XLVIII

She proceeded to tell Richie how the rest of the party had gone as they ate the rest of the wedding cake and drank from their glasses of champagne, Frédérique interrupting her narration at one time to lick a bit of topping that had stuck to the corner of Richie’s lips. Once done and teeth brushed, they resumed their position on the armchair and Frédérique huddled against Richie’s chest. They remained silent for a while, indulging in the deliciously comfortable sensation. She then lifted her face and he kissed her deeply, their tongues slowly pressing against each other. His hand snaked to the knot of her kimono and he finished loosening it, before gently breaking the kiss to regard her sexy attire. They locked loving eyes and he splayed his hand on her chest under the collarbone, then it tripped down to the valley between her breasts, over one breast to softly squeeze it, then down to her stomach, stopping on her lower abdomen. Frédérique unconsciously held her breath and looked down in the direction of his hand. Richie froze and after a few moments of silence, she answered his unspoken question with a whisper.

“It’s a severe case of endometreousis”, she explained calmly, still looking down. “It means that my chances of ever getting pregnant are very, very low”, she paused and swallowed while Richie kept quiet and listened, “And if I do, the chances of me not being able to hold the pregnancy are very, very high”.

He took his hand from her stomach and used it to delicately cup her face, tilting it up so his eyes met her teary ones. He hunched his back and lowered his head to place a soft kiss on her lips and speak against them with a heartfelt whisper. “How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t care as long as I got you?”.

Frédérique smiled in spite of herself and placed her hand on the nape of his neck, twisting the dark tresses around her index finger. “But you must know, I needed to tell you this”.

Richie sighed to release the sadness that overtook him, not because of his own expectations, but because of all the pain this had caused her in the past. He moved his hand and threaded his fingers with the hair behind her neck, leaning back and taking her with him so her head rested on his bare shoulder. He squeezed her and kissed her forehead. “Let’s not worry about it, yet, babe. There’s no hurry. Later in the future if we decide to do it I’m sure there’s a way of-”, he cooed his reassurance but frowned slightly when she interrupted him with a grave tone.

“You don’t understand, Richie”, her voice was still calm and low, “I once tried and I did get pregnant, but it didn’t work”. She swallowed again. “In the end…it just didn’t work, it only…hurt”.

Richie felt a thick lump in his throat and tensed at his impotence from being able to protect her from such pain. But there was still something he could do: from now on, he’d do everything in his power to make it up to her, to make her happy in every way possible, spoil her, love her, hold her, kiss her, make love to her. “I love you, Fred”, he reminded her firmly and pressed his lips against her forehead. He held her tight for long minutes, without removing his lips from the spot on her forehead, until he felt her sigh deeply and melt in his arms. Her hand stopped playing with his hair and slowly slipped down over his chest – she had fallen asleep.

Richie took the hand that was buried in her hair and slid his arm under her legs to scoop her in his arms, but she jerked awake. “Let’s go to bed”, she commanded with a sleepy voice and a weak smile, turned off the foot lamp and swiftly stood up before Richie was able to complete his action. She wobbled when a rush of dizziness overtook her from standing up so quickly and in an instant Richie had stood up and had her grabbed by the arms, pinning them to her sides. He looked down and her eyes focused on some point between his pecs. They both realized what position they were in, once again. But this time it was different: Frédérique lifted her face to meet Richie’s eyes and confessed wide-eyed and in a firm tone.

“I love you, Richie. So much”.

Richie’s heart skipped a beat. He pulled her to him and kissed her deeply. Then he eased her kimono off her shoulders until it fell to the floor, scooped her up and took a few steps to gently lay her on the bed. They both crawled under the sheets and lay on their sides so they faced each other pressing their foreheads together, Frédérique folding her arms and tucking them in the space between her chest and Richie’s, Richie surrounding her tightly with both arms, their legs entangled. Short moments afterwards, Frédérique was asleep again.

Richie, however, remained wide awake, inhaling her warm, soft exhalations. The heaviness in his heart started to slowly vanish and Richie felt at peace. With his past, with everything that had happened: no matter how much pain they both had experienced before they met each other or after, whatever bad and good choices they had made through their lives or while they were miles and worlds apart, everything had led them to that moment. Yes, it was all good in the end. He felt focused, strong and loved. This was right. It felt right. So right.

He remained with his eyes closed waiting for dawn to come - he didn’t want to leave her side. At around 3 a.m., however, another muse called him, and he knew that when she did, he’d better answer. He smelled Frédérique’s hair as though by doing so he’d take her with him, brushed her lips with his and got up, took his guitar from its case, the notebook that contained the unfinished songs he’d written for her and a pencil, entered the bathroom and closed the door.

…

Frédérique became awake when a ray of sun hit her eyelids. She slowly battered them and found Richie gone, but noticed the bathroom door closed. The bright daylight was killing her but she was too lazy to get up and close the curtains back, so she closed her eyes again. It was rather warm so she pulled the sheets aside, lay on her stomach, put a pillow over her head and tucked her folded arms beneath her, flexing one of her legs flat over the mattress. She heard the bathroom door open and a few moments later, Richie’s warm breath on her ankle. She smiled and, pulling her arms from underneath her, removed the pillow, opened her eyes and attempted to roll over, but Richie whispered his command against her calf.

“Don’t”

That thick, lustful voice of his again made every cell in her body tickle. She closed her eyes again and whimpered softly in delight as his nose brushed up and down her calf. His lips soon joined, leaving little soft kisses on their way up. His hand tended to the flexed leg, pressing slightly, the thumb brushing persistently. By the time his path of kisses had arrived at the back of her knee, his lips parted just enough to let the tip of his tongue out, which softly licked her skin. Then his lips nipped at it, leaving a slightly moist ghost that quickly disappeared as soon as he concentrated on another spot. Once on her thigh, his lips slightly sucked and his teeth grazed, goose-bumps formed on her skin when Richie’s fringe brushed against it. His breath was warmer now, and his breathing was faster and sharper. Frédérique’s pulse raced in anticipation and she felt her clit throb, her inner walls dampen. She couldn’t help but part her lips and let out a little whimper when she felt his half rigid cock brush past her feet.

Moving up, with his nose, Richie pushed the edge of the teddy slightly up to allow his tongue to travel along the base of her butt-cheek. Richie’s kisses stopped afterwards and she felt him tug her flexed leg from the ankle to straighten it, then the mattress on her sides sank down as he placed his knees on each side of her hips. She quivered slightly when a wave of arousal ran through her veins, producing a sting on her clit. His hot breath on her cheek startled her. His lips pressed hard against it, licking just a little bit, then moved to the corner of her mouth and did the same, the tip of his tongue now slightly lifting her lip so he could suck on it softly. She pouted in response.

“Be a good girl and don’t move”, he purred as he moved her hair to one side in order to expose her back, purposely brushing her skin with the tip of his finger. She conceded with a soft hum: by this time she was clay in his hands. He wrapped his fingers around her wrists and gently extended her arms so they lay along her sides, then he pressed his hands on her flesh as they traveled all the way up to her shoulders, where his fingers hooked the thin silk straps of her teddy and slid them off her shoulders. He pulled them along her arms, brushing her skin with the back of his fingers, the soft, delicate fabric offering absolutely no resistance when he pulled slightly harder to free the front from under Frédérique’s body.

When her back was completely uncovered and the straps were released from her wrists, Richie grabbed her waist with both splayed hands, allowing them to travel slowly up, his long thin fingers stroking her ribs and then the sides of her breasts. He seemed to be determined to cover every inch of her skin with his touch. Frédérique’s entire body pulsed and her cheeks were burning, the only thought that came to her mind was the certainty that she had never felt so much pleasure. Once his hands were on her shoulder blades, Richie pressed his thumbs on each side of the track of her spine and then placed a hot, moist kiss on the base of her neck.

He moved again without removing his hands from their position and now his knees were on each side of hers. A kiss was placed in the space between his thumbs before he started moving them down, his lips following them on the track of her spine. When the trail of kisses arrived at the base, his weight changed entirely to one of Frédérique’s side as he sat on his heels to peel the rest of the teddy over her ass and then along her legs until he eased it over her feet without allowing the back of his hands to part from her skin. She heard him growl throatily after he had left her completely naked. When he got off the bed she frowned slightly, but the expectation only turned her arousal up a notch.

Soon she felt his hands on her hips as he motioned for her to roll over and lay on her back. She kept her eyes closed and let out a little gasp when he hooked her knees, turned her so she lay across the bed and pulled her to him until her hips were on the edge of the bed. Her arms were now stretched on the bed, abover her head, along with her hair. She finally opened her eyes but got blinded by the sun coming from the window, and could only see Richie’s silhouette, kneeling by the side of the bed, kissing her inner thighs up and down, making sure each of them got the same amount of attention from his lips, as he held them up over his shoulders with his muscular arms.

Frédérique closed her eyes again when she started shuddering and panting raggedly, her muscles already contracting rhythmically almost as a reflex. She managed to clutch the bed sheets and her jaw clenched, a grunt escaping her throat when Richie’s tongue started flicking her clit, his lips sucking and nipping all around it. His hands around her thighs held a tight grip, but he removed them when she placed her feet on each of his shoulders, which caused her hips to buck up against Richie’s lips. The groans coming from his throat resonated inside her and his breath in quick pants burnt her skin. His tongue became more and more demanding now, and his lips sucked harder as his hands traveled up over her hips, waist, ribs and finally rested on each of her breasts, working the nipples with his thumb and index finger.

When Richie stuck his tongue inside her, licking and thoroughly stroking her inner walls with it, Frédérique’s pleasure increased exponentially. She arched her back, raising herself in her arms, and let her head fall back, whimpering gutturally at the rhythm of Richie’s ministrations. All her muscles became tense, she curled her toes and her orgasm exploded all over her body in violent spasms that Richie tried to contain by grabbing her hips tighter, not allowing his tongue to give up until she had become completely limp and dropped on the bed, her whole body pulsing and shuddering.

A couple of additional little orgasms ran through her body during the course of the following minute and her mind became a pool of thick, blissful pleasure. Then Richie pushed her further towards the center of the bed by putting his hands under her arms before resting his hot, sweaty body on top of hers.