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Runaway
Say it's true, there's nothing like me and you,
Cause I have fallen in love,
Close the door, lay down upon the floor,
Fallen in love fallen in love
With you, my love,
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The rest of the party had been noisy and frantic, with candles blown out, cake distributed, presents unwrapped; chaos reigned as always in the Hanson household. Once all the guests had left, I found myself standing in the kitchen with Loveboat and Diana doing dishes. We quickly had the kitchen sorted out. Diana filled some Ziploc tubs with leftover Macaroni and Cheese and Apple Cobbler for me to take home. As I was leaving, I walked into the family room where Isaac, Taylor and Zac were sprawled across the couches. “Well, boys, I’m heading out.”
“No slumber party tonight?” Zac asked not taking his eyes off of the game he and Isaac were playing.
“Only if I get to sleep in your bed.” I said.
He looked up at me and just shook his head. “No way, you and Tay that close all night? No one would get any sleep…”
“Nice Zac.” I said stretching my hand towards Taylor. He grabbed my hand and I pulled him to his feet. “You know, I can’t see why you repel women.”
“Ha, ha.” He said as I walked out of the family room and through the kitchen, his laugh following us.
“Night Diana.” I said stopping before we passed her. She smiled at me leading Taylor through the kitchen. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Okay,” she said stepping over to us and kissing me on the cheek. “You go home and rest.”
“Okay.” I said, now following Taylor. He pulled me down the stairs and towards the front door.
“Taylor, honey, you aren’t going with Cleo.” Diana called from the kitchen. “Remember you’re grounded.”
“I know Mom, I’m just saying goodbye.” He said rolling his eyes. “Of course I remember how could I forget? Grounded for my 20th birthday.” He sighed. I had stopped at the front door, waiting for him. He turned and tilted my face up towards him. He put his hands on either side of my face, gently sweeping the thick braid over my shoulder. “I hate saying goodbye.”
“I do too.” I said putting my arms around him and squeezing with all my might.
“If you’d just marry me, then we’d never have to say goodnight.” He said snuffling against my neck, taking a deep breath of my hair. “We wouldn’t have to sneak around…”
“Taylor, I told you, ask me again after Ike and Emory get married.” I said stepping back. “I just don’t want to have this conversation every day…”
“Fine.” He said slipping his hands into his pockets. “Don’t forget to give me a key, so I can come over. Since dad has all the copies of my car keys.”
I laughed as I fished my keys out of my purse. “Which car do you want tonight?”
“Give me the key to my Beemer.” He said as I hurriedly shimmied the key off the ring. “It’s quieter.”
“Okay,” I said standing on my toes and placing a kiss on his lips while slipping the key into his pocket. “I hope you are up for tonight.”
“I’m sure I will be.” He said kissing my nose. “Should I get a head start before I get there?”
“Naw…” I said laughing again, pulling the door open. That is all we need a teenie following Taylor as he fondled himself in the car. “I think I can handle things. When will you be home?”
“Home?” He asked. “Is it my home?”
“Always.” I said hugging him one last time as I stepped out onto the front porch.
“I’ll be there as soon as I think Mom is asleep.” He answered as I bounced down the stairs. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”
He stood silhouetted in the door, waving as I pulled out of the driveway. I wondered how long he stood there watching the one taillight of my sweet Sentra driving down the winding driveway. I wondered if he had tears in his eyes watching me leave, just as I did as I left. I wanted more than anything for him to crawl into my car with me and come home. Come to our home. I wanted more than anything to be with him and yet, I was terrified to marry him. What if it is as my Dad said, that my mother was fun before. Before they were married. Before she was a lawyer. Before she had kids. What if I become my mother? What if I become hard and unforgiving? What if I love one of my children more than the other? I was so scared of who I was going to become.
Lost in my thoughts, the drive home was quick. The sign in front of Tulsa National flashed the time. It was 11:47. I had to decide exactly what I wanted to do, had to decide exactly what I was going to need. I pulled into the parking lot of a 24-hour grocery store and crossed my fingers that they would have what I needed. Diana would be in bed soon; Walker was already in bed by the time I left. I grabbed what I thought I’d need, paid for it and jumped back into my car. Once I got home, I figured that I had 20 minutes to get ready. Time was of the essence.
I hurried and set up the apartment the way I wanted it to be. Luckily, both Emory and I were very clean, so I didn’t have to take time to clean, other than to fluff the pillows on the couch and drape the lovely, soft chenille blanket over the couch. And well, since Emory had been in Ireland for the last 10 days… The apartment was really, really clean. I filled the funky, silver ice bucket and settled the bottle of champagne I’d bought last week in it. I arranged the grapes and strawberries I’d picked up at the store on the silver platter that matched the ice bucket, grabbing the matching silver champagne flutes, I took them into my room and settled them on the corner of my dresser. I turned off all the lights except for the one lamp in the living room, which I draped with a red silk scarf my mother had brought me from Fiji. I gathered all the candles I could find throughout our apartment, which turned out to be a sizable amount considering both Emory and I were closet pyros and I’d bought another box of 20 tea lights at the grocery store. I settled the candles everywhere. Soon my apartment was awash with a soft, romantic light. I took the roses I had bought and stripped them of their petals, scattering them randomly down the hallway leading from the doorway to my bedroom. I stole Emory’s rose scented linen spray and doused the apartment in it. I took a deep breath, satisfied the apartment didn’t retain the stench of the Arkansas River.
The pièce de resistance was the final step. The week before while planning this night, Emory and I had been at a fabric store looking at dress patterns for possible bridesmaid dresses. When I saw the most gorgeous red velveteen fabric. I had bought 3 yards of it thinking I’d find some use for it. When we had gone to Victoria’s secret later that afternoon, the idea for a bow was born. At Victoria’s Secret, there was a pair of red velvet panties that had satin ribbon ties on the side. When I’d shown Emory, she had told me I needed to get them just so I could give myself to Taylor as a gift. So, Emory and I had come home and figured out how to tie the velvet into an enormous bow around my chest. Now, I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom cursing cause I couldn’t get it to look like it had with Emory here. When Emory helped me, it had looked gorgeous like the bow on the back of the wedding dress she had tried on that morning, but without her? Well, it drooped and was lopsided and had little resemblance to anything. I sighed. Maybe if I just lay in bed, he wouldn’t notice how pathetic the bow looked.
“Hello?” I said into the phone, picking it up before it had even finished its first ring. I had dragged the phone into the bathroom with me, waiting almost breathlessly for this call.
“Hey sexy!” He practically growled into the phone. “I’m turning onto your street, so ready or not here I come!”
“Come, but not too soon I hope.” I said as I hung up the phone. I hurried over and unlocked the door, propping it open just a little bit. I scampered back into my bedroom, making sure the rose petals were still scattered evenly, each candle burning, the CD playing, the champagne cooling. I lay down on the bed and arranged the red bow I’d tied around the upper half of my body, making sure the red velvet panties were tied nicely. I literally was wrapped like a birthday present. I laid on the bed, arranging my hair around me, crossing my legs in a way I hoped looked sexy, smoothing the brilliant red lipstick between my lips one more time.
“Cleo?” I heard him call, the front door squeaked as it opened.
“Back here.” I called in what I hoped was a sexy voice. I heard the door close tightly and then the deadbolt drop into place, followed closely by heavy footsteps coming down the hall. Then, he was standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the dozens of candles lining the hallway. “Happy birthday, baby.”
“Thanks, baby.” He said a wicked smile on his face. He shrugged his jacket off, throwing it over the chair in the corner. “So, when do I get to unwrap my present?”
“Well, you can do it any time you want.” I said sitting up and kneeling at the end of my bed. “But maybe we should unwrap you first.”
Taylor pulled his t-shirt off, tossing it on top of his jacket, toeing his shoes off as he walked towards the bed. “Yes, I think that sounds good.” He said popping the top button of his Levi’s. “Wow, I didn’t really think you’d just be wearing a red ribbon…”
“Hey, I told you this morning what your present was.” I said reaching out and popping the next button on his jeans. A small moan escaped from the back of his throat, it sounded suspiciously like a growl.
“Boy, you’re cheap.” He said watching as I popped another button open. His fingertips lightly smoothed over the backs of my hand. The moaning in his throat had turned into soft, almost silent humming. I looked up at his face and saw a look of someone completely enraptured. This process, this seduction was working.
“What?” I asked sounding outraged. “Cheap how? Cheap as in easy or cheap as in thrifty?”
“Thrifty, but I hope you’re easy too.” He whispered leaning down and kissing me on the ear.
“Well, we’ll see.” I said tugging hard on his jeans; the final 3 buttons popped open. As I spread the fly open, I gently rubbed the flesh between the top of his boxers and his belly button. He dropped his head back, this time he really moaned. I could tell that he was ready to go. “Oh, I see you started without me!”
“I just thought about you and look what happened.” Taylor said, his hands moving over my face, pushing my hair over my shoulders, his fingers sliding down my neck, splaying across my shoulders. He took his thumbs and fit them in the hollow of my throat. “Does your heart always beat this fast?” He whispered.
“No, only when you’re here.” I whispered back.
“Then, I’m glad I’m here.” He said leaning forward, capturing my mouth with his. His mouth still tasted sweet like birthday cake mixed with toothpaste and the ever-present coffee. His lips felt hot and sticky as they traveled along my jaw. His tongue flicked out and swirled around my earlobe. His arms snaked around me, pulling me off my knees against his chest. “So, how do I unwrap this?”
“First, let’s finish unwrapping you.” I said pushing his jeans over his slim hips. He stepped out of them, kneeling on the bed, next to me. I gently pushed him back until he was lying on the pillows. I knelt between his legs looking into his blue eyes, cloudy with desire. “First, we must remove the right sock.” I said tugging on his sock. “Next, we remove the left sock.”
“Cleo, you are quite possibly the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.” He said his hands moving around my waist. His thumbs smoothing over my tummy, a slight smile stealing over his lips. “Cleo, you really are a gift.”
“Taylor, the things you say…” I said, sometimes he was so cheesy and corny and filled with clichés… And yet, that was part of what I loved about him. I could feel a blush creeping up the back of my neck. I leaned forward kissing him, sucking his bottom lip between my teeth. He groaned as I kissed along his jaw, pulling his earlobe into my mouth, my fingernails scraping gently over his nipples.
His hands traveled lightly over me raising goose bumps over my entire body, his hands moving over the velvet wrapped tightly around my chest. He held the ends of the bow up, looking at me, his eyebrows raised mischievously. “What happens if I pull on these?”
“Pull on them and find out.” I said lifting my arms up.
He tugged on the bow and it fell open. He sucked in his breath, his eyes taking in my now exposed body. “No, really, you’re so beautiful.”
“Thanks.” I said, his hands moving up to my shoulders, then down over my breasts. He gently squeezed my nipples between his thumb and the side of his hand. He gently cupped my breasts, a serious look on his face. “Tay, what’s wrong?”
“It’s just…” He stopped. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just do this anytime, not have to sneak around, not have to invent scenarios so we can be together alone.”
“Taylor, please don’t start this again…” I said collapsing forward against his chest.
“I’m not starting it again, I was just thinking maybe you’re right, maybe I should just move in here.” He said sighing. “I mean, my mom would be mad at first, but I know she’d get over it.”
“Really?” I asked sitting up again. That would be the easiest solution, but it wasn’t the solution he wanted. He would forever regret it and resent me for it. I looked into his face, his eyes shining, his cheeks pink, his eyebrows messy. I reached out and smoothed them, smiling.
“What?” He asked.
“Really, you are the gift.” I said laughing softly.
“I love you.” He said quietly pulling me down onto his chest again, holding me close, hugging me tight. I had no doubt about that. And I probably never would. Earlier I had been worried I would become my mother as I grew older, but Taylor loved me so truly and so well, he would never let that happen.
After a few moments of just holding
each other, just cuddling close, I slid my hand the length of his body
my hand encountering his boxers. I sat up. “But, what do I
do about these pesky boxers?” Taylor settled his feet next
to my hips and lifted his hips up off the bed. I slid my fingers
under the waistband, tugging them down. “And we’ll just get rid of
these…” I said tossing the boxers over my shoulders, where they landed
next to his jeans. My eyes swept the totally nude body of the man
I adored with all that I was. He was perfect, flawless. His
chest still hairless and smooth rose and fell with his breathing, he was
still slightly bronze from our vacation in Hawaii in January. I smiled
as I leaned forward and placed a small kiss just above his belly button.
I traced my fingers down the trail of light brown hair that started just
below his belly button and led to the Promised Land. “You are
so beautiful.”
“But Cleo, now I feel naked.”
He said.
“Good thing, since you are.” I said my fingers trailing lightly along his sides, over the jutting bones of his hips.
“Well, that hardly seems fair.” He said, his fingers hooking into the satin ribbons of the skiff of panties I was wearing. He again raised his eyebrows in a silent question. “What do you think happens if I pull on these?
“Hmm… I think the fun begins.” I said, watching the look of absolute amazement cross his face as my hands connected with what he wanted me to touch. Suddenly everything began to move at a fevered pitch. We became a sweaty, writhing mass of limbs. Hands and mouths traveled quickly and urgently over each other’s bodies. Soon, our breathing was as manic and urgent as our hands. These were the moments I loved, the moments I craved. The moments when it was just us, when we were soft and close. The moments when everything around us faded away, faded to the proverbial black and all that mattered was this. This submersion into what the other wants, needs, gives, takes… This moment when pleasure was paramount. Now, we were a symphony of sighs and moans. Each touch of his hands sent a whole new set of synapses snapping in complete pleasure. “Oh, Taylor…”
Love is such a strange thing. It makes everything all right or all wrong. It tears your apart one moment and then it’s the glue to put yourself back together the next. Taylor was everything I needed and everything I didn’t need. I didn’t need this complication in my life and yet, he made everything so simple. I could live without the scream squad everywhere we went, but I would die if I never heard him sing again. As his lips traveled over my body, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what my life would be like without this, without him and I shuddered. I opened my eyes to be greeted with the sight of his eyes mere inches about me. Each time my chest rose with my breathing, his cross hanging from his neck would touch my sternum. He was so close. He slid one of his knees between my legs; I greedily opened up to him. I was ready for this, for this moment to move beyond just being soft.
He got up onto his knees, leaning away from me momentarily. I watched as he reached over to the nightstand and pulled the drawer open. But his hand came out empty. “Cleo…”
“What?” I asked my breath coming out in a pant. “What’s wrong?”
“You don’t have any condoms.” He said, his hand resting on my shoulder.
“So, I don’t care.” I said grabbing onto him, pulling him back down onto me. “It’s just this once and I don’t care…”
“Cleo, be reasonable.” Taylor said, lying on the bed next to me. His hands moved softly over my body, setting my skin on fire everywhere he touched. I rolled onto my side facing him. I reached out and wiped away the beads of sweat gathered on his forehead, on his upper lip. “Really, that’s not the reason I came over tonight. I came over to be with you.”
“Of all the fucking things to forget at the store.” I pouted.
“Well, if you had remembered them, we would be you know…” He said pulling me close, holding me chest to chest. I wrapped my legs through his, our bellies touching.
“Very funny,” I said fighting the urge to smile. “Don’t try to make me laugh, I want to be pissed right now. Is that too much to ask? If only I hadn’t been so stupid!”
“If only?” He asked a smile stealing across his face. Her began to hum “If Only,” rubbing his hands gently up and down my back. As close as we were, I could see the ghosts of freckles scattered across his nose, his eyes aren’t really blue, but more gray with blue highlights, the scar next to his eye from going through the sliding glass door at my house, the stubble beginning on his chin, the tiny chicken pox scars. “Cleo, you have a chicken pox scar, right there.” He said putting his finger on my eyebrow.
“I was just looking at your chicken pox scar right there.” I said putting my finger on the scar right next to his hairline.
“Did you realize you have a few freckles on your nose?” He asked. “And the dimple on the left side of your mouth is deeper than on the right. And you have a small scar in your eyebrow from when I whacked you with a Frisbee. And there is a spot of gold in the lower right hand corner of your right eye. And, you have the silliest little ears…” He said nuzzling my ear. He bit my earlobe and growling into my ear. “But, despite all your flaws, I still love you.”
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