Two Different Roads

Tonight's The Night

Mike glanced dejectedly at his watch. She was gone. Her plane was in the air right now. He would probably never see her again. She'd promised to write, to call, but promises were easy to make and just as easy to break, especially when you were three thousand miles apart. And it wasn't as if he'd given her much reason to stay. Why hadn't he swallowed his pride, just once thrown all caution, self-control, to the wind and told her how he felt about her?
Because it wouldn't have mattered. He was fairly certain she liked him, and perhaps a combination of that as well as her dissatisfaction in her current relationship had caused her to to take things a lot further with him than she might have originally intended, but he wasn't naive or hopeful enough to think there was even a remote chance that she loved him as he did her.
She was beautiful, smart, had a decent job, and a comfortable life back home in England. What on God's green earth would she possibly want with a funny-looking, skinny guy from Texas who had been living in his car not all that long ago.
He'd been a fool to entertain the fantasy for a MOMENT. He should have stayed away from her as every lick of good sense he possessed had told him to. If he had, he wouldn't feel so down now. He wouldn't have such an emptiness in his heart and his body. He physically ACHED to hold her, to taste her kisses again or just to hear her voice, to smell her perfume once more.
He didn't even wish to CONSIDER all the other things he HADN'T done. Feeling her skin against his, the sensation of being inside that perfect body were pleasures he didn't dare contemplate. Shit! He just had-now he was lonely, love-sick, AND horny.
Thoroughly disgusted with himself by now, he was just about to attempt a cold shower when there was a knock on the door. To his great shock when he opened it she was standing there before him, more beautiful than ever.
His heart leapt at the sight of her, as did less savory parts of his anatomy. Could it really be true, or had his desire awakened a previously unknown penchant for hallucinations.
"Can I come in?"
He stepped aside, allowed her to enter but said nothing and kept his countenance unreadable. They stood in the doorway, stared at each other awkwardly for a moment until, finally, he led her to the threadbare couch they'd made out on the night before.
"I thought you were leaving."
"I was supposed to, but the people my employer works for will be taking an extended vacation when they get home. There won't be much for him to do for the next few weeks, and by extension there won't be much for ME to do either. I asked him if I could stay HERE for a bit."
She looked at him carefully, but his usually expressive face still yielded no clue as to what he might be thinking.
"Vicky and I actually found a little hotel nearby that isn't ridiculously over-priced if you can believe it."
"So you're gonna do the whole tourist thing up right?"
She nodded. It appeared that she wanted to say more but wasn't sure how to begin.
"I'll be glad to take you both around."
"Thank you. I appreciate that."
They sat quietly again for a time, until at last she completely surprised him by taking his hands in hers, said, "Michael I have to be honest. I'm not really all that interested in 'the tourist thing.' I didn't stay for that. The truth is...I stayed for you."
He stared at her, shocked. "Me?"
"Surely you're not THAT surprised. I should think it's fairly obvious what's been happening here."
She sat closer, touched his face, ran her fingers through the fall of hair that always dipped over his left eye. He didn't move, sucked in a startled gulp as she whispered his name, pressed her lips ever so tenderly to his.
They'd been here many times before already of course, but even the hours they'd spent kissing the previous night hadn't seemed anything like THIS. There was a sense of finality to it this time as if they were about to open a door that they wouldn't be able to close afterward. He stiffened in her arms, finally pulled away all together. "Ellen don't."
For a moment she only looked at him in obvious hurt surprise then said, "I'm sorry. I completely misread the situation."
She stood quickly, averted her eyes. "It's best that I go now before I make an even greater fool of myself."
She headed for the door, but he was there to stop her, gripping her hand gently.
"I don't WANT you to go."
He coaxed her back to the couch, sat beside her, her hand still ensconced warmly in his and sought her eyes.
"Ellen, you're a great girl, an AMAZING girl, and I'd be lying if I said I don't want to be with you. I want you so much I can hardly stand it, but it's not going to happen."
"Will you tell me why?"
He sighed, released her hand, considered his words for a moment then said, "I'm flattered you want me too-hell, SHOCKED would be a better word. It's not enough though." She sat looking at him with those lovely emerald eyes expectantly. It was now or never, 'speak or forever hold your piece' time. He could either tell her how he felt and risk looking like an idiot or come up with some lame lie on the spot to save face and make himself into an asshole.
Fuck it-damn the torpedoes and all that. "If I was to take you to bed, I'd want it to mean something." (Geez was that obtuse enough?)
He ran a hand through his hair nervously, struggled to get out the rest of it. The best he could do was to take her hands once more, beg, "Ellen, look at me, just look at me."
She locked her eyes with his obediently, captured them as if she wished to delve into his very soul, "What do you see?"
Her response told him she'd seen correctly. She knew. "How long?"
"Practically from the first moment I saw you."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because girls like you don't go for guys like me."
"Why don't they?" She pressed.
"Shit Ellen, look at you. You could have any guy you want."
"Well, I want YOU."
Had he heard correctly? Did she mean what he desperately hoped she meant?
"I love you, Michael. I don't believe I truly understood that until it was time for me to leave. I started packing, and somehow I just knew. I had to stay. I had to come here and tell you how I felt."
"I did a pretty bad job of it though. I instantly tried to seduce you, and so you thought that all I wanted was to sleep with you. I should have just SAID how I felt instead of hoping you'd guess."
He shook his head ruefully. "I didn't do any better. I was so sure I was alone in this, that you couldn't possibly care, that I just let you leave, risked never seeing you again."
"Let's make a promise that we won't keep things from each other ever again."
He smiled. Her words hinted at a future for them, a time beyond tonight...tonight. He'd been so focused on figuring out where they were headed that he'd forgotten to think about where they WERE. What the hell was he going to do about THAT?
She'd already made it clear she'd go to bed with him if he wanted, and he'd turned her down. "Dumb ass me," he thought. He should have known she wasn't the type of girl who slept around. He should have realized that her attempts at lovemaking were her way of showing him how she felt. Instead he'd forced her to spell it out for him, pleaded for reassurance like an insecure woman.
What was he supposed to do now that she'd given him what he'd asked for? He'd look like a jerk if he changed his mind so fast. It would appear as if all his noble words about wanting their union to be special, an act of love was little more than slick talk, a kind of reverse psychology, a tease, his rejection just a manipulation to make her want him more.
It would be best to let things go for the time being, send her on her way back to the hotel with her sister and wait until later before asking her to sleep with him, but like everything else when it came to her he was guided by what he wanted rather than what was smart. He now knew without question she returned his affections, and therefore any reluctance to take her to bed had vanished immediately. He had no wish to wait anymore. He wanted her right now if not sooner.
"Damn, when did I get to be such a horndog! I can barely keep my hands off her!" He thought. All at once he felt a stirring in his lap. He glanced down surreptitiously and found to his horror that there was already a noticeable bulge in his jeans.
His inner dialog continued. "If I don't get her out of here right now, it's all over. I'm hard just thinking about her. If she so much as TOUCHES me I'll be on her like a dog with a bone!"
"Michael?"
He heard her voice as if from miles away through the haze of desire that was nearly engulfing his mind, but he couldn't respond. Her hand had alighted on his arm as she spoke, and even this simple contact had sent what felt like an electric charge straight to his groin.
"Michael, what is it?"
Merciful heavens-her other hand had strayed absently to his thigh. He bit back a moan, and it came out as a strangled "uhhhh." She had to know by now what was (quite literally) up.
He watched her lovely eyes widen in surprise, and then she actually smiled. Still he refused to do anything, as yet uncertain of her reaction. Fortunately for him, she erased all doubt mere seconds later.
She found his mouth, coaxed it open quickly, seeking his tongue, tasting it, teasing it until he was so hard that his erection was positively straining to escape the confines of his jeans.
But that was only the beginning. The next thing he knew, she was unbuttoning the simple sundress she wore, freeing her firm ripe breasts to his trembling eager hands. He skimmed them lightly, reverently at first, grazing the tips with his thumbs until she moaned, arching her back, curling her fingers in his thick, ebony hair when he bent his head to slip one luscious nipple into his mouth, licking it, sucking it enthusiastically.
More, he wanted more! He pulled her down onto the couch beneath him, parted her thighs to give himself greater access and moved against her over and over as they had done the night before, denim against silk creating such a delicious friction that in itself was almost enough to push him over the edge.
"God Ellen, you make me feel like a kid in the back seat of a car!" It was true. By now he was so hot, so hard that it was actually painful.
She was close to the limits of endurance too. He could feel it. She was moaning, whispering his name, writhing beneath him, now gripping his hair so tightly that it hurt.
Finally her hands slid between them, reached for the buttons of his shirt. He helped her and tossed it aside, crushing her bare breasts against his now naked chest. The contact sent a jolt to his already aching member. He needed relief, and he needed it soon.
She obviously knew without being told, because suddenly her fingers were at his belt, the button of his jeans, the zipper. She pulled the offending garment as far down over his slim hips as she could reach then allowed him to do the rest. Thank God he'd been barefoot already when she came in. He didn't have to worry about his boots getting in the way. The jeans came off easily and he was back in her arms, kissing her.
He gasped as Ellen found her way into his underwear to stroke his throbbing cock. She was so good, almost too good. Better take this the rest of the way. He wouldn't be able to stand it if he lost control before he'd even gotten inside her.
"Let's go to bed."
He stood, bent to slip his arms beneath her and then lifted her easily to carry her to his room. They disposed of what little clothes they still wore then he placed her gently on his small bed, rested his long slender frame next to hers.
They kissed, explored, caressed each other's bodies lazily for some time, suddenly as relaxed as they had been hurried before in their mutual longing to make it last.
Only after he had touched, kissed, licked nearly every inch of skin did he finally come to rest on top of her.
She could feel him, so obviously large that she gasped at the sheer size of him, whimpered as he teased her, sliding himself against her, stretching her slightly by placing the mere tip of his considerable erection at her opening.
He alternated with his hand, stroking her, then slipping first one, then two, three long fingers inside her, timing his rhythm to match the movement of his tongue which was now darting languidly in and out of her mouth.
He found her center, focused on it relentlessly, squeezed, rolled, and petted the magic little button until she was ready to beg him for release.
She was almost there when he abruptly stopped, gripped her hips and pulled them up to him so he could bury himself within her to the root. It was like being impaled, an amazing sensation both painful and pleasurable at the same time, and she climaxed almost immediately with a surprised scream of ecstasy.
"God Michael you feel so good!"
"We're just getting started Babe."
Ellen was to find out how true that was as the night wore on. Mike was insatiable. They made love for what seemed like hours, and he took her over and over, on her back, on her stomach, on her side, both with him facing her and behind her, on her hands and knees, astride him, even bent over a chair at some point.
She couldn't begin to guess how many orgasms he gave her while he continued to hold on, tireless and as hard as ever. He was amazing.
Finally, he urged her on top of him once more and she made love to him enthusiastically, relishing the sounds of pleasure he uttered as she brought him closer and closer to oblivion. His hands were restless, alighted on her hips, her ass before again seeking her breasts, causing havoc to her overstimulated nipples.
"Why did we wait so long to do this? He groaned.
"If I'd known you were this bloody good I'd have had you that first night."
"Really?"
"Michael you're fantastic," she breathed as she continued to ride him.
"You're pretty fantastic yourself. Fuck Ellen! Nobody's ever done me so good!"
His sounds of pleasure grew louder as he neared his peak. At last he rolled her over onto her back once more, her legs around his waist as he continued to chase his release.
"Don't stop Michael!"
"I don't think I could now if I wanted to."
He cried out suddenly, a Texas-sized roar unlike anything she'd ever heard before. "Fuck! God damn that's good!"
Spent at last, he collapsed on top of her, still inside her, still semi hard for what seemed an inordinately long time.
He kissed her. Their eyes open, fixed on each other. It was only his concern for his weight on her that finally caused him to leave her at last. He lay down next to her, a hand still tenderly caressing her body.
"You're incredible, Ellen. I don't think I've ever cum that hard. This is the first time when the reality was even better than the fantasy.
"So you thought about this before," she smiled.
"Nearly every minute since I first laid eyes on ya. It feels like I've wanted you for my whole life instead of just a little over a week."
"I don't understand how quickly this has all happened either, but I'm not questioning it anymore."
"On that note, you don't have to stay at that hotel while you're here. You can stay with me. Vicky can bunk up here too on the couch or stay there, whatever she wants."
"This is mad, but I can't seem to care. I love you, Michael. I shouldn't this soon, but I do."
"I know the feeling."
"I'd like you to know that this is a first for me. Until now, I hadn't been with anyone but him."
"No shit? Wow Babe, I'm honored. Now I think I love you even more."
She nuzzled that long nose then looked at her watch. "I hate to say it but I'd better get back. Vicky will be worried."
One last kiss and then she rose from the bed. He lay on his back, arms behind his head, admiring her, the dawn light highlighting her lovely body. She dressed silently. A smile, a caress of her fiery hair, and then she was gone.

Quite a few here. I think of the early Monkees demo "Of You" when I envision Mike's thoughts about Ellen leaving. Kenny Chesney's "You Had Me From Hello" for sure when he first confesses his love for Ellen, and Barry Manilow's Somewhere In The Night" with its musical imagery is perfect for when Mike and Ellen make love for the first time.