Lovers and Other Strangers Box Set: The Boston Stories (15 page)

"Shall I tell you the story of your opera?"

"Michael..." she sighed.

"Yes, Violetta. You are the most beautiful woman of your time. Could you love a wretch like poor unworthy Alfredo?" Violet bent her head to caress his hand with her cheek.

"Alfredo wasn't unworthy, just foolishly proud. He couldn't see how much she loved him."

"I've missed you Violet." She could hear the pain in his voice and steeled herself against giving in.

"I've missed you too." Reaching up she took his hand from her shoulder and held it in hers. At first Michael stayed where he was but as Alfredo declared his love for Violetta, he moved beside her. As the lights came up for intermission, Violet released his hand. Michael leaned towards her to kiss her but she stopped him.

"Michael, Unless things have changed, please, don't. I... I'm just too fragile right now. They sat in silence absorbed in their thoughts till the house lights dimmed and the opera continued. This time it was Michael that reached for Violet's hand and held it. When the lights came up this time. Michael didn't release her hand. He wanted to tell her she meant everything to him, but the words wouldn't come. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles one by one.

"Violet, I know what you want from me, I just don't know if I can let go of the fear. I... want to try, does that count for anything. Can you give me the time to figure this out. I have been trying to work through this since you left."

Violet felt her heart swell. This incredible man, the same one who drove her to heights of ecstasy, who had taken such care of her, was afraid of losing her. She held his face in both her hands. She looked deep into his eyes with all the love she felt for him.

"Michael, if you are willing to try, I promise you I will be with you at every step. I want to be with you, hold you through the fear, what ever you need. All I was asking for was the chance to be there for you." The lights dimmed at that point and the music started. Michael dragged her from her seat on to his lap. He whispered in her ear.

"I just need to hold you, I promise." Violet could feel his warm breath on her shoulder and feel him trembling. She twisted so she could put her arms around his shoulders.

"I need to hold you too." she whispered as she lay her head on his shoulder as they watched the last act.

As every one left the opera they were met with a classic Nor'easter. Snow pelted down in blinding clumps. The wind whipped from all directions. Michael looked at Violet afraid to find that she would be panicked. Instead he was shocked to see that she was smiling. She glanced down at him as she settled her cape on her shoulders and pulled up the hood.

"Fancy a short walk?"

"Are you mad?"

"Crazed. But you are not planning on driving in this are you?"

"No, but..."

She stepped in front of him. "Michael, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do but I have a room at the Continental, right next door. I hadn't expected company but..."

"Violet..." then he closed his mouth and looked like he reconsidered "Let's go."

She bent and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

The storm raged outside. The windows were white in the blizzard and the wind screamed. He closed the drapes to block out the noise and snow. Unfortunately there were no drapes that he could draw around the storm raging between his heart and his head. He wanted her beyond reason or hope but he had nothing to give her. This was a woman on fire and all he could offer was quiet devotion. Both of them were staring at the other with chattering teeth. She shook snow out of her hair and then took down what was still pinned up. With that dress and her hair up, at the opera, she had looked regal, unattainable. Now with her shoes kicked off and her hair down she looked sensual and tempting. He fought to look away and lost. She walked toward him with a half-smile. “I’m going to need your help getting out of this dress or I’ll never get warm.”

She turned her back when she reached him and kneeled down in front of him. The white satin of the neckline highlighted her creamy white skin. She bent forward pulling her hair to the side to reveal dozens of small buttons along her spine. As Michael’s finger tips grazed the small points of her vertebra between her shoulders she gasped. “Sorry, my fingers are still cold.” he choked out. Though to him her skin felt like fire. He undid the first dozen or so, slowly trying to master the inner storm he felt.

She stood up and the dress dropped further down her shoulders. She was holding it up between her breasts but in falling it had revealed the top edge of her lingerie. He found the effect mesmerizing. His mind screamed, everything in his senses told him to make love to this woman here, NOW! yet he still delayed. A woman this passionate needed a complete man, something he wished he could be. But she wanted him, he needed to just trust in her faith in him.

Violet walked toward the closet and stepped out of her dress. She heard his gasp and smiled to herself
Good! It was working.
she thought. She retrieved her dress and hung it on a hanger as best she could. She walked toward the heater keeping the dress between her and Michael. She needed an image to steel her will. She had never outright seduced a man before and she suspected Michael would be a challenge to even the most practiced courtesan from any opera. That was it! Not a courtesan, something ethereal, sensual.
He had called her his own Lady Godiva!

She closed her eyes for a second to fix the image of the noble temptress in her mind and dropped the dress on the chair. She turned to face him in her lingerie. The corset was black lace with flat braid along the edges and boning. It was a simple style that came down to her hips and ended in several tiers of lace. The garters were attached to plain sheer black stockings. She had thought when she was dressing that perhaps everything was too plain but no, the effect was more elegant. She shook her hair out and it fell like a cape around her. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and parted her lips slightly letting the thought of the brave noblewoman settle over her. When she opened her eyes again she had to fight to keep from laughing at the look on Michael’s face. The very debonair, detached, erudite Dr. Michael Dennison was staring with his mouth open. She let her eyes flutter closed remembering the wonders of that mouth then she started towards him.

“Now, to get you out of your wet clothes.”

“I... Don’t... I...”

“Don’t be silly. You’ll catch pneumonia sitting there soaked and we are going to be here a while.”

“You don’t catch pneumonia like... Oh, hell.” and he started to remove his tie. Violet smiled, what ever else happened tonight, she had won at least this small victory. She took each piece and placed them near the heater to dry out. He stopped when he was bare chested but still had his pants. He had removed each piece slowly in his reluctance to disrobe which only added to Violet’s anticipation. By the time he had removed his tuxedo shirt she thought she might melt on the spot.

She racked her brain for what to do next. She was shivering from either the cold or anticipation. She wrapped her arms around her trying to warm up. He was still staring at her like she might evaporate at any minute. She walked back across to the closet and pulled the two thick robes out. “Did you want one?” She was trying to be nonchalant but even she could hear an edge to her voice that had never been there before. Would Michael hear the desire in her voice and close himself off again. She steeled herself to calm down. She took a deep breath that swelled her breasts at the top of the corset. Again the good doctor’s mouth dropped open.

“Yes, please.” he managed to choke out. She slipped into one leaving it untied and open and brought him the other. She held it open for him to slip his arm in and then brought it around to the other side. She couldn’t miss the opportunity to let her eyes rake over his back. Once he was cocooned in the plush terry cloth he looked less miserable.

She moved to the bed, trying to distract herself from the way he was looking at her. She knew if she threw herself at him they would be right back to where they left off. He had to decide he wanted this. She sat down on the end of the bed letting the robe fall open to either side of her. She had always prided herself on being a good conversationalist but at the moment her throat had gone dry and her brain refused to form words. Thankfully, he had followed her over to where she sat.

His hand seemed to be reaching out to her of its own volition. His only thought to stroke her cheek and maybe her hair. Sitting there she looked so vulnerable and alluring. He was almost touching her when he realized what he was doing. She had seen his hand extended and had already started to move toward it, pushing forward her breasts and inclining her face to match the curve of his hand. At his touch she sighed and closed her eyes.

The curve of her cheek fit his palm perfectly. He was lost. Heat swept through him, want over taking the fear. His mind churned with sensation and desire. The touch, her sigh were not enough to extinguish these, he slipped his hand past her cheek, into her hair, pulling her closer. Just one more kiss, one more taste of what other men took for granted. His other hand went around her waist, caressing the lace and boning of the corset. Still it was not enough, he needed to taste her mouth, her teeth, feel her tongue search for his.

He pulled her onto his lap. Her eyes went wide. She did not pull away but melted against him. His mouth crushed hers, too much he thought. He gentled his kiss and felt her body warm to his. He sucked at her lips like a starved man. The hand around her waist was now caressing her throat. When she moaned he explored her with his tongue. His desire had only increased. His hand moved from her throat to her breast. Reaching into her corset he cupped her breast. He felt the nipple harden at his touch. As it did, he bent to kiss the sensitive rosy bud. She lay her head back in a full throated moan, pushing it deeper into his mouth, exposing the length of her milky throat. He suckled the nipple and then explored the milky white mound. Her breathing was ragged. That she wanted him was obvious but she had made it clear that she would accept nothing less than all of him. With an audible growl and his mind screaming, he put his hands around her waist and pushed her off his lap and back on to the bed. Both of them were gasping for air. She looked at him though heavy lidded eyes. He knew he should grab his things and leave but seeing her so filled with desire pinned him to the spot.

Her need for him was too great to listen to reason. Her mind was screaming -make him come to you! but she didn’t have the will to obey. She threw her arms around him, kissing and nibbling his jaw, ears and neck. She knelt on the floor, reaching up to stoke his chest and twirl her fingers in the soft curls. Eventually she looked into his eyes. For a long time, Violet stared deep in to their glittering sapphire brilliance, willing him to let go of his fear and drop his resistance. When she felt she had at least communicated that, she started to undress him.

“No!” She heard him cry out in anguish.

“Why?” she cried in a voice that reminded Michael of that horrible night after the surgery. She sounded in agony. “I want you.” she said trying to slow her breathing “And I know you want me!” she nearly screamed. He could not deny she was right but... She cut off his thoughts. “Just lay with me, let me make love to you.”

“But that is it... I don't know if I can make love to you!” Now he was nearly screaming, in part in anguish and in part to still the blood pounding in his head.

“You are a passionate, sensual, intelligent man. Michael, I don't expect a perfect lover. I want you, all of you. I realize there are things we may not be able to do, but to deny yourself the chance? I can only assume you do not want me.” She stood to get dressed and leave.

In that second, Michael saw a yawning eternity before him. An eternity where he was alive but bereft, cut off from all joy in the world. “No!” he yelled in a choked sob. He threw his arms around her waist. She curled herself over the top of him, sheltering him in her hair.

“Thank God, I wouldn’t have had the strength to do it.” she whispered. He turned to her and saw her fighting back tears. He kissed every one and then scooped her into his lap kissing her some more. He kept kissing till she was laughing and then he slid her back onto the bed. Her robe had fallen off around her. There she sat as he looked at her. Her mantel of hair streaming down. Her liquid brown eyes still bright with tears but smiling now. Her full lips in a half smile taunting him to capture them with his own. She was flushed with want, want for him, how could he deny this to her or him?

“I guess I should tell you. I've been experimenting with some of the ED meds. They are supposed to help.” he said as he idly ran his finger under one of the garters. With his other hand he reached under the lace tiers of the corset to caress the curve of her hip. Her breathing became shallow and quick. He looked into her eyes and said “Lay back. I want to undress you.” She looked at him like he was a satyr come to ravish her and it took all his willpower not to believe it himself. She lay down on the edge of the bed. He unsnapped one of the garters and saw her jump with excitement. With each pop, he could feel the heat of her increase. Slowly he rolled first one stocking, then the other off. Her lids became heavy and she moaned softly. The sound of it drove him on. He slid both hands under the corset finding the lace of her panties. She gasped but smiled and lifted her hips as he slowly pulled them down. He kissed her thighs, then her knees, then her delicate ankles.

She started to undo the hooks in the corset. “No” he said softly “Better to do it slowly.” She stopped and started again much more slowly, teasing him with each one. His chest ached, his stomach clenched with the desire to see her enthralled. Finally the corset fell away from her hands. It had been so long, she was almost too beautiful to touch. Almost, but kissing the hollow of her breasts would be appropriately worshipful. He buried himself in her chest, felt it heave as she almost sobbed with release. She twisted his hair in her fingers, kissing his hair and ears.