He handled her like she was made of porcelain. El had thought the costume would cause him to be more animalistic but after the initial shock of seeing her in it, Mike was slow and careful with his ministrations. He had managed to tear himself away from her long enough to remove his clothes but was immediately kissing her again. She could feel his palms on her back, warm and gentle. It was beautiful but El hadn't wanted beautiful; she had her own fantasies about what it would be like to wear this costume.
Feeling his lips softly caress her collarbone, El pushed him back enough to look at him. "Mike, I made this costume for us. I'm not going to break. You can be a little rough. I like it." She watched his face as realization dawned on him.
She wants this as much as I ever did!
"I've thought about this so many times but this is more perfect that any fantasy I ever had. Because it's you." Mike moved his hands into her hair, letting his fingers get lost in her locks. "What do you want me to do?"
El's eyes bore into his own. "Everything you've ever wanted to do."
El watched as his eyes filled with desire. Then he was on her. She felt him gently bite her neck and heard herself moan. This was what she had wanted. To be taken, not treated like a treasure. At least not right now.
"You can take this off if you want." El said, breathing heavy as Mike continued to nip at the skin around her chest.
"No, leave it. I'll work around it. I'm not taking anything off of you right now. You look so good." His mouth had found her chest and while she was wearing the costume over her breasts he didn't let it stop him from sucking on each of them. El found that the sensation was exhilarating, the fabric causing friction when his tongue would pass over it. She cradled his head and pulled him into her. It was her turn to notice the mirror. She had known it was there but hadn't yet gotten the chance to watch herself.
"Shit, that looks so good, Mike." She kissed his temple as she continued to watch the mirror.
"What?" Mike looked up. "Oh. You're watching me? That's so hot, El. Do you like what you see?" He went back to her breasts.
"Yes. It's turning me on even more."
Mike stopped again. "Then maybe I need to make sure you have something good to watch." He grinned at her wickedly and pulled her up from the bed so they both were standing beside it.
"First, an experiment. Look in the mirror and bend down toward the bed. Let me know when you can't see yourself anymore." Mike ran his fingers over her back as she bent down. She felt them slide over the fabric hanging from the back of her costume.
El bent forward over the edge of the bed, her head turned to the side and watching for when she disappeared from the mirror. To her relief she could still see herself even when her face was on the bed.
"I can still see even like this." She knew how she must look to him. She could see herself, bent down, her head lower than her ass. He was standing behind her and she was excited for what was about to happen.
"Good. You look so hot right now. I'm going to push this cloth aside. Is that okay?" He asked, his hands already reaching for the side of the cloth so he could move it.
"Yes, move it."
Mike reached around her and grabbed the front side of the fabric and moved both that and the back side to El's right so that it would be out of the way of her line of vision to the mirror. He stared at her bare lower half, the belt still in place causing her ass to be highlighted.
"Fuck, you look so amazing." He stepped forward and she could feel his legs on the backs of her thighs. He was right up against her. To her surprise he leaned forward and she felt him kiss her shoulders and her neck. She turned her head toward the mirror again so she could watch everything he did.
She could feel how hard he was, pushed against her buttocks as he leaned forward. She pushed herself back against him, not even realizing she was doing it. He stayed where he was but moved his hands to her breasts, cupping each and squeezing lightly. They were both looking in the mirror.
"Mike, I want you." El turned her head as far as she could, trying to kiss him. He met her lips with his own.
She felt him let go of her breasts and stand back up, his thighs never breaking contact with her own. She watched the mirror as he lined himself up with her, massaging her opening with his cock, sliding it back and forth and teasing her. She tried to move her hips so that he would slip in but he just grinned and kept pulling away when she would get close to catching him.
"Do you want that? Is that what you need?" Mike asked, still letting himself just glide easily through her folds, not coming close to moving inside yet.
"I need it, Mike. I do. I'll do anything." She panted. Watching him tease her was new and causing her to be more aroused than normal.
"I know you will and that's why I'm going to give you what you want. You deserve to have what you want." As he spoke he pulled back just a bit.
El felt him start to slip inside her. She pushed back, hard. "Show me what you've always wanted to do, Mike." She was almost breathless but Mike heard all he needed to hear.
He pulled her back by her hips, watching the mirror as he did. He heard her gasp and looked down to see that she was watching too. He wanted to give her a good show so he pulled almost all the way out before slamming back into her, watching her face in the mirror, loving how it looked.
"Oh, god, Mike! You're so deep. And you look so g-good fu-fucking me..." Her voice trailed off as Mike continued to pound into her. She watched him thrusting into her from behind, loving how taut his muscles looked. She liked watching his hands pull her backwards into him as he slammed forward. She reached between her legs to stimulate herself more. Mike noticed and quickly reached around to replace her hand with his own, wanting to be in control of her pleasure. As soon as his hand touched her she knew it wouldn't be long before she reached her peak. She watched the mirror again.
"Do you like watching me fuck you?" He asked, his voice a whisper. All of his energy was being channeled elsewhere.
"You look so hot doing it and it feels so good! I'm so close, Mike. Watching you fuck me like that is going to make me..." Her eyes closed and she stopped talking.
"Oh, fuck, El. I hope you're coming right now because I can't hold back. You feel too amazing and you're right, watching myself fuck you is so hot."
"Miiiike!" The only thing she could say. He felt her spasm around him. Even her legs were shaking.
Mike felt relieved. He looked at the mirror, El with her face on the bed, also turned toward the mirror, sweat on her forehead causing her hair to stick to her face, her breasts moving slightly every time he moved forward into her. It was everything he wanted.
"You're making me come, El. Oh, fuck, I love you." Mike felt himself unload and turned his head so that he could watch El. She had pushed herself back into him again as he had thrust in for the last time. Mike could see her knees bent slightly to give her more traction. He thought it was amazing.
"That was so hot." El said once they were cleaned up and in bed. She was glad to be out of the slave Leia costume. It looked great but turned out to be not as comfortable she she'd hoped. She was lying halfway on Mike, her head and shoulders on his chest. He was running his fingers through her hair.
"Yeah it was. Doing that while watching myself do that might not be anything I can ever top." He chuckled.
"But we can try." El kissed him and snuggled in for sleep.
Darkness still blanketed the room even though the numbers on the clock indicated that it would be dawn soon. El was having a nightmare. Mike had jolted from his own slumber by her low cries that were getting louder, her thrashing causing her to accidentally kick him. He wanted to hold her to try to calm her down but she climbed out of bed and went toward the bathroom.
She splashed water on her face and looked in the mirror. She was shaking. The dream itself was already starting to fade but the feelings associated with it still remained. She felt alone and scared and tried to recall why. Then she remembered what had frightened her so much. She took a drink of water before padding back to the bed where Mike was sitting up, anxiously waiting for her to return.
As she got back into the bed he pulled her close. She had been trying not to cry but as soon as her cheek touched his shoulder hot tears spilled down her face.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Mike asked softly, rubbing her back and letting her cry.
"I lost you. We were walking in the woods, it kind of looked like Endor, and I turned around and you were gone. I couldn't find you anywhere. And all of a sudden it was dark and everything looked like a shadow. I ran, screaming your name, but I still couldn't find you. I know it was just a dream but it still felt real. I think it's because I'm scared to leave you tomorrow. I'm trying not to think about it but I know it was what I was thinking about right before I fell asleep."
"If it makes you feel better, I don't want to leave you either. It's going to be hard to walk away at the airport. I can't even see you to the gate. I'll have to just say goodbye and watch you go. It's going to hurt. I'll probably cry in my car." Mike kissed her forehead.
"Can we just stay here all day today? Is there anything we'll miss?" El asked. She was holding Mike's hand and playing with his fingers absentmindedly.
"I think there's a closing ceremony around 5:00 but we don't have to go down there at all. We can stay here as long as you want. The sun isn't even up yet. Do you want to watch something on TV?"
"No. Not right now anyway. I just want you to love me."
So that's what Mike did.
They ordered room service a little before lunch time, having fallen back to sleep after Mike reassured her in the best way. They ate in the bed, thinking that if they happened to spill something they could spend their last night in the other bed.
"Do you love your job?" El asked, removing onions from her salad.
"I don't hate it. I always wanted to do something in the science field. I thought I'd be a doctor but I started to get burned out on school and knew I'd have years more of it to become a physician. I didn't want to wait until I was almost 30 to start my life, you know?"
El nodded. Onions safely removed, she had commenced eating her salad.
"So by being an anesthesiology assistant I didn't have to go to school for as long and but I get paid probably better than a family practice doctor would. I could have stayed in Atlanta where I went to school for that but it's so hot down there. I just went back home to Indiana." Mike had polished off most of his club sandwich. "Do you love your job?"
El laughed. "I definitely do not, but I do love the school. I'm hoping I can use my Master's in English or Library Science at UMaine. I had to go down to Augusta for the Library Science degree. I prefer Orono and Bangor. I like the small town atmosphere. So I'm just waiting for something better to open up for me there. I figure it's not worth it to do what you want to do if you aren't where you want to be. Is that dumb?"
Mike shook his head. "Definitely not dumb. I totally get it. I've never been to Maine but I read a lot of Stephen King, I can imagine what it's like. Cabins on lakes, beautiful foliage, clowns in sewers..." El snorted at his comment.
"It is beautiful but we get a lot of snow in the winter, and then there's mud season when the snow melts. Stephen King never writes about that, though maybe all of his monsters are just metaphors for the mud. But I love it there. I have Max but I don't expect to live with her forever." El trailed off. Mike noticed the sadness in her eyes.
"You won't be alone, El." Mike took her hand in his. "I'll figure something out."
They had finished their food so Mike cleared the bed so they could get back underneath the covers. He wanted to lighten the mood, wanting his last full day with her to be all about them in the moment and to not worry about tomorrow until tomorrow.
"Tell me about Max." He said, wrapping his arms around El and feeling her hair on his chest.
"She's awesome. She doesn't take any shit and she doesn't censor herself. I'd say she has no filter but she's too smart for that. She just states things matter-of-factly. We've been friends since we were about thirteen. She moved to Maine from California when her parents got divorced. She always talked about going back out there to live but then she found snowboarding and has loved Maine ever since. She's good with numbers and works at a credit union in Bangor. What about your friends?"
"I've known them since we were kids. We were bullied at school and gravitated toward each other but we found we had a lot in common so we became really close. Lucas lived next door to me growing up."
"And what does he do now? Does he still live close?"
"No, none of them do actually. Lucas is an architect. Right now he's working on a building in Seattle but after that he could be in Los Angeles or New York or anywhere really. He goes where they want him and lots of people want him. He tries to fly back home when he can but without the Internet and phones I'd probably not see him much."
That's how it's about to be for us, El couldn't help but think to herself.
"He's always been focused and detail oriented. He's a no-nonsense kind of guy but very loyal. One time when we were kids the school bully, Troy, had planned to wait for me after school and was going to beat me up. Lucas somehow heard about the plan the day before and showed up to school with his slingshot, or wrist rocket as he liked to call it, and rocks in his backpack. He was waiting where he knew Troy planned to attack me and when Troy saw the look on his face and the slingshot cocked and aimed at him, he didn't bother me any more that whole semester."
El couldn't imagine anyone ever wanting to hurt Mike.
"I've known Dustin since the fourth grade when he moved to Hawkins. He's a funny guy and a great friend. He's the type to bear hug a total stranger. He's married and has a kid. I guess Stephen is almost two now? Yeah, I think that's right. But he lives in Minnesota where he works at a science museum. Same as Lucas, he tries to come home every now and then. His mom would kill him if she didn't get to see her grandson at least once a month."
"Will is an artist but he found out that it was very hard to pay his bills that way so he works at an art gallery in Chicago. He restores paintings and I think he's actually found his niche. He can still do his own thing in his free time but his job also allows him to use his skills. He's happy there, but really busy. I've been friends with him since kindergarten. He's an old soul, very wise."
"So you don't really have anybody in Indiana?" El asked him.
"My parents live there with my younger sister. I see them when I see them. It's just as easy to call as to go home. I'm not especially close with my dad and while I love my mom, I don't need to live in the same town as she does. Holly, my younger sister, is going to be a senior this next school year and she has her own life. My older sister lives in New York with her boyfriend. I thought they'd be married by now."
El thought about the hospital in Bangor. She had been there when she kept having nosebleeds and her doctor wanted to run tests to rule out a tumor. She had been impressed with the care she received and wished that Mike could work at that hospital.
"So really you just work there? You aren't tied down to anything?" She asked, trying to make her question sound innocent instead of wistful.
"Well, it's a good job but the cool thing about what I do is that it's kind of a necessity so it's more like the job has me instead of me having the job."
"Because you're the smartest guy in the world." El laughed but her eyes said she thought she was speaking the truth. She threw her leg over him.
"Again? How did I get so lucky?" Mike asked as his hands moved to her waist.
"I think I'm the lucky one. Let's do this and then we can put on our costumes one last time and go down to the closing ceremony. I want to see it with you. Odds are that we might never get to experience it in the same way again." She kissed his chest.
"Never tell me the odds."
They were giggling as they dashed for the elevator, Mike having taken his time with his lovemaking and almost causing them to be late, but El didn't mind. As long as she was with Mike it didn't matter to her what they were doing. She loved how his eyes would light up when he talked about Star Wars though and she didn't want him to miss the ceremony because of her melancholy.
And she was glad that they had decided to attend it. It seemed like almost everyone was in costume, lightsabers waving about in the air, people were doing demonstrations of fighting. Her heart melted at the little kids all dressed up, several of them having been moved to the front so they could see and be photographed. Tiny Rey and BB-8 made her think about having kids for the first time. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
There was a huge screen and once the show had started and the host had welcomed everyone, the lights dimmed and a film started. John Williams' score played over a montage of footage from the entire convention. El was crying. She looked at Mike and saw that he had tears in his eyes as well. Four minutes into the film they saw themselves, both shocked to have made the cut of the footage. They were on the carbonite chamber set and even though the music was playing over any dialogue they, and everyone else, could read their lips. The audience gave a collective Awwwww as Mike said I know.
El blushed but Mike grinned, kissing her quickly so that they didn't miss any of the film.
They took more pictures with people, everyone in costume this time. El wanted some pics of the kids so Mike snapped away at the tots, marveling at how serious the kids were taking their characters. He swore to himself that if he ever had a kid he would dress them up as characters from Star Wars, every Halloween, every convention, Tuesdays.
When they got back to the room Mike started removing his costume. He was folding it. El watched him and suddenly buried her face in her hands.
"What's the matter?" He was next to her in an instant.
"That's the last time you'll take that off. I'm about to ask you to unzip this dress for the last time. Everything we do from here on out will be for the last time." Soft sobs were escaping while tears poured through her fingers as she covered her face with them.
Mike kneeled in front of her. She was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"El, look at me." She removed her hands and he saw the pain on her face. "I love you. I love you whether you're sitting right in front of me or in another state, or even another country for that matter. We won't be apart forever. I promise. I can't be without you either. I will think of something." Mike brushed her tears away and made her look at him. "Okay?"
She nodded slowly, her eyes still full of sadness. Mike kissed her softly, then deepened the kiss. He was feeling the same way she was so he understood her sadness.
"Come here. I'll help you out of this. But it won't be for the last time. Okay? Nothing is for the last time. Not with us."
He moved her himself, turning her around so he could unzip the dress. Once he had, he kissed the back of her neck before moving her to the bed, tucking her underneath the covers while he folded her costume and set it beside his. It was only 7:30 but he got into bed beside her and held her while she finished crying. He had two sisters. He knew that sometimes just crying was what was needed.
He ordered room service again, thinking it was easier than going out or really getting dressed. Despite El saying she wasn't hungry he wanted her to eat because he knew she wouldn't eat much the next day flying home and he also knew she had burned a lot of calories that day. If he was hungry she had to be. Wanting to cheer her up, he used his most charming voice to plead with room service so that they would let him order breakfast foods at night. They finally agreed to send him waffles and bacon if he tipped well. He ordered the same for both of them.
When he brought the cart with the food on it to El's bedside he removed the silver covers over the plates.
"You got me waffles?" She smiled, her real smile, and Mike felt his chest ache.
"I want you to eat. I know you said you weren't hungry but I am and I want you to eat with me." He sat down on her side of the bed. She had moved her legs and was sitting up. He noticed that she wasted no time grabbing a piece of bacon and he knew he had been right.
"You're too amazing. I don't know how you were single when I met you." El said as she munched on the bacon.
"I hadn't met you yet. That's how."
They ate their breakfast for dinner, Mike feeling good about getting El into better spirits, making her laugh as he told her stories about teasing his sister when she was in high school, about building blanket forts and exploring the woods near his house with his friends when he was younger.
"It was like Stand By Me but without a dead kid and not narrated by Richard Dreyfuss. There were train tracks though. We played on them. We'd put pennies on the track and wait for a train to smash them, then spend ten minutes searching for the pennies. They never stayed where we put them. One time we found a bunch of corn, which blew our minds. But now I think it must have been from a train car carrying grain, so not really the huge mystery we thought it was."
Her laugh was like listening to his favorite music. He wanted to never stop hearing it. When they had finished eating they watched a couple of episodes of Rick and Morty and Mike fell even more in love, if that was even possible, when El did her best Rick impression.
"Because that's what this is all about, Morty." El said, trying to sound like Rick Sanchez. "I want that Mulan McNugget sauce, Morty! That's my series arc, Morty." Mike was rolling, clutching his stomach. Hearing her do that was maybe the funniest thing he'd seen. He loved how her face changed when she tried to do Rick's voice, making her look even cuter if that was a possibility.
Mike tried to pull himself together. "Oh Jeez, Rick." His Morty impression might not be as good as El's Rick but it made her smile brightly at him before she kissed him, so he was happy.
As the night progressed they both knew that the countdown had officially started. El had glanced at the clock, which read 9:20, and realized that in just twelve hours she would already be in the air, traveling away from Mike. He didn't even question her when she threw her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could, wanting to be as close to him as possible.
"It's okay." He rubbed her back but felt tears stinging his own eyes. "We have tonight. Let's make it count."
El climbed into his lap, her legs on either side of him. She let him hold her close before she raised her head from his chest and looked deep into his eyes. Looking into his eyes always made her feel better and this was no exception. She leaned in and they kissed, softly, slowly, and then with much more passion. El had tears streaming down her face but she didn't let it stop her. They showed each other how much they would be missed, both wanting to memorize every minute detail, wanting to hold on to the moment for as long as they could.
When they finally did turn out the lights to try to sleep, El snuggled against Mike. He heard her sigh and the dam broke. Mike tried to stifle his tears but he was shaking too so it didn't matter.
"Mike?" El asked, raising up to look at him closely.
"I'm going to miss you so much. I guess I finally let myself think about tomorrow. I was thinking about tomorrow night and how I'll go home to an empty house and I'll miss you so much. Then I'll go to bed and you won't be there. I'm sorry I'm being such a pussy." He sniffed and tried to wipe his tears but felt El's hand on his face before he could wipe them away. She leaned in and kissed each tear away, finally letting her lips rest gently on his.
"I love you. So much." Her whispered words made him feel better. Hearing how confident she sounded when she said them, he knew she believed it with everything she was. She hugged him and snuggled back into him.
Mike breathed her in and held her close. He wanted to stay like that forever. Time had other plans though and he knew it.
A/N: El has to leave him in the morning. I'm as choked up about it as she is. What will happen to them? Everyone always says they'll make it work but will they? Thanks for reading!