[A:N] Wow guys! I mean WOW! I hadn't anticipated such positive feedback all at once! I really can't thank you all enough, honestly. You guys put me on cloud nine. Enjoy!
Esmeralda woke to a chorus of birds outside flittering under a cold morning light. Her eyes eased open, spotting the coffered ceiling first and then the ghostly morning rays shining across the room. She found the bed empty, but a door straight ahead, which proved to be a bathroom, was shut and the light within it was on. She figured Claude was on the other side. Gathering the sheet around her, she made-do of it into a gown before sliding out of bed. She aimed for the window where the music and shine derived. Once there, wrapped in a bedsheet with her mussed hair pulled to one shoulder, she found herself upon the second floor of Claude's estate, though she didn't recall having taken stairs the night before. Alongside that, there was a subtle pounding about her temples, she assumed this was the after effects of too many glasses of wine. Having experienced the bitter concoction and its nasty side effects, she swore never to have another sip so long as she lived.
Further parting the sheer curtains, she took in the view. The back of the house faced east where the sun made slow ascent. There was a wide garden, but not much growth had been obtained from the pressing snowfall. The vines that crawled heavenward were bare against their supporting trellises. A wooden framed arbor shrouded in the skeleton of vines sat in the back portion of the property; a gateway into the grove beyond. The sun had reached a height that allowed escape through the thicket and sent the blanket of white into a gleaming spectacle. In its wake were the wisps of a morning fog flowing carefully along the cold ground. A fountain centered behind the house amidst the envelope of snow was iced over. Stalagmites of ice fell from the basin towards the frozen pool below it.
A heavenly glow fully illuminated the back property, further igniting the snow until the morning light kissed the bottom of the brick estate.
As Esmeralda continued to watch the winter sunrise, she reflected. Not that Claude was an obstacle to be conquered, however, bedding a man with the air and address of a gentleman proved to be quite the honor. With her age and being a student, she found majority of her counter sexes similar in physical growth, but lacking in mindset and maturity. Sure, she enjoyed the occasional outing paired with a drink or two. The loud music. The gyrating of bodies and sweat. These were all fun to her. But now as she stood in the master bedroom of a college professor whose garden stretched into acres of woods, who owned a Jaguar and lived in an impressive manor on the outskirts of town, she realized no amount of parties or twenty-something year old guys could tend to her like Claude did. Nor would twenty-somethings possess the poise and distinguishment that this man lived by. She thought back to the moment she had crawled into his lap, the expression upon his face, and the moment their lips met. She woke something inside of him. Perhaps it was because of how young and vital she was. She brought him to a prime in his life where these things happened frequently. She knew she had the beauty and grace to lure any man she wanted. Albeit, most men she enticed were not twice her age or her professor. But when it came to Claude, she almost feared he was unsusceptible to her charm. And after some subtle coaxing and a little more effort on her part, she got him. And from here, she intended to keep him.
For a moment, Esmeralda relished in the idea that perhaps she was a woman and not a girl. A woman craved men, not boys. As she stared into the vast property of Claude's estate, she smiled victoriously. Just hours ago she had fretted the untold future, worried even that this would turn into a one night stand. But having felt his arms around her throughout the night, his breath upon her neck and the soft caresses he combed through her hair, she knew it was more than just physical. He most certainly cared, even if he did not vocalize his affections. They were apparent, nonetheless.
"What did you expect to happen?" The voice was sudden and near startling. It broke the silence with a rich resonance, deeper from the scratches of sleep. When she turned she found he was dressed in only a towel.
Sinewy and still a wintry pale. She took a mental picture of Claude as he stood in the dawning light, waiting. He had no hair on his chest or much elsewhere sans the silver mop about his head, tousled from sleep. She recalled running her fingers through those locks, tugging at his bottom lip gently between her teeth and feeling the rumble of a moan vibrate his chest.
Esmeralda bit into her cheek to keep from smiling even though his countenance spoke of mild amusement. Perhaps he was struggling with the reality of this as well. She hoped so.
Tightening the hold around the sheet that encased her body, she drew away from the window and sauntered towards him.
"What did I expect?" she began, now toe-to-toe with the austere man. Under bedroom eyes, she gazed at him while her fingers began tracing from his pelvic line upward. She licked her lips, tucking the bottom behind her teeth for a seductive bite. "I asked a kind man to give me a ride, and he did."
Her hand glided over the planes of his chest, curved around his neck and settled at the nape. From there, she pulled him inward while dropping the sheet. Their bare chest met and he melted his lips to hers. A second later, the towel dropped and Claude took her hand and led her into the bathroom where a shower awaited.
When Esmeralda returned to campus, she found her dormitory surprisingly empty. Her weekend had come to an unfortunate close, leaving Claude within his estate and returning to the dry walls of her dorm. This is where she expected to find a heated rebuke from Nadia.
But Nadia was no where to be found.
Esmeralda found her own bed in a disarray and the closet wide open with shoes strewn across the floor. Nadia's bed was also unmade but this was nothing new. Esmeralda moved towards the window above her dorm mate's bed and peered outside. Like her, several students were returning to the campus, having some means to leave the university over the weekend. Now that she had her own, her thirst for freedom broadened greatly. With it being in the presence of such a daunting man, returning to the bland walls of her dorm seemed more like a cell than a homestead. Her body ached to be within his graces again, tangled beneath the sheets or kissing under a scorching spray of water.
The door behind her clicked as Esmeralda drew away from the window. Startled, she spun around, plopping onto her posterior as Nadia came through the entrance with a man in tow.
She did a double take as she rose from the bed to ensure it was a man and not the trick of the light. From the time she met Nadia at a diners several years back, the girl clung to the claim of homosexuality. Not that Nadia despised men, it's just every flavor Nadia introduced to Esmeralda came in the form of long hair and pert breasts. Some were burly women, though. But then again, others were painstakingly beautiful. There was no in between when it came to Nadia. But as she stepped passed the threshold of their tiny dorm room, Esmeralda studied the athletic figure in hope to find it a female with a five o'clock shadow.
But alas, it was not.
His hair was an inky black and cut short near the ears and the top was styled messy. His smile was charmingly crooked with dimples to go alongside. He was broad as he was handsome. A polar opposite of the man Esmeralda had taken such keen interest in. Nadia spotted her and any remnants of rebuke she had had dissipated.
"There you are!" she beamed, dropping her purse onto the floor. She bounded forward, jumping onto the bed with Esmeralda. The girl pulled her into a firm embrace and kissed her cheek several times.
"How was your weekend?" she breathed with tangible excitement, but before Esmeralda responded, she interjected with a sudden exclaim. "Oh my gosh! I forgot to introduce you! Remy, this is Esmeralda. Esmeralda, this is my friend, Remy."
They exchanged half-hearted hellos and uncomfortable smiles while Esmeralda waited for the inevitable punch line. This was all it was; a joke. Esmeralda had seen countless of men falling at the feet of Nadia for even a parting glance bit she was too busy chasing skirts. But after an awkward silence, and the shifting exchange of eyes, she realized it was not a joke and Nadia was now playing both fields.
"So!" Esmeralda forced a laugh, "How did you two meet? Are you a student here?"
"Ugh," Nadia began. "We met at the football game. He's part of the team! Aren't you, Remy?"
Remy nodded, running a tanned hand through his hair. "Yeah, I'm a running back."
"Cool," Esmeralda replied with faux interest, noticing his long sleeve shirt was too tight for the biting weather. "What are you majoring in?"
He muttered something about sport's medicine or physical thera-whatever, she stopped listening.
"Well, that's cool." she lied, forcing another smile. "Are you two?" she gestured her eyes between Nadia and Remy and they both smiled bashfully.
"We're just friends." Nadia said, whimsically.
Still smiling, Esmeralda forced the air from her lungs through her nose. She had no problem with football players, but like every athlete within a popular college, they had their drawbacks. Either they swore of dating entirely, which was unlikely, or they submerged themselves in it and caused more trouble than they were worth. Remy was handsome, no doubt. And Nadia was a gorgeous Mediterranean beach goddess who Esmeralda thought preferred other women.
But perhaps not. Winter does funny things to people. Esmeralda would know.
"Oh, hey!" Remy suddenly began, an idea striking. "Are you currently seeing anyone?"
Esmeralda blinked when she realized she was being addressed. Nadia shot a look, narrowing her eyes at Esmeralda whether she meant to or not.
This was it. A moment she needed to regard her current situation as truth, or fantasy. Everything between her and Claude was very real. The heat. The sex. The pleasure from something so taboo. But she was young and he was not. She wanted to slap a label across it and claim him as her own, but what if he was having a midlife crisis? What if she was there just to make him feel young again? It had happened so fast and she had never felt more willing to board the bullet train to see where it led. She swallowed thickly as images of Claude pressing her against the bathroom wall flashed across her mind. If she confirmed her unavailability, Nadia would pry. And if anyone was successful at prying out information, it would be her. On top of that, Claude made her promise she wouldn't speak of their affairs until the conditions were just right. But what constitutes as just right? And to whose conditions?
Before her thoughts could struggle from her grasp and run a muck, she remembered who she was; the green-eyed girl who dances beneath a full moon, who's charm alone could swindle the most callous of hearts. Claude was hers, whether he realized that or not. It was just a single night, nothing to get too carried away with. Claude was most likely an old fashioned man who courted women. This took time and effort from both parties. Albeit, there was nothing traditional about their first night together.
"Nope!" Esmeralda laughed nervously, hoping to thwart any suspicion of deception. "Just your run of the mill cat lady."
"Okay good, because I thought you were following that crusty old profess-" Esmeralda slapped Nadia across the back hard enough to extinguish her lungs of air and then pretended to rub her supportively.
"Nope! Got a phone call from my brother, I stepped out to answer it." Esmeralda cut her off.
"It took you all weekend to step out and answer a phone call?" Nadia rebuked.
"I took a taxi and went to see him." Esmeralda deadpanned. "It's that alright with you?"
"Alright, guys." Remy butted in, evidently spotting a potential argument. "A few of the guys are having a house party. My buddy bought a place downtown and wants to have a get together. He's single and a pretty decent guy and he's the captain of the football team." Remy bounced his eyebrows suggestively at Esmeralda, as if his peer's position made all the difference in her decision.
"So?" Esmeralda said.
"So I think you'd like him."
"What's he look like?" Nadia then inquired, suddenly on board the spontaneous date-doctor wagon.
"My height, so about 6'2''. Blonde, pretty built, has a patch of hair here." Remy reached up and scratched the area around his chin.
Esmeralda sighed, having already decided she wasn't interested. "I appreciate the concern, but I'm really not in the position to be dating. I've got a lot of studying-,"
"No," Nadia straight-faced. "You owe me! You ditched me at the season's first football game and you're not even taking difficult classes. You don't even have a major picked out! So don't give me that baby back bullshit." She shot Remy a look. "I know Esmeralda and I know she's been single for quite sometime." She reached over and pulled Esmeralda into a reluctant embrace and with a baby voice, she said, "My little bohemian needs to get laid!"
"This isn't about getting laid," grumbled Esmeralda. How wrong they were. Whoever this mystery man was, she highly doubted he had anything worth to offer, not after her experience with Claude.
"Alright, so I'll let you two girls to it." Remy then stepped in to give Nadia a kiss upon the lips before turning away for the door. He stopped short of the threshold when Nadia's voice quickly called out.
"Wait! What's the guys name? Or is that part of the mystery?"
Remy chuckled. "His name's Phoebus and you're going to love him."