Sweet Surrender Part 2

"Usually I get an upgrade with the government money, but no go on this one.  Just your basic room."  He said as they entered, then excused himself to the bathroom.  She took her shoes off and put down her purse.  She picked up her skirt to check the view out the window when he came out and commented she was sure making herself at home taking off her shoes already.

She smirked at his ribbing and took her own trip to the bathroom.  When she got out he had shoes off and was collapsing into the uncomfortable sofa.  He held out his arm, almost unconsciously for her to join him.

Her shoulder tucked under his arm perfectly, and he kissed the top of her head as she settled in.   He brushed her hair aside and gently stroked her bare neck.  She moaned softly and snuggled deeper into him.  "You always smell so good.  It's your beard."  He replied that it was his beard oil, sandalwood.  She sighed and expressed again that it was a bummer that he wasn't coming back.  After awhile he complained about the couch and she suggested they just move over to the bed.

They put the pillows at the other end of the bed and turned on the TV, complaining about how weird it was to be watching regular TV.  She sat up and rubbed his back and neck as they watched an old episode of a show.  They were only a few minutes in when he pulled her into a spooning position, no longer looking at the TV.  He started kissing her neck, and asking her if it was okay.

"Mmmhmm.  I thought you were too tired for this."  She said, reaching back to caress the back of his head.  "What can I say, your body woke me up.  You like this?" He asked, his hands roaming down her leg and around to her rear.

He made a surprised sound when he realized that under her long skirt she was not wearing any underwear.  In fact the only thing she'd left on was her bandelettes that were lacy on the outside and he deemed "extremely sexy."

She was shocked as he reached down and started rubbing her clit.  He'd made it pretty clear that oral wasn't something he was willing to do, so she sort of assumed from the time before that this was also off the table.  She was almost touched that he was stepping outside his comfort zone for her.  She rocked with his motions and let the physical tension build.

He finally spun her around and they had sex for hours, almost falling off the bed a couple of different times.  His stamina was incredibly impressive, and they both cried out several times that they didn't want it to stop, ever.

Eventually, of course, it had to. They laid in each other's arms for awhile, kissing and allowing their breathing to slow to a normal pace together.

He said he wanted to see her at least once again during that trip.  They tried, but it never ended up working out.  She said she would try and find a good time to drive down and visit him, but she couldn't really gauge if he thought that was a good idea or not.  She decided she'd wait a month and text to to see where he was at.  She'd gone and gotten herself a little attached, but not as badly as she had in the past.

It was a great middle ground.

Sweet Surrender Part 1

A month after their last meeting, a text popped up from Nameless at 5pm: "Sorry it has been very hectic.  Been on travel from Vegas to Texas.  Just got in from Texas last night and drove up this morning.  I'm in town for the next 2 days."

They decided that in a few hours when she got off work they would meet.  She went to the bathroom and immediately assessed how she looked in the mirror.  Better than expected, though her sunburn was still radiating heat.  She took a painkiller and went about the rest of her day.

By the time they met up they were both starving and ended up at the steakhouse inside the hotel he was staying in.  He commented that she looked tired, and she said she was just a bit wiped from the sun she got that weekend.

"You didn't have to come out tonight if you were tired" he said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Are you kidding?  And skipping out on a night with you?  Who knows when we'd have another chance between our two schedules.  And I wanted to see you."

"Yeah, especially since they just de-funded my project here.   Now I don't even have an excuse to come back occasionally, except maybe for fun."

Her heart sank.  This really was potentially the last time that she would see him.  "You don't have time for fun."

"I might, later on after my thesis is complete.  I might get some more free time."

She was quiet, then said softly "This is a bummer.  I'm really going to miss you."

He agreed.  "I was really disappointed.  There were so many factors that made it really sad, you being one.  A big one actually."

She felt her cheeks get hot and thanked her new tan for hiding it from him.  He did catch her smile, and didn't call her out on it.  It was a really nice moment between them.

The steak was great but the service was lacking, and she pointed out later that he seemed like the tired one now.  He agreed, and she asked if he just wanted to go back up to his room and call it a night.  He answered "Yeah, but with you."

She followed him up to his room after dinner.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Goldie was asking if she was still driving KSL to work.  She said yes, and explained about the two cars back and the payments he was still making.

Goldie was already a few drinks in and asked if she could text him, as if she could "fix" the situation.  She told her to go ahead.  Goldie started texting away on her phone, and she dug back into her crab legs.  Most of the conversation just came back around to who was doing the best on getting their crab all out in one go.

She shared her "perfectly casual" encounter with Nameless, and Goldie was super-proud that she was able to get to that point.  Of course she wanted to know why it wouldn't work out forever, and she explained the distance, the feeling that she just knew that it was never going to be "love" in the strictest sense of the word.  Affection, trust, respect, for sure...but not love.  Because the respect was there, she was perfectly happy with how everything turned out.

Maybe she was so happy with it because she knew that for the most part that might be all she could ask for when it came to men, to "relationships."

"Not to Rodney Dangerfield all over it, but I feel like no one gives me the respect I give everyone else.  KSL doesn't respect me."

"KSL loves you." Goldie retorted.

She rolled her eyes before responding "Yeah, okay sure...but he doesn't respect me."

Goldie still didn't get her point.  "He's very respectful.  I had to literally straddled him for that show every night and draw a scar on his face, and he never once made a move or a comment about anything sexual."

"Of course, because he respects you. He would never make a move on you."  She told Goldie.

"Yeah plus I'm married and not desirable"

Again she rolled her eyes.  Goldie was gorgeous and totally missing her point.  She changed the subject and they were back to talking about film festivals and dog sitting.

Still, being respected and being desired seemed to be mutually exclusive.  She couldn't expect love on top of it, it was a Venn diagram that never intersected...basically 3 circles.  She tried, for weeks, to shake it off.  Forget it, get it to stop getting her down.

It didn't work.