One Room Away

"Later can be whatever we want it to be."

Those had been his words, but clearly the fates had conspired to make "later" more of a concept than a definitive time. After their meeting that night in his apartment, they had not gotten to see each other again for quite some time. He had made sure to get her number, however, and their brief messages to each other, usually promptly deleted on Dom's part, were all that kept him stable. His marriage wobbled along, and his minor successes at work were quickly deflated by yet more work. He went for walks more and more often, his way of reducing stress, and the miles washed past his consciousness as he thought more and more about Anne. Why could she not have appeared before, he thought as he hurried across an intersection. What was going to happen now? He had promised another time, but so far that was not going to happen. In the meantime, he felt like he was going to explode with all the stuff happening in his life. His parents would not let him forget that he was now an outcast, and would often send him letters berating him about his supposedly poor life decisions. He didn't open the letters anymore, but they sat on top of his closet, annoying him with their very presence. Something had to be done, or he was going to snap.

The coming week did not fill him with a sense of hope, either. It was his company's scheduled get together week, wherein much slapping of backs and fake grins were to be had. To make it out there, one had to be a very good (read: overwhelmed) employee who played ball. Once again, Dom had made it on the list, and it was with difficulty that he smiled and thanked his manager for the 'wonderful opportunity'. A stay in a luxurious hotel one state over was nothing to sneeze at, but his reluctance stemmed from the fact that his wife would have to come with him. As he came back from outside, he slammed the door, sending the glasses sitting atop the microwave into a clinking, chiming frenzy. Leann, his wife, was of course sprawled on the couch, a rerun of Grey's Anatomy on the television as she devoured a German chocolate cake.

"Maybe we should get packed? The trip is pretty soon," he ventured.

"Oh, it can wait. We have time."

He rolled his eyes, sure that she would not see them, which of course she did.

"What the hell was that?"

"We always 'have time' until the morning of the trip. I just want to get out ahead of this."

"Don't roll your eyes at me, you're not my father..."

Twenty minutes of high volume later, he went back out into the cold and sat in the car, staring at his reflection in the rear view mirror. His phone sang the first chords of the Mad Men theme, and he jumped involuntarily. It was her.

Across town, Anne had deliberated, tossing the phone up and down in her hand. Should she just go over there? It wasn't that far, and they definitely had some stuff to talk about. They had fallen for impulsive emotion the first time, and there were a lot of factors involved, but how would it happen the second time? If, in fact, it happened at all? Who knew what his brain had decided on in the weeks since they had spoken?

He's married.

I want him, and he wants me.

Is that true?

It has to be, unless...

I must have him.

He's not mine.

I want him to be mine.

I WANT HIM.

As her thoughts did their dizzy eagle spirals inside her mind, her hand moved on its own, and she was as surprised as he was when the phone started ringing. She whipped it up to her ear, partly hoping that it would hang up of its own accord.

"Hello?"

"Hey Dom, it's me.''

"Oh hey, what's going on?"

She allowed herself a small giggle. He always said those exact words without fail at the start of every phone conversation. The same intonation, as well. She figured it would be a while before she clued him into another one of his unconscious habits.

"Just calling to see how you're doing, and to see if you're going to have any time free," she said. Outside her window, a stray cat stalked a plastic bag being whipped around by the breeze.

"Well.....not this weekend. I have to go on a business trip..." As he detailed the plans for the weekend, she could sense his hidden annoyance like the buzzing of bees obscuring everything said. After he described the supposedly awesome bar and buffet, there was a brief silence.

"You're not going to be alone, are you?" she pressed gently.

There was a long, defeated sigh from the other end of the line. Outside, the cat's neck spun as the bag was caught in a dust devil and spiraled endlessly around the tom.

"No, spouses have to come along. Company regulations. Besides, how could she miss an open bar. It's too bad, I'm going to be pretty close to you."

"I know, that hotel is..."[Over on my side of this town] she thought. "Pretty good," she finished. The germ of an idea started pushing at her resolve to do this.

"Well I got a corner room on the first floor so if I need to get out of there I can just run," he laughed

"You might need to," her mouth agreed while her mind came to a decision.

"Well, Ill talk to you soon....I miss you."

"I miss you too."

In the void of the dial tone, the cat finally sprang up and was able to snag the bag off a nearby bush, and Anne started planning.

The Friday pushed its way into everyone's life, and with it came the trip. Much as he had expected, packing had been staved off in favor of TV watching, so their last minute bustle was a hurricane of annoyed accusations and belligerent personal defenses. By the time they made it out to the hotel, Dom was tired, physically and mentally. Headphones cranked as loud as possible, he let Filter and Sia bring his temper down from boiling point as they struggled through the door with their bags. A loud argument at the staircase with the manager of the hotel barely caught his attention, as he was looking forward to just getting out of the clothes he was in. At their room, he opened the door and stood for a second, smiling appreciatively. This....was not bad. The room was of a decent size, with furnishings commensurate with the room cost, and afforded a view that could not be ignored. The housekeeping staff had left the windows open for maximum stun value to whoever had opened the door, and so far, it was working. Then they turned to unpacking, and the moment disappeared.

As he made his way over to the bed, he let his wife go wild with her picture taking, and she stepped out onto the balcony. He stayed in and sat down hard on the bed, a loud sigh escaping his lungs. What a day. He would be happy enough to just have the damn conference now and bail out. He would lose face in such an event though, and perish that thought. He sneered inwardly. These guys were not even likable.....but they had the money and right now that was what he needed. He placed a call for room service for some baked chicken and lay down on the bed fully dressed. Sia's "Numb" came on, and he closed his eyes and swam in the notes for an all too brief couple of minutes before the inevitable knock came at the door.

"Room service," the voice sang, and his subconscious started clanging a bell immediately. He silenced it quickly. [ Have to be someone I know who got a job out here I guess] he thought dismissively as he opened the door. Then all thought fell away into the abyss of shock.

A cart with a silver dome on top sat in the hallway, and behind it was Anne.

Now, at the first moment of truth, she faltered. She had worked so hard to get to this point, and she relished the look on his face so hard. She had always been proud of her ability to silence such a glib individual who had an answer for everyone, and now was no exception. In his eyes she read a commingling of reactions; delight, dismay, pleasure, confusion, panic and hope all steeped in one moment of realization. Then she realized that the "room service lady" was standing in the hallways staring at the customer who was standing in the door. She had to do something. She mouthed 'back' as she pushed the cart into the room and nervously adjusted her skirts. [Do not fuck this up now!] she yelled at herself mentally.

"Dinner is served. Baked chicken with black bean salad for the gentleman, and chicken tenders with ranch for the lady," she said with a forced nature only Dom was able to pick up. His wife picked up her plate absently and went back to the balcony, chatting merrily away at her phone. Dom stared holes into Anne as he turned away, food now inconsequential.

"How?" he whispered, stepping closer.

She knew the answer, had thought about doing something like this ever since that night in his living room. Now, she had driven here, persuaded the maid for this floor to switch clothes with her after convincing her how funny it would be to surprise her "friend from high school". It didn't seem entirely real to her either. Now that she was here, she remembered, as his scent gently bathed her and she closed her eyes involuntarily for half a second. There was no doubt, this was the man she wanted. Their world shrank to the few inches and miles of emotion sandwiched between their eager bodies, and she felt her body reacting to the proximity and the danger. She did not even think of what she was doing, or of how much time they would have. She stared into his dark eyes as she kissed him, and his arm held onto hers as they shared air, lust and secrecy for a seemingly endless second. When she stepped back, she was breathing hard, and she remembered the last time she had kissed him like that how he had pleasured her body. She reached down between them and ran her fingers over his pants. She knew how dangerous this was but this was all she could think about as her nipples grew stiff. She watched with infinite satisfaction as his eyes closed and he shuddered in joy as she stroked his cock through his pants, firm fingers feeling him throb beneath them. He soon found it hard to stand but held out for as long as they both dared. She took a breath and held it, then dug in past his loosened belt and into his boxers. Ahh, much better. The sensation of flesh on flesh was more than he could stand, and he let out a groan. They both hesitated, and then froze as Leean came back into the room. "What was that?"

For a man coming off of a surprise hand job, his reactions were commendable. He only fumbled for words for a second, then grunted. "I was going to tip the housekeeping, but I guess I forgot the wallet in the car." He made for the door, squeezing around the cart to hide the obvious stiffness in his pants. Anne followed his lead.

"Thank you so much sir, I could really use the money." She followed him through the doorway. As they closed the door, she leaned into his shoulder and giggled furiously. She looked at his grin and had to smile. [He really wants this.]

"You like living dangerously, do you?" He murmured into her ear. The reaction in her was an intense spike of lust, and she decided to jump the gun on what she had planned for the next day. She looked around to verify that they were indeed alone in the hallway, moving the cart to block her, and dropped to her knees. She wanted to play off of their mutual attraction to the thrills of being discovered. She saw his surprised look turn to pleasure as she fished his cock out of his pants and began to furiously worship it. Her head slid back and forth as she took him into her mouth, feeling him thicken and throb against her tongue as it swirled around his length. She began to drool and looked up worriedly, hoping that this didn't turn him off, but he placed a hand on the back of her head and pushed, eyes rolling back in satisfaction. She felt her pussy begin to moisten, then drip as she thought about what she was doing, and reached a hand under her skirt. Her nylons already had a wet path going down the sides, and she started to finger herself as she bobbed back and forth on his meat. Above her, he was trying not to gasp too loudly, and he kept looking down the hallway, but eventually his restraint lessened and he was thrusting his hips forward to meet her mouth sliding down to the root of his dick. The thrill of it all got to him, and he felt his balls getting ready to empty their contents into her throat. He looked down at her to warn her but her eyes were closed and ready. They popped open when she felt the first blast all the way at the back of her throat, and didn't close again for a while. His spasms felt like they would never end, and it was a while before he trusted his legs rather than leaning against the door.

Which was very timely, because Leean opened the door that he had been leaning against.

"You coming inside soon or wha-hey!" she sputtered as he yanked the door closed again. He needed a second to think, and he pulled the door open to mutter "sorry, private business call."

"But I'm your wife, for Christ's sake!" she yelled.

"Principle!" he yelled back as he closed the door again.

He laughed, deep and throaty, as she stood up.

"What in the hell did we just do?" he murmured, fingers brushing at her hair.

She held onto one of his hands, feeling the roughness of the palm and the tender deliberateness with which it moved.

"Just wait until tomorrow..."

Then she and the cart were gone, right as the elevator dinged. He shook his head and went back into his room. Tomorrow promised to be a crazy day.

So it was. The conference went on for roughly four hours, and through it all his mind was adrift. Set adrift on memories of bliss, he thought ruefully. [That would be a winning line. Sure to pull her in.]

[Do I want to? It's nice and all to fantasize but the reality is....]

[Fuck the reality. ]

[So is she what you want?]

"Dom?"

He looked up from the empty notepad on the table to meet the eyes of his boss.

"Is this plan what we want?"

Still slightly buried in his own thoughts, the decision he came to finally was more for himself than anything else.

"It may not play with everyone concerned, but I think we should go for it. These situations can go any way, and we should push for it as far as we can so it tilts for us. Yes, I-we should definitely go for this."

The CEO raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I admire your fervor, sir. I'm sold. Casual Fridays are back on."

Dom wanted to rush out of there, but he held himself in. Just a bit more.

After the meeting, he floated around the bar, the pool, the receiving area, but nothing. [Too good to be true, I guess] he thought, slouching back to his room, where Leean no doubt was waist deep in Kahlua and Murder She Wrote. Real hot date, that one, he thought to himself.

No sooner had he closed the door and gotten undressed than that voice came through again to his consciousness.

"Sir? The COO would like to see you as soon as possible."

His heart got on a horse and started charging around his rib cage. The moment he had waited for had finally come. Behind him, his wife started up.

"Don't they know that you're busy?" she said, twirling her body for his amusement. He was long past being pulled in by her, though, and he reached around her for his jacket. Her face fell, then twisted.

"Fine. Don't get fired," she snapped over a retreating shoulder. Dom shrugged

[Nothing new there]

and went to the door. There at the door, in a slinky black and white dress with bright red heels on, was a nervous beautiful woman that he had grown attached to over the events of the past few months. Anne took his hand and led him into the hallway, a wink accompanying her throwaway "right this way sir."

He started to speak, to ask her what her plan was for the evening, and once again, she rendered him speechless as she walked him into the open door right next to his suite. She had to exert a little more force to bring him in, as he was baffled by what was happening. She closed the door and pushed him against it, pressing her lips against his for a full minute before he held her by the upper arms and moved her back a few inches. "How did you get this room?"

She shrugged, but a smile was on her face. " I got here not too long before you, and the maid that let me surprise you also let me know what floor you were on. I had to argue for the room next to yours, but once I made a public scene about being sidelined for some corporate guys even though I was here first, the manager was kinda shamed into letting me have the adjacent room. Which, of course, was the real plan."

His mind flashed back to the raised voices yesterday. Then his eyes widened.

"So that was YOU?"

She seemed very pleased with herself, the nervousness quickly vanishing. "Yeah. When I saw you I ducked into the stairwell so that you couldn't see. Didn't want to ruin it so early." She hesitated before speaking again. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, love," he said gently, running his hands from her arms to her back and pulling her close. This close to her, all the things he had wanted to say fell out of his mind, and he turned her so that she was against the door. He started kissing her, slowly at first, but after she moaned his name his fervor increased. He held her hands against the door, pinning her to the smooth wooden surface as his mouth ran wild on her cheek, her neck, behind her ear, down into the tasty zone between her shaking breasts. He moved her hands together so that he could grip both her wrists with his strong right hand while he pulled her top down to expose her breasts. "Oh yes...." she sighed as she felt his teeth gently nibbling at her sensitive nipples. This was what she had needed for so long, had wanted to feel again and again. So many lonely nights she had caught her fingers wandering between her legs while she thought about his smile, the way his arms felt coiled around her body, the scent of his aftershave lightly tickling her nose. As he picked her up and carried her to the bed, she could only sigh again and again. And yet....there was one more line that she wanted to step over, one more way into his mind that she wanted open to her.

He laid her on the bed and she relished in the feel of the clean, silky sheets on her bare shoulders as he slid the dress off of her. She enjoyed him looking at her body, the wonder and lust in his eyes making her flush with excitement. He straddled her and started in on her again, murmuring to her. "Oh love....you feel so good..."

This was her moment, and she took it, tingling.

"Do I feel....better than her?"

He stopped for a moment, examining her eyes, seeing what she needed to hear shimmering in her hopeful eyes, and made a decision. He grabbed her lacy blue panties by the top and tore them down, all while looking into her eyes. Then slowly, he lowered his head between her legs. She had been expecting an answer, but now she convulsed in ecstasy as his fingers parted her outer lips and his tongue, warm and wet, circled her entrance teasingly slow. He deliberately avoided touching her clit at first, feeling her legs close and open around him as she struggled not to crush him between her thighs as she spasmed. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the sensations, feeling his warm breath brush at her clit and starting a low moan that only continued as he persisted. Not knowing what to do with her hands, she clutched at her breasts and rolled her nipple around between her middle finger and thumb, pinching them every time he stuck his tongue deep inside her. He kept one hand on the soft creamy inner thigh flesh and raked at it with the tips of his fingers while he suckled and licked at her clit, now pushing her to the edges of awareness. Her world had shrunk to his mouth and her pussy, and as she felt herself go over the edge, she said his name before shrieking in pure pleasure. Her pussy gushed wetness onto his face, and her legs shuddered and danced in the air as he finally came up for air. He pulled down his pants while she was still gasping for air and slung his shirt over his head. By the time her eyes had opened again he was on top of her, mouth close to her ear.