Thirty-Seven

Allegra and Richie walked briskly across the property in the chilly February night air.  The guest house was just ahead and Allegra’s anticipation began to build as they took the steps together, hand-in-hand. 

What did he have planned?  She still didn’t know what a typical first time was supposed to be like.  Then again, there was nothing typical about Richie.  It was hard telling what he could have come up with.

“Nervous?”  he murmured in her ear as she fumbled for the key to the house.

There was no reason to lie about it.  “A little.  But in a good way, I think.”  The key finally slid home and she felt the welcome blast of warm air as the door swung inward. 

She stepped inside and was immediately assailed by the smell of wood smoke and a crackling sound that could only signify a roaring blaze in the fireplace.  “We didn’t leave a fire going.”

She turned slowly, taking it all in.  The living room was aglow with the light of the fireplace and a dozen or so candles strategically placed on end tables and various flat surfaces throughout the room.  The coffee table held two fluted glasses and an ice bucket with two bottles.  She strained to make out what they were and saw that one was wine and the other sparkling water.  Nestled next to the ice bucket was  a bud vase holding two red roses and an abundance of  baby’s breath, and there, leaning against the arm of the couch, was a battered looking acoustic guitar. 

“Richie?”  She spun and found a beautiful, dimpled grin on his face.  “When did you do this?” she breathed.

“Eh, I know the landlord, so I made a couple of calls while you were getting dressed,” he said casually, but she could tell the he was pleased with her reaction.

She gestured toward the guitar.  “Everything else is pretty obvious, but does that mean you’re going to play for me?”

Richie wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her close.  “I seem to recall a certain someone finds my singing voice ‘soooo , so sexy’.  I thought I might indulge her with a song or two, if that’s okay.”

“I think that will probably be okay,”  she agreed, looping her arms around his neck.  “I also think that I’m a very lucky girl to get a private concert.  You’re really going all out with this seduction scene.” 

His only response was to dip his head and take her lips in a lingering kiss.  “Why dontcha take off your shoes and get comfy on the couch?  I’ll pour you a little glass of vino so you can relax while I serenade ya.”

She couldn’t help but watch his hands as he deftly opened the bottle of wine and poured her a generous glass.  The powerful way with which he manipulated the bottle was in direct contrast to the gentleness he showed when grasping the glass between his fingers.  Much like the man himself.  She’d come to know a side of him that was the polar opposite of what she’d originally thought him to be.  It was humbling to see that he now trusted her with this side.

Richie handed her the glass and made sure she was comfortable before hauling the guitar into his lap and strumming a couple of chords.  “Do you have any requests?”

She knew she’d love it if he sang the phonebook to her.  “No, just something of yours.”

“Now you realize that I’m not pulling out the big guns here, right?  I don’t wanna spoil ya on our first date, so I’m saving the really sappy stuff for later.”

She smiled at how cute he was being.  The set of his shoulders was completely relaxed and the smile on his face wasn’t the least bit forced.  He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself as he constructed a complex melody with the six strings.  She watched his fingers move effortlessly over the neck of the guitar and slow, as the tune morphed into a much simpler rhythm.

The oold maan dowwn on the cor-ner

Is droww-ning in his paain

I can seee the soor-row in his eyes

His tears, they leeave a staain

Allegra let his soulful voice wash over her as he sang the story of society overlooking the poverty-stricken and them getting lost in the Harlem rain.  The final chord was strummed and he turned to meet her eyes with a tender smile.

“One more,” he said, smoothly plucking out a different song.  “This is a really old one.  Probably one of the first I ever wrote.   It’s called The Answer.”

The candlelight and firelight joined to create an ethereal glow around him as he sang of angels and another life, making her feel as though she had been transported to a dreamworld.  Reality certainly couldn’t compare to the musical one he’d woven around her.   She stayed lost in it long after he had set aside the guitar and pulled her feet into his lap.

“Sunshine?  You okay in there?”  He tugged at her toes to get her attention.

A slow smile tipped up the corners of her mouth and she retracted her feet, crawling across the cushions to straddle his hips.  “Kiss me,” she whispered.  “Please.”

Richie’s devilish grin sent chill bumps up her spine and his strong hands carefully enveloped either side of her face.  His tongue traced the silhouette of her lips before teasing them apart so that he could seek out the warm secrets of her mouth.  She’d just begun to melt into his chest when he gently scooted her to the side and stood.  Her bottom lip stuck out as evidence of her displeasure.

“Now, baby, you may as well tuck that lip right back in.  You knew I wanted to do it right this time.”  His hand extended to her and he offered her a smile as silent invitation to accept it.

Suddenly she wasn’t quite so unhappy.  Allegra intertwined her fingers with his and allowed herself to be led to the brown bedroom, where more mood enhancements awaited.  Candles covered every available surface here too, casting a romantic glow throughout the room.  The bed had been made and the covers were turned back invitingly.  

She brought the red rose lying across the pillow to her nose and breathed in its delicate scent.  “You really pulled out on the stops, didn’t you?  Aren’t you worried about using all the romantic clichés right off the bat?”

“I’m holding onto the sappy songs, remember?” he murmured as he twined his hands in her thick waves, tugging gently to expose the long column of her neck.  Soft, open mouthed kisses found their way up the periphery of her throat, his tongue snaking out for a taste once he reached the patch of sensitive skin behind her ear.

A shiver went through her at that first contact and she clutched his shoulders to steady herself.  The heat of his breath warmed the underside of her jaw as he traveled along it in search of that same secret spot behind her other ear.

Like a cat with a toy, his attention was temporarily diverted by the silver hoop dangling enticingly from her right ear.  He drew it and her lobe into his mouth, thoroughly laving it with his tongue before moving to bury his nose in hollow of her throat.

"You smell like berries."  He spoke directly into her ear as though he couldn't stand the silence a moment more.

She could feel his hands slide down to cup her backside, and he pulled her  firmly against his erection.

"Can you feel how much I like the smell of berries?"

Allegra could do nothing but close her eyes and whimper, reveling in the effect she had on him.  It was blatant, but no more severe than the damage he was wreaking on her.  Her skin burned at his touch when his hands slipped under the edges of her tank to rest in the curve of her lower back.

"This is what ya missed, baby.  The lonnnng,  slowwww burnnn."  It was like he couldn't stop the words now that he had started, and she would have begged him not to, had he asked.  That deep, sexy rumble was her new favorite addiction. 

Callused hands glided along her ribcage as he wriggled the silky material ever so slowly upward.  He focused his attention on the deep vee of her neckline, where the sway of the decorative restraints again sparked his feline-esque curiosity.  His lips closed around one of the delicate chains, drawing it taut to the point of breaking, and then releasing it to reclaim its privileged seat across the valley of her breasts.

"These chains are sexy as hell," her murmured against her.  "My good girl, looking so very bad.”

She gasped, when, without warning, he stripped the tank over her head, leaving her hair to settle wildly around her shoulders.  His hungry eyes appeared to feast on the dainty scrap of white lace that confined her swelling breasts, but he didn't make any effort to touch it or them.

Instead, Richie knelt before her, mouth and hands roaming unhurriedly over the bare tummy he had exposed.  His mouth alternated between lightly nipping at the supple flesh there and tracing lazy circles around her navel.   Finally, he could avoid the temptation no longer and his tongue dipped into the delicious little indentation of her belly button.

Fretful fingers danced through his hair as she sought something to do with her hands, unable to keep from touching him in some way.  The vision of his tongue lapping at her stomach caused her most intimate muscles to clench with desire and she rolled her hips in delight.

With one expert flick of his thumb, he popped open the button on her jeans.  The rasp of the zipper echoed through her head as loudly as each ragged breath she drew.    Each side of the placket was carefully folded back and he reverently kissed the exposed flesh.

"I should have slowly uncovered each... inch... of your skin.  I should have told you how beautiful you are.  How much you make me ache."

Big, capable hands slid into the waistband of her jeans, urging them downward.  His palms molded appreciatively to her as they followed the denim's progress all the way to her ankles.   Reversing his path, he stroked back up again as he rose to assist her in stepping from the pool of fabric that surrounded her feet.  

Liberated from the confines of her outer garments, she stepped into him and snaked her arms around his waist, touching her nose lightly to the hollow at the base of his throat.  She knew that no cologne could ever compete with the scent that was purely Richie.  Allegra placed her palm over the heavy silver cross hanging from the black leather cord at his neck and felt their combined heat warm the metal of the pendant.  She tipped her face to his with a serene smile and touched her lips to his.  His breath mixed with hers as, he walked her slowly backward until they met the mattress’s edge, where he coaxed her to lie back against the covers. 

Clinging lips were reluctant to part, but he finally slid away from her.  His hands moved to undo the few requisite buttons on his shirt as he drank in the vision she made:  the dainty froth of her innocent white lingerie, her flushed cheeks and over bright eyes, and all that hair spilling around her like a sensual dark cloud.   The shirt was tossed aside without a second thought.

 "You look like a fuckin’ angel lying there – fallen from my best erotic dream.”

Allegra squirmed at his admission, reaching for him. She wanted it to be true.  She wanted to be his fallen angel. 

Her eyes darkened with desire as she watched his masterful hands unfasten the belt and pants at his waist, and waited impatiently for him to release the zipper.  The metal teeth slowly separated, one by one, as though he wanted to tease and torture her, but at last – at long last – he pushed the denim down his legs and kicked it away.  The sight of his burgeoning manhood springing free from its confinement had her scrambling to her knees in anticipation as his beautiful erection stood proudly and begged for her touch.  Her palm moved to stroke him, and she almost succeeded before he pulled away.

"Sunshine, you touch me and all my good intentions are gonna be shot to hell.  Tonight is about you."  He cupped her jaw and touched her lips with his thumb.  "Please?"

Allegra was torn between disappointment and an overwhelming rush of tenderness.  What did I do to deserve this?  Him?

She bit into her bottom lip as she reluctantly nodded and let him guide her back to the sheets.  It wasn't nearly as disappointing when he followed her down, draping his muscled arm over her middle and nuzzling her neck.

"C'mere, baby."  He tugged on her hip, easing her toward him so that they were facing one another and he could claim her mouth.  The soft strokes against her lips stole her breath and he made slow, sensual love to her mouth.  There was no other way to describe it.  The gentle thrust and parry as his tongue mated with hers, filling her mouth the way she wanted him to fill her body.  She ached for him to finish this.

“Richie, please,”  she gasped, breaking her mouth free from his.  She could see the delicious sheen of their combined moisture on his full lips and it made her hungry to taste them again. 

“The white lace is pretty, but it’s hiding something even prettier,”  he murmured as though she hadn’t spoken.  With a simple twist of his wrist, the bra came undone and he swept it away.  “Such beautiful breasts.”  His strong thumbs flicked over her nipples and he watched them stiffen in excitement.  He dipped his head, capturing one rosy tipped beauty in his mouth and suckling gently.

“Yesssss,” she hissed and buried her hands in his hair to keep him near. “Don’t stop.”

Over and over again, Richie drew her into his mouth with longer and more forceful pulls while stroking the underside of her breast with his thumb.  His cock twitched at the guttural moan she released, arching into him.  Unable to control the impulse, he nipped at the rosy little pebble with his teeth.

“Oh!”  Allegra instinctively jerked.

“Easy, baby,” he murmured, mouth seeking out its mate.  His tongue swirled around that one too, latching on and sucking sharply as his thumbs continued to stroke at the juncture of her breast and torso.  “So soft.”  He moved to softly burrow where his thumb had been, tongue drawing a hot, moist line in the shallow valley there.    He was apart from it for only a heartbeat when he returned to drag his lips across the moistened area, as though cleaning up after himself.  His mouth latched onto the underside of her breast, intentionally marking the tender flesh there.  “Now there’s no question you’re mine.”

Her restless hands roamed his broad shoulders, nails lightly scraping across his flesh.  What he was doing felt so good, but her nipples burned from missing his touch.  She slid her fingers from his bicep to lightly pinch at one of them, only to drop away when she discovered him watching her with hooded eyes.

“Look at me,” he ordered gently, gripping her arm.  His eyes were dilated with desire and she could feel that same desire tugging at her core.  “When we’re in bed, don’t ever be ashamed to do something that feels good.  Hell, tell me and I’ll do it for you.  Anything that gets you off is gonna get me off, baby.” 

He pushed her over to lie flat on her back.  “Now, show me what you want.” 

She drew the corner of her mouth between her teeth and trailed her hand back up to pinch at her nipple.  His smile was pure sex as he nodded his approval and mimicked her motions on the other breast.  He didn’t stop, but he added a peppering of open-mouthed kisses across her midriff.  There was still one scrap of lace that needed to be dealt with. 

He inched closer to its edge, and trailed his tongue under the border of it, mumbling almost incoherently as he did.  The tether on his control had begun to fray.  He was a man in another world, abruptly snatching the panties down her long legs, anxious for her taste to flood his mouth again. 

He had just parted her thighs when a glimpse of dark ink caught his gaze, stopping him short.  His attention moved to her left hip and he studied the little dove, remembering what it represented.  Then he traced his finger tenderly over each and every contour of the tattoo before easing forward to place a tender, lingering kiss in its center.

Allegra’s heart clenched in her chest and she knew it would never beat the same again.  In anyone else’s estimation, it may have been too soon and it may have been completely irrational, but she knew would look back on that moment as the instant she fell in love with Richie Sambora.  Emotion flooded her veins and she knew that her heart was his to do with as he pleased.

Although he was unaware of what she was thinking, Richie didn’t allow her to dwell on it, redirecting his mouth back to its original goal, hands gently easing her thighs apart to accommodate the breadth of his shoulders.  “Jesus, you’re so wet,” he breathed, burying his nose in the delicate cleft of her womanhood.  A deep growl rumbled in the back of his throat and he dipped his head to taste the flow of her desire.  “Mmmnh.”  His tongue plunged into her, greedily lapping up every drop of her honeyed dampness, while his hands kneading the flesh at her hips, holding her steady for his conquest.

“OHHhhhh God, baby!  Unnnnhh!”  Between the sudden onslaught of emotions  and the physical buildup he’d diligently engineered,  Allegra couldn’t endure a full minute under his careful attentions before she felt herself begin to shatter.  “Oh, oh, oh, oh!  Oh, Rich-ieee!”  Her hips reared to meet his gluttonous tongue over and over as she careened along the seemingly endless waves of pleasure.

His mouth didn’t slow for fear of missing a drop of the sweet nectar that had worked its way into his system like a narcotic.  He sucked firmly on the little nub of pleasure at the top of her cleft, determined to break her again as soon as possible.   The broad, firm strokes of his tongue built her crescendo then gave way to the teasing flutter that tickled her nerve endings.  She writhed shamelessly, still trembling aching from her first fall, yet reaching for what he was offering her.  The gentle scrape of his teeth across the over-sensitized pleasure button got him the result he was looking for.

“Oh, oh, I’m going to…  Again…  Ohhh…. Mmmnphf…”  She panted incoherently, trying in vain to get a breath before the tidal wave swept her under again.  “Oh GODDDDD!”  Her scream pierced the air around them and she convulsed mindlessly as he wrung every last drop of pleasure from her.   Her back arched into a perfect bow before she collapsed into a boneless heap of flesh, gasping for air.

“Fuck, baby, you’re incredible.  I can’t wait anymore.”  He dove over the side of the bed, scrambling for his pants pockets, unwrapping the condom and sheathing himself as quickly as his hands would allow. 

He slipped one finger inside her hot center to ensure that she was still wet enough to take him.  “You’re so hot and ready for me, baby.  Do you wanna feel me filling you?”  With the back of his hand he gently pushed the hair from her damp forehead.  “Can you take me, baby?”

As much as she thought she was drained, the words he was whispering in her ear started a whole new fire inside her.  She needed to have him complete her.  She needed to be a part of him.    “Richie, please.  I want you,”  she murmured.  “I need you.”

“Fuck, yeah.”  He dragged the tip of his erection through her moisture to ensure the easiest admittance possible.  Guiding himself to her entrance, he used all of his control to gently ease into her.  He could feel her constricting around him and it made his balls tighten in anticipation.  “Let me in baby.  Come on – relax so I don’t hurt ya.”  His limbs shook with the effort it took to keep from taking her with his entire length in one stroke.  

Allegra arched her hips up, seeking what he was offering, but she still wasn’t ready yet.  He rotated his thumb firmly against that little nub again, distracting her from the slight discomfort he was causing.  She moaned and rolled her hips, meeting his rotations with her own.  “That’s my girl,” he crooned.  “Just a little more and I’ll make you mine, baby.”  He felt the muscles at her entrance ease, and slid himself home, groaning loudly at the relief the sensation brought. 

“Jesus Christ, you feel so DAMN… GOOD…”  He struggled to stay still and let her adjust to his invasion, but she was already rocking against him.

“Richie, I want to make you come,” she begged.

“You will, sweet darlin’.”  He began to pump slowly in and out, with short, controlled strokes.  The more she opened to him the more comfortable he felt in releasing a little of his self-restraint.  He rolled his head back on his shoulders and allowed himself to get lost in her and the feel of her velvety muscles gripping him with each thrust. 

“Rich…  God…  going… to…”  she gasped out, meeting him stroke for stroke until her muscles begin to clench around him.  “Please…  Mmnh…  help… unnnh…”

“Come… with me.  Once… more…”  he panted with each push into her, the slap of their flesh echoing in the night and pulling him closer to the edge. 

“Rich-eeeeeeee!” she squealed and arched into him one last time while he pistoned his hips with purpose, driving for that pinnacle that was…  just…  right… THERE!

“Allegra!” her name was ripped from him in a hoarse cry along with his release.