't have to do anything tonight if it's too soon. This has been such a great day, we could just--"

"It's not..." I interrupted her. "Addison, I..."

She waited patiently, still stroking the back of my hand with her thumb. I looked around the restaurant. It was mostly empty by now and our waiter was chatting up the bartender.

"I'm... I'm... I'm not scared of you. I'm scared of me. I'm scared that it's going to be like it's been with all the guys since my crash. That we'll go back to the room, and things will get heavy and then it'll... not happen. That I'll disappoint you. That I'm broken. That I'm... frigid or--"

"Hey," she interrupted me. "I am not worried about that. You know why?"

I shook my head, a tear finally spilling down my cheek. I angrily wiped it away.

She reached out and lifted my chin with her finger so she could look me in the eye. "Because I've kissed you. And I know, I know, you want to be with me, and that's enough for me. I'm not a guy, Liz. Getting off isn't the point, or even the most important part of sex. Whatever we can do together, we'll do together. And I want you. As you are. Not your orgasm or for you to be clawing the bed, screaming 'oh baby!' or... well, I mean I do want that, let's not get crazy."

I laughed through my tears then wiped my eyes with my napkin.

"But I want you. However, and whatever we can do. Together. Okay? Don't pressure yourself. If we go to our room and just kiss until we fall asleep, I'll be more than happy. If we get naked and explore each other, and nothing happens, I'm still over the moon for you. We'll find our happy place. We'll find what works for us."

I took a deep shuddering breath and squeezed her hand. "I needed to hear that."

"Are you okay?"

"I... yeah. Thanks, Addie."

She leaned towards me, lowered her voice and said again, "So... should we get the check?"

Back in our suite, I let Addison use the bathroom first, since it was going to take me longer to get ready for bed.

I spent a little extra time on the toilet, then skipped the adult diaper and put on the underwear I'd brought to wear to bed. Navy blue cotton boy shorts and a matching camisole that didn't quite come down to my navel. I cursed myself for the umpteenth time as I brushed my teeth for not finding a chance to go shopping for fancier underwear. Then I opened the door and clicked off the light as I rolled into the bedroom. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, then I sucked in a deep breath.

"Wow..." was all I could get out.

All the lights were off, but Addison had opened the curtains. The wall of windows let in the lights from the Pentagon below, as well as the glow from a full moon rising over the Capitol building. She'd pulled back the comforter and was laying on the sheets, one hand propped up supporting her head, the other sensuously trailing over her stomach. Her legs were stretched out, one ankle crossed over the other. And what she was wearing... Wow, I thought again.

It was a teddy, made of an almost transparently sheer fabric, cut high on her hips, and plunging low between her breasts, with small patches of more opaque lace over her breasts and between her legs. The spaghetti strap on the shoulder nearest the bed had fallen down her arm. At first it looked black but as my eyes continued to adapt to the dim light I saw it was a deep, wine red color.

"Where... where did you get that?" I murmured.

"I had it in my bag. You like it?"

"I do." I rolled my chair over and lifted myself onto the mattress, then rolled my body over once to meet her in the middle of the bed. As I finished my roll, I found myself intimately close to her.

A tiny bit of fear clouded my mind again. She saw it in my eyes immediately.

"Hey. No expectations, remember? Let's just... be with each other. Okay?"

"Okay." Her breath smelled sweet. It had been two years since I'd been in another person's space like this, except for when I'd woken up in bed with her earlier in the week. I found I didn't mind. At all. She was my best friend. She was more. She could be so much more.

She kissed me.

Zing!

There it was. The fear fled from me, and I opened my mouth, reaching for her tongue with mine. My hand rested on her shoulder, playing with the strap of her teddy. After a while, I felt her palm on my skin, as it slid up my side, under my camisole. I briefly tensed, but she hummed into my mouth and it comforted me. She didn't go beyond slowly stroking the skin over my ribs, letting me get accustomed to her touch.

She broke off our kiss to trail her mouth down my neck and I raised my chin to give her better access. She rewarded my compliance by sucking on my earlobe and I moaned in appreciation. I suddenly realized my hand had trailed down her chest and I was stroking the tip of her breast with the backs of my fingers. I turned my head to look and saw her nipples were hard, poking at the sheer fabric.

I looked back at her. "Is this okay?"

She smiled and kissed me again, then sat up, and pulled down both straps off her shoulders, baring herself to me. Her breasts looked heavy, yet not too large: slightly bigger than mine. Her nipples were tight, standing up as if waiting for my touch.

"Wow," I whispered, "you have really great tits." She laughed delightedly, which turned into an intake of breath as I cupped one in my hand, caressing her nipple with my thumb. I used my other hand to push myself to sit up as well, and started to lean over to reach for her with my mouth, then hesitated. "Is this okay?" I asked again.

She kissed me once more. "Anything you want to do is okay with me. You don't have to ask." Then she tangled her hand in my ponytail and pulled my head towards her chest.

I'd played with a man's nipples during sex before. This was totally different. Hers were so hard that I knew she must be aching, so I took it in my mouth as delicately as I could, avoiding teeth. I gently licked it, then softly sucked and was rewarded with a low moan from deep in her throat. She brought her hands back to me and I felt her tugging at the hem of my camisole. I released her breast from my mouth, raised my arms and suddenly found myself topless.

I'd been naked in the tub when she'd washed me, helping me get in bed the other night. This felt so much more naked, and I still had my boy shorts on. I sat there, letting her look at me, her eyes roving over my body.

"What?" I asked finally.

"I can't believe you think I have great tits. Yours are perfect."

I felt myself blush. "They're only B's," I said, looking down at them. I jiggled my torso to give them a shake.

"They're beautiful." She pushed me to lay on my back then got up on all fours, hovering over me. She began kissing my stomach, down my side, to my thighs.

"Can you feel this?" she asked.

"No. I mean, I can feel the pressure your mouth puts on me there with my upper body, but I can't feel your lips on my skin."

"Tell me when you start to feel it."

She started planting kisses on my leg, moving a half inch higher with each one. When she kissed the hollow where my thigh met my hip, I said, "I can start to feel that. It's very faint." Another kiss, a little higher. "I feel that more."

She moved over to my cotton covered mound and nuzzled her nose against it. "I can barely feel that," I said.

"You smell so good. I can't wait to taste you there." The thought of it heightened my excitement. She planted a small kiss between my legs, then started kissing her way further up my body. By the time she reached about an inch above the waistband of my underwear, I could fully feel her lips and tongue.

"You've reached the sacred line of demarcation," I said breathlessly as she swirled her tongue into my belly button. I reached down and tried to pull her up higher towards my breasts. She grabbed both my hands with hers and held them down to the mattress.

"I brought... I brought my Hitachi," I said, embarrassed. "You, know... in case. It's in my backpack."

"Let's play for now, we can do that later," she said. She was making her way up my stomach with excruciating slowness, kissing and licking me. My breath was coming quicker. When she finally reached my breasts, she greeted them with a gentle nip of her teeth at the swell underneath, making me jump. I tried to raise my hands to grab her hair, but she continued to hold them tightly.

"Addie," I moaned. She ran her tongue in circles over my breast, first one, then the other. Her lips felt like fire on my tender skin. I don't think my nipples had ever been harder in my life and I ached to have her mouth on them, but she continued to tease me, dragging her tongue right to the edge then darting away. I began to shift my body back and forth, chasing her mouth with the tips of my breasts in a vain attempt to feel her lips on me there.

"Oh god, please!" Through my frustration I was surprised to feel a dull throb start between my legs, the throb I normally only felt through a lengthy application of my vibrator.

She raised up slightly, opened her mouth wide and breathed hot air onto one of my nipples as I arched my back, straining to raise it into her mouth. She smiled, then pursed her lips and blew a cool stream of air at me. Unbelievably, my nipples got even harder. They were aching.

"Addie, I can't take much--"

Her mouth engulfed my nipple, and I moaned loudly. Her tongue was so hot, it felt like liquid fire.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," I chanted as she sucked at my breast. I tore my hands from her grasp and grabbed her head. She moved her mouth to my other breast, and the sensation was even more intense, if that was even possible. Her leg came up between mine and pressed firmly between them. I could feel the pressure of her knee against my clit. She brought her hand up to caress and pinch my other nipple while she sucked on me and the throb between my legs sharply increased.

"Oh god, Addie, don't stop, don't stop, please, I think... I think..." I stopped speaking. I stopped breathing. It felt like I might stop existing. My body tensed up and my fingers tightened in her hair.

The orgasm coursed through me like electricity.

Z-Z-Z-I-I-I-N-N-N-G-G-G!

The next thing I was aware of was clutching onto Addison like a drowning swimmer clutching a life ring, sobs wracking my body. Addison was stroking my hair, murmuring, "It's okay, baby. It's okay, you're okay." Her voice was filled with concern.

"Addison!" I gasped through the tears raining down my cheeks. "Oh my god... oh my god!" The relief I was feeling was so overwhelming I didn't know if I'd ever be able to stop crying.

I wasn't broken.

In one small way, at least, I was still whole.

"S-h-h-h, it's okay baby."

I finally started to calm myself, my breathing ragged. I kissed her harder than I'd ever kissed anyone.

"Are you okay?" she asked, as we broke apart.

I nodded, wordlessly, pressing my forehead to hers, my eyes closed.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I came," I said. Such an insignificant word for what had just happened.

"I mean, I know that, but..." Her tone was worried.

"No one has..." I felt like I couldn't catch my breath.

"Made you come playing with your nipples?"

"No, no one has given me an orgasm since my crash. I told you, it's been..." I drew in a long, shuddering breath. I opened my eyes and looked at her.

She smiled at me. I could see wetness on her face where my tears had rubbed off on her. "Well, I hope that's the first of many to come," she said.

I stifled another sob of relief, from the lifting of weight from me. I could feel the four years of failure in bed taken off my shoulders. "I'm just... I'm so grateful to you right now. For showing me I can still..."

She caressed my cheek and looked at me with such tenderness. "I want to make you feel good. I'm so glad I could."

"You must have a magic mouth," I said, smiling.

She sat up and I shakily pushed myself to sit up with her.

"What I did to you had nothing to do with my mouth. Ok, it had a little to do with my mouth," she said, laughing at my skeptical look. Then she turned serious. "What just happened was because of this." She touched the side of her head, and then caressed my temple. "It's our relationship." She touched the spot between her breasts then reached out to put her palm flat between mine.

"It's our connection," she whispered.

I raised my hand and put my palm flat on the center of her chest. I could feel her pulse under her skin. "Addie," I whispered.

"What?"

I put on my best poker face, then I moved my palm two inches to the left side of her chest while I took her hand and moved it a little to the left on mine.

"Our hearts are actually here," I said.

Her eyes widened as she yelled, "Did you just 'well, actually' me?!" She dove at me, pinning me to the mattress and started tickling me.

I squealed with laughter, trying to fight her off. My arms were stronger than hers but she'd pinned me with her body and I didn't have the leverage to get away. "I give up, stop, stop, I'm sorry, stop, uncle!" I managed to get out through my giggles. She finally relented and I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly to me. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"You're terrible," she said, tucking my head under her chin.

"I love you," I heard myself whisper.

She pulled away so she could see my face. "What did you say?"

My brain went into high gear as I realized what had come out of my mouth. Had I meant to say that? Did I mean it? I thought about everything we'd been through, our friendship, our implosion, my forcing her to talk to me, the last week back together. All our texting. Our date last weekend. Her being there for me, helping me when I had come home so exhausted. Her patience and acceptance of my physical limitations. What she meant to me.

No more doubts.

I looked up at her. "I love you."

She was silent for moment, then said, "You know, I've heard it said you probably shouldn't say 'I love you' to someone right after the first time you have sex together, because--"

"Sex-schmex," I interrupted. "This has nothing to do with the sex. I think a part of me already knew when I crawled up your stairs. Otherwise I don't think I'd have crawled up your stairs. I love you, Addison Wagner."

She teared up so fast, I almost felt guilt at being the cause. Instead my heart soared as she hugged me and crushed the breath out of my lungs.

She finally let me go and kissed me.

"Um, are you going to say anything?" I asked.

"Like what?" she asked, then kept kissing my neck

"Like, 'I love you too' maybe?"

"Nope," she said, then softly bit my collarbone.

"'Nope'?! What do you mean 'nope'?! What the hell?!"

She gave me a goofy grin. "I said it to you in April, and I had to wait a really long time for my 'I love you' back. Now you get to wait."

"Ouch, that's cold!" I tried to roll over and pin her to do some tickling of my own. She'd expected it and fended me off, so I took the opportunity to slide in between her legs. I found myself kissing my way down her stomach, pushing my body down with my hands. My tongue pressed the lacy fabric of her garment into her belly button and she giggled, then softly exhaled. I lifted myself with my arms and gave another push, so that I slid down further, putting my face above the v-shape of her legs. I reached out and softly stroked her mound over the lace of her teddy, and she purred. I pushed her legs further open, then my fingers found the snaps underneath. As they popped open, she leaned up on her elbows and looked at me, a bit worriedly.