This is, he thinks, their fourth date. He hadn't realized they were on their first date as it was happening-it wasn't until she slipped her hand casually into his without breaking stride that he realized that she might actually be enjoying his company as more than just a friend from shared classes at King's College. Avoiding tourists and drunken degenerates and all the detritus of the city, they twisted and weaved through the sidewalks of Camden Town on their way to a local coffee shop. They had spent hours thereâhe refilling coffee, her only drinking teaâtalking about their lives; their hopes, their dreams; new loves and past loves; their favorite scents. Lavender and vanilla; avocado and mint. She talked with her hands and smiled with her eyes and her voice carried the trace of a mid-Atlantic accent. He fell deeply, hopelessly in love, and she thought he was funny, at least. He didn't seem to be the type of man that could make you hurt the way some others couldâin fact, he seemed the kind that she could enjoy hurting. For though he didn't know it at the time, the barely five foot, blond haired American ex-pat sitting across the table from him alwaysâalwaysâgot what she wanted.
At the end of their first date, they had been pushed out of the coffee shop by an impatient barista, and the sign clattered click-clack-closed as they walked out into the early evening London light. She placed his hand on the small of his back; guiding him gently. He liked how it felt to be led along, and before he knew it they were in her apartment, and her mouth was pressed against his, and he was fumbling against her body, and then she pulled back, and laughed, and told him "Not today, James," and went to pour their fourth cup of tea for the evening. Thinking back, he couldn't remember why it hadn't bothered him. He was just happy that she would spend more time with him. He felt like a moth being drawn to a candle flame. She was fire, flickering and radiant, something he couldn't help to contain.
The second and third dates had gone similarlyâshe would message him, telling him she was available that day or the next, and he would force himself to wait an hour before responding that yes, he could meet her at Euston station, and yes, that coffee shop would be lovely. Each date started the same wayâhe arrived ten minutes too early; her precisely on time, and on tiptoes she would stand to place a kiss on his lips, and then he was being whisked away. By their third date, the baristas didn't need second tellings, and coffee and tea were kept flowing, and they would sit and talk and laugh and share furtive kisses and the patrons would look away, afraid to look on such intimacy. He wondered what others must think of the two of themâher in her immense beauty; her brown eyes that held depth; the long hair she kept always out; the slight upturned smile she carried with her everywhere.
And he was...well, he was decidedly less beautiful; yet there was an earnestness in his looks, and he smiled easily. His hair was brown, and his bangs were unconquerably curly, and his nose rounded and upturned. He was a solid young man; running to the heavier side when growing up. College had thinned him out enough, and daily workout routines even more so. In the evenings, he would run, and he could feel the eyes of some of the women travelling down his back to his legs and ass. Even he knew what they were looking at, his calf muscles flexed and hard, drawing deep breaths as he neared the end of his jog. It was there, stretching after a run, that he had first said hello the woman who had set up her picnic blanket near him, eyes peering above a tattered and dog-eared library book. He recognized her from one of his classes, and she invited him to sit down and catch his breath with her. The next day they were sitting in a coffee shop, their legs twisted together underneath the stained mahogany of the coffee table.
Back at the apartment, now, after the fourth date. Ashley's apartment was surprisingly unkemptâsomeone who seemed to have such control over him couldn't conquer the dishes, it seemed, and the thought calmed some of his nerves. James knew she had taken him back to fuck himânot to make love, for while he was beginning to think he loved her he knew that tonight was not for that. He knew they were going to fuck because an hour ago, she had leaned over her coffee cup, and her folded arms pressed her breasts together, and she breathed in deep, and she told him that she wanted to fuck him.
(She was not one for subtlety.)
The woman stalked back to the couch where he was sitting. She was dressed in jet black jeans, and a simple red v-neck blouseâeverything about her exuded confidence, and her wardrobe was no exception. She owned almost every article of clothing in black, and the pieces were designed to draw attention to her best features, to make men and women on the tube stare. Sometimes she liked to stand in front her date on the underground, her body gently pushing against his as the train rocketed around corners, feeling his erection grow as their bodies pressed together. Tonight was no exceptionâthe only ostentation was a set of golden and silver rings that she wore on each finger, and they clacked gently against her living room table as she set two mugs of tea to steep and cool.
Ashley pulled James into her body and kissed his mouth. When they kissed it felt like he had just been dunked into cold waterâhis hair stood on his head, and he bolted awake. Her hands pressed each side of his face, and they kissed, deeply, until his hand began to spin and his cock strained against his pants. She pushed him back into the couch and climbed on top of him, one hand slowly unbuttoning his shirt while the other roamed through his hair. He moved his hands, cautiously, to her sides, feeling the warmth of her skin, feeling the way her ass flared out and how hard and toned it was. He was in heaven, until she broke away. He looked up, puzzled, his dark framed glasses askew.
"James, I like you. I like you a lot. And, frankly, I want to fuck you. But, I don't want to fuck this up, and I'm worried that I need what you can't give."
James looked up at her, her hair illuminated by the ceiling light. It looked like a massive halo hanging over her. He wondered what the fuck she was talking about.
"Ash...what do you mean? Is there something you need to tell me?" he asked.
He was concerned. He was very fond of this girl, and, for the first time, she seemed upset. Her lip was quivering. He wondered if she was about to cry.
"I. Okay. I didn't have the best last boyfriend. Well, I had pretty much the worst one. He dictated everything. So, when you kiss me, it's hard..."
He kissed her again, on the neck and pulled back. He made sure to hold each part of herâto keep skin on skin at all times. If they broke apart, they would never join back together, he thought. So he kept his hands moving up her legs, rubbing her thighs, her back, her stomach.
"I understand, Ash. If you don't want to, you don't have to," he said, and he was almost surprised to hear himself meaning it. He truly didn't want to fuck anything up; and even though his cock was throbbing so hard it began to hurt, to really fucking hurt, he wanted to make sure this woman was whole again before they fucked. And so he sat, silently, waiting for her to talk.
"I know this sounds crazy," she starts. As she speaks, she starts to remove her clothingâthere goes her shirt over her head.
"...But my last boyfriend never let me be in charge. He controlled everything, and I was too stupid and young to realize what an ass he was."
There goes the bra. Her breasts spill out; heavy and pendulous and full. Her nipples are wide, and bright pink like a kitten's mouth. They look like they would taste incredible.
"So, since then, I don't really like men telling me what to do. Any men. When we broke apart, we really fucking broke," she says, and laughs, short and high and soft.
She continues talking as she stands up, and pushes her jeans off her hips, and wriggles out of them, shaking her ass slightly as she folds them neatly and places them on the chair next to her couch. James moves to pull off his belt, but she looks, and cocks her head, and mouths no to him before continuing. Confused, still aroused, he just stares as she keeps going.
"And most men...well, they don't like it. They think that you can own a woman, and can control her, and the way you do that is to make her gag on your dick or cum on her face or squeeze her ass on the sidewalk. And listen, I like that shit. But not right now. Right now, I need..."
Then her panties are off, and she's standing stark naked in front of him. His breathing is heavy, and the only other sound in the apartment is her iPod playing softly on the kitchen countertop, streaming into the living room.