Talk To Me: The Dance Thriller, Part 1

Let The Walls Burn Down

Santa Monica, California
Thursday, April 4, 1997
(12:30 am)
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The condo may have been rented, but as soon as Lindsey saw the inside of her bedroom and all of the personal touches she'd added in just one day, he smiled because it was like being inside Stevie's mind, inside her heart.

He felt like he had finally come home.

"Look out for the stacks of demo tapes, baby," was her caution to him as he carried her over to the bed. He was able to circumvent the stacks of cassettes lying atop an open suitcase and make it to the enormous bed covered in fluffy pink and purple down, and he took extra special care to lay her gently down against the sea of fluffy pillows, cradling the back of her head on the way down as he kissed her.

All around, all he could see was Stevie for miles - her luggage spilling over with mostly black clothing, stacks of sketch pads and pencils and charcoals and stacks of books, dog toys and cassettes and everything else she and Karen had dumped out onto the bedroom floor when they'd landed in L.A. the previous afternoon, and he had never felt so at home and so comfortable in his life amid the clutter. He was in Stevie's bedroom, and he felt as though he'd opened a door and suddenly landed inside her soul.

"I want to see you, angel," he whispered into her neck as he softly suckled at her skin. Lying on top of her, his hands sliding along the length of her body, he wished they were not in the complete darkness. He could feel every inch of her body and he wanted to see her...had to see her...and begin to memorize once again every curve, take it all in. "I love you so much...I need to see my sweet girl."

"You know I'm not the same," she said, and he could feel her tensing up at his suggestion, self conscious about her body after all she had put it through gaining and losing so much weight with her addiction. He felt her trying to make herself smaller below him, almost hunching inward, but Lindsey's response was to bend down and kiss her forehead softly and look down into her eyes.

"You'll never know," he whispered. "You'll never understand how beautiful you are...how beautiful you are to me...my beautiful Stephanie..." His hands traveled up the sides of her body until he held her face in his hands. "Every inch of you is perfect, angel. It's been two years since the last time I got to see it all and it's still all I can think about...my God, baby, you are so beautiful..." His last sentence was whispered into the cascading golden silk of her hair as he leaned in to kiss her from her neck to her ear, his breath warm at her kiss that was still damp with many kisses, and he heard the tiniest little whimper escape her lips. "So beautiful..." he repeated, almost in a hiss as his mouth left a soft moist trail on her skin from her throat to the tops of her breasts, still housed in black velvet and swelling out just enough to elicit a small groan from him as his hands moved to cup them loosely. "Please let me see you...just a little light...a lamp or a candle, so I can see you glow like you always do when the light hits your body...my God, baby, you just...it's like you have a halo when I see you like that...my angel..."

Stevie felt tears come to her eyes, knowing everything he'd just said was real, right from his heart. "There's a candle that smells like lilac on the dresser...and a lighter." She'd been making love in the dark for years, ever since she'd started looking in the mirror and wondering where teeny tiny Stevie had gone. A few side comments from Rupert Hine over Christmas 1989 had stuck with her as well, and even though she'd worked hard to get back to her normal self, she was still self conscious.

"I'll be right back, sweet girl." Lindsey kissed his way down her body until he rose from the bed and went over to the dresser cluttered with sketches and makeup and lit the ceramic lilac candle. He turned back and saw Stevie half-sitting against the many pillows, and the shy little smile he saw on her face in the soft glow of the candlelight stopped him in his tracks, made him wonder if it was possible to actually feel oneself falling in love, layer by layer. He took a step towards her and nearly tripped over a suitcase handle, and they both giggled a little. Stevie recalled the first time they'd been together this way, twenty-seven years earlier in a motel room in Los Angeles, when he'd tripped over her boots on his way to the bed and she'd caught him in her arms. She held out her arms to him that night too, and he fell right over into her embrace, the two of them locked together in a kiss as they fell against the bed.

"Sweetheart..." she whispered in between kisses, her arms around his neck, her nails raking softly through his hair. Their lips touched and parted again and again, ever so softly. "I love you so much...baby.... I've missed you...missed this...us."

"You won't have to miss it anymore, angel," he promised. "This is it...this is us...for real this time, okay?" He kissed her forehead, her nose, her lips. "Forever. Buckingham Nicks."

"Buckingham Nicks." There were tears in her eyes as she reached up and brought his face down to hers for another kiss.

In the warm glow of the candlelight, they began to undress each other, hands and mouths exploring places that became instantly familiar again. Lindsey took his time as he reached each new place on her body, his lips grazing her skin where his hands did, hearing her sweet little sighs of pleasure and having to continually remind himself that he wasn't dreaming. When they were completely undressed and he'd kissed his way back up her body and looked into her eyes, he noticed her tears glistening in the candlelight and used his thumb to brush one away that had spilled over.

"I am so in love with you, Stephanie Lynn Nicks," he said before leaning in for a kiss. "My sweet girl."

"I love you so much," Stevie whispered into his neck, hearing the soft damp sound of his mouth at her skin as he kissed along her collarbone. "I'm sorry I'm crying, baby...I promise I'm happy...I just can't believe it...I just love you so much and..."

Lindsey kissed her again as he positioned himself between her thighs, and they both let out a sigh of joy and even relief as he entered her slowly and completely. They began to move together as one, limbs entwined, breathing together, hearts pounding in unison, tears in both of their eyes now because they couldn't remember ever being so connected, so joined not just by bodies but by their souls. He held her close to him as they both cried out in pleasure, breathless versions of each other's names amid the cries and whimpers and sighs. 

When it was over and he pulled her into his arms again to hold her under the covers, he kissed the top of her head and felt her snuggle in close to him. They were holding hands, and he began to play with her tiny fingers as he whispered, "I love you so much...my sweet girl."

"Mmmm...I love you too, sweetheart." She draped her arm across his chest as she closed her eyes, his heart beating beneath her cheek the way it used to, a million years ago when she was his and he was hers and all they needed was each other. They lay quietly for awhile, the only sound in the room the sound of their breathing together, and after awhile, Lindsey heard the sweet, familiar noises Stevie made as she was falling asleep.

"Good night, my beautiful Stephanie," he whispered, pulling her closer and closing his eyes, completely at peace with her in his arms.

He would end things with Kristen tomorrow. He hoped there wouldn't be a scene.

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