Don't Mae Me Wait Too Long

Stepping off the plane, Anna felt her mood lift. The past year had been truly hellish with a promotion, a difficult office move and some really ugly internal politics. Okay, the promotion had been nice. Unfortunately, the same day she went home to celebrate the news, her boyfriend called to tell her he'd been transferred and was relocating to Hungary the following week.

Since he didn't see the value in maintaining a relationship over such a distance, and for an unknown period of time, he rather awkwardly broke up with her, and she fled back to her creativity. Her theatre group happily took her back in, and she rediscovered her love of writing. She also fell back on some longtime online friendships, as it was becoming harder to remain active with the friends she had shared with Jarrod.

Four months earlier, she had followed through on plans with a young friend to take a road trip through the Appalachians. While the trip was something she'd always wanted to do, it had taken Tina to talk her into actually doing it. What Anna hadn't known was just how devious the younger woman could be.

Tina had convinced two of their mutual friends at the chat site to join them. Seeing Brad and Darren outside baggage claim had been startling; at least until she heard Tina's crazy cackle behind her. Knowing the massive crush her friend had on Darren, Anna realized that she shouldn't have been surprised. Suddenly it dawned on her that they had met up in Brad's hometown, and she felt really silly.

She pulled Tina aside, hissing, "Did you two set this up?"

"Sort of, but, not like that." Tina tried to straighten out her story while Anna glared at her. "Look, it's been a few months since what's-his-face left, and we thought you needed to get out for a while. Is it so bad that you're here with friends?"

Before Anna could bite her head off, Tina added, "Besides, you know you've always wanted to chat face-to-face with Brad." With an impish wink at her friend, she added, "You've got that chance now, so take advantage of it and have some fun."

Of course, Tina was right, and it really had been a fun trip. The ladies teased Brad about his obsessive need to maintain sole driving responsibilities. Since they weren't going to be doing anything else, they sat in the back seat and sang along with the radio... badly; they fell back on their shared theatre background and recited full scenes from favorite plays; they did what they could to make the guys laugh, and when that failed, they threw raisins at them. That usually managed to get Darren to do something stupid, which would make Brad laugh.

Anna loved the sound of his laughter.

Things had been interesting for the two of them on that trip. Though she and Brad spent half their time flirting outrageously at the chat site, being in physical proximity they recognized that this was something altogether different; they arrived at an unspoken agreement to relax and use the time to get to know each other. Watching Tina and Darren carry on their own shy flirtation was highly amusing as well.

At the same time, the younger woman wasn't sure how far she wanted to take things, so hotel rooms were shared by gender. Anna didn't mind; her own wounds were still healing. While she knew that Brad wouldn't push her, she didn't see any need to add to the temptation they were both already feeling. She was also aware that Tina wasn't ready to share a room with Darren.

They'd been on the road for five days -- Tina and Darren still flirting shyly while Anna and Brad continued to grow closer -- and were settling into their latest hotel before a quiet dinner when Anna's phone rang.

"Who is it?" Tina asked as Anna checked the caller ID line.

"I'm not sure. I don't recognize the number." Accepting the call, she asked, "Hello?"

Tina stood by as her friend acknowledged her identity, then listened to rapidly spoken and highly accented English in silence. After several minutes there was a whispered 'good-bye' as Anna turned around, her face beyond pale.

She closed her phone and dropped to the floor, shuddering and sobbing.

Reacting purely on instinct, Tina found herself holding her friend, trying to console her. When Anna wouldn't stop crying, she reached for the room phone and called the guys.

"Brad? I think you need to come here."

He could hear the faint sounds of someone crying in the other room. "Tina? What's going on over there?"

"I don't know. Someone called Anna, and now she won't stop crying."

"I'm on my way."

They hung up and Tina opened the door. After slipping the safety latch into position to prevent the door from locking, she returned to Anna. Her sobs had diminished, although she was still weeping. It wasn't long before the door opened and Brad came in, Darren on his heels.

The tall man immediately went to one knee, pulling the despondent woman to his chest. Cradling the back of her head in his hand as she wrapped her arms around his neck, he sat down and tried to calm her.

He looked up at Darren, communicating to him with a slight movement of his chin. The younger man turned to Tina and suggested, "Tee, maybe we should go ahead and have some dinner."

"What if...?"

Darren interrupted her question. "I think Brad will be able to take care of things here." He placed an arm gently around her waist, guiding her to the door. "She's in good hands."

With a concerned look at her friends, she agreed and allowed Darren to walk her out.

When they were gone, Brad tenderly kissed Anna's forehead, her eyes and the tip of her nose. Wiping her tears, he asked, "What happened? Who called, Anna?"

Exhaling with a shudder, she snuggled further into his arms. "It was the US Consulate in Hungary. Apparently, Jarrod never took me off his 'In Case of Emergency' contact list." She got up, looking for some tissue, and returned to find Brad had moved from the floor to the small sofa. Slipping back into his arms, she whispered, "I was just told that he was killed in a car accident last night."

He felt as though he had been hit in the gut with a sledgehammer. "Oh shit, I'm sorry, Anna," he murmured. All he could think to do was hold her, rocking gently, while caressing her hair and kissing her ear, the back of her neck, anywhere he could reach, really.

She was so soft in his arms, yet the niggling thought kept returning, 'I thought they had broken up. Why is she so upset about a guy who left her?' He wanted to understand, having decided months ago that he loved her.

"I'm sorry," she murmured into his chest. "You can go get some dinner if you want; I know you're hungry. I'll be okay."

He pulled her to him tightly, raising her tear-stained face to his. "I'm not going anywhere, Anna." With a gentle kiss, he added, "I'd be happy to call for room service if you're hungry."

"I don't want anything, thanks."

They stayed on the sofa, nestled together, without realizing the time. It wasn't until Brad noticed that his arm had fallen asleep that he even tried to look at his watch. The slight movement of his arm jostled her head enough to wake her.

"What time is it?" she asked, still in the haze of light sleep.

"It's nearly nine."

She sat up, confused. "Where's Tina? Are they still at dinner?"

"I think so." He stretched when she sat up, trying to encourage the blood to return to his arm. "Do you need anything?"

"Just to pee."

While she was in the bathroom, he stood and moved around the room. Thinking he had heard a tone on his phone, he checked it to find that Darren had texted him about plans to be out a bit later with Tina. He heard the water running as she brushed her teeth before splashing her face. She emerged from the bathroom with her eyes a little less red.

Crossing to her, he took her into his arms and held her for a few minutes before tucking a finger under her chin, bringing her face up to look into her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?"

"I'm sure," she whispered as she raised her lips to his, gently kissing him.

He looked at her again and chuckled a little, noticing that she had changed into sleepwear. "You weren't kidding about not being hungry," he teased.

"No, I'm not, but really, you can go eat if you want to." She hugged him as she sighed, "I'll be fine until Tina gets back."

"Anna, I told you, I'm not going anywhere."

She looked up at him, a single tear running down her cheek. "Thank you. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to tell you how much I appreciate this. I am really tired, though." She blushed slightly as she asked, "Please, will you just hold me until either I fall asleep again, or they get back?"

"I insist on it." He smiled gently as he folded his arms around her and resumed softly rocking her.

After a few minutes of the soothing action, she sighed, "Mmm, Brad, this is lovely, but I'm so tired I'm afraid I'm going to sleep right here. Come with me," she said, leading him to the bed.

Sitting together, he pulled back the covers and wrapped a blanket around the slender woman's lightly shaking frame. Sighing, she leaned back into his arms.

Once they both found a comfortable position, that little suspicion resurfaced in his mind. Knowing that it wouldn't leave him in peace, he took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head. "Anna, I don't want to offend you by asking, so please, take this as me being a concerned friend."

"What is it?" She looked up to see that he was torn about whatever he was thinking. "You won't offend me, I promise. Whatever it is, just ask."

Swallowing hard, he looked into her soft green eyes and found his voice. "I guess I just don't understand why you would be so upset about Jarrod. I mean, he left you, and...." He saw her eyes darken slightly at that. "I'm not expressing myself well."

"I know what you're asking, Brad." She snuggled her head into the junction of his neck and shoulder and took a shuddering breath before answering. "What I hope you'll understand about me is that once I care about someone, I don't stop. If I tell you that I love you, and I believe there are many layers to loving, I will always love you."

"Are you saying you love me?"

"Yes. Does that surprise you?"

He shifted slightly, suddenly feeling unsure of himself. "Well, it isn't like we know each other all that well, Anna. So yeah, I'm kind of surprised."

She looked into his eyes and gently pressed the tip of her finger into the slight cleft of his chin. "You're right," she murmured, smiling at him, "there's still a lot that we don't know about each other. Would you feel better if I said there are things about you that I love?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes more sense." He kissed her forehead, thinking about what she had said.

"Brad, I love easily. Not that I'm easy, mind you, I simply love many people. That's why I say that there are layers to loving, if that makes any sense."

He nodded, waiting for her to explain.

"I also love Tina and Darren, although not on the same level as you, and unless one of you does something phenomenally stupid and hurtful, that won't stop."

"What do you mean something hurtful? Didn't Jarrod hurt you?"

For several minutes, there was no response. He could feel her long, graceful fingers tracing a design of some sort over his shirt. Finally she sighed, "Yes, he hurt me. At the same time, we were together for quite a while, so it shouldn't be that surprising that his death would be a shock.

"I'm sorry, Brad. If this is hurting you, I hope you'll be able to see that this is part of who I am. While I had fallen out of love with Jarrod, I still wanted him to be happy. Finding out like this that he's dead? I think that would surprise anyone."

He sat there, breathing in the clean scent of her hair, holding her body close to his. When he spoke again, his voice was low and soft as he tried to express everything he was feeling for the slim redhead in his arms. "Anna, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. It can't have been easy for you, hearing about Jarrod like this, and now I'm raking you over the coals about it like an ass.

"All the time that we've spent flirting and just talking through messenger has meant a lot to me, and I was really hoping that we'd be able to see if we were on the same page during this trip. But now...." He paused, not really wanting to look at her.

Then he felt her soft hand on his cheek, bringing him back to look at her. "Brad, I don't think you're an ass," she whispered. "And trust me; we're on the same page." She reached up to kiss him.

Their mouths met with a light pressure, nibbling at first, gradually building up to more. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth, allowing her to tease his upper lip with her teeth. Knowing she was ready for it, he gently flicked his tongue across her lips then sent it sliding against her own and into her mouth.

She sighed as they kissed, almost afraid she was actually dreaming, as she had many times already. His kiss was as close as she had ever experienced to what she considered perfect -- not too wet, not too much tongue, and god, he had amazing lips. Suddenly, he withdrew. Before she could say anything, he moved her up to straddle his lap and resumed their kiss.

"Do you know how long they'll be gone?" she murmured.

"Not long enough," was his grumbled response. His hands skimmed up her arms, reaching for the straps of her thin camisole and tugging them over her shoulders. As the flimsy garment came down he gasped, "Oh, Anna. You're... you're incredible."

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her to him tightly and dropped a series of soft bites along her collarbones on his way to her breasts. He had dreamed of having her like this... although his dreams had never involved needing to avoid being caught by a pair of younger friends. Knowing their friends were on the way back to the hotel, he decided that he'd have to be happy with kissing and fondling until they could be alone longer.

His hands slid to her hips as he bent to kiss across the tops of her swelling breasts and down to take a stiffening nipple into his mouth. As she moaned, his hands moved again -- one to her ass, the other slipping inside her sleep pants to cup her pussy.

"Yes, oh please, Brad," she sighed, feeling his nimble fingers play across her lips.

She was already incredibly wet to his touch. "Anna," he breathed, sending a finger into her slippery hole. "Oh god, I want you."

Her back arched as his hand began pumping lightly. "I want you too." The words came out in a gasped rush. She couldn't believe how skilled his fingers were.

"I just don't want it like this," he rumbled, his voice becoming heavy with his desire. "I don't want to feel hurried with you."

Almost as if highlighting his words, there were sounds of another couple in the hallway. They stopped, holding their breath, before laughing nervously when the couple continued walking past their door.

"If that had been Tina..." he looked at Anna, hoping she would understand. "Beautiful lady, as much as I want to lay you out on this bed right now and make love to you, I'm just not... I don't want to turn it into a circus. I want to treat you the way you deserve to be treated when we finally make love."

A gentle smile playing on the corners of her lips, she leaned forward, softly kissing him. "I know what you mean, and I can wait." She tugged on his lower lip with her teeth. "Just don't make me wait too long."

"Not if I can help it," he grinned, cupping her face in his hands.

They cleaned up a little, and Anna pulled her clothing together before laying back on the bed. It wasn't long before Tina and Darren returned to the room, finding them talking quietly and holding each other in a tender embrace.

Two days later, they were all back at the airport, saying their good-byes.

Since that time, Anna and Brad had remained in close contact. In fact, he had contacted her to tell her that he'd finally had the chance to meet another of their online friends, Eric. "He's a great guy, Anna, even cooler than he seems online."

"What were you doing in his neck of the woods?"

"Oh, it was a business trip that my company threw together at the last minute. We had a free night, so Eric and I hit this great seafood place and talked for a couple hours."

"Brad, that sounds fantastic. I'm a little jealous you got to meet him."

He laughed. "Funny you should mention that. I told him about our little trip, and he was jealous that I finally got to meet you."

"What did he say?" Her curiosity was apparent, even over the phone.

"Mostly that he hoped you were as much fun as you seem to be online. He also wanted to know if your picture did you justice."

"Great," she laughed. "Now I'm really getting nervous."

"I told him about the trip, about how we'd all been having a lot of fun together until you heard about Jarrod.

How are you doing, by the way?" He asked as gently as he could.

Sighing, she told him that she was better. "I actually talked to his mother last week. She's not taking any of it well, which really makes sense." Her voice softened as she added, "We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to. Tell me more about meeting Eric, please?"

Feeling he was on solid ground, he told her that Eric and his wife, Jane, had purchased a lakefront cabin in Northern California. "Long story short, he's invited us both to come out to see them for a week. I saw some pictures, and I think you'd really like it."

"Sounds amazing, Brad. When do you think you'd be able to get away?"

They looked over their calendars and found a couple dates that would be good. After checking in at their respective offices, they spoke again and set a firm vacation date.

Time passed far too slowly.

Standing in front of a bank of computer screens and looking for his arrival information, she felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine. Ever since the evening they nearly made love, Anna dreamed of what might have happened if they had only had the time that night. She had felt him beneath her and knew how hard he had been. There were times that she wished he had opened his pants and sunk his cock into her, fucking her senseless.

But he hadn't; he had simply held her, talking to her through a difficult night. When it came right down to the proverbial brass tacks, that was what really mattered. She knew that he'd wanted her, yet he held back in order to comfort her.

Walking down the concourse, Brad caught sight of an attractive, lithe redhead checking out flight times. It was strange how frequently that had happened over the last several months, a random woman with long, red hair, catching his eye. After another few steps, he stopped; it was her.

"Damn," he thought, "she's even more beautiful than I remembered."

She hadn't seen him yet, so he indulged himself by carefully watching her. He could see that she had dressed in anticipation of their meeting that day. Her light green, sleeveless blouse was nicely fitted, without being skintight. The lightweight skirt hit just above her knees, and he couldn't wait to see how it would dance in the breeze once they left the airport.

Her thick red hair, which had felt like silk in his hands, had been pulled up into a ponytail that reached her shoulders. He thought about standing there all day, just watching her, until she turned around. She didn't seem to have seen him yet, but appeared to be looking for the gate his flight was expected at.

While she was busy looking around, he continued just looking at her. She dropped her purse and carry-on bag to her feet and stretched her arms above her head, easing some of the airline-induced tightness from her shoulders. As she did, he was able to enjoy the view of her swelling breasts, pressing against the fabric of her blouse. He closed his eyes briefly, remembering their weight in his hands and the way her nipples had tightened under the attentions of his tongue.