Love, sorrow and undimmed stars: Part 5

“Dammit!”

“Come here…” David replied, as Katherine fumbled with her light blue tee-shirt, trying unsuccessfully to hide her rain-soaked form from everyone else on Greenwich Village’s streets. Her hair was plastered to her head. So was David’s.

“No, its fine…” she insisted, wringing out the edges of her top. “Anyway, are you gonna walk around bare-chested? I’m sorry, but you’re mine, and I won’t have any of these pretty young men hitting on you.”

David shook his head and laughed. Katherine all but stuck her tongue out at him.

“But you see, my mother always taught her boys to wear a tee shirt under a dress shirt. And mine’s black today” he smiled back at her. “So the pretty young men won’t have anything to look at” he ended, taking off his black button-down and covering Katherine up with it. “Its wet, of course, but your mom and dad will be very glad to know that I’ve protected your…very fine modesty.” He was all but smirking now.

“Sure. But don’t you know of the Hot Man Rain Theory?”

David looked back, puzzled. “No, but of course you’ll tell me.”

“Well, its simple. Any hot man, is hotter multiplied by a hundred in the rain. And you, sexy, are nothing but a tease standing there, tee plastered to your very...fine form. So, its best I get you into a cab and out of here before the hordes descend and they tear you to bits and pieces.”

As Katherine hailed a cab, David came up behind her and kissed her neck. The sudden downpour was actually quite welcome as the hot summer humidity began to choke New Yorkers. The rain served to heighten her delightful smell, no doubt unlocking the scent of her shampoo. His arms circled her, and she turned her head into his embrace, their mouths meeting. She had joked about his chivalry, but it was one more thing making her fall.

The cab ride to David’s place was surprisingly short. That, or they had forgotten space and time since they were making out like teenagers in the back, the young driver paying his way through college inwardly snorting that of course the young women would bag such a sexy man.

“That smells divine!” David was cooking a delicious soup as Katherine stepped out of his room, towel drying her hair. She smelled of his soap, and him, wearing his clothes – the smallest shirt she could find and an old drawstring gym pants she could adjust to fit her waist.

David smiled back at her. “So do you. And dinner’s almost ready.”

They ate sitting on the floor, watching the rain beat down on Manhattan from behind floor to ceiling glass. This was starting to feel like home.

“What are you thinking?” David nuzzled into her neck, planting soft kisses there. Smelling her hair.

“Oh, just that corporate executives really have a good life when it comes to real estate.” She intentionally deflected from what she was really feeling.

“Of course! Only so that we can impress beautiful young women who’d otherwise never give us a second look.” Her jaw dropped.

“So that’s what you think of me??” she said in feigned disgust.

At first he laughed. And then his face grew clouded.

“David, you don’t really think that I’m with you because of status, or money….”

“No, no. Of course not.” He reached for her, his touch seeking to soothe the rising panic he could see form inside her. He kissed her on her lips this time, a soft press, and a gentle probing of his tongue inside her mouth, welcoming him.

Afterward, she looked at him, searching his face for an explanation for the sudden change in his demeanour.

“Katherine….does it bother you that I’m so much older than you?” He was nervous.

“David…” there was almost a relief in the way she said his name. This is what’s been playing in that pretty head of his.

“I’m interested to know, Katherine. Sometimes I think I’m a walking stereotype; I’m almost fifty, and you’re not even thirty. You could have any man you want. And I know how people look at us. Like I’m in some sort of mid-life crisis, that I’m seeking my youth again, that I’m…I don’t know, insert whatever pop psych explanation you could think of…. But I know I’m not. I know how much I love you, and its not because you’re pretty or sexy or smart or can turn me on with one look. Well, its not only that…” he conceded, smiling and almost blushing. “I’ve never experienced anything like this. I never thought it was possible. I sometimes scare myself.”

“No it doesn’t, David.” He look confused. She continued. “Your age, it doesn’t bother me. When we decided to date, and find out about each other, I wondered about myself. I wondered why you, why a man so much older than me. Your age is part of what makes you so special, but I don’t have any daddy-kinks, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Sometimes I wish I was younger….for you”

She frowned. “Why?”

David sighed.

“So that I could be…more to you.”

“David, you’re more to me! You’re more than enough” she reached for his face and stroked under his cheekbone.

She had an inkling of where his insecurity was coming from, but didn’t know if now was the right time to ask. They had skirted around the subject before.

“You’re biting you lip….” He said, looking at her.

“What?”

“It means you’re contemplating something. If it has anything to do with me, say it, Katherine.”

She shook her head at how well he knew her. He unashamedly opened his life and his heart to her. She took a deep breath.

“Is that your father talking, David?” She didn’t need to explain any further,

He looked down. He couldn’t meet her eyes in that moment.

“Lets just say that our childhood, mine and Chris’s, was no walk in the park. But there’s a million other people who had more or less the same. I want a life with you. I know you need time. And I’ll give you all the time in the world. Its not that. I just sometimes wish that I was younger. I sometimes wish I could stop myself from aging, not for vanity, not for seeking immortality. We live in reality, Katherine, and if my age is playing any part in holding you back-“

“David. Stop.” She scooted over to him and climbed into his lap, sitting astride him. But her concern, and his inner conflict made the act devoid of any sexuality. “When I came to your apartment, we agreed we’d date. I wanted to find out about you. Tom said to me that you ‘threw me’. And he was right. I wanted to find out what made you…you. I wanted to find out what made you able to see past all the black gates I had put around myself and my heart. I wanted to know you.

And it wasn’t guilt for how I treated you. When you told me you loved me, something changed. It was beautiful. Even in all my years with Peter I’d never felt anything like that. Tom was right; I knew I had to give you a chance. And more than that, I had to give myself a chance. With you. Who you are is made up of a thousand different things; the man who protected his mother and brother, the man who stood up to his father, the man who worked his way up, the man with gentleness and humility in his soul, the man who’s been nothing but a faithful support to his friend, the man who’s made every effort with my family when my parents gave you the squinty-eyed look of disdain. And the man, who agreed to not have sex with me when I wanted to get to know you without that clouding my feelings, given how we started. Its not only your age that makes you that man, but your age brings its part to bear.”

She kissed him then. Lifting his face to hers with a gentle forefinger under his stubbled chin, and kissed him deeply. He whimpered her name, and kissed back, pulling her closer, their embrace now indeed intimate. He circled her back in support, and gently laid her down on the soft carpet, her hand in his hair and his on her waist. Soon, it wondered up along her skin, still warm from the shower she took, and cupped her breast. She unconsciously pushed into his touch, as his thumb circled her pebbling nipple. He gasped, and almost lost the support his arm was providing him. They continued kissing, warmth and moisture welcoming each other, his hand still under her shirt.

“I think you’d better go….” His voice was hoarse. This made sense, as all his bodily mechanisms were now focussed elsewhere, his ever hardening length pressing against the confines of his pants.

“I know we said no sex, but a little second base action is okay with me.”

“Not with me….” He blushed, and pulled himself away from her inviting warmth.

“Oh…” her mouth formed. “I’ll go…”

“That, I think, is a good idea” He kissed her once more, and she left.


***

The anniversary of paying over the Sanderson’s money soon passed. Katherine realised this one day sitting at her desk, the computer’s cursor blinking accusingly at her. The article was half-written but she’d get it done before deadline. Her mind was just elsewhere. Seemingly more and more so with each passing day.

David.

And she smiled each time.

That night they’d meet at her place. He had the good fortune of leaving work early that day, and called to say he’d cook her dinner at her place. As usual, Katherine took the subway home. But this time, she got off two stations before her usual spot. She felt like walking the rest of the way. It was mid-November, and the cold of winter was starting to settle in. But the air was crisp, and it even seemed a little fresh. Something completely odd for New York, any time of year. She walked slowly, taking in everything around her. And thinking. Of Peter, Tom, Sarah and Angela, her parents, her brothers-in-law, all her nieces and nephews, even of Lindsay. But most of all, she was thinking of David.

David.

He’d given her everything she wanted. And more. Time. Space. Her own pace. He loved her, but issued her not a single ultimatum. Put everything on the line, his heart included, and never once pressured her. He indeed did as he asked; “just give me the chance to love you.” They were happy. Exceedingly so. They’d become entwined in each other’s lives; her meeting Gregory and Lynette Unsworth and their kids almost her age (and never once being patronised) and he becoming a regular feature at McGregor family get-togethers. At first it was tough, especially because Liz, her mom, riled against her being ‘some middle-aged man’s trophy.’ Her mom was indeed always the feminist, but didn’t realise how much he meant to her daughter, repeatedly wondering aloud to Ed “what the hell is Katie thinking?

Her dad was another story altogether. He practically acted out every ‘meet-the-parents’ stereotype anyone could think of, including taking David aside, pouring some whisky and doing the ‘what are your intentions’ speech, much to Katherine’s protests. She smiled though, thinking back, hearing her Dad’s words: “Indulge me Kate, and you too David, but the last time a man came into my daughter’s life, she asked me not to live out every fatherly cliché. I obeyed, and that ended badly, and I’ll do my damned best to ensure our baby girl doesn’t get hurt again.” But Ed was soon more than won over. David, he and Jack, Sarah’s husband, spent many hours tinkering on Jack’s seventies muscle car. Ed, and indeed Jack, used every minute to assess the character of David Burrows. Jack, after all, knew Kate from when she was six, when he and Sarah started dating in high school. And they could see and hear and feel how much this man cared for their Kate.

As Katherine walked home, she realised that her mother nevertheless carried reservations still. She’d cautioned her, insisting that ‘you cannot seriously think of building a life with this man’, that ‘if you even think of having babies are you going to be changing his and their diapers?’ Of course, this drove Katherine up the wall. But she purposefully didn’t think that far ahead. Indeed, how she felt about David was as confusing as ever. She wished sometimes that their fling didn’t happen. That rushing crazily into sex with him as she did wasn’t there to always confuse her thoughts. How, their backwards relationship, sex first, and then none at all later, was so different to everything anyone else ever experienced, that she couldn’t even really talk to anyone about it. And how did she feel? She was always very concerned of feeling guilty, or feeling as if she owed him, being indebted to him. But she was reasonably assured what she was feeling was in no way linked to that.

She eventually made it to her building and walked up the four flights of stairs to her apartment. Even before she used her key, she could smell the stomach-flipping aromas David was no doubt conjuring in her tiny kitchen. Her place was small, and she could see him working his magic on a sauce over the hot stove, so caught up in his creation that he didn’t notice her enter. She walked to the kitchen entrance, and watched him. He was barefoot, dressed in his suit pants and a white tee shirt, bearing a few stains from the efforts of his culinary enterprise, no doubt.

“Hi” she eventually said.

He smiled and looked at her, the unspoken question forming on his face about how long she’d been watching him.

“Hey, I was beginning to wonder if you were working late…”

“Nope…just felt like a walk.” She took off her coat.

“Everything okay?”

“Mm-hmm.” Everything was, and she lifted the lid of one pot on her stove, trying to find the source of the mouth-watering smell. “You’re cooking up a feast…”
“This? Naaah, this is just a quick throwing together of whatever you had in your fridge and cupboards.

“Showoff!”

“Well, I have to use my charms on you…” he smirked.

“And said charms seem to be working.” With that, she walked up to him, and pressed him against the stove. The oven below’s button dug into his firm bottom, but she pressed the flat of her hand against his abdomen, feeling the hard muscle caught in surprise at her almost aggressive touch. Then she kissed him. Hard. Full. Wantonly. And she pressed her body against his, fully aware of what she was doing and the effect she wanted from him. She reached behind him and turned all the stove dials to zero, one at a time, looking at him. His eyes darkened. And she smiled. She leaned in again, licking at the enticing Adam’s Apple of his neck, trailing upwards until she found his mouth. When she reached his parted lips, he was hungry for her, and she in turn could feel a hardening length against her body.

“David….” She grew serious for a moment, suddenly conscious of her deliberate act. “I’m ready. But I don’t want you to think that I expect you to just into bed at my command. We both agreed no sex, so if you want to wait, that’s fine. I’m just letting you know that I’m ready now.”

He answered her by grabbing hold of her hips, lifting her, and planting her on the island butcher block of the kitchen. “I love you, Katherine. I can barely wait another second…” his voice trailed off as he found her mouth, kissing hungrily. They were both panting for breath. She wrapped her legs around his slim waist and hips as he unbuttoned her shirt, almost nervously. Again he lifted her, and cupped her bottom, his strong arms holding her up. She was pressed against his groin, and he whimpered at the feel of her, even through the layers of clothes they both still wore.

He undid her bra, and was gently playing with her hardening nipple. She wanted more of him. She wanted to see and feel his skin. Taste his saltiness. And feel his muscles twitch under her touch.

“Bedroom….” She mumbled in between more frenzied kisses. David obeyed, and carried her there, his hands tracing the line of her panties under her skirt. He gently plopped her onto the bed, but she sat up quickly and toed off her peep toe heels. David made short work of the last few buttons on her shirt, and the pencil skirt soon pooled at her ankles. The already undone bra had only to fall off with the merest of assistance, until David stood there, looking at her. Firm, small-ish breasts, nipples hard with desire, her French-cut panties the only piece of fabric insisting on toying with him.

She tugged at the hem of his tee shirt as he stood before her, and slowly, with the barest of touches, found her way up to his chest. She stood, and in the same movement, lifted it over his head. His own nipples were hard, and she laved at one of them, eliciting a moan from his beautiful mouth. She traced her hands over his chest and abdomen, and soon over the soft trickle of hairs that disappeared below his pants’ waist. That would not do. She needed to see all of him.

His breathing grew heavier as her hands found his belt, and unbuckled. She pulled down his zipper, and smirked as the gentle touch there made him fall into her neck. He was hard now, and his boxers tented; she needed to release him. And she did.

She slid her hand below the waist, and with her other tugged down his black shorts. She played with his balls, feeling their firmness, and then moved her hand down his erect shaft. David whimpered more. He kissed her neck, his breath warm and close to her ear, she could hear soft moans escape his mouth. She decided she couldn’t toy with him for too long, but wanted to explore just a little bit more before she freed herself from her panties, now almost drenched in wetness. She grabbed and cupped one naked bottom-cheek, and then squeezed ever so gently. This delighted Katherine, as it seemed only to harden his already pretty shaft even more. Once more she ran her hands down the now deep-pink erection, veins clear to see, and thumbed the slit at the tip, feeling some moisture. She looked up at him, and with his eyes closed in sheer pleasure, his face holding himself back knowing that he still had lots of work to do to please her, and she couldn’t remember seeing a more beautiful picture.

This was too much for David, and he took both her hands, preventing them from toying with him so. Again he lifted her, laying her down on the bed. And began making love to her. His mouth found pebbled nipples while his hand reached down between her legs. Her smooth skin there did nothing but make him want to feel her more. She was wet, and his soft touch of exploration made her now whimper. Her eyes darkened too. He kissed her mouth, played with each breast alternately, and continued to massage at the junction of her slim thighs. He could feel her pulse there beneath his hand, itself now dripping with her desire. Her legs parted with each probing of his exploration. Welcoming him. He looked at her, seemingly for permission. She nodded, and soon his mouth and tongue traced a path down her fluttering tummy, his tongue flattened against her, licking. Then it probed. Reaching inside her. Katherine whimpered his name. And decided this needed intervention.

She once more fondled his penis and played with his balls, catching him by surprise. This enabled her to push him onto the bed, and sit astride him. His face was pure desire. But she toyed with him a bit more, fingers playing with him, teasing. His face contorted in a mixture of pleasure and pain, until Katherine lowered herself and kissed his lips. Then pulled back, lifted his erection in her palm, and guided it to her. She impaled herself, but wanted to prolong the teasing fun. She lowered herself onto him inch by maddening inch, taking him in at her pleasure. Once he was fully seated within her, he let out a deep growl-like noise, almost animal-like. And then Katherine began her play. Rocking gently, teasing him, riding. He cupped her bottom once more, his hands moving to her hips in gentle guidance, at times being ridden, at times lifting her up and down over him. His hips pushed upward once or twice, eliciting deep moans from Katherine. He seemed to hit a spot she liked, and made every effort to guide his strokes to get the same response. Her breasts rose and fell with her movement, her nipples dark but rosy, and David could’ve exploded at that sight alone. Instead, he bit down on his lip, and arched his hips so that once more his Katherine would moan in pleasure. Pleasure is all he wanted to give her.

He did that.

With each thrust inside of her, her warmth welcoming him tightly over his length, he also reached to fondle her, thumbs finding her clitoris. And gently, ever so gently, playing with the hardened nub. He sat up, adjusting his thrusts to his new position, and they looked each other in desire-filled eyes. Her breasts pressed against his strong chest, her riding him and him thrusting into her seeming to get mixed into one heady mix of lust, pleasure and aching for release. She soon came. His faster paced thrusts after initial slow probes were timed to perfection, and Katherine climaxed, shuddering around him. Bodies slick with sweat, she collapsed against him and the tingling sensations crushed through her in wave after pleasure-filled wave. Only then did David allow himself to come, seeking his own pleasure. But Katherine quickly recovered her senses, and toyed with him some more. Until his mind and body and each and every nerve ending in his being could hold out no more. He came, exploding in release inside of her.

Ragged breaths followed, neither of them able to distinguish one from the other’s. They rolled onto the bed, still entwined; legs, arms, bodies, and him still inside her.

She petted his hair as his breathing slowed. His eyes seemed to adjust after his orgasm, and she gently kissed his salty skin around his temples, whispering his name into his ear. He smiled back at her when he had some semblance of composure, and withdrew from her. As he did so, he pulled her close, wanting to feel her warmth, having missed it for so long. He buried his face in her neck, and they held each other. Katherine’s body pulsed in release, and she felt warm. Why did she wait so long to have sex with him again, she wondered. And then realised that she did because she had to wait until she was sure.

The lay close to each other, bodies naked in unashamed pleasure. Very little was spoken by either of them; neither needing nor wanting words to explain what each felt. Katherine propped herself on one elbow, and traced the fine, almost invisible hairs of his chest.

“I love you, David.”

His eyes popped, and he turned to face her. He grinned, then caught himself. He was excited, and she could see the question of ‘really!?’ forming on his face.

“I love you…so much” this time her voice quivered, and her face grew serious. This was it. This was the moment when she realised what she had begun to feel months ago, but didn’t yet trust in herself to allow her to recognise. Her eyes watered at her declaration to him, knowing that she was making her choice. Choosing him. Choosing David; her friend, her lover.

He pulled her even closer, large hands making her safe. He knew she needed to not hear that he loved her too; that wasn’t the reason for her shivering. They both knew how much he did, and though he wanted to desperately echo her words back to him, he didn’t. Instead he showed her, his body ensconcing hers as they lay together in sated pleasure, falling asleep side by side, each giving the other warmth and comfort.