This story is a continuation of Down and Up in Carolina. The characters and events continue to be the products of the author's imagination, and any similarity with real people or events is merely coincidence.
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This is a story about a man named John Manetti. He is a modern day drifter with a past he is trying to work through. He finds himself in a small North Carolina coastal community where he meets Doreen Dickens. Doreen is married to an abusive husband, and John and Doreen meet when John stops her husband from beating her in public. A relationship has developed that has just been consummated with an afternoon of passion.
I wake up a short time later to a pleasurable sensation. Doreen is cuddled next to me with her head on my shoulder, arm across my chest and thigh across my groin. The warmth of her body next to mine is sensual. Her face is peaceful in sleep and there is a contented smile on her face. The clock next to the bed tells me that the afternoon is moving along. As much as I would love to keep this beautiful woman with me the rest of the day and night, and continue making love with her, I know that is not possible right now. She must return to her present life for a while longer.
Doreen tries to move her body closer to mine, and the friction this causes in different places almost overcomes my common sense. I begin to wake her up by planting kisses on her forehead, eyes, cheeks, nose and lips. She stirs from her slumber slowly, looks at me and smiles. "Hi handsome. Do I have to get up now?" Her voice sounds like a high school kid not wanting to get up for school.
"I'm afraid so, beautiful," I reply. "As much as I would like to continue what we started I don't think it's a good idea right now. What time does Shelly expect you at her place?"
She looks across my body to the clock and smiles, "A little more than an hour. Enough time to do it again."
"Not the way I want to do it. Besides you and I need to talk, and you need a shower unless you want Shelly to know what you've been up to by your smell."
"Damn it," she says, "I don't give a rats what she knows or doesn't know right now, but I guess you're right. Which way is the shower?"
I point toward the bathroom. Before leaving the bed she rolls on top of me and we kiss sharing tongues and caresses. She breaks away before things go too far, and heads toward the shower. Those beautiful buns of hers sway gently as she walks, and she flashes that smile over her shoulder as she disappears into the bathroom.
While Doreen is in the shower I pull on some sweats and go to collect her things from the living room. I stop in the kitchen to get a couple of sodas on my way back to the bedroom. The shower stops just as I sit on the edge of the bed. My soda is at my lips when Doreen comes out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. Her sultry walk across the room makes me stop my drink in mid swallow. She crosses to the bed and looks down at her things neatly folded, then smiling at me drops the towel to stand before me in all her glory. I once again caress every inch of her with my eyes from top to bottom. The look on her face tells me that she appreciates the attention. After bending down to give me a toe-curling kiss she begins to dress. This happens slowly, almost like a strip tease in reverse. I'm a little sad when the last button is buttoned and all the real goodies are covered again.
I stand up and take her hand to lead her into the living room. We need to talk, and if we do it in the bedroom we may not get through it. Seating her on the sofa I take the chair across from her. She looks a little disappointed that I didn't sit next to her. If I am to make it through the next few minutes I don't need any distractions. Just sitting across from this beautiful woman is distraction enough. I don't need her warm body next to mine.
Our talk begins with me telling Doreen how I came to be here in North Carolina. She gets the whole story with all the gory details, as well as my feelings about what happened. As the story unfolds I can see various emotions cross Doreen's face. Pain, fear, horror, sympathy and compassion all fight with one another inside her. When I finish she says, "John, I agree with the others. From what you just told me you have nothing to be ashamed of. The icing on the cake for me was the man's wife. If she thought for a minute you bore any responsibility for what happened she could not have said what she did to you. It's about time you stopped beating yourself up over this, and get on with your life." These words from someone I have come to love and respect do a lot for me. I'm sure that with her love to help me I can get over this now.
Next I turn the conversation to her situation. We agree that after what just happened we would not be able to stay away from each other for long. We also agree that until the divorce we need to be discrete about our relationship. Jed doesn't need anything to use against her in court. This will be the last time we meet at my house, or anywhere else near by, where people might know us. Neither one of us is thrilled with this, but we know that if we continue openly there will be trouble that we don't need or want.
Now that the talking is over we both breathe a cleansing sigh. The tension is broken and Doreen sits back and crosses her gorgeous legs. This causes her dress to ride up almost to her hips, and shows of her thighs. The look and smile on her face say, "Here I am. This is me."
I sit back and say, "You are becoming quite an exhibitionist, you know that?"
"It's all because of you cowboy." She continues, "You are making me feel like a desirable woman again making me feel pretty again. I just can't help but show off a little." That devastating smile returns as she rises and crosses to my chair. Her hand cups my chin and lifts my face as she bends down to kiss me. It is a gentle and loving kiss without heat. When our lips part she says, "It's time for me to go."
I escort her to the door and she picks up her purse from the floor where she dropped it earlier. At the door she comes into my arms and we kiss one more time. This one has more passion to it, because this one will have to last us both for a while. We break from the kiss and she is out the door without another word. My immediate world is suddenly an emptier place.
The following Friday I am taking advantage of a rare day off from the boat building yard by sleeping in. It seems the Ledbedder brothers received a huge bonus because we finished a contract ahead of schedule. They've decided a day off with pay is a good reward. I am dreaming about Doreen and I on a beach somewhere. We are making love on a beach towel on the sand. Just as the dream is reaching a critical point a bell starts to ring. The noise keeps me from concentrating on my lovemaking and is making me mad. I start looking for the source when the ringing of the phone breaks through my slumber.