(this short story picks up several hours after the 'Highwire' Epilogue)
"True and false fears let us refrain,
Let us love nobly, and add again,
Years and years unto years, till we attain,
To write threescore; this is the second of our reign."
~John Donne
The chauffeur held the door of the limo open and Claire Kincaid -- Claire McCoy, now, technically, though she had decided to keep her maiden name-- climbed in. Jack handed her the gift bag she'd seen Lennie Briscoe give him just a few moments before and she set it on the floor as Jack climbed in beside her and settled in close as the driver shut the door.
For the first time since the previous night when she'd snuck him into her mother's home, they were alone. They were alone for the first time as husband and wife. Jack reached down and clasped her hand in his. They gazed lovingly into each other's eyes, both searching for the right words to mark the occasion. Love for each other filled their hearts to capacity and radiated between them as they both realised there weren't words enough to express what was in their hearts.
"I love you, Claire," Jack whispered, leaning across the distance of mere inches that separated them, touching his lips to hers.
Claire kicked off her heels and brought her feet up and tucked them beneath her. Sometime earlier, with the help of her mother and best friend, Emily, she had taken off her wedding dress and changed into a pale-blue mid-thigh length dress made of a thick polyester that clung elegantly to her form and accentuated the soft curves of her body. The straps of the dress were thin, too thin for a bra. She wrapped her arms around Jack as their kiss deepened and turned slightly to him. Jack was still in his tuxedo.
"Love you too, Jack," she whispered. "So very, very much. I've never been this happy."
"Neither have I, my love...all thanks to you," he said as he lightly caressed her face.
After a few more moments of impassioned kissing, Claire sat back against the plush seat of the limousine. Jack leaned forward and pulled a bottle of champagne out of the bucket Claire hadn't noticed before. He opened it, and poured them each a glass, handing one to Claire.
"Trying to get your new wife drunk?" she asked him, her voice teasing.
"It's our day, Claire...we deserve to celebrate as much as we want."
Another kiss. And another. They sipped their champagne.
"When are you going to tell me where we're spending our wedding night?"
"When we get there," he said mischievously.
"What are you plotting?"
He took her chin between a thumb and forefinger. "You'll love it," he whispered softly, in that low, intense voice that still, after nearly two years, set her heart to racing. They kissed, then eased apart until their champagne glasses were completely drained.
Jack set the glasses aside and turned more towards Claire. "When that door opened this morning...and I saw you standing there in that gorgeous dress about to walk down the aisle...." he swallowed, pausing for a moment, his voice growing even softer. "You were so beautiful, Claire. So, so beautiful... I felt...proud...honored...that you would be walking down that aisle to become my wife."
"Jack...I...I love you, Jack. Love you more than I can say."
Jack reached out and ran his hand around to the back of her neck as he gripped lightly and crushed her lips beneath his, groaning softly as her arms tightened around his shoulders, pulling him hard against her. Before either of them knew what was happening, Claire had risen to her knees and slid onto Jack's lap, clutching his face as they kissed again and again. She shivered as his hands ran up and down her long, bare arms. Shivered again as his hands came up to rest on either side of her long neck.
Claire ran her hands over Jack's chest, still covered by the back-buttoned dress shirt. Her hands moved higher, tugged at his bowtie until it came loose, then unbuttoned the first two buttons, her lips moving down to kiss the slight amount of skin she'd just uncovered. She was pushing his jacket off his shoulders, down his arms when she felt his hands on top of her thighs, just beneath the hemline of her dress. His hands slid up higher, slipping beneath the fabric, gliding along the soft, smooth flesh of her thighs, drawing the dress up as he went. When he reached her hips, he slid his hands behind her, so that he might cup and squeeze the firm globes of her behind in his warm hands. The warm satin of her panties felt like heaven against his palms.
He was kissing her neck, hot, wet kisses that sent bolts of pleasure down her spine. He tongued around her ear, nibbling the lobe and delighting in the sigh she emitted.
Suddenly, Claire pulled back and said, "Jack...we don't seem to be going anywhere... We're driving...but not heading anywhere."
"I told the driver I wanted him to drive around for a bit before heading over to the hotel."
"Did you, now?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
He nodded before beginning to kiss her again. His hands were at her back. She felt him tugging at the zipper of her dress, felt the sides pulling apart as he splayed his fingers out over her back. He drew the thin straps down along her arms, lowering the dress, revealing her naked breasts, nipples already straining.
Jack smiled up at her, sighing in appreciation at the sight of her: even after all this time, just the thought of her beautiful, naked body could set him afire. He reached up, and laid his palms over her breasts, nestling them in the palms of his hands. They kissed, then Jack pulled back and dipped his head lower, taking a nipple into his mouth. Claire arched back, her hand tangling in his soft grey hair. His hands were on her thighs again, sliding up again. She practically purred as he slipped his hands beneath the satin of her panties and stroked her behind.
Suddenly, Claire, breathing very hard, pushed Jack back against the seat.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Every now and then she would do something like that, and it always threw him a little. A small part of him still thought he didn't deserve Claire, and that one of these days she'd realise it.
"Mmmm....nothing," she said, her voice sounding husky. "Felt wonderful...I'm just not so sure I want to make love to my husband for the first time in the back of a limousine..."
Jack nodded. She was right. It was exciting, adventurous, even, that was certain, but...but you only make love for the first time as husband and wife once, and he wanted it to be perfect, just as she did.
Jack raised his arm and pressed the intercom to the chauffeur, telling him it was time to head to the hotel. Jack reached behind him, next, and brought forward a blindfold...the type some people place over their eyes when they sleep.
"What's that for?" she asked him.
"Your eyes...want you to wear it until we get to the hotel...for the surprise. Once we're in the room, I'll take it off... okay?" if she objected, he'd have scrapped the whole idea.
"Okay.... this surprise better be worth it..."
"It is," he said, placing the blindfold over her eyes. She was still in a state of semi-undress. Jack knew they had some time before the reached the hotel --the Waldorf Towers, where they had spent an amazing night together, celebrating Claire's birthday almost two years earlier. He took her face in his hands and kissed her, she kissed back eagerly, lovingly as his hands moved to her breasts again, massaging her nipples into stiff, aching peaks. The loss of sight was intriguing to Claire...it meant she had to concentrate completely on the sensations he was creating on her skin and deep inside her, without the intrusion of sight.
"I love you Jack," he heard her say as he dipped his head to her chest again. They continued thusly until the driver informed them they had reached their destination.
*****
Jack led Claire down the hall. They were in the Waldorf Towers, now, on the way to their room --he had managed to secure for them the same room they'd stayed in all those months ago. Claire was still unable to see where they were. They paused, and Claire heard Jack fumbling with the lock. The door opened and Jack set the bag from Lennie just inside the door.
Suddenly, Claire felt the floor dropping out from underneath her as Jack swept her up into his arms.
"Jack!" she protested.
"Tradition, babe," he said softly against her ear as he strode confidently into the room. "Have to carry the bride across the threshold." He had brought their luggage to the hotel the previous day, when he'd checked in, so that they would be able to go directly from he hotel to the airport in the morning.
He set Claire down and kissed her lips teasingly, though she still wore the blindfold. She sighed softly and pulled him closer as his lips grew more insistent.
"Hey..." she said breathlessly after a moment, "Don't I get to take this blindfold off yet?"
He removed it for her. She blinked as her eyes re-adjusted to the light. She glanced around and her eyes lit up. "Jack...is this the room...?"
"We stayed in for your birthday? That it is." he said, moving his hands to her waist.
"Finally!" exclaimed Claire after they had kissed, and kissed again, and eased apart.
"Finally what?"
"I'm finally all alone with my new husband with no threat of interruption..."
"Hold that thought," he said, kissing the tip of her nose before heading over to the door and placing the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the outside knob. He returned to her and took her into his arms. "My wife..." he murmured against her neck, then moved his head back up and asked, "So...now that you've got me all alone with no threat of interruption...what did you have in mind?"
She didn't say anything, just brought her hands up to rest against his chest, then snaked them up and over his shoulders, pushing his tux jacket back as she did so. She leaned against him and sighed happily as she hugged him close. She began to kiss a line along his haw, starting at his ear and moving slowly toward his mouth. His hands moved farther around her slim waist until his fingers lightly drummed against the small of her back as their lips met again, pressing softly against each other.
Their minds and bodies were still buzzing from the effects of the champagne they'd consumed at the reception (which was still going strong when they'd departed) and in the limo in celebration of their life together. Claire felt Jack's hands splay out across her back, felt them massage up her back before descending again. As they moved lower, Claire reached back and gripped his wrists, bringing his hands back to her waist. He slid them up her sides, then forward to caress her breasts, her nipples visibly poking out from beneath the fabric of her dress.
Claire stepped back and reached for Jack's hand. She walked with him to the table in the middle of the room, then let go of his hand and moved one of the chairs in between the table and the large bed.
"Light all of the candles, okay?" The room had candles scattered all about, and Claire wondered if Jack had put them there or if he had hotel staff do it. "And then sit in this chair."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to open this bottle of champagne and turn on some music."
"That's not what I meant..." he said as he dutifully set about lighting the candles.
"I know," she told him as the cork popped out of the bottle. She filled the glasses and handed him one as he moved past her to light candles on the other side of the room.
Claire turned on the radio and began flipping through the stations. She wasn't sure exactly what kind of music she was looking for... something on the slow side.. something rather erotic... the kind of music that gets under your skin pleasantly, that makes your heart pound in your chest, that you just can't shake. She settled on a station that seemed to be what she was looking for. She sipped her champagne --she'd consumed enough already and was tipsy enough that she didn't think twice about what she'd decided to do once she'd remembered part of the conversation she and Jack had at her mother's the night before (it seemed so long ago, now).
Jack was sitting in the chair sipping his own glass as she approached him slowly, slinking across the room in a way that reminded him of her cat as it stalked some imaginary mouse. He wondered why, all of the sudden, the look on her face made him feel like he was her prey. Followed by that thought was this: if he was going to be hunted down and feasted upon in some fashion, he wanted it to be by Claire, whom he loved above all things, all people in this life. She took his glass from him and set it on the table, then moved back to him, moving between his open legs.
The DJ on the radio was going on about something, though Jack and Claire were too caught up staring deeply into each other's eyes as she stood above him to pay any attention to what was being said.
"What are you planning?" he asked her again.
She reached out to stroke his hair. "Do you remember what you asked me last night at my mother's?" she asked softly.
He shook his head. "We talked about so many things..." Suddenly, with himself sitting in the middle of the room in a chair apparently for no reason, with the radio playing music that neither of them generally listened to, Jack understood what Claire had in store for him. "You mean... the lap dance...?"
As if on cue, a new song came over the radio. It was an older song, actually, and Claire recognised it, thanks to the controversy the song had engendered when it had debuted, as Madonna's "Erotica".
"Perfect!" she thought to herself.
She leaned close to Jack and whispered into his ear that he should hold onto the legs of the chair just beneath the seat, that he should continue to do this throughout, and that he should not attempt to touch her, no matter what, unless she explicitly told him to do so.
Jack was amazed as she began to dance for him. He should have known she'd have the moves --she possessed in general the poise and grace of a dancer. What amazed him was not so much the raw sensuality of her body moving in perfect time with the music, but the words she had seductively purred into his ear as she'd begun her dance. She seemed to really be getting into this role-playing thing she was doing.
She swayed closer to him, turning her back to him, glancing back as her hips gyrated in slow circles, checking his reaction. She saw his mouth had dropped open a bit and was pleased. She drew her dress up slightly, revealing more of the backs of her thighs to him as she bent her knees and moved her hips from side to side as she bent toward the ground. She gyrated back up again and spun around. Stepping closer, she reached out to grip the back of his neck as she repeated the same moves. As she rose slowly back up, she spun around again, and worked her way slowly down once more, making sure to brush against Jack as she did so.
"Erotic, erotic, put your hands all over my body..." the song crooned seductively, not once, but three times in quick succession. Jack was having a hard time not doing as the song suggested.
She craned her neck back to him again and instructed him, an aura of authority in her voice, to unzip her dress, then return his hands to the chair legs.
She spun to him, making sure he watched closely as she slowly lowered the top portion of her dress, exposing her breasts to him. She heard him sigh raggedly as she turned again, pushing the dress down over her hips, her buttocks, her thighs and her long smooth legs. She kicked the dress aside and spun to him again, moving so that his face was just mere inches from her naked breasts, thrusting her pelvis out and grinding it against his body. Claire began to undo the buttons of Jack's shirt as her body undulated in front of him.
"I know you want me. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just close your eyes," as she turned again and ran the satin of her white bikini panties over the smooth skin of his chest. His muscles contracted and skin flinched as she did this. She hooked her thumbs in the thin straps that rested on her hips and made as if she were going to work the panties down, instead teasing him, revealing just a bit more of her creamy flesh before pulling them back up again. She did this several times until she glanced back at Jack and saw the expression on his face: an expression that told her if she didn't stop teasing him in that particular fashion, he was going to stand up and remove them for her. On the one hand, she wouldn't have minded that all that much...on the other hand, she'd decided to give him a lap dance and was going to continue giving it to him until the song was over.
Jack was aroused. He had been partially so most of the day, looking forward to their wedding night. He'd never expected anything like this. He was becoming more and more aroused as she danced for him, her movements becoming more bold, brazen even, as she moved her lithe frame against his immobile one. Jack felt the perspiration beginning to bead on his forehead, felt his semi-erection growing more taut, pushing against the fabric of his boxers and tuxedo pants.
She danced her way behind him and slipped her hands down over his chest, then knelt and ran her hands down his back, reaching for the buckle that held his cummerbund in place. She removed the garment and tossed it aside. She was in front of him again, telling him to close his legs. He did as she asked.
"Give it up, do as I say. Give it up and let me have my way. I'll give you love, I'll hit you like a truck. I'll give you love, I'll teach you how to....uhh...uhh...uhh...uhh," as she straddled his lap and continued her dance, grinding herself down onto Jack's lap. Jack groaned and his eyes slid closed as Claire stroked his chest in time with the movement of her hips and the rather erotic beat of the music. This was one helluva lot better than the lap dance he'd received the previous evening. He was more than pleased with himself for telling Claire about it, for asking her to perform one for him. That she had chosen to grant his wish on their wedding night made it all the more meaningful. It told him, though he already knew, that his desires were important to her, and if it was in her power to do so, she would endeavor to grant his wishes.
"Open your eyes, Jack," she said in a voice that sounded more throaty than usual, almost unlike her. He did as she asked, and saw that though her words and actions denoted an element of control, her eyes were foggy with desire, with love and passion for her new husband. She, like himself, was not very far from putting an end to this little game and moving on to the deeper, more fulfilling pleasures that lay ahead of them this night.
Thank God the song seemed to be ending as Claire gripped the back of his neck again, continuing to move.
The heat penetrating her from Jack's gaze set Claire on fire. She'd teased him and he'd taken in marvelously. What she hadn't realised until that moment was that in teasing him, she'd been teasing herself, as well.
Almost mournfully they heard Madonna's voice whisper "Eroti.......ca" and the song was over. Jack took this as his cue to action. He released the chair legs and took Claire's face into his hands.
"Trying to kill me on our wedding night?" he asked, his voice ragged.
He didn't give her the chance to answer him. His lips covered hers possessively. He groaned and wrapped his arms tight around her as she sighed deeply, her tongue snaking out to dance with his. He held her tight and stood, then bent a little and scooped her into his arms. He carried her, their lips still working intently against each other, to the large bed several feet from the chair. He lay her upon it and quickly covered her body with his own.
His tuxedo pants felt rough against Claire's naked legs, but she hardly noticed as Jack bent his lips to her neck. He ran a finger along her lips and pressed slightly, until it slipped between them. She suckled hard upon it, and Jack groaned, removing the finger and replacing it with his thumb. The feeling of her tongue contracting under the pad of his thumb was exquisite. She gripped the collar of his open shirt and tore it backwards, removing it from him and tossing it aside.
Jack parted Claire's thighs with his knee gently, and gingerly moved himself between her open thighs, laying on top of her so that she could feel the boiling hardness of him pressed against her own equally heated womanhood. They began to move together, simulating the love rhythm even though they still wore clothing.
A few minutes of this, accompanied by a series of fiery kisses that stretched into one long, extended open-mouthed kiss, and Claire was furiously pawing Jack's chest. She reached behind him and gripped his tight buttocks, encouraging his rhythm. Their tongues teased and stroked each other as Claire brought her hands around to Jack's front, undoing his pants' button and unzipping the fly, pushing the pants and boxers down over his hips.
Jack left her suddenly, and stood. Her eyes, which had slipped closed, opened when she felt his body move away from hers. She watched in admiration as he bent and removed his shoes and socks, then finished removing his pants, revealing the manly legs Claire so loved. She regarded his naked body with pleasure. She still found Jack's body beautiful: his lean, smooth torso, the slim waist and hips that tapered down into his long legs.
"You're gorgeous, know that?" she asked him, her voice low as she gazed up at his naked form in the dim, candle-lit room.
"Can't hold a candle to you, my love," he told her as he reached down and slipped her panties from her.
Hey lay down next to her, turning slightly over her. He lowered his head and kissed her gently, nibbling her lips with his own. He rested his head in the palm of the hand whose arm was beneath him and gazed down softly at her.
"I love you, Claire," he told her, voice thick with emotion. "I've never been this happy...never even imagined I could be. You came into my life and turned everything I understood about love and relationships on it's ear. You taught me how to love, Claire, in a way I never imagined I could."
An overwhelming feeling of intense love overcame Claire as Jack spoke openly, his eyes, the windows to his soul, as open to her as the words he'd spoken from his heart.
"We taught each other, Jack," she said quietly. "I never thought I'd love someone as much as I love you. Before I met you... I had this... hole... inside me, this emptiness I knew was there...but I couldn't quite figure out how to fill it. And then we became lovers...and then I fell in love with you...and that emptiness was filled."
She drew his face down to hers and they kissed hotly for several long moments. Jack brought a hand up to run it over Claire's body in long, gentle strokes. He stroked her breasts, delighting as the rosy-brown nipples grew into stiff peaks, one of which he lowered his head to and encircled with his tongue as his fingers nimbly fondled the other. She arched her back as he grazed her nipple with his sharp teeth. She gasped as he sucked the slight pain away while his hand stroked down her torso, blazing a path over her stomach, stopping when he reached the soft curls that covered the plump flesh of her womanhood. He slipped his hand lower, pressing a finger between the folds of skin concealing her moist heat. He sought out her love-button, swollen already with her desire for him.
He began to rub slow, insistent circles over her pearl. He continued kissing her as his hand worked its magic, wringing soft, mewling cries from his beautiful young wife until her hips undulated beneath his hand in much the same manner as they had moved when she had danced for him. Jack could tell by the sounds she made, the movements of her body, and the slight furrow of her brow that Claire was coming close to climax. He eased his hand away from her and she closed her eyes for a moment, breathing hard as she tried to check her desire, to slow the incredibly rapid pace of her heart.
Her eyes --foggy, glazed-- came open again. "I want you," she told him plainly, voice low, as he began to tease her breasts again.
He nodded almost imperceptibly. Claire was still on her back and Jack was still on his side. He drew first one and then the other of her legs over his hip so that her lower torso was flat against his body, and her upper torso was flat against the bed. He reached between them to lightly stroke and squeeze her bottom for a moment until she squirmed against him, grinding her behind against his raging shaft. Jack groaned and she felt one of his fingers lightly probing the entry to her female passage just before he slid it inside her. She moaned softly as he slipped another finger into her and began to work them slowly in and out, leaving Claire moaning quietly as he lowered his mouth to hers.
She enjoyed what he was doing to her for many moments, even as she yearned for something more fulfilling --she wanted to feel his hardness pulsating inside her, feel his body moving in time with hers. Jack's self-control was rapidly reaching it's breaking point. Shear force of will had kept him from possessing her in the first few moments after they'd completely undressed each other. His hand retreated and Claire whimpered, her body on fire with the need to feel him inside of her.
"Shhh...love," he soothed, murmuring the soft command against her ear.
She moaned with relief as he finally pushed the hardened tip of himself into her tight sheath. They moaned together as he slowly slid all the way inside of her. "Mmmmmmm... God, Jack... that feels so good..." she breathed gazing up at him as he began to slowly move within her.
Her eyes closed again as she concentrated on the feelings Jack was creating in her body. She pleaded with him to move faster and he did, encouraged by her words and her response to him. He could feel her tightening around him, knew she was coming close to climax again, and slid out of her.
"Jack!" she gasped, panting.
He moved her legs so they rested against the bed and lowered himself on top of her, kissing her neck languidly as his hands massaged her breasts. He left her, again, but before Claire could protest, he was easing her thighs apart and settling himself between them. He bent his head and his tongue was on her, tasting the honeyed nectar that was the sweet evidence of her arousal.
"Oh...God..." she moaned as his tongue worked her into an aroused frenzy. He loved doing that to her, loved driving her mad with desire with his satiny tongue; it was a mutual feeling --she did it often enough to him, as well.
For the moment, however, Jack seemed to be contentedly enjoying concentrating on Claire. There would be plenty of time, either tonight or one night down the road, for her to reverse the tables on him. She was beginning to think she was going to expire if Jack didn't relent soon. Jack plunged his tongue deep inside her, and Claire let out a near-sob of relief at the invasion. She felt wound tight as the string of a violin, and was just waiting for Jack to prove to her, once again, what an excellent fiddler he was.
Suddenly, Jack was standing next to the bed, gazing down at Claire as she writhed against the comforter. She propped herself up on her elbows after a few moments. Jack held his hands out to her and she reached for them, allowing herself to be pulled into a standing position. Her legs felt weak and wobbly beneath her, and her head felt light, so aroused was she.
Jack held her close, stroking her face with one hand even as the other snaked around her, steadying her against him, her body trembling, every place his skin touched hers aflame. When she was steady on her feet he kissed her lips tenderly for a moment.
"I had them turn the hot tub on this afternoon, so it would be ready for us this evening," he told her.
"Jack...I can't...I need..."
He cut her off. "Shhhh...it's okay...I know, baby," he said as he led her by the hand to the bathroom, stopping along the way to hand her the two champagne glasses as he carried the bucket and a candle.
When they were in the bathroom, he left her, returning to find her in the hot tub: he had gone back for two more candles.
Claire found that the hot tub curbed her desire a bit. She no longer felt she would die if she weren't fulfilled soon. The dull but pleasant ache of having been brought to passion's peak several times, only to be eased back down rather than pushed over into the abyss, still coursed through her. Her champagne and the heat of the tub had relaxed her. Jack climbed in next to her just as she polished off her glass. He quickly drained the rest of his. He took Claire's empty glass and set it with his own on the side of the tub, then draped an arm over her shoulder as she leaned in against him.
"How're you feeling?" Jack asked her, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Mmmm...relaxed, NOW...no thanks to YOU!"
"I did get you rather worked up, didn't I?" he asked smugly.
Claire slipped off of the bench and stood up, standing in front of Jack, water sluicing down her body, leaving water beads here and there so that it seemed like her skin was encrusted with diamonds in the dancing light of the candles. She bent over Jack, resting her palms on his shoulders as she came down on his lap, sitting slightly back on his thighs.
"Yes...but I'll avenge myself later...when you least expect it..."
Jack's eyebrow shot up.
"Kiss me," she said softly, half plea, half command.
He did, gently at first and then he slipped his tongue passed her lips. He ran it along her teeth, along the sides and roof of her mouth, avoiding her tongue until the last possible moment. As their tongues entwined and unentwined, Claire felt herself beginning to reach that fevered pitch of arousal again. Claire raised herself up a bit and slid forward, until she felt Jack's hardened shaft against her. She lowered herself and they both moaned as their bodies connected. They continued kissing as Jack dropped his hands to her waist as she began to rise and fall on him, moving faster initially than was her norm when they made love in this position. Jack pushed back up at her, slipping his hands around and under her so that he gripped the alabaster globes of her behind in his hands even as he lowered his head to enclose a nipple in his mouth.
As Claire's pace increased, Jack lost all thought of trying to tease her: her body felt too good against his, the heat inside her too exquisite, and her misty, passion-glazed eyes too engrossing for him to hold back from her. He gave in to the pleasure that washed over his body. Claire wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly. She found the pace she needed most at the moment and soon her cries filled the room as she climbed higher and higher up passion's peak. Suddenly, seemingly without warning, Claire's body began to spasm and jerk as wave after wave of the climax Jack had denied her finally coursed through her body. Jack held her close as she shuddered above him, crying out loudly.
Her head grew light and she sagged against Jack, clinging to him, feeling weak, drained, yet strangely, not completely satisfied. When she finally recovered from the intensely powerful orgasm she'd just experienced she realised Jack was still hard as a rock and buried to the hilt inside her.
She opened her eyes and slid slightly away from him, but not enough so that he slipped out of her. "You're still inside me..." she said softly, her breathing still somewhat labored.
He nodded, kissing her gently for a moment before saying, his voice gently teasing, "Have to make sure I'm keeping my young wife satisfied...wouldn't want her to stray..."
"My God, Jack ... when would I have the time? I've never been as satisfied as often with such regularity as I have been with you...even now you can exhaust me.... I imagine you would have killed me in your twenties..."
"Then I see the Middle Eastern restoratives I've been putting in my food have worked..."
Claire let loose her musical laughter and Jack sighed deeply at the beautiful sound.
"What's so funny?" he asked, grinning up at her.
"Two things," she replied, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "First of all...we're technically still making love ... and yet we're carrying on a ... quasi-normal conversation..."
"And secondly?"
"Secondly, there are somewhere around 150 of our friends and family who have a pretty good idea about what we're doing right now..."
Jack laughed. "That is weird..."
The complete intimacy of carrying on a conversation with Jack while he still pulsed inside her was really beginning to get to Claire. The weak, spent feeling was leaving her, and was rapidly being replaced by the desire to achieve satisfaction once more.
Jack groaned as he felt her raise up a bit, and then lower herself back down. His eyes closed for several heartbeats as she rose up and sank back down again, the water rippling with her movements as well as swirling thanks to the jets furiously spewing water into the churning hot tub.
"So good, babe," he said quietly before opening his eyes and pulling her face down to his for a kiss, then releasing her once more.
He dropped his arms and wrapped them around her middle and slowly rose off of the bench, turning so that she sat on the edge of the tub, never breaking their connection.
"Love you," he said against her mouth.
"Love you, too,"
They wrapped their arms tightly around each other, to keep Claire from toppling backward, and closed their eyes, abandoning themselves to the intense physical pleasure they brought each other, underscored by the deep emotional connection they shared. Claire wrapped her legs around Jack's waist as their bodies moved in time with one another, both gasping and breathing heavily, calling each other's names and moaning deeply.
Claire knew she was getting close again, knew also, from experience, that Jack could surely out last her again: he had been known to take a considerable amount of time to climax. As Claire felt that tightening in her stomach begin to increase, she used a trick most women can do, though many don't know it: She began to contract and release her internal muscles around the burning hot lance that pierced her body over and over again. Jack shuddered visibly with the first few contractions, then began a frenzied thrusting as Claire increased the frequency and intensity of her contracting muscles. Jack felt out of control as he plunged into her almost brutally. He struggled to hang on, to hold back until Claire could reach another climax.
Suddenly, he knew his control was lost, felt himself beginning to shake as a blinding light passed through his mind, bursting into a million tiny stars even as his throbbing manhood began to erupt, and he burst forth within Claire, crying, "Oh....oh, God, Claire!" as she too began to spasm, also invoking God's name and that of her husband as she became caught up in the throes of ecstasy. When their mutual climax had subsided, they remained clinging to each other for support for many long moments.
Jack sat down upon the bench, pulling Claire down on top of him. They were turned sideways, so Jack's back was against one of the sides of the tub, while his leg was stretched along the bench. Claire gingerly turned over, so that she was leaning against Jack, who draped his arms around her and hugged her close.
He kissed her temple. "You amaze me...you're incredible. I love you."
"Jack...I love you...I love being with you....I love the things you do to me, always have," she began to rub one of the arms wrapped around her, "the way you make me feel...loved, safe, secure, cherished ... while we make love...and all the time."
They grew quiet, and were suddenly aware of a low grumbling noise.
Claire clutched her stomach, and chuckled.
"I told you should eat more this afternoon..." he told her.
"I was too excited to eat...and this morning at breakfast, I was too nervous."
"You we're nervous?"
"Weren't you?"
"Me? You kidding? Jack McCoy has nerves of steel."
She rolled over so that her body was facing his, and he slipped down into the water a bit more, holding her tight.
"That's not what your sister told me this afternoon...."
"I'm going to have to start bribing Becky into silence like I did when we were kids."
"You may not have nerves of steel," said Claire, giving him a mischievous little grin as she slipped her hands underneath him, "But you've got buns of steel."
Jack let out a guffaw.
Claire's stomach grumbled again, and as it did so, Jack's chimed in.
"Maybe we should get something from room service?"
Claire nodded enthusiastically.
*****
Several minutes later and they were in the main room. Claire was sitting on the sofa pulling the pins out of her French twist as Jack read her the menu: appetizers, salads, pasta entrees, seafood, chicken, steaks, desserts...
"Don't they have anything like burgers? Or is that too down home Americana for the Waldorf Towers?"
"Nope...here we go... 1/4 lb. or 1/3 lb......cooked to your preference. They have burgers, cheeseburgers, bacon cheeseburgers or mushroom Swiss burgers...or a tuna melt...or a hot turkey croissant... All served with fries..."
"1/4 lb. mushroom Swiss burger...Do they have seasoned curly fries?" she asked. "Or even better...onion rings?"
"Claire....?"
"Hmmm...?"
"You're not having some sort of...craving...are you?"
"I'd like some peanut butter ice cream and a few pickles, too..."
Jack looked worried.
"I'm kidding! Don't worry...no little Jackie’s on the way," she said, setting the final pin down on the table near the sofa before crossing to Jack and draping her arms around his neck.
"Had me scared to death, there for a minute..." he told her, kissing the tip of her nose. "Wouldn't want something like that sprung on me unawares."
"I'd give you plenty of warning.... I know how little you like surprises..."
"I'm just teasing, you...I know you wouldn't spring something that important on me without us having discussed it."
"You going to order our food or am I going to starve to death on my wedding night?" she asked after kissing him, effectively changing the subject.
"I'm calling, I'm calling" he said defensively, throwing out, as he walked toward the phone, "Nag..."
*****
"Oh, my God, I'm soooo full!" said Claire, leaning back in her chair and patting her stomach through the white terry cloth robe provided by the hotel. "But it was sooo good! Can't remember the last time I had seasoned curly fries."
"Never even knew you liked them!"
"Had to save SOME surprises for after the wedding."
"C'mere," he said, holding his hand to her. She stood and took a step toward him, then sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her lightly.
"You remembered to pack your sun block, didn't you?"
"30 SPF."
"Good! We wouldn't want a repeat of last summer. I prefer making love within my species...crustaceans are out!"
Jack laughed. "You had fun with my claws, if memory serves." He reached around her and filled their champagne glasses again, then handed Claire one.
Out of the blue, Claire recalled Jack having a gift bag in the limo. "What was in that big bag you had in the limo?"
"What bag?"
"The gift bag...present for me?"
"For both of us...from Lennie."
"Oh, no...did you open it yet?"
He shook his head. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Laura came in while I was getting ready this morning and warned me rather cryptically about the contents of Lennie's gift."
Jack stood and Claire slid into a standing position. "Time to open it...I'm intrigued," said Jack as he strode to where he'd left the bag. When he turned around, Claire was sitting Indian style in the middle of the bed, her naked knees jutting out from beneath the robe.
Jack joined her, sitting with his back against the headboard. She moved so she sat astride him the package between them. She took the card off the side of the bag: your standard, sappy, congratulatory, good luck with your marriage card. Inside, Lennie had written, "Time for the two of you to put that straight-laced, up-tight DA veneer to rest....loosen up a bit. These should help. Good Luck, Lennie."
Jack pulled the top layer of tissue paper from the large, rather heavy bag and peered in. Jack began to laugh.
"What?" asked Claire as Jack wheezed in mirth.
"This!" he said, pulling a rather large, electric shock blue phallus made of a hardened gel-like substance from the bag.
"My LORD!" exclaimed Claire, taking it from him as he delved into the bag again, producing a pair of handcuffs. "Department issue, do you suppose?"
Jack laughed, and nodded, "Most likely."
Claire peered into the bag, and pulled out a thick strand with beads about half an inch in diameter set 2 inches apart on the strand. She held them up, perplexed: she'd never seen anything like them before.
Jack laughed again. "Do you want me to SHOW you what these do," he teased, taking them from her, "Or just tell you?"
"Tell me and then I'll decide if I want a demonstration."
"Anal pleasure beads...but they're often not used solely for anal... the idea is the whole strand is inserted and is pulled out slowly, bead by bead."
Claire nodded. "I think anal pleasure is something I can live without..." she said, as Jack produced a pair of edible underwear and a bottle of vanilla flavored "love" oil that heats the skin as it is rubbed in.
"These should be fun. Are you going to let me eat them off of you or vice versa?"
"We'll see..." she quipped dramatically.
They continued going through the bag in this fashion. When the entire bag was empty, and the "toys' were on the bed beside them, they took stock of their prizes: several dildos in various colors, sizes, and textures, two vibrators (a long, thick sliver one that looked like a large bullet, and a shorter, thicker one that looked like a penis--both ready equipped with batteries), the handcuffs, the love oil, several bottles of massage lotion, the edible undies, a short riding crop, matching his and hers leather thongs, the beads, a pair of crotchless "what's-the-point?" panties for Claire, a blindfold, and finally, a book of positions.
"Lennie..." said Jack. "I must say that even WITH the lap dance as evidence I never would have suspected THIS from him."
"Neither would I...and the scary thing is, part of him must actually think we'd use this stuff... How are we ever going to face him knowing he thinks THIS of us...knowing he may well be getting a mental picture of the two of us using THIS for instance," she said, picking up the strand of beads.
Jack laughed.
"Jack...he gives us this for our wedding gift...I don't WANT to know what type of anniversary gift we've got com... that he's going to give us. And what the hell do we write in the thank you card?"
"Thanks for the butt beads, we had a lot of fun! Sincerely, Jack and Claire?"
Claire whacked him on the chest, on the bare amount of skin revealed between the folds of his robe.
"Poor Laura doesn't know what she's gotten herself into."
"She probably does," said Jack. "You said she warned you...."
"Yeah...so she had to have known what was in it," replied Claire, leaning over and picking up the position book. "I'm looking at Lennie and Laura in a whole new light right now." She paused. "You know...not all of this needs to be put in a drawer never to see light of day again."
"No?" he asked, eyes dancing at her though his expression was one of seriousness.
"The oils and lotions are okay...this book seems benign enough, the blindfold."
"I vote we keep the edible undies, the handcuffs, and the crotchless panties..."
"We don't need to keep the crotchless panties."
"Why not?"
She leaned forward and laid her hands on his chest, then kissed his ear and whispered, "I'll just go panty-less..."
His eyebrows shot up and he nodded vigorously. "Not quite the same as the crotchless, though...they're a bit more...tawdry..."
"Tell you what, Mr. McCoy," she said, leaning in close to him and snaking her tongue out to lick his lips --ever since the lap dance, she had been feeling a bit 'naughty'-- "I'll keep the crotchless panties if you'll wear the leather thong for me..."
"Deal-maker even on our wedding night..."
"Fair's fair."
"Leather chafes."
"And you know this...because?"
"Alright...I'll wear them, Mrs. McCoy, because you asked so nicely."
Claire began to gather up the toys and other items and return them to the bag they'd come in. When she was done, Jack noticed she had kept the book out. He said nothing, just smiled slyly as she turned around and leaned back against him. He opened his legs and she came to rest between them, leaned her temple against his jaw.
"So...d'ya think there's anything in here that's going to shock us?" asked Claire, as she opened the book.
"Shock?" he asked, turning his head and kissing the side of her forehead, "No."
She began to slowly turn the pages. The first couple of chapters were more than a little clinical, with diagrams and charts, and far, far too many words. The chapters immediately following those were descriptions of kissing, massage, fantasy and game play, and oral sex. They quickly passed those pages up, commenting in a quick yet amused fashion on what they were seeing.
Jack had teased her at one point, as he sipped some of his champagne. "Slow down, babe...I want to catch all of this."
"I'm trying to get to the good stuff."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you thought that," he said, pointing to a drawing of a man pleasuring a woman with his mouth, "WAS the good stuff..."
"Well, yes...but I'm anxious to see if we can find something we haven't done..."
Finally, she reached the position section. The first page was your standard missionary position. Claire turned the page, revealing several variations on the missionary position. Claire felt Jack brushing her hair back on one side of her head, felt him lean down and place a quick, gentle kiss on the crook of her neck. Claire shivered and sank back deeper into him. She turned the page again, revealing several more variations on the missionary position, including a slightly elevated one. Claire smiled. She still held onto certain memories of their past lovemaking. She remembered the time Jack had placed a pillow beneath her hips as he made love to her. It had been incredible.
Claire sighed deeply, and Jack craned his head around so he could make out the content expression on her delicate face. He had remembered, too.
"Turn the page, Claire," he said, voice slightly above a whisper.
She did so, and they were looking at two rather common women on top positions. She turned the page again, revealing two more variations, slightly less common, but not unfamiliar to them.
"Hate to tell you this, babe," he said, "But we've done most of these."
She nodded slowly, turning the page.
"We haven't done THAT!" she exclaimed, "Or that."
She was referring to two positions, one called "the lobster" and one called "seated, facing away": the first was a depiction of a man, hands and feet flat on the floor, knees at 90 degree angles, arms straight, body facing upwards, with the woman sitting astride the bench-like shape of his body. The second was practically indescribable, and both of them doubted whether or not it would be comfortable" the man was laying on his back, legs raised to the ceiling, and the woman with him was seated on his up-turned behind, facing away from him, reaching back to grab his hands for support, as his feet rested against his back.
"Don't even think it, my love," said Jack, voice light, happy.. "First, you said you didn't like making love to crustaceans, and second...I may be a lot of things, but a contortionist isn't one of them."
"Oh, I don't know..." she said, "You're pretty limber."
There were several more variations on the woman on top position, ranging from the man lying down to sitting up, with the woman kneeling astride facing away, to sitting with her legs wrapped around her lover. With the exception of the two they had discussed, they had, over the course of the past 21 months, accomplished every last one of them.
As they thumbed intently through the book, Jack slipped his arms around Claire, so that his hands came to rest in the middle of her torso, halfway between her navel and her breasts. She wasn't quite sure when it had happened, but he had parted the sides of her robe and had begun to play softly with her breasts. She was aware of his hands on her, aware, too, of the tingling sensation in her loins as he worked her nipples into stiff, aching peaks with his thumbs.
She squirmed against him, protesting, "Hey!" as he gave them each several light pinches.
Jack groaned as she squirmed against him: he had grown hard again as he played with Claire's breasts while they looked through the book together. He released one of them and slid his hand up to her neck, tilting her head back and closing his lips over hers. As they kissed, he took the book from her and set it on the table next to the bed.
Claire adjusted herself so that she was kneeling between Jack's parted legs, facing him. She leaned in to kiss him and he once again slipped his hands inside her robe. After a moment, she sat back on her haunches and tugged at the robe's belt, shrugging it off and letting it fall to the floor beside the bed.
Jack's eyes lit up, "Beautiful."
Claire smiled and reached for the belt of Jack's robe, pulling it until it came loose and the sides of the robe parted revealing his long, lean body. She leaned forward again and they began to kiss once more. She gripped Jack's neck with one hand and reached down to stroke his shaft with the other. He groaned against her lips and reached out to lay his hands on her shoulders. His hands slipped lower and he started teasing her breasts again.
Suddenly Jack broke the kiss and lowered his lips to her shoulder, then further down, craning his neck until he was able to suckle on one of her breasts as she continued to stroke him. In the next instant, Claire was pinned beneath him.
She looked up at him expectantly, a slight smile on her lips, eyes dancing. His breath caught...even after all these months, she could take his breath away. He gazed at her for a moment.
"Hey..." she said softly, reaching up to brush hair from his eyes, "You look so intense."
"I love you," he said, his voice rough with emotion.
Before she could reply, he leaned down and pressed his mouth against hers, kissing her passionately, his lips and tongue demanding response. After several moments, he moved down her body and closed his mouth over a nipple. He released it and ran his tongue all around the nipple until she moaned. He nipped lightly and then began to flick his tongue quickly over the taut rosy peak, then slowed his tongue again, dragging it over and around her nipple. He nipped all around the flesh of her breast, sinking his teeth in only slightly, so she shivered in delight. He returned to the nipple, flicking it with his tongue, then massaging it again, and finally, taking the hardened nub between his teeth very lightly, and moving his head in slow, tight circles, tugging on her flesh as he did so. Claire cried out softly with pleasure, and her eyes slid closed as she concentrated on the sensations he created in one breast with his mouth, and in the other with his long, nimble fingers.
He worked his way over to the other nipple, licking and nipping her flesh as he went, then began to tease it in the same way he had the first. Claire opened her eyes and raised her head, looking down at Jack. He sensed her eyes boring into him and looked up just as he took the tight nub between his teeth. The look of love mixed with naked lust on his face as his mouth tugged at her sensitive nipple sent a shiver down her spine, and she moaned, laying back again and closing her eyes.
She felt him shifting upward, and suddenly, his hot, ragged breath was hitting her face. He smelled of champagne, vaguely of chlorine as well, and even so she could make out his cologne. She opened her eyes to see his face right above hers, so that she could only concentrate on a single feature at a time. His nose, then his deep, brown eyes, piercing into her own. Finally, her eyes moved to his mouth. That mouth from which the voice she found so beautiful, at times even soothing issued forth. That mouth whose lips felt so good against her own. That mouth with which he could drive her crazy with desire, eventually soothing her ache for fulfillment away.
He leaned in to kiss her then, and she wrapped her arms tightly around him, pulling him down to her so that the lengths of their bodies touched.
Claire tore her head away. "I love you, Jack," she whispered, held his head away from her, then grew a bit louder, "I love you so much. When you look at me like that...like this...I don't know if I can explain...this feeling overwhelms me.."
"Shhh..." he whispered, kissing her softly, "you don't have to explain. I feel it too."
She pushed the robe back off of his shoulders and he paused and removed it, letting it fall to the floor with hers. He reached down and gripped her hips. His lips found the side of her neck as he slipped a hand between her thighs. He paused again, and looked down at her, marveling at his good fortune. Never in his life had anyone looked at him with such love; he felt complete knowing he loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone.
She arched upward, their eyes meeting, as he guided himself into her, sliding home in one long, smooth thrust.
"I'll love you for the rest of my life, Claire," and he closed his mouth over hers.
They began to move together, kissing over and over. They moved slowly at first, enjoying the pleasant feelings coursing through them. They began to move faster, encouraging one another, matching each other thrust for thrust.
"Wrap your arms around my neck" he whispered, then held her closer to him, pulling his knees in tighter to him and sitting back onto his haunches, Claire clinging tightly to him.
"Love you," she murmured as she wrapped her legs around him, crossing her ankles.
They rocked together slowly, embracing, stroking shoulders and hair and backs, all the while murmuring soft words of love. After a time, they began kissing languidly, expressing their love and passion for each other with their bodies when they were too caught up in the pleasure they brought each other to express it with words.
Suddenly, Claire began to shudder in his arms, saying his name softly and clinging to him as he lowered her to her back and began to thrust into her more swiftly. He continued moving within her as he knelt between her legs. He spread his own legs farther apart, Claire still in spasm, and pressed farther forward, pushing her legs open wider. The tops of his thighs were resting against the backs of hers, and her heels rested against the backs of his thighs as he thrust faster, Claire clinging to him, her soft moans becoming louder, becoming cries of pleasure, becoming his name, passing breathlessly over her lips. He called her name, too, and spilled his seed into her, then collapsed.
Their hearts pounded against each other's chests, and finally he rolled away from her, pulling her carefully into the safe, loving circle of his arms.
"I love you," he murmured into her hair.
"My heart is so full," she told him softly, stroking his hair with one hand, his chest with the other, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes "You're part of me now...part of my life...forever..."
He kissed her gently. "Let's get under the covers..."
They did so, and snuggled close, arms and legs entwining. She turned her head and laid her ear to his chest, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart.
"Tell me," he said after several silent moments.
"Hmmm?"
"You sure you didn't just marry me 'cuz I'm the best lover you've ever had?"
"Who said you were the best?" she teased softly, her voice becoming more languid as she realised she was growing rather sleepy
Jack yawned audibly. It had been a long day for both of them. A long, glorious day.
"You talk in your sleep, my love..."
She kissed beneath his chin. "Do I?"
She lowered her head again and he rested his chin atop it. She felt him nod. "Now and then, a choice phrase or two..."
He yawned again.
"Sleepy?"
She felt him nod again.
"Me too..."
He tilted her head to him and kissed her wet eyelids, her forehead, and then, ever so softly, her lips.
"I love you," he told her again. He'd never thought those words would issue from his mouth so freely. Never, that is, until he'd fallen in love with Claire. She made it so easy for him, both to love her, and to tell her so. "I love you."
Claire chuckled low. "I love you too, Jack.... now go to sleep....you've got a honeymoon to rest up for."
He chuckled, too, and they held each other tightly, soothing each other to sleep with their soft breathing and their hands lightly caressing each other's warm, familiar bodies, feeling more united than the ever had before, more in sync. They were married now, for better or worse (more better than worse, they hoped), partners, friends, lovers. They were everything the other needed, everything they'd ever wanted, and no matter what conflicts might develop in the future, they dozed off, secure in the knowledge that they loved and were loved, that they were safe, that in each other's arms they'd found peace. They'd found home.
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