Isabel
Isabel's friends agreed that she had had terrible luck with men. Her first serious boyfriend had died in a motorcycle accident aged just nineteen. There had been others over the years, but none of them had seemed to stick. Maybe, as some of her friends thought, she was afraid of letting anyone get too close to her, having been hurt so drastically. But most of them thought it was just a question of time.
After all, Isabel was a strikingly attractive woman: a classic English rose, tall and willowy, with solemn grey eyes and lovely rich chestnut hair that she wore in a ponytail. There was never a shortage of candidates. Surely someone suitable would show up sooner or later.
Max certainly looked the part. They met at a wedding, of all things. As per the clichΓ©, he was tall, dark and handsome; athletic, too, in an understated way. The physical attraction was immediately obvious, but as ever she was in no mood to rush things. He was Swiss, worked for a bank in the City, and although he never made much of it was evidently well-off. He courted her patiently over many weeks, careful to let her dictate the pace.
Her friends became exasperated with her indecisiveness. They pointed out that a man like Max wouldn't hang around forever. Isabel, a woman who knew her own mind in most things, seemed incapable of a decision. It was clear he wasn't going to push her into anything. Paradoxically, this only made him more attractive.
At last she made her move. Without exactly telling Max what she was doing, she booked a holiday cottage for a long weekend about an hour's drive from London. It had one bedroom. She wasn't planning to make him sleep on the sofa.
She refused to tell him where they were going, and insisted on driving them herself. In truth she wasn't too sure of the exact location; she'd booked it via the Internet, and was following the satnav. It was August, and hot. Isabel had chosen a blue print cotton sun-dress which showed a lot of leg, something that by no means escaped Max's attention.
The cottage turned out to be a modern bungalow, but with pleasant views, and done out in a chintzy faux-rustic style that wasn't much to either of their tastes. That worked for Isabel: it made the place more of a neutral space. What happened there could, if necessary, stay there.
So now they are standing in the cottage's single bedroom, all cream and powder-blue, with its king-size bed as advertised. Max has brought their bags in. Isabel's mouth is dry.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Max asks.
Without saying a word, she kisses him. He responds instantly. Feeling his erection pressing against her only adds to Isabel's excitement.
Max runs his hand down her back, caressing her buttock through the thin material. A little further down he finds the hem of her dress and lifts it. His fingers discover lace and satin, and Isabel makes a soft sound in her throat before she breaks the kiss.
"I've wanted you for so long -" he says.
"Ssh." Isabel slides the dress over her head and lets it drop.
He takes a moment to drink in her body. She has chosen elegant white lingerie, lacy and very feminine. A lot of thought has gone into this decision.
"You're so beautiful."
As he kisses her again, he reaches around her to unclasp her bra as she starts unbuttoning his shirt. Between them, his clothes are soon removed and discarded. Max stoops down to kiss her breasts, using his tongue and then his teeth to bring her nipples to an almost painful hardness. Somehow she finds herself sprawled across the bed, naked apart from her filmy panties. Max hooks his thumb into the waistband and slides them off her, and they join the rest of their clothing on the floor. Her sex is in flower, a crimson rose, crowning a trim furry mound. It's time.
Max moves into her embrace. Her eyes are locked on his.
"Please..."
He enters her and they both sigh. She offers him the sweetest, deepest comfort he has known. It is as much as he can do to hold back, but he wants this to be good for her.
Isabel's hands are tight on his shoulders. As he moves in her, they tighten further with each thrust. She moves with him, willing his pleasure. Her nails dig into his flesh.
Max can't hold it any longer. Sensing this, she calls: "Yes!"
"Oh God!"
He drives into her hard, one last time, and fills her. Isabel mews in acknowledgement. Max withdraws, reluctantly, and they hold one another close.
"Did you come?"
She turns her face away.
"I thought not."
"It's not you," she says awkwardly. "It's -- I just can't. Not like that."
"How, then?"
Isabel is tongue-tied. She wants to come, but she's shy. She has fantasised so often about her orgasm with Max. Somehow it's too frightening now that it's finally real.