Tom hugged his family goodbye the next morning as the two prepared to return back to the campus. In spite of their arguments a couple nights prior, Tom and Eddie were very courteous to one-another, as though the disagreements had either not come up or didn't mean anything. The couple got in Tom's car and he drove off, his normal driving habits resuming just as soon as they got out of Tom's old neighborhood.
"How that man can complain about immigrants while having married one, I'll never totally understand," he said. "Fucking racist".
"So it was an act." Sydney thought to herself. In a way she felt bad that Tom and his father had such a strained relationship, but she understood why. Tom was in the end a man of principles, and if nothing else he was going to call his father out on it. He sighed heavily.
"Thanks" he said. "Thanks for... not being repulsed."
Sydney smiled. She'd have given him a kiss on the cheek, but she never liked moving while her hands from gripped the seat tightly to deal with Tom's driving. The irony of course being that at that moment, her cell phone rang. She gently moved her hand away from the upholstery of the seat and picked it up, seeing that it was Amanda calling.
"Hey Amanda! Oh, I'm just getting back from meeting Tom's family. We're out in the sticks. Oh really? Hang on, I'll ask."
She turned to Tom.
"Hey, Amanda's got a real nice cottage right near the lake. You wanna hang there tonight?"
"Near the lake? Right off I-69?"
"Yeah."
"Sure, why not?"
"OK Amanda, we'll meet you there! I'll give Tom directions from here."
Tom flew down the interstate, and in about five minutes (out of what should've been at least a fifteen minute drive), they pulled up to a huge black gate, beyond which stood a tremendous mansion and acres upon acres of grass. Tom's right eye started twitching.
"And this is her house?" he asked with a forced calmness.
"This? No, this is her cottage. Her family's house is much larger." said Sydney, texting Amanda to tell her they'd arrived. Tom started taking deep breaths.
"Tom? Baby, you OK?" Sydney asked.
"Just... just gimme a minute," he said. They sat in silence for a solid two minutes before he sighed "Alright, let's do this".
The gate opened and Tom drove up to the front of the house, wherein stood a butler, looking to be around his sixties. He tapped lightly on the driver's side window. Tom rolled it down.
"Ms. Collins is in the house, preparing to go to the tennis court. She has asked me to valet your car for you, sir" said the butler. Tom shut the car off and handed him the keys.
"Careful, she's got a hair-trigger gas pedal. And for the record, don't call me sir" he said, exiting the vehicle. Sydney led Tom up to the house and rang the doorbell.
"Tennis court. Fucking tennis court. Have I mentioned I hate the rich lately?" Tom grumbled.
"You're sleeping with one of them, you can't hate them that much" Sydney said with a light snide. Tom rolled his eyes.
Amanda opened the door, wearing a plaid skirt, black stockings, designer tennis shoes, and a white t-shirt that clung so tightly to her body that it left little to the imagination. Her hair, which was previously a ponytail, had been styled into bantu knots.
"Hey, glad you could make it!" she said, giving the couple a big hug.
"I'm in a relationship I'm in a relationship I'm in a relationship" the two thought simultaneously. She broke the hug.
"Oh, Tom! Could you play a round with me? My usual partner cancelled at the last minute".
"Phrasing" he muttered.
"What?" she asked.
"Sure, totally, yeah, tennis, let's do that" he said as they made their way to the court.
The way there was paved with a gorgeous marble path, decorated on either side by multi-colored rose bushes. If not for his preoccupation with trying to diffuse the going-ons of his own mind at the moment, Tom would probably wretch at the sight of the opulence. For Sydney, this was the first time she'd been at Amanda's cottage, so all this was new and quite beautiful. The tennis court looked immaculate. The metal on the fence surrounding it gleamed beautifully against the summer sun, the paint was vibrant, and the netting looked to be brand new. Sydney sat on the sidelines, as Amanda handed Tom a racket.
"Now this isn't gonna be like boxing, OK? You gotta hit with something that's not your dang fist." she called out from the other end of the court.
"Yeah, I got it, just serve the da-".
The ball shot right past him.
"Fifteen love," she said "Your serve."
Tom served the ball back with all his might, but his shot was blocked almost effortlessly and sent flying back.
"Thirty love" she said. Tom served it back again, with the same result.
"Match point" she said. Tom sent the ball back, trying desperately to hit it hard enough that it would get past her, but the result was the same.
"Game".
Tom insisted on a rematch, which Amanda obliged on. This continued for quite some time, with Tom getting marginally better each game - not that it mattered all that much because each round was a blowout. At one point, Amanda and Sydney started chit-chatting about having a movie night as some point in the near future and suggesting films. It was at this point that Tom decided he'd had enough and smacked the tennis ball as hard as he possibly could in frustration. Amanda served it back, and Tom managed to accidentally block it - with his face.
The blow knocked him back and on to his side.
"Tom!" Sydney cried out, running over to him, Amanda not far behind. "Oh baby, are you OK?" she asked.
Tom rolled over and wiped some spit off of his face.
"Yeah... I've taken worse hits to the face. Thankfully it missed my mouth, so there's that going for me". He started to get up, but then went back down and let out a cry of pain.
"What's wrong, baby?" Sydney asked.
"Ow. Ow ow ow, fuck. I must've fallen weird, my shoulder's killing me." he said. He tried rubbing his right shoulder, but this only provoked another shock of pain.
"Ah shit. I tell you what Tom, this hit's kind of my fault. If you want I can give you a massage, make you feel better," said Amanda. "I mean, long as you're both comfortable with that."
"Ow... owwww... Ah, whatever'll get this feeling better, I'm in." Tom groaned. Sydney helped Tom to his feet and lead him up to the house, and Amanda took him from there. The inside of the house was even more decadent than the outside. White marble everywhere, crystal chandeliers, red carpeting with gold trim - if Tom wasn't in so much pain from the fall he'd gag. Amanda lead him to a room toward the back of the house.
The room was small, burgundy colored, and dimly lit. In the middle was a single well-kept bed, beside which sat a table with towels, scented candles, and various oils.
"Alright, lose the shirt and lie on your gut." she said. Tom slowly stripped his shirt off, pushing through some of the pain. Amanda slightly bit her lip. She hadn't really gotten a good look at him in the car before (since he was on his back) but he was gorgeous. Strong arms, broad shoulders, muscular like a Greek sculpture - Sydney had found someone amazing. While he lied down on his stomach, Amanda went over to the table beside the bed and lit some candles, letting the smell of jasmine penetrate the air.
She started off by applying some coconut massage oil to Tom's back. Not that he seemed to need it, his skin was already smooth to the touch. Almost immediately, Tom let out a small moan from the softness of Amanda's touch. She chuckled a bit.
"Hey careful now, what would your girlfriend think?" she asked sarcastically.
"The way she looks at you she'd be understanding" he thought.
She ran the oil all over his back, subtly enjoying the sensation of having someone so handsome at her fingertips. Tom, meanwhile, was thankful he was lying on his stomach, because nothing turned him on like a beautiful woman running her fingers all over him.
She spent the next few minutes working out a series of knots on Tom's back.
"Gotdamn Tom. You know you're supposed to stretch before working out right?" she asked. Tom let out a loud moan.
"Ohhh God. Yeah, I've been kinda negligent about that la... ahhhhhh... tely."
She pressed her soft hands down, getting a big crack out of his back.
"Ahhhh. Ah, God that's good" he moaned. She moved her hands to his broad shoulders, rubbing him down slowly. She grinned as he moaned from her touch. Obviously this was as far as it was going to go, but there was nonetheless something absolutely amazing about making someone so handsome and forbidden putty in her hands.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Oh my God, I feel great" he said. His breathing became heavy, and it was all he could do to not let his inner sub come out. "Crush me." he thought.
She was almost done with him, by now he wouldn't feel the ache much, if at all. But a certain part of her wanted to be just a bit flirtatious.
She grinned a bit, leaned close to Tom's face and softly asked, "Do you feel good now?". He turned to her, meeting her gaze, and simply nodded, fearing that even the slightest whimper might give him away. He could smell her perfume - a rich jasmine, intoxicating and smooth. Those skilled hands, her hourglass figure, her smooth skin, her smell... it was no wonder Sydney had feelings for this woman.
