Chapter Ninety-Six

Drying her hands on the dishtowel, Stephanie picked up her wine glass and wandered into the pretty den just off the kitchen. There was a wall of windows that looked out over the water and the sun was setting casting the room in a glow of purples and reds. The crackling behind her had her turning. Richie was crouched by the fireplace, the flames dancing as he poked at the fire he had started.

“So,” Stephanie said as she turned from the spectacular view out the window.

Richie stood and slipped the fireplace poker back in with the other tools. “So” he repeated.

Together they moved and sat on the couch. She picked at a piece of non-existent lint on her thigh. She had never been this nervous to have a conversation with him before.

“Why the hesitation, Sweetheart? You’ve never had a problem talking to me before.” He was more than a little surprised by her obvious nervousness.

She laughed at herself. “Well, honestly, I’ve never felt this stupid about a decision I made with you before.” After having that conversation with her sister and then the ensuing days to clearly think about what she had said and done, she could have slapped herself for being such a drama queen.

Richie patted her knee, “we’re all allowed to be stupid sometimes, Sweetheart.” He chuckled, “I should know, I have a lot of experience with stupid over the years.”

Her laughter made him smile and feel lighter than he had in days. As glad as he had been to see her car in his driveway and to find her waiting for him, he hadn’t been entirely sure which way she would go with her decision. But so far, things seemed to be looking really good for him.

Picking up her glass, she sipped her wine. Her favorite wine that he just happened to have in his fridge. She had to wonder if he really did have some kind of special powers when it came to her. “You want the long, drawn out, War and Peace version or the shorter, more compact, Cliff’s Notes version?”

He chuckled at her analogy. “Why don’t you just give me the highlights?”

Taking another fortifying sip of her wine, she did just that. “I want to be with you, you know that, right?”

He nodded his head, but that statement had him feeling suddenly less certain about things than he had five minutes ago. “And?”

She inched closer to him on the couch, “not ‘and’, but.”

“But what?”

“But, what happens if we decide somewhere down the line that things aren’t working between us, where do I go? What do I do then?” That was her biggest hang up of this whole thing. While she realized that home could, would be wherever he was, what if he changed his mind? Where did that leave her?

“Sweetheart,” he moved closer to her, “I don’t see that happening.  But, in the off chance that I take a serious blow the head and change my mind, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”  His hand came up to cup her cheek, tilting her head up, bringing her gaze to his.  “I would never leave you out in the cold.  If anything ever changes between us, I would help you find a house, apartment, condo, whatever you wanted.”  And because her mouth was right there, ripe for the taking, he dropped his lips to hers in a light, loving kiss.

She sighed and leaned into him, the days they had been apart had been too many. Her body reacted strongly, even though her brain said talk first.  One hand came up to grip his wrist where it cradled her face, the other slid up and rested high on his thigh.

Without breaking contact, Richie moved closer, pushing her back against the pillows.  His hand left her face and slid down her side, his fingers inching up under the hem of her shirt. “I’ve missed you, darlin’.” 

And that’s when she knew that the rest of their conversation was going to have to wait. He only ever slipped and called her darlin’ when he was so focused on her that nothing else mattered in that moment.  Her hand slid around his hip, her fingertips slipping into his back pocket. Her breathing had become slightly uneven. “I missed you too. But shouldn’t we-”

His mouth covered hers, cutting off the flow of words from her mouth. When he pulled back again, color rode high on her cheeks and her lips were full from his kisses. “We can talk all you want, later.”  Being this close to her, he really wasn’t in a talking mood anymore.

She looked up at him, his unabashed desire for her showed brightly in his eyes and prodded her where he lay nestled between her legs. She nodded, “okay,” her fingers traced his face, “okay. But-”

“But what now?” he asked making no effort to conceal his frustration.

“What about Ava and Kelly?” She really didn’t want one or both of the girls to come looking for them and get an eyeful of them going at it on the couch.

Richie nuzzled into her neck, “tell me something, Sweetheart, just how did you and Mark ever manage to have sex once Ben was walking and talking?”  He and Heather had been careful, but they also had a nanny that looked after Ava.  He was sure Stephanie and Mark hadn’t had that luxury.

She angled her head and let out a breathless giggle, “when he was little we waited til he was asleep and then, when he was older, we made sure we locked the door and we told him to always knock.”

Pressing himself up on his arms, he kissed her once before pushing off of her and getting to his feet.  He hurriedly crossed the room and closed and locked the door. Turning back he smirked, “better?”

She nodded and with a crook of her finger, beckoned him back to the couch.

Richie crawled back up next to her, settling on his side behind her.  The couch wasn’t as wide as the one in his living room, but hopefully neither one of them would end up on the floor.  His hand slid up inside her shirt, his thumb tracing light circles on her stomach, loving the goose bumps he could feel rise on her skin.  He was sure there would never come a time when he didn’t want to be with her. 

He worked the buttons on her shirt, sliding his hand higher with each on he opened until he could cup her breast in his hand.  He nuzzled into her neck, nibbling lightly as he palmed her breast, his fingers working the tightening nub.  Her hips moved restlessly against his the more he teased her.

Shifting, she maneuvered herself around so they were face to face.  Her lips immediately went to his.  The kiss was hungry and a little wild.  He pushed at her shirt and she worked it down and off one arm, never taking her lips from his.  She tugged at his shirt, wanting to feel his skin, the heat and hardness of him against her.  He pulled his mouth from hers with a wet smack.  “Sit up” he breathed against her.

She pushed herself up and pulled her shirt off the rest of the way before getting to her feet in front of him so he could move.  The couch was definitely not big enough for the two of them.

He pulled his shirt over his head and, with a finer through her belt loop, tugged her to straddle his lap.  On her knees over him her breasts were right in his face.  He nipped at the center closure and popped it open with his teeth.  Burying his face in her chest he licked and sucked at the soft sides of her glorious tits. 

She dropped her head back, her hair streaming down to touch his knees as she fisted her hands in his hair, holding her to him.  Had she really thought she could give this man up?  She had to have been having a serious lapse in sanity.  Her mind blanked when the man in question found her nipple and he circled it with the tip of his tongue before pulling it into his mouth and suckling like a babe in search of sustenance.  She writhed against him, searching for that extra little bit of friction.  God he was gonna make her come before she even got her pants off. 

“Rich, baby, I’m…”

He let her nipple go with an audible pop, “not yet, darlin’, not yet.”  He nudged her off his lap again and stripped them both of their jeans.  He sat back down and before he could pull her back over him, she slid to the floor between his knees.  He looked down at her, “darlin’ what are you…” she flicked her tongue over the inside of his thigh before he could finish his question.

“Okay?” she asked.

He nodded.  Who was he to stop her from practicing her oral skills on him? 

She nipped and licked her way along his thigh, leaving a mark high on his inner thigh before sucking on his sac. 

He sucked in a lungful of air, blew it out and settled a little lower on the couch.

She kept on, dragging her tongue across his sensitive skin, wrapping it around the base of his shaft, moving higher and higher.  Kneeling up, she kissed the tip of his erection before lowering her mouth over him, hugging the shaft as she slowly took him in.  Closing her eyes and relaxing her throat muscles, she slid all way down until her nosed nestled in the dark hair at the base. 

He fisted his hands in her hair, he couldn’t remember the last time a woman had been able to take all of him into her mouth and throat like that.  And, fuck if wasn’t going to lose it if she didn’t stop.  Right now. 

Wiggling her tongue, she eased back, sucking as she went, teasing him mercilessly with her tongue.  She felt his hands tighten in her hair when she took him deep again.

“Fuck darlin’, you need to stop.”  He didn’t want to blow his load in her mouth.  Not this time, anyway.

She eased back, wrapping her hand around him as she pulled her mouth away.  “Don’t like it?”  She pouted playfully.

He tugged her up to her feet, “liked it too damn much” he kissed away her pretty pout.  “Come here now” he urged her closer.

She climbed onto his lap, straddling him once again.  The tip of his cock slid against her, rubbing her clit, before slipping lower, to rest just inside her.  Flexing and relaxing her muscles, she tortured them both. 

He clamped his hands on her hips, “come on now, stop fucking teasing me” he growled.

Leaning forward she nipped bottom lip as she rolled her hips and sank down on him, burying him inside her.  Gasping, she closed her eyes, the pleasure was almost too intense.  Finding her breath, she rocked against him, slowly at first, then quicker as she found her rhythm. 

Her breasts bounced in his face the faster she moved.  Richie pulled his hands from her hips to cup those amazing breasts and bring them to his lips.

She cried out at the first touch of his tongue to her sensitive nipples.  “Richie!”

He pulled his mouth away from her rosy, swollen bud, “I’m right there, come darlin’, let go.”  He sucked her nipple back into his mouth for one last tug before he groaned his release right along with her.

Heart pounding and breathing coming in harsh pants, Stephanie slumped forward, draping herself over him, her forehead resting on his shoulder. 

 
Finding a breath, he stayed buried inside her and tipped them both sideways, drawing their legs up onto the couch.  Pulling the blanket off the cushions, he hap hazardously covered them both and they dozed, tangled together like a pretzel.