Tempted (20 page)

1:25am

Claire Nichole Eden

O
ooooooooooooooooooooooh yes the kiss :D

1:26am

Alexander Armstrong

Imagine me three feet in front of you.

1:26am

Claire Nichole Eden

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ yes?

1:26am

Alexander Armstrong

I stand facing you, exploring your eyes.

1:26am

Claire Nichole Eden

S
igh

1:27am

Alexander Armstrong

I hold you there, your eyes in mine, and we wander to faraway places without moving an inch.

1:27am

Claire Nichole Eden

S
tarting to have trouble breathing

1:27am

Alexander Armstrong

And as we see each other, our bodies begin to lean, to long.

1:28am

Claire Nichole Eden

M
mmmm hmmmmmmmmmm

1:28am

Alexander Armstrong

No words, no sound, no sight, just us, drawn, attracted, gravity

1:29am

Claire Nichole Eden

M
agnetic pull

1:29am

Alexander Armstrong

I step toward you, and you toward me. And take your cheeks in my hands, and draw your mouth to mine, as our eyes begin to close

1:30am

Claire Nichole Eden

Q
uiver

1:30am

Alexander Armstrong

And time goes freeze-frame, almost stopped, as we near

1:30am

Claire Nichole Eden

C
loser

1:30am

Alexander Armstrong

And lips, relaxed, and soft, and perfectly willing, meet, and
...
fireworks.

1:31am

Claire Nichole Eden

A
nd melt

1:31am

Alexander Armstrong

And the sweet salt taste of flesh on flesh

1:31am

Claire Nichole Eden

O
h yum

1:31am

Alexander Armstrong

The hug of one lip around another

The brush of bodies, eager to press

1:32am

Claire Nichole Eden

‘T
is heavenly

1:33am

Alexander Armstrong

Then, lips begin to lift, slow and tenuous, inviting

And a playful tongue explores

1:33am

Claire Nichole Eden

Y
es

and..........

1:34am

Alexander Armstrong

And the perfect intimate dance, of two tongues, two mouths, two bodies, all absent, all exactly present, the perfect focus of passion, in the tips of tongues

1:35am

Claire Nichole Eden

P
erfection

1:35am

Alexander Armstrong

A hand wrapped in the back of your hair, drawing your mouth tight as passion grows

1:35am

Claire Nichole Eden

Oh G
od

just when i thought this conversation was safe

1:35am

Alexander Armstrong

Another hand around your waist, grinding you into me

1:36am

Claire Nichole Eden

W
himper

18

1:36am

Alexander Armstrong

And that, my Lady, is all that a gentleman would dare on a first date.

LMAO 18 :)

1:37am

Claire Nichole Eden

T
oo laid waste to respond

T
hank you

for

...........everything

and for sharing yourself with me

can't wait for the morrow

G
uten nacht sweet prince

1:39am

Alexander Armstrong

Then rest well, and sweet sweet dreams. You thrill me, Miss Claire. More....and more. I can't wait for the morrow either
. Damn. Too much. In all the very best ways.

1:40am

Claire Nichole Eden

D
ream of beautiful things, my dear

♥

1:41am

Alexander Armstrong

Good night my Lady. Lay your sweet head on my chest, hear the pounding of my heart, feel my arms wrapped around, and l
et my pulse sing you to sleep.

1:41am

Claire Nichole Eden

I
already am

M
wah!

1:42am

Alexander Armstrong

I used to know beautiful things. Now I know you. And the rest seems paler and tepid. Mwah!

♥

I close the laptop and recline to sleep and I know.
 
I
know my life will never be the same.

It’s Christmas.
 
At least that’s what it feels like.
 
Despite getting to bed
so late, I’m up with the birds
and
mine are none too pleased about it.
 
This is their time to enjoy some quiet preening and cooing, but my bouncing about and happy-dancing my way through the morning is messing with their zen.
 
I am elated, no two ways about it.
 
The first thing I do is grab my laptop and take it with me into the kitchen, determined not to miss a moment of onscreen time.
 
As my browser pages load
,
I search my pantry for the perfect coffee beans to grind this morning.
 
Peet’s Major Dickason's Blend
seems to suit my mood perfectly.
 
The parakeets stare blankly, mildly outraged at the early morning racket I’m making.

The remaining members of the menagerie waken, stretch, and mak
e their way into the kitchen, with
an ‘if you can’t beat her, join her in the kitchen and beg for food’ attitude.
 
Oh, why is my Facebook page taking so long to load?
 
Clearly my computer is not a morning person.
 
During the interminable wait
,
I scan my iPhone and find just what I’m looking for:
 
Abba songs, covered by Erasure.
 
You can’t get much bouncier than that!
 
I turn on my stereo receiver, press play on my phone and slide the volume up
...
way up.

Murphy’s Law threatens to rain on my parade as my browser freezes and I have to reboot.
 
Grrrrrrrrrr!
 
The good news is that the tech glitch gives me an excuse to do more dancing and even to add singing to my act.
 
I bebop around the kitchen, pour a mug of jo, drop a sugar cube in, stir, and top off with TJ’s cream.
 
Then I place a bit of sweet butter and some raspberry jam on a plate
,
and reverently unwrap a carefully preserved butter croissant, making a point to dole out pet food throughout the process.
 
The parakeets have vote
d on a new course of action and
instead of offering their disdain, they decide to play backup singers to Erasure frontman, Andy Bell.

Feigning patience, I sweetly cajole my computer to behave.
 
I have a long history of conversing with inanimate objects, and an admirable track record of getting broken thin
gs to function.
 
My laptop succu
mbs to my sweet talk and charm, and in seconds I am back online.
 
And it looks like I have a little something from Alex awaiting me.
 
Squeeee!

I beam at the mere thought of hearing from him.
 
Heck, he could copy and paste pages from the federal tax code in a message to me and I would find it hot.
 
I try to take a bite of croissant and a sip of coffee but find it difficult to do, grinning as I am from ear to ear.
 

1:37am

Alexander Armstrong

I often fall asleep listening to music, and
this song
just came up in the rotation.
 
Somehow it seems to suit you...us.
 
Sound in general and voices in particular leave a permanent impression on me. I'll tell you about it sometime, but know that I long to hear the smile in your voice and the light in your laughter.
 
Sweet dreams, Cariña.
 
Catch you on the other side.

I pause
the music
and click the link sent by Alex.
 
It’s a song I love and apparently the menagerie does too!
 
I pull my beloved Daphne into my arms for a stellar
Dancing with the Stars
duet performance as Rome sings
“
Lay Me Down.
”
 
Who knew turtles could lead so well?
 
The song ove
r, I am anxious to engage Alex,
 
and
my fingers start tapping keys faster than I can think.

5:12am

Claire Nichole Eden

I am proverbially pinching myself, wondering if I did indeed actually spend a few perfect moments in Elysium with you last night, or was it j
ust a flight of sublime fantasy?
Buon giorno, luscious man. Thank you, thank you for the song. It’s a favorite of mine!
 
But I am betting you somehow guessed that. And I salivate at the thought of learning about your eclectic musical tastes

I can’t wait to hear back from him.
 
It’s 8:30 in the morning his time, so I feel confident of a speedy response.
 
 
Chances are he hasn’t even gone to bed yet.

* * *

The speedy response doesn’t come, and I find myself agitated and unable to work.
 
This is not good, these extreme ups and downs.
 
 
My sun rises and falls by this guy, a guy I’ve been chatting with online for all of a day.
 
Get a grip, Claire.
 

I decide to take a bike ride to clear my head.

I fail.

All I think about the whole time is Alex and I’m so distracted that I wipe out on my bike.
 
Once home, I limp to the kitchen to clean off the blood that is drying on my knee.
 
My pup, Persephone, is determined to play nurse and Jasper just looks at me smugly
,
as if I’d received my just desserts.
 
Hmmmmph, then you will just have to do without dessert tonight, I think in retaliation.
 

I put the kettle on, fully aware that tea cures nearly all ills.
 
Today’s choice is Cream Irish Breakfast from
Empress Tea Co
.
 
My new lease on life has included some adventurousness when it comes to tea.
 
I am currently working my way through the Empress catalogue, which turns out to be much better for my waistline than my sojourn through the Ben & Jerry’s menu.