THE SILVER LINING
A/N: The outpouring of affection for my little story has been overwhelming, in the best of ways. No one was supposed to like this story—it's about old people having sex. It was intended to challenge my story telling skills: to write about an unpopular topic but make it palatable. Thank you so much for embracing my Silverfox and his Bella.
Things I own: A used admission ticket (mine) from the David Bowie exhibition in London (priceless).
Things I don't: Anything Twilight. That's all Stephenie Meyer's.
CHAPTER 14
For the length of time it takes to fly to Tahiti from Seattle, Washington—which is not insignificant—the one thing that stands out in my mind is just how easy it is to travel with Bella. Even after nearly 24 hours on the go, when I look over at my beautiful girl, she gives me a tired but very happy smile. Incredible.
All my previous travel experiences can be summed up into one big conglomerate of fighting, frowns and stress. Jessica turned everything related to travel into such a challenge. I assumed that's how these things worked—irritated bickering that would last until well after we'd arrived at our destination. With Bella, I feel completely insulated by the bubble full of calm she carries with her; I'm positively thrilled to be included in that same bubble. While our trip may have started on a bad note because of Emmett's misguided grumbling, it seems as though the minute that dust settled, everything has just been easy.
Bella has never flown to a foreign country before, and she's certainly never been on such a long flight. My plan is to stay overnight on the island of Tahiti then we'll take a cruise around the island chain. The grand finale will be four nights in Bora Bora, where we'll stay in an over-the-water, open-air hut. This is all meant to be a surprise for Bella—the only thing I told her ahead of time was how long our vacation would be. More than anything, I want to experience the look on her face as she discovers each new element that arises.
Since Tahiti time is so different from Seattle, our circadian rhythms are completely off upon our arrival. We're so tired we feel a bit drunk. The Air France flight was comfortable and very pleasant, but nothing can possibly override the fatigue of jetlag in an older person. It's been years since I've been overseas and I'm honestly a bit surprised over how strongly I'm affected this time.
Our first hotel in Tahiti is simple and comfortable—it's nothing more than a stopping point to allow ourselves a place to conk out before we start our island chain cruise. Having behaved like a gentleman during our entire flight, I'm more than a little anxious to have Bella all to myself again. As much as I would have loved to add the Mile High Club to my bucket list, the idea of having sex with Bella in a disgustingly filthy, tiny bathroom had zero appeal to me. I'm sure Bella must have felt the same way, even though she teased me during most of the flight. The best we could manage was a challenging snuggle across the plane seats that were clearly not designed with anything more than travel comfort for one passenger in mind.
As we ride in our taxi from the airport, Bella cuddles into me the way I love the most: her head tucked into the space between my shoulder and my neck, so her breath hits me right below the ear. I never imagined that breathing could be so damn sexy until I had Bella tucked into that space. Now I'll take any excuse to get her to curl up into me like that. It also makes it incredibly convenient for me to deliver kisses to the top of her head. She sighs happily against me, and that sound alone makes me want to give everyone I see a huge high five. This woman's ability to make me giddily happy is unbelievable. I never even knew I could be giddily happy. Bella has changed my perspective on just about everything.
At the hotel, I paw at her as soon as the bellhop starts to push our luggage toward our room. As my hand skims over her ass, it stops cold. I realize that her ass feels startlingly bare. As in she's either going commando or wearing a thong.
Sweet jesus in heaven, thank you.
I give her ass a little swat so she knows that I'm aware of her complete lack of panties and she winks at me.
Winks.
At me.
I practically flatten the bellhop in my rush to get to our room. The things this woman does to get me revved up—it's like she has no idea that going commando will make me insane with wanting her, except that her little wink assures me that she knows exactly what she's doing.
Any thoughts of fatigue have just been soundly defeated in my brain. Hormones seem to always take precedent over just about anything else.
I get rid of our bellhop with a terse, "Merci beaucoup" and a generous tip then slam the door behind him. Unable to wait another millisecond until I get my hands on her skin, I push Bella into the wall and find her lips out of sheer muscle memory. She makes a small oomph noise in reply and quickly drops her bag onto the floor. At least I think that's what happens—I'm not really paying attention to anything else in my attempt to get as physically close to her as I can. This isn't really even about sex for me anymore, although I certainly appreciate that aspect of our relationship. It's like I can't think straight until my skin is touching hers, almost like we have a sort of symbiotic relationship. Without her bare skin's presence upon mine, I can't breathe right.
It gives me so much comfort and satisfaction that she seems to need this just as acutely as I do. I can tell, because her fingers are tugging at my hair with the same level of urgency that mine have been pawing at her ass. God, I love her. I say this to myself every few minutes, but that doesn't make it any less true. I love her with such a depth and intensity that scares me sometimes.
Unable to wait a moment longer, I wrap my arms around her waist and walk backwards toward where I remember the bed being upon my first cursory glance around the room. As much as I would love to be able to take Bella right against the wall, I recognize that my 65 year-old body has its limits, and wall sex just isn't a viable option for me right now.
When I feel the bed hit my knees, I quickly reach behind me to pat around, making sure that I'm not going to plop onto the ground as I attempt to get us both horizontal. Before I can do that, however, Bella gives me a good shove, so I suddenly find myself spread-eagled on the bed. Looking into her face with what must be surprise, I notice her sly grin. Just when I think I'm running this show, she reminds me that ultimately she's the one in control.
Bella makes quick work of removing my clothes as I try to do the same for her, except that she's got this wrapped dress thingie on that I cannot possibly navigate. She starts to giggle at my attempts to get her undressed and subsequent frustrated growls, then takes my hand and places it on the tie. Our hands laced together, she shows me how to untie the mysterious dress, and all is revealed. She just opened Pandora's box by letting me know how easy this dress is to remove, because now? I can't imagine it will ever stay on her body longer than a minute or two.
Once naked, Bella looks around the room for something, eyes squinted. We didn't even take the time to turn on lights or open the windows, so it's not easy to find anything. She gets up, fumbles around, and comes back with her purse. It's not until she pulls out a mini bottle of Astroglide that I understand what she was up to. She wastes no time in working her lube-slicked hands over my cock. All I can do is groan happily.
Somewhere in the recesses of my mind—the 1% that isn't actively engaged in what Bella is presently doing—it occurs to me that she had a bottle of lube in her purse. Did she…? Was she going to… did she plan to need this when we were on the plane? Was she actually expecting to join the mile high club?
My musings come to an abrupt stop as she lowers herself onto my erection and proceeds to ride me, hard. In case it's even a question in anyone's mind, let me assure you that I fucking love Isabella Swan to distraction.
The nice thing about sex is that it helps us not only relieve our tension, but also puts us promptly to sleep. We curl up under the covers and drift away in bliss.
~xXx~
When I awake the next morning, half the day has already slipped by. Normally, I'd be disappointed in myself for wasting so much time. For one of the first times in my life, however, I honestly don't care. I have no agenda at all, other than to be a complete hedonist and to enjoy my Bella. When I reach over to her, wanting to draw her body close into mine, I find the bed alarmingly empty. Bella never leaves the bed without some cuddle time. I sit up, instantly alert. When I hear the water running in the bathroom, relief washes over me. Grabbing a towel, I walk to the bathroom and slip into the shower with Bella. She flinches when I pull her body into mine, but it doesn't take more than a split second for her to recognize that it's only me.
"You weren't there," I pout into her ear.
"You were sleeping so soundly, baby. I didn't want to wake you up," she explains.
"Do you really think I wanted to miss an opportunity to molest you in the shower?" I give her earlobe a small nip. "I can sleep when I'm dead."
"Don't say stuff like that," she admonishes. "I can't even go there."
"Fair enough. Let's get back to the part where I molest you, then."
"Now that's somewhere I can go," she smiles, grabbing my hands and placing them on her breasts. As if I need any encouragement.
I cup her breasts gently, rolling my fingers around her nipples while I nuzzle my nose into the crook of her neck.
"My favorite pair of breasts in the world," I sigh happily into her ear.
"You're so good to me, Silverfox, but we both know they're just saggy old 'I-breastfed-two-children' boobs."
I shake my head against her skin. "How can you even say that?" I ask, aghast. Surely she can't mean that.
Once again, she slips her hands over mine to join them on her breasts. Linking her fingers in mine, she pulls them away from her body. Nudging her shoulder, I turn her body around to face mine.
"As a medical professional, I feel uniquely qualified to assess the quality of this pair of breasts," I announce as I put my hands back where they belong. "Look how perfectly they fit in my hands," I explain.
"Your nipples, they're lined up so evenly, front and center," I give them a quick pinch to add emphasis to my comments.
She just shakes her head at me, looking away. It's so unlike her, to be this critical of her body.
"And best of all," I state before taking one of her nipples into my mouth, "they taste absolutely fabulous."
"Hmmmuh," she mumbles, making a very contented sound.
"After a very thorough assessment, I come to only one conclusion: these are my favorite breasts in the world. Now all they need is to be recognized by their owner as such."
Bella pulls my lips to hers, telling me in actions what she can't say in words. Fortunately, I speak lip service as well as English, so her message reaches its target destination.
"As much as I'd love to spend the next few hours inside of you," I explain, "we need to make our way to the ship."
"Ship?"
"Yes. We're going on a cruise around the islands of Tahiti."
"Really?" she squeaks out, her eyes wide with excitement.
"Really," I give her ass a small swat to emphasize my words. "There's plenty of time for me to molest you once we're on board."
I receive another kiss before we finish up our shower. I shake my head to myself over what a lucky bastard I am.
~xXx~
When we're finally clothed once again, we make our way to that marina in Papeete to find our small cruise ship, the m/s Paul Gauguin.
Bella gasps out loud as she sees the ship. "The Paul Gauguin?"
I grin at her, knowing she'd be thrilled with the association of one of her favorite artists. She's so easy to please, which makes it even more fun to spoil her.
"Oui, Madame," I answer. Her face freezes when I reply.
"Silverfox?"
Concerned, I grab her hand for reassurance. I always feel better if she's touching me.
"Yes?"
"I'm going to warn you now, so that you can't be angry with me later," she begins.
"What?" I have no idea what she's talking about.
"If you speak French in front of me again, you must be prepared to be mounted that very second."
I snort out some laughter, greatly relieved. "Oh, I think I can handle that," I grin.
She waggles her eyebrows at me in response. "Oh, really? I'm going to have to test that theory out. Soon."
As we board the ship, we're welcomed by an older gentleman with a strong French accent.
"Bonjour, Monsieur et Madame Cullen," he smiles at us. "Bienvenue chez le Paul Gauguin.
My stomach may have just flip-flopped when I hear him refer to Bella and I as a married couple.
"I am Temana, but zhey call me jus Mana. Eet meanz powair en Tahitien." Mana flexes his bicep, pointing at it with a big smile.
Bella's mouth opens then closes. "Oh. Uhm, we're not… that is, I'm—er," I bite my lip in an attempt not to laugh at Bella's being flustered. "Well, um, thank you!"
"I weel take Meester et Meesez to zhe rhoom?"
I nod at the gentleman. "Je vous en pries." I beg of you.
Bella gives me her cease and desist eyes and I merely grin smugly at her. As if I'm not going to try to use French whenever I can on this trip.
We follow Mana to our quarters on the upper deck. When he opens the door, Bella lets out a surprised "Oh!"
Mana grins at her exclamation. "You like, Madame?"
"Yes. I mean oui."
"Bien. Zhis ees perfeckt. I go now to get zhe suitcasez."
"Edward!" Bella whacks me on the chest with the back of her hand. "This must have cost you a fortune! I can't possibly allow you to pay for all of this!"
I roll my eyes at her. "Baby, if you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly strapped for cash," I explain, taking her chin in my hand so I can look her straight in the eyes. "I've always wanted this vacation. Now that I have the chance to actually have this experience with the ideal partner at my side, I decided to do it exactly the way I've always wanted to. End of story."
Mana returns with a silver tray balanced on his palm, containing two beverages. He hands one to Bella first, encouraging her to taste it before giving one to me.
"Oooh, this is amazing!"
"Eet ees fruit of mango et pineapplez."
"This is so good I think I'd like to swim in it!"
Mana laughs heartily, amused by Bella's reaction. "Zees I can do for you, Madame. I do for you whatevair you need. Right now, I show you zee rhoom, zhen I poot away your zhings."
"Oh, you don't have to do that, Mana," Bella explains. "We're perfectly capable of putting our clothing away."
"But madame, zhees ees my job."
"Your job is to put away my clothing?"
In my attempt to surprise Bella on this trip, I may have accidentally/on purpose forgotten to mention to her that one of the perks of the cabin type I chose is that we get our own butler. I sensed that she might be resistant to such a thing.
"Oui, Madame. I am your butlair."
Bella's eyes dart over to mine as she raises one eyebrow at me. I shrug my shoulders and give her a sly grin, mouthing the word What? to her.
"I understand, Mana. Please, I'd hate to keep you from doing your job."
"Merci, Madame Cullen."
I look down at my glass, only to find it empty. It's one of those kind of drinks—a delicious sort of rum concoction that tastes like tropical juices and nothing else; it's easy to drink far too quickly. During the time I've known Bella, I drink more often than I used to, but this hit me faster than I expected.
"You look very relaxed," Bella purrs into my ear. "You have a quite a goofy grin on your face."
"The grin has nothing to do with being relaxed. In fact, I'm anything but relaxed," I reply as I start groping at her, oblivious that someone else is in the room with us.
She giggles at my drunken gropes, whispering in my ear. "Are you sure you're not seventeen, baby? It seems like you have a one-track mind."
"Yes, I do have a one-track mind, but it's your fault. Well, it's your body's fault. You can't possibly expect me not to be all over you when you have a body that's such a tease," I whisper back to her.
"I'm not going to apologize for that at all," she grins, patting my cheek.
"How about we find somewhere else I can molest you?"
"You're such a horny bastard."
I run my fingers up and down her back, causing her to shudder.
"Mmmhmm."
"Must. Find. Place," she's muttering in spurts when her eyes go wide and she gasps. She's looking at something directly behind me. Her finger darts by my head, where she places it on the wall. "Silverfox!"
I turn to look at her finger, confused about what she's looking at, but say nothing.
"They have a Laundromat on board," she says with a lusty rasp in her voice.
My jaw drops in reply. When I recover enough to be able to utter a word or two, I give her a sideways grin. "Hmm. I have some dirty laundry that really needs to be done," I say with emphasis.
"Mana," I turn to him. "We're going to explore the ship. We'll be back later."
"Très bien, Monsieur Cullen," he nods.
I take her hand in mine and nudge her to lead the way. We giggle like a pair of naughty teenagers, running down the hallway toward the stairs. When we're in the stairwell, I back her into the wall because I can't wait another second to have my lips on hers. I tug on her braid, trying to do anything that will get her closer to me. When she moans, I nearly fall apart. The chance of getting caught is very real and only serves to rachet up my horniness.
"Bella," I say with as much control as I can muster, "I need you to get us to the Laundromat, or there's a very real possibility I'll fuck you in the stairwell. Right here, right now," I warn.
"Okay."
"Okay?" I groan out. "Okay, yes, fuck me here? Or okay, I'll get you to the Laundromat?"
"Fuck the Laundromat. Wait, I mean fuck me," she pants while fumbling for something in her purse. "Yes!" she grins, holding up a travel-sized bottle of Astroglide. I'm beginning to wonder if that isn't some sort of magical bag, the way she always seems to have exactly what we need within it.
With shaky hands, she unzips my pants and instantly palms my hard cock while I'm reaching up her skirt. For the billionth time, I'm thankful for Bella's tendency to wear thongs. It makes things like fucking in a stairwell so much easier.
Bella is yanking my cock toward her, murmuring things like "hurry," "need you," and "now." I'm not going to argue with her.
With the urgency that comes with having sex in a public place, I push myself into her, all business. Bella does her part by whispering wicked dirty things in my ear.
Your cock feels so good in me.
Fuck me hard. I want to dent the walls.
I hope someone comes in and catches us, then stays to watch.
Jesus, where does she come up with this stuff? And why doesn't she say these things all the time? I smile through my grunts then realize that Bella is touching herself.
Bella. Touching. Her clit.
Fuuuuck.
Does this woman not understand what she does to me? The dirty whispers, the public place, Bella touching herself, it's all too much. I come faster than I have in years, which leaves me kind of amazed. I keep thrusting until my spasms subside, breathing heavily into the crook of her neck. It's then that I realize.
Bella didn't come.
I jerk my head up to look at her. When she sees my alarm her focus shifts instantly.
"What, Silverfox? Are you okay?"
"You didn't come," I say solemnly.
She gives me a soft smile, holding my cheeks in her hands. "There aren't any rules that I'm aware of that say every orgasm needs to be matched with another."
I nudge her, frustrated. "Come on, that makes me into the most selfish ass on the planet. This is about both of us."
She whispers in my ear, "How about we discuss this in a more appropriate venue? Preferably not in a public stairwell with your cock inside of me. Hmm?"
She has a point. I grab a handkerchief while I pull myself out of her then use it to clean her up. Once we're both settled, we look at each other and giggle, realizing what we just did.
"Sex in public," Bella grins at me.
"Sex in public," I reply. I raise my fist in the air triumphantly.
Bella nudges me and starts humming "Another One Bites the Dust" as we return to our cabin.
~xXx~
We decide to sit on our private veranda while the ship prepares to leave port. I ask Mana to arrange a private dinner for us in the room. I want to surprise Bella and thought it would be a calm and relaxing way to enjoy the view on our first night.
When dinner arrives, Mana brings the champagne on ice out to the veranda. When he pulls out a machete from under the serving tray, Bella looks like she's going to pass out.
"I open zee champagne zee correct way," he explains.
Using the machete, he cleanly cuts the top of the champagne bottle off. It flies into the air, buoyed by a spray of champagne.
"Zhat, eet ees zhe bon voyage Madame," he smiles broadly at Bella.
"Impressive!" she laughs, applauding Mana's skill.
I lift my glass to Bella's for a toast. "To you, Bella, whose beauty is no match, even for Tahiti."
Smiling, she just shakes her head and clinks my glass. "I think you've already had too much champagne."
Mana sets our dinners in front of us then quickly leaves us alone.
We sit on our private balcony, enjoying our dinner as our ship sails past some of the most incredible landscape I've ever seen. The colors here—the many shades of blue in the ocean, the green islands, the flowers—are intense and impossible to recreate. Pictures don't do them justice. I suddenly understand the meaning of the word paradise because it's right in front of me; this is by far the most beautiful place I've ever been, and to be here with Bella makes it even more special.
The sun is starting to set, turning the scenery into a completely different color scheme. As it dips on the horizon, it's nothing short of breathtaking, an array of yellows that blend into pinks and oranges that seem to melt into the ocean. We're quiet for the moment, just relaxing into the evening and enjoying each other's presence. To be able to share silent companionship with someone is a rare gift.
I'm sipping my champagne and smiling contentedly when out of the corner of my eye, I see Bella crook her head to the side. I shift my gaze to find her looking at me with a grin on her face.
"What?"
She shakes her head, laughing.
I poke at her side to tease her. "Come on now, what is it?"
"I was just thinking about the first time I had you over to my house."
I smile at her, intrigued.
"You told me that if I made you cat food you were certain it would be delicious."
I shrug my shoulders at her. "It's still true. You're an amazing cook."
"I got you drunk, Edward. Was that the first time for you?"
I shake my head at her. "I wasn't drunk. I was just relaxed."
"Mmmhmm. And today, you gulped down that little rum number with no problem, and now I'm getting you drunk on champagne."
"Let's be fair," I warn. "I've been drinking regularly since I've known you, so it's not like I'm a lightweight anymore."
"Okay, okay," she raises her arms up in surrender. "I'm just a bit worried that at the rate you're going, you'll be an alcoholic by the time we return to Papeete."
I look at her, flabbergasted. Then she giggles. I just roll my eyes and shake my head.
Without any warning, Bella stands up and looks at the walls of our veranda. She's got her palms on the surface of the wall, knocking on it. She follows it to the railing that overlooks the sea.
"Bella?" I walk over to her. "Baby? What's going on?"
"Balcony sex."
"Balcony sex?"
"Yes. Public, but no one can really see. They can only hear. Unless, of course, we're near land, then we can give the native Tahitians a live show."
She leans on the railing and I sneak in behind her. "I could always fuck you just like this," I explain as I hump her.
She turns her head sideways, smiling at me. "I've created a monster."
"Yes, you have. You're solely to blame for this. I was a sexless man until I met you."
"I never considered myself to be a harlot, but I guess I am."
"Yes, well you're my harlot, and I don't ever want you to change."
I take Bella by the hand and drag her back to our table, pulling her onto my lap. "I still owe you an orgasm, by the way," I remind her as I nibble on her neck.
"Yes, about that. I very much appreciate the fact that you are so invested in assuring that our orgasm ratio is one to one—it's more than many men would do. But this isn't about keeping score. You got pleasure, I got pleasure. Who cares what the orgasm count is? It doesn't matter."
"I care. It matters to me. Sex with you is completely a two-way street. We both give and receive pleasure, orgasms included."
Bella turns in my lap to face me. "Hmm," she muses, quiet for a moment. I'm quiet and attentive, waiting for what she wants to say.
"I think that is more anchored in your experience with Jessica than it is in me. You don't owe me anything. You don't need to prove anything. I get pleasure every time I touch your skin. I get plenty of orgasms. You satisfy me completely and I want that to be enough for you, because it's enough for me."
"But—" I try to explain further, but her finger over my lip silences me.
"No, Silverfox. No. It's enough. You're enough. There's nothing left to discuss."
I sigh heavily with equal amounts of frustration and acceptance. I know there's no changing her mind on this. "Okay. If that's the way you feel, then okay."
She kisses my lips lightly. "Thank you," she whispers over them.
Not ready to leave the sanctuary of our room to explore the ship further tonight, I take her hand in mine and lead her back into the room. I stop in front of the bed and raise my eyebrows at her, tilting my head in a silent gesture that I'd like some cuddle time with her. She grins and nods her head. I unbutton her blouse slowly, pausing to kiss each bit of newly exposed flesh before I move to the next button.
When her shirt is completely unbuttoned, it slips off of her shoulders onto the floor. I kiss each shoulder as I unhook her bra then deliver a kiss to each nipple, honoring every bit of skin that I'm privy to see and touch. I get down on my knees in front of her to remove her skirt, moving my hands from her ankles up her legs until they rest over her round ass. I kiss her belly button while unzipping her skirt, so she's left standing in front of me in her panties. My fingers make light work of those until finally she is completely naked. I cup her ass and deliver a kiss just above her clit then slowly stand up to take a look at this stunning woman.
"So beautiful," I murmur, in awe of her physical perfection. "I want—" my voice cracks and I'm barely able to say what I want to say. "I want you to be mine," I finish with a whisper. "Only mine."
She shakes her head, looking confused. "I am yours."
"There's only one thing I want you to wear in our bed tonight," I say as precisely as I can while reaching into my pocket. "My ring."
I gently slide it onto her left ring finger and kiss it once it's in place. I finally look into her eyes, searching for any sign that she'll say the words that I want most to hear. I see tears forming, but hear nothing except the pounding of my own heartbeat rushing behind my ears.
Listening.
Watching.
Waiting for that answer I need.
I feel a teardrop on my hand and move to cup her cheeks, wiping other tears away with my thumbs. I kiss her forehead and feel her head start to nod, so slowly I think I'm imagining it. Pulling back to look at her face, her nods gets bigger as the tears fall faster.
Unable to help myself, needing the verbal confirmation, my raspy voice croaks out a question for her to answer once again. "Yes?" My eyebrows arch up on their own, hopeful.
She gives me the most beautiful, happy smile I've ever seen and whispers out the one word I need so badly to hear.
"Yes."
END NOTE: One more chapter and an epilogue. The good news is that most of Chapter 15 and the epilogue have been written. I'm going to do my very best to post those in the next 24h. You've all waited long enough and deserve for this to be completed ASAP.