| AGAIN BY TORRI |
CHAPTER 17 |
Part 17
The flicker in your eyes, The feel of your skin Makes me moist between my thighs. Your soft, silky hair Smooth, massive chest, Tongue moving from my neck To the hollow of my breasts. Fingers probing, prodding, Discovering my soul, Taking my fragemented pieces Making me a whole. Breath warm against my ear And tickling my skin Releasing all of my desire Held so deep within. The Hotel Pool Night Nick and Rachel are the lone swimmers in the pool. Actually, Nick was doing the
swimming, Rachel just looked on in admiration. He swam several laps, finally deciding
to take a rest. "So, when you coming in?" He asks breathlessly. "I'm not," she responded. "Oh, come on," he urges as he splashes her with water. "Stop it." He continues to splash her, until she finally decides to splash him back. Water
is flying in all directions as the two of them start laughing uncontrollably. He grabs her
suddenly, and pulls her into the water. "Son of a-" "What's that," he says splashing her in the face. "You promised," Rachel whined. "I don't recall making any promises. The only thing that we discussed was me not
throwing you in, and I didn't. I pulled you in." "You know what I meant." "Well, as long as you're in here, why don't you let me teach you how to swim?" "Nope." "Come on Rachel, don't be such a wuss," he teases as he begins to splash again. "Alright, alright," she concedes. "Where do we start?" "Come here." She slowly wades through the water to his outstretched hand. "Grab the edge of the pool, and lift your legs up." "You know, that sounds kind of kinky." "Maybe later, but you have to learn how to swim first. Give me your legs." "Are you sure this is part of the lesson?" "Yep. Rachel, I'm not trying to flirt with you, not now anyway." "Okay, I'm sorry. Now what?" "Move your legs up and down. Are you getting hot, or is it just me?" "Are you flirting with me now, or is this part of the lesson?" "I'm definitely flirting with you. All this talk about lifting up legs and moving up and
down is getting to me." She puts her legs down, and turns toward Nick. For the first
time, she notices a beautiful glint in his eye. "What?" "It's definitely getting hot in here," she agrees as she climbs up the stairs and retrieves a
towel. He climbs out after her, and stands so close she can feel his breath on her neck.
She freezes, unsure of how to respond. She decides to let her heart take over, and turns
toward him. "Rachel, you are so beautiful," he brings a hand to her face and strokes her cheek. "Thank you, " her voice barely above a whisper. "I want to kiss you so bad," he says as he cups he face between her hands. He closes his
eyes and leans into her for a kiss. It lasts only a moment, neither wanting to force the
other into something they weren't ready for. The Manning House The movie has stopped, and there's nothing but quiet, as Todd tries to determine how
much to tell Tea about his past. She sees the internal struggle on his face and she puts a
comforting arm around his shoulders. "You don't have to do this." "Yes, yes, I do. You have a right to know," he insists. "I know we're not married
anymore, but I still love you, and people who love each other share things, right?" "Yes." "Okay. I didn't remember a lot of the stuff that he did until I started seeing Suzanne.
She said that I probably blocked out some of the memories because they were too
painful. Anyway, um, she did some hypnosis and helped me to remember some of the
stuff. You know how I could never sleep, well, uh, it came out that a lot of the abuse
happened at night, so my body associated nightime with abuse. Does that make sense to
you?" "Yes. Even though the abuse stopped, those memories are still there in the back of the
mind." "Yeah, she said the same thing. Anyway, Peter would come in my room, really late,
drunk, and sometimes he would beat me. Those were the good times. When it was really
bad, he would force me to stand in a bucket of ice water, all night," he says as his eyes
fill with tears. He gets up from the couch and walks over to the window overlooking the
ocean. He runs his fingers through his hair, over and over again. Tea stares at him for a
few minutes, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, she goes to him, and wraps her
arms around his chest. "I hate him. I hate him for hurting you," she rests her head against his back. "Yeah, well, he used to say it would turn me into a man." "Wasn't there anyone around that could help you?" "Nope. Sam tried, but I never told him everything my father did. He did what he could,
you know, but he couldn't stop Peter. No one could." "Todd, look at me," she says as she turns his face toward her. He gives her a look that
breaks her heart all over again. His cheeks are tear stained, his eyes bloodshot. "You
still blame yourself don't you?" "Tea, I can't help it. I just feel so responsible." "Why?" "Because I always screw up. Look what I did to you. I screwed up the best thing that
ever happened to me." "You didn't screw up," she whispers. "You think I don't love you? You think I don't
want to be with you? I love you so much, there are no words to describe how much. I
want to be with you so bad, but it terrifies me. I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid of my
feelings for you. I'm afraid of how much I need you. Todd, don't you know that you're
the best thing that has ever happened to me." "Yeah, right." "I'm serious. I've been through a lot too, and the time that we spent apart allowed me
time to deal with my issues. You remember when you told me that you were glad that
things worked out between us the way they did because it allowed you the opportunity to
deal with your "stuff?" I feel the same way." Todd leans in to kiss her, but stops short. He backs away from her toward the stairs, and
sits on the bottom step. "You may not feel the same way when I tell you some of the
other things he did." "Todd, you were a kid, you did not do anything wrong. No matter what he did, it could
not stop me from loving you." She joins him on the stairs, and begins to stroke his hair.
It has a calming effect on him, and the tension gradually fades away. He closes his eyes
and enjoys her touch. "Are you tired?" "A little." "Why don't you get some sleep. We can talk some more later. Talking about this is
emotionally draining." "Yeah, but what if I don't have the courage to talk about it later?" "You have more courage than anybody else I know. I know that when you're ready,
you'll talk. Come on," she says as helps him up and leads him to the bedroom. "Are you going to stay?" He asks. "Do you want me to?" "Tea, I don't want to spend another night without you." He stands still, observing her
reaction she tries so hard to hide. She is speechless, but no words are needed, her eyes
speak volumes. They are silently calling him, willing him to come closer. He does just
that, stopping inches from her body. Neither moves, as they try to figure out what the
other is thinking. Finally, he gets up the nerve to wrap his arms around her, and pull her
to him. She responds eagerly, leaning her head on his shoulder. Feeling her response, he
squeezes tighter, never wanting to let go. He is the first to pull away, studying her face.
"Is it alright, I mean me hugging you?" "Yes," she answers as she searches the dresser for a nightgown. "You sure?" "Yes," she responds without looking at him. He sneaks up behind her, and wraps his
arms around her waist. "You scared me." "Sorry. What's wrong? Did I do something?" "No," still with her back turned "I'm just confused." "About what?" "What's going on between us." "What's confusing about us? I love you, I want to be with you and only you. What's
confusing about that? You don't want to be with me?" "No, it's not that," turning toward him, "I just don't want to be hurt again." "Weren't you the one that was always preaching trust? Why don't you trust me to love
you the way that you know I can." "Let's not rush it, okay?" "Okay. Now, can we please get some sleep? What side of the bed do you want?" "Doesn't matter," she takes the nightgown into the bathroom to get changed. He remains in the bedroom, as he changes into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He lays in
the bed, alone, as he waits for her return. This is the way it should be Manning, just don't
screw it up. In the bathroom, Tea stares at herself in the mirror. There she sees something that has
been absent for quite some time, a smile. She brushes her teeth, opens the bathroom
door, and sees that Todd is already fast asleep. Without disturbing him, she climbs into
bed, and turns out the lights.
TO BE CONTINUED
