At four in the morning, there's a quiet knock on the door, and his heart is pounding so hard he worries it might pop. She's here.
He tightens the cord around his bathrobe and approaches the door, leaning in to peer through the little security hole, to check it's not just one of his buddies drunk as a skunk and locked out of his room again.
It's not. He catches his breath at the sight of the blonde standing out in the corridor, distorted in the little glass pinhole, but stunning in that tiny little dress under a trashy leather jacket, still vamped up with over-heavy makeup from her night on the town.
God, what if someone from the hotel saw her on the way up? But they must get hookers in here from time to time.
All the time, she's looking left, right, watching for signs she might be seen. There's no one else on the floor awake at this time, he's been closely monitoring the situation for the past hour or so, waiting for her.
One last little look at his suite, ensuring everything is ship-shape, and he pulls open the door, the butterflies crazy inside his stomach.
Her face lights up as her eyes fall upon him, but then she flashes her eyes in warning, and he steps back to usher her inside. Off in the distance, he can hear some far-off babble of human voices, possibly coming this way.
"Sorry - took ages until everyone got to sleep," she whispers.
"Thought you'd be late - it's been a busy night," he smiles, forgiving her instantly despite the long wait. How could he not forgive a girl wearing white fishnet stockings, whether or not they were supposed to be ironic.
"Nice room." Confined in the darkened suite, she realizes there's no real need to whisper here, speaks normally as she casts her eyes over his place. "Nice suite, I guess. Jeez."
He shrugs, "My best man's loaded, and so are most of my friends. Hence, we're all in our own separate rooms."
She smiles, politely. Still taking in the scale of his suite, says, "My maid of honor thinks it's unlucky if we don't all crash in the same teeny room. God."
He takes her jacket, and she suddenly looks at him with fear in her eyes. He can see her tremble a little, though it's not cold.
"Are we really going to do this?" she asks.
He looks at her, on the level. "We don't have to," he says, trying to be reassuring, trying to keep calm himself while inside, he's as frightened as she is. "We can just talk, if you like. You can leave whenever you like - now, if you want to."
She swallows, spots the Champagne sitting waiting on the table, says: "Maybe I just need a drink. Guess I sobered up since we got back from the club."
He nods gently, and steps over to the table to pour them both a glass of Bollinger.
"You had a good night?" she asks as he hands her the flute.
Clink, cheers. He says: "It's been strange. I've never been to a strip club before."
"And you're what, a lawyer?" she jokes.
He smiles, "It's never really been my thing. Wouldn't have said it was the kind of place for a bachelorette party, either," he says, returning the jab.
She cracks her own smile, and takes another sip of Champagne. Relaxing a touch. "Fitted in with the vicars and tarts theme," she says. "Besides, Marianne - my maid of honor - said it was the best place in town to find desperate horny men."
"You found me there."
"Are you desperate and horny?" she eyes him up and down in his bathrobe, one corner of her pretty mouth edging upwards, along with an eyebrow.
He steps towards her, touches a couple fingers to her chin and tilts her head up to meet his kiss. The motion takes her by surprise, and she flinches. The brief taste of her lips is sweet, though laced with the bitter edge of Champagne. He hears her gasp, and she steps away.
"We don't have to - " he says again.
She blinks a couple of times, then tries to shake the startled look away. "No," she says, "I'm sorry. You... I wasn't expecting it." She looks at him, takes a deep breath, says: "I can't really believe we're doing this, that's all."
He nods. "Probably not the best time."
Now she presses forward. She kisses him briefly. Then, almost telling herself rather than him, she says: "We're neither of us married. And it's not like it's illegal or anything to - "
"You don't have to justify it to me," he says. "I'm just as much involved in this as you are."
She nods now, "I think it's just... I don't really know what I'm doing. I never pictured it like this. Never thought I'd do something like this."
He sips his own Champagne, feels himself trembling, though he's doing his utmost to hide it. He says, "Just imagine it's not you in here. It's like stepping outside our normal lives - but it's safe. Nothing leaves this room."
She puts her glass down on the table, puts her hands inside his robe, cold hands on his flesh, pressing forward as though sampling the firmness of his chest. "I love my fiancé," she says. "I want you to know that."
"Of course," he says, touching his lips to her forehead. "I'm the same. But in here, we're just two anonymous souls, taking a time-out from reality."
"I'm just frightened, I guess."
"By this?"
"This... and tomorrow." She puts her head to his chest now, her hands sweeping the bathrobe off his shoulders. Right up against his warm skin, she breathes in his musky scent, feels comfort in the subtle masculine aroma.
"It's natural to feel nervous before the big day," he says, running his fingers through her pale silky locks.
"Are we going to spoil it all, doing this tonight?"
"We're just taking a break, that's all. Nobody will know about any of this."
"Afterwards, all this will be forgotten?"
"Precisely."
She pulls his head down to kiss his mouth, this time long, lingering. He can taste the crisp tang of the Champagne on her lips, and along with the soft scent of candy from her special girly bachelorette perfume, it makes his blood stir. His cock stiffens even before she pulls his body towards hers.
"Mmm," she purrs, "you are a good kisser."
"Thank you. You too."
Her hands snake down his chest, over his stomach, round to cup his behind, before she's seeking out the shape of his swollen manhood through his underwear.
"We don't really need to be ourselves right now, do we?" she says.
"Isn't that the whole point of tonight?" he asks. "I mean, you don't normally dress like a hooker, do you?"
She offers a shake of her head, but as she quietly explores the full length of the hardness between his legs, she says, "But I'm beginning to suspect it might be a good look for me."
"Any man would agree."
She feels it pulse in her hands, and it startles her. She squeals, drops her hands to her sides, then looks into his serene brown eyes with a giggle. "It moved," she says.
"That was your fault, I think."
Her hands wander back, and he lets her explore, slowly getting comfortable with this situation.
"Have you ever had a one night stand before?" she asks.
"A few, maybe - at college."
"I never did. I'm not sure how it goes."
"How it goes?"
"What you're supposed to do."
He smiles, and now he slips the straps of her dress over her shoulders, and the garment tumbles down her curves, falling to the floor around her ankles to reveal a turquoise lace bra and matching thong panties, trashy as they offset the pure white of her suspender belt and accompanying fishnet stockings.
"I think you're supposed to do whatever feels good," he says, his hands closing around her breasts, his fingers gently massaging her through the rough lace.
"I'm not sure I remember what feels good," she jokes, her hands now tracing out the shape of his manhood again, through his stretchy form-fitting boxers. "I guess that's one thing that worries me."
"Worries you?"
"My fiancé and I... we never really seem to enjoy sex any more. And when we do, it's fast and always in the same position. It's like he's relieved when it's over. Like the whole thing is just like a duty for him to perform now."
"And that's why you're here with me now?" he asks.
"I guess." She absently fumbles with his cock through his underwear, and he kisses her neck, taking it slow, not wanting to rush things, make her feel uncomfortable with any of this. Her skin tastes slightly salty, though with an underlying almond sweetness.
She says, "I'm worried he doesn't find me attractive any more."
And he replies, "That's ridiculous," sweeping her into his arms again, kissing her like it's New Year's Eve, pressing her hand up against his rock-hard cock. "Can you feel that?" he says as they eventually break apart, both of them breathless. "You're stunningly attractive."
She smiles, and slips her fingers under the waistband of his boxers to explore his erection completely unobstructed.
"You know," he says, "you don't have to go along with what your finance's doing in the bedroom, if you think it's dull."
"What do you mean?"
He shrugs, "Take charge. Tell him what you want."
She's standing there in front of him, gently stroking his erect cock, but she shrugs her shoulders coyly, like she's shy. "I don't know... I suppose I don't exactly know what I want," she says, and he looks at her like she's crazy. "I mean, I haven't really been with many people, you know. Before we met."
"That shouldn't have anything to do with it."
"It shouldn't?"
"We can't all accidentally run into a porn star or two to give us the lowdown on how to do it all."
"And you have run into a porn star or two?"