"All right, I could definitely get used to this," Lauren murmured from the next table over. I nodded, sighing in relaxation. The masseuses continued their work, kneading the long flight out of our tired muscles. Both of us were covered with towels, while the pleasant, silent women worked on our shoulders and necks.
Eventually, as they finished, folded up their tables, and left, each of us sat up, wrapping the towels around ourselves, stretching out newly relaxed muscles and testing for any trace of the soreness from sitting in one place for far too many hours.
Lauren sighed, looking around the hotel suite – this was mine, since my room had the table and office area around which we would be working while here in London. Lauren's room was on a different floor, and since I would be the only one doing much paperwork here, this arrangement had seemed logical. It also fit into my plans perfectly. The massages had been my suggestion.
"What did you think of him?" Lauren asked. We had met briefly with the new client right after we landed – he had been waiting at our hotel, eager to meet the consultant who had been glowingly recommended to him. Lauren had impressed the man immediately. Personally, I thought he was dull and not quite smart, but I wouldn't have to deal with him much anyway.
"He was...interesting," I murmured politely, tying my towel off and starting to unpack my things as Lauren vanished briefly into the bathroom.
She was chuckling when she came out. "Interesting would be being nice."
We exchanged a quick grin.
She chuckled again. "He's dull as dishwater, but it's good business for us, and his enterprises back home are complex enough that keeping it all straight should be interesting – even if he's not."
I laughed, still unpacking, unable to help a glance or two at her long, firm legs, visible beneath her towel. Several images flashed through my head. "Thank you for the massage, by the way," I said then.
"My pleasure," she grinned. "He's picking up the whole tab anyway. We might as well enjoy it."
I nodded, looking away from her as she crossed the room to retrieve her clothes.
"Lauren?" I asked softly.
She looked over questioningly.
I looked at her now. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to help you...prepare for meeting him."
She blinked. "Oh, um, that's all right, it wasn't really a meeting, he just wanted to introduce himself." Her voice was casual, as if I were referring to preparations like note-taking or copying down bullet points for a presentation.
"Still," I pressed slightly, looking away and shrugging. "If the massage wasn't quite enough, or whatever, you know..." I had decided, through several long, agonizing hours of thought and debate on the plane, to make this attempt. I was deliberately giving her a graceful way out, though.
"That's...a fair point," I heard her say.
I looked over at her. Our eyes met.
"I don't have another meeting today, though," she said then.
I nodded, pursing my lips, making my voice intentionally clinical. "Well, no. I'd be making up for earlier, that's all."
She nodded slowly. "That's true..." She leaned down, massaging one leg slightly. "My legs do still feel a little tense," she admitted.
I tried not to smile at her, keeping that clinical expression. "It's not as though you'd just be..."
"No, no, of course not," she said hurriedly.
"It would just be making up for earlier," I said again.
She nodded even more slowly. "That's right." She started to walk past me, toward the chair, but I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, turning to face me. Her eyes widened, and I walked her backwards toward the wide bed.
"I think we've been sitting enough today," I murmured softly.
She nodded, sighing with a little smile, the tension broken slightly. "I'll say."
I smiled encouragingly, and she sat on the bed, leaning back onto her elbows.
"That's not going to be all that comfortable," I said quietly, gently lifting her legs onto the bed, subtly pressing her backward, and she wriggled until that pressure stopped – and she was laying right in the middle of the bed, her head and shoulders on the pillows.
"That's better," I sighed, sliding between her legs. I nuzzled my face between her thighs, feeling them part slightly – but the towel prevented them from opening very far.
She seemed to draw away slightly as my fingers found the edge of the towel – but I wasn't stopping. "I can't get my head under here," I murmured reasonably, not looking up at her but just craning my mouth as close to her as I could, breathing warmly on her mound, just out of sight beneath the soft white towel.
Lauren shuddered, her legs pressing open, and now she did not fight as I reached up to untie her towel, opening it gently, keeping my eyes on her legs. Everything in my body screamed to look up at her – this was finally my chance to see her completely bare for me – but I wanted her to surrender first.
