Making Jane Proud

Chapter 7 - Snake Hips

"Please Tom."

"Absolutely not. You're my guest."

"You cooked for me, let me do this to say thank you."

Their meal over, Ellie had offered to wash up but Tom was refusing to let her. With an inward smile she sidled up close, placed her palms on his chest and looked at him from under her lashes. "Please?" She could feel the warmth of his skin through his shirt as she lifted on her toes to plant a soft, delicate kiss at the corner of his mouth, murmuring "Please Tom?"

"You minx!" Suddenly she found herself being picked up by strong arms and carried into the lounge area. She held on tight, arms now around his neck, giggling madly at being caught out in her ploy as she was dumped unceremoniously onto the couch. Tom was laughing too as he caught her eyes with a mock stern look. "Stay here and behave! I'll be back soon." And giving her a swift, hard kiss that held the promise of more, he returned to the kitchen.

Ellie found she had a huge grin on her face as she looked around the room. Spying a stereo system she headed towards it, turning it on to find it tuned to one of her favourite radio stations; the sounds of 'Empire State of Mind' filled the room and she swayed to its beat as she browsed the room. When Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' followed, she cranked up the volume and began to do exactly that, twirling around the few pieces of furniture in the room. Part way through the song she saw Tom watching her and took his hand, pulling him along to join in the fun. They spun and gyrated through four or five songs, laughing aloud with the sheer joy of it until she saw that Tom had halted and was staring at her, a look of awe on his face. She stopped too.

"What on earth is that?" He breathed.

"What?"

"That ... thing you're doing with your hips ... that ..." He tried to imitate the move she'd been making.

Ellie laughed. "It's called Snake Hips!" She told him. "Want to try?"

"Hell yeah!" His enthusiastic response drew another laugh and she stood next to him, showing him slowly how to roll and rotate his hips and pelvis. 'Sex on Fire' was playing so they practised to its beat and then increased their tempo when Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' came on. Tom put his arms up, wrists crossed and fists closed as he concentrated and Ellie stayed beside him for a while, occasionally bumping hips.

When she moved to dance in front of him her breath caught sharply in her throat. She'd seen other guys dancing this way before but now that she saw Tom doing it the move seemed much more ... suggestive than she remembered ... in fact, with him it looked ... downright ... pornographic.

Holy whitebait fritters on a stick!

She danced away and tried to think about something else and before she knew it, James Morrison's 'Broken Strings' came on and Tom was there in front of her, holding his hands out for a slow dance. He pulled her close so she rested her head against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat as they moved around the room. When the song ended he whispered, "Don't move" and went to the stereo, fiddling with a knob until he found some slow jazz; then after lowering the lights he returned to take her in his arms once more.

Slowly a feeling of utter contentment stole over Ellie and she closed her eyes, confident in Tom's lead, allowing herself the pleasure of just enjoying the moment. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she subconsciously burrowed her head a little, tightening her grip on his shoulder and drawing their joined hands in to be tucked against them.