By the end of the night, the both of you managed to get through at least half of The Prisoner of Azkaban, each moment filled with adorable snuggles and sexy times. The second time was slower than the first, filled with a sense of comfort and happiness without the urgency it held before. Needless to say, you were completely relaxed by the time Michael left.
Sunday was going to be Tom's, but you weren't quite sure what to expect. He was a completely different beast, so wonderful and individual for who he was. So you decided to shoot him a text. Technically, as it was 1:30, it was his day so you figured it wouldn't bother him to get a message from you.
You: Hey. Just checking in. What's the plan for the day?
With a small sigh, you stepped away from your phone to put away the food still sitting on your counter and the leftover snacks. It had been a successful movie night. But it also left you more confused than before. Why did they both have to be so good at sex as well as everything else?! The universe was determined to make this hard on you.
Your phone interrupted your thoughts with a loud buzz, signaling what you assumed was Tom's response. You doubted it was Michael because the contract mentioned being courteous with texts and calls when it was someone's day. But you wouldn't put it past him to send a cute goodnight text.
Tom: Nothing too big. I'd like meet somewhere for breakfast if that is amenable to you, then perhaps we could drive to the ocean.
You smiled softly to yourself. The thought of him and the ocean brought back a lot of summer memories from the past eight years. Tom's favorite beach was a little private, secluded spot he'd mapped out years ago when he made his way to the US after leaving England. You'd gone along with him a few times, but only ever as his secretary or his friend. Those memories filled with his toned abs as he ran across the sand like a much younger man brought many a fantasy to your mind. He was more at peace outside the city's limits and the water only added to the feeling.
You: Sounds lovely. Shall we meet at Tove's Bakery then?
Tove's was a favorite of the both of yours since the fateful day you'd introduced Tom to the wonders of their freshly made breads and sweets. There were hundreds of bakeries in New York City, but Tove's was the place you'd grab coffee together when Tom was hungover. It was the place he grabbed their very special cookies from when you were moping after a bad break up. Sometimes, the two of you would just meet there under the pretenses of having a meeting, but really just looking for a strong coffee (or tea more often than not) and a fresh pastry.
Tom: See you there at 9
With a small sigh, you turned on your alarm to give you enough time to get ready and went to bed. No doubt your dreams would reveal the same conflict you felt in your heart, but you were determined to enjoy the next five months as much as possible. Sleep, and your screaming conscience, be damned.
"How are you feeling today, darling?" Tom asked, breaking the silence with a soft smile.
You were sitting at a small table in the cafe area of the bakery, enjoying the late July heat. He looked smashing as always with his perfectly tailored jeans and a dress shirt that looked about one size too small for his defined chest. His curls were tumbling on his tall forehead, and his eyes were particularly blue today. The glances from the patrons in the bakery made you feel a little possessive as women drooled over him and men were filled with contempt. How could one man look so angelic without ruining women for any other man?
It helped that he never even looked at them with you sitting across from him. He was taking you in intently, watching your responses and emotions as they flitted across your face. You, on the other hand, were completely memorized by the glint of gold coming off his hair through the dark coloring.
You shrugged, sipping at your coffee. "You know how I feel about mornings, Tom," you snarked. No matter how beautiful he is, mornings were tortue for you. In retrospect, you were in a better mood just by being around him than you normally would be.
"Just finish your coffee, grouchy," he chuckled, his voice like the cream you doused your very black coffee with. "I wanted to talk to you about something anyways, so try and pay attention."
You sighed grumpily. "Isn't it too early for teasing?"
"It's 9:15," Tom answered, not even checking his very expensive watch glinting in the sun that streamed through the windows. "That's sleeping in to a lot of people. I'd say it's never too early for teasing, anyways." He gave his signature 'ehehehehe' laugh before taking a sip of his own tea.
This is what you loved about the past eight years. Banter and easy going friendship, even with unresolved tension, was some of the best things you had in your life. The plethora of stories and experiences you'd shared with him made this relationship more comfortable because the reality is, you knew each other. You knew how he'd respond. You knew his needs and desires. And he knew you. That's eight years worth of friendship that Michael couldn't come close to.
Tom leaned forward, bracing his elbow on the table to get a closer to you. His face held a wariness you weren't used to seeing on him, so you consciously tried to look as open as possible. Whatever he was about to say mattered quite a bit if his body language meant anything.
One of his hands brushed a stray lock of hair out of your face and tucked it behind your ear before he started. "I wanted to explain my reasons, no matter how horrible they were, for waiting so long to express how I feel about you. Be warned, this is a rather long story and I'm aware that there should be no excuse for my behavior, but it would be foolish of me to not tell you the truth."
You listened eagerly, surprised he would choose to be so open so quickly, but desperate to know his why's. Tom took a steading breath and began his tale.
"When I was just starting out in this business, at the very young age of 23, I was quite inexperienced with the realities of being the C.E.O. of successful company. This idea I'd had flourished before my eyes and suddenly, I have more money and power than I knew what to do with. And that naivety is what would be my downfall."
"About a year after the company really started skyrocketing, I met a young woman who'd approached me as a friend. She was absolutely brilliant and I found myself quickly falling for her quick mind and pretty smile. We began dating when the price tag on my name reached 5 million and she was an attentive girlfriend, quickly becoming very serious."
You tried to ignore the pang of jealousy that hit you at the mention of another woman he loved. A part of you was stunned you still had the ability to be jealous after years of watching him sleep with so many women, but maybe it was because he finally wanted you back. Either way, the feeling came back in full force.
Tom looked down at the dark liquid of his tea, his face filled with regret and pain. "I'd even bought a ring. She was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Because of that trust, I gave her a large part of my company along with an offer of marriage that she graciously accepted. And as soon as the announcement was made in the media, I had a private investigator approach me with the truth about this woman I loved."
"She was a con artist. With 5 husbands under her belt and millions in the bank as she dismantled empires with her greed and lies, she was after the business I'd created and when she had enough, she'd divorce me and leave my life's work in shambles. Naturally, I didn't want to believe it at first, but there was too much evidence to ignore it. I immediately called off the engagement, but there was still quite a bit of damage done. I'd given her a great deal of stocks and she wouldn't give them up without a fight. To this day, she still holds a sway in our shareholders because of my foolishness."
He looked back up at you, anger hiding in his jaw and disgust in himself shining in his eyes. "If I'd even bothered to look a little closer, I'd have protected not only myself, but my company as well, but now I have to face my stupidity at every Shareholder meeting."
You placed your hands over his, trying to offer what comfort you could. Hell, no wonder he didn't trust well. That was enough to screw anyone up for love for the rest of their lives. Tom stared down at your hand over his for a moment before intertwining his fingers with yours and meeting your gaze.
"Then you came along," he whispered softly. "You came on board less than 3 months after everything happened and I was still recovering from so much, just to be in awe of this beautiful woman who walks into my office in ballet flats. And all I could think about was protecting my company."
You squeezed his hand gently and gave him a kind smile. "That's completely reasonable, Tom. No one could blame you for that," you tried to reassure.
"At first, maybe. But as the years passed, the excuses fell short. You proved yourself over and over again with a loyalty I sincerely value more than anything. I should have started trusting you earlier, but I was too afraid. Afraid of doing damage to people's lives and my own," He firmly answered, determined in his guilt. "But even then, being around you day after day, experiencing the light you provided to my broken being, I could not deny either the attraction or the feelings I'd developed. I tried to tell myself all sorts of things to keep from making advances, like I was your boss and you deserved to be more than someone's sexy secretary. And it just quickly turned into a vicious cycle of seeking relief for my heart and my body in unhealthy ways."
"Which is where I should apologize wholeheartedly. I treated you so abominably over the years, never letting you know how I felt, but also making you face my self destructive behavior regularly from the women I'd used and abused to the alcoholism," Tom stated apologetically, his eyes filled with remorse. "There's no excuse. I can't make up for all the lost time and bad decisions, but I want you to know you will never be in the middle of this cycle again. I've stopped drinking until I can get control of it and you will never be a one night stand to me. Ever. And while I'm aware that might be hard to believe, I will spend all the time you'll give me to show you how much you mean to me."
You leaned forward just enough to brush your lips against his, reassuring him with his love language as much as possible. Tom needed physical comfort in more ways than just sex and confining himself to a world of only platonic and sexual touch must have been torture for him. No wonder he probably had a complex. It was just something you'd watched over the years, so he might not even know. But the way he'd relax the minute you put a hand on his shoulder in a stressful situation, or the way he'd put his hand on the small of your back unnecessarily when he was bothered by something told you that's what he needed.
You pulled away enough to stare him deeply in the eye. "Tom, thank you for your honesty. It means so much to me that you would open yourself up this way," you praised gently. "I know you think this is all your fault, but it's not exactly like I told you how I felt either. You had a lot of really good reasons to not say anything that were completely valid. I on the other hand just couldn't imagine a world where you'd want me," you reassured with a smile.
"What are you talking about?" He immediately shot up, breaking out of his self pity. The look he was giving you told you he was ready to argue. "Why would there even be a world where I wouldn't want you?"
You shrugged, taking a long swig of your coffee and swallowing before gesturing to yourself in one sweep of your hand. "I mean, look at me, Tom. You were sleeping with models on a regular basis."
"I am looking at you," he responded gruffly. "And I've never seen something more beautiful than you. I've never heard anything sweeter than your voice. No art could ever be more priceless than your face. And no model, no societal standard of perfection could ever make me desire and need like you do simply by existing."
Your face burned helplessly under his fierce gaze. Oh, how the poetry he came up with made breathing difficult! Tom belonged in a romance novel and nowhere near anyone real because you were sure you might just faint on the spot. You just weren't sure if it was from his words or the burning desire in his eyes that threatened to take you whole.
"I guess we are at an impasse than," you teased, trying to calm down enough to say something that didn't sound gibberish. "'Cause you just sound absolutely crazy to me."
His answering look did the opposite of help calm you down. In fact, it held such promise there was no denying he would take you roughly and passionately before the day was over. And your body was already whining desperately without him doing much more than hold your hand and stare at you.
"I suppose I'll just have to prove it to you," he growled softly. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife as you stared each other down. He was so beautiful like this, like a phoenix burning from the inside out, determined to take you into the fire with no hope of quenching the flames.
A loud laugh from one of the other patrons broke the moment, causing the both of you to look away and laugh. It was probably for the best as having sex in a very public place tends to be illegal.
"I apologize in advance for how difficult it's going to be to convince me," you teased with a small smile, clearly not sorry. "If you hadn't brought this on yourself, I'd almost feel sorry for you."
Tom took a small sip of his tea, trying to hide his mischievous smirk. "I think we both know I'm quite up to the challenge."
He took a quick look at his watch and stood from his seat with his usual grace. "If you are ready, we can head out. And I sincerely hope you brought your bathing suit for this," he added, giving you a small look. "I'm not sure I could endure swimsuit shopping without making you try them all on just to see how your beautiful body looks in them."
"Sorry to disappoint," you chuckled. "As much as I'm sure you'd enjoy that, I don't exactly enjoy being paraded about, so I brought my own."
He gave his own little 'ehehehehe' as you stood and grabbed your purse. "Is it too much to hope it's the little blue bikini you wore at the company Fourth of July party?"
"Seems it's your lucky, Thomas," you teased, slipping the collar of your halter top back enough to show the thin straps of your only bikini. You were a prepper. And that meant you were ready for anything.
Tom's gaze became mildly heated as he held out his arm, which you graciously took. "Dear Lord have mercy on me," he murmured under his breath. The two of you laughed warmly before heading outside.
"Hope you don't mind, but I decided to get out the Jaguar for our drive today," he explained as you approached the beautiful silver vehicle across the street from Tove's. It was Tom's baby, purely him in all of it's british sexiness and sleek design. He drove it masterfully and for him to bring it out for you meant quite a lot.
He opened the passenger side door for you, helping you in with one of his exquisite hands before shutting the door and getting in the driver's seat. You basked in the warmth of the vehicle, running your hands along the heated leather that would feel marvelous when the temperature dropped a few degrees. "I can't really see a reason why I would mind," you answered.
Tom grinned widely before lurching the car onto the road with the same grace he held in everything he did. Your stomach immediately dropped as the car when from 0 to 100mph within five seconds. "And that would be reason number one," you shouted.
He just laughed and turned the radio on as you blasted down the highway in the summer sun.
"It's not that Taylor Swift isn't a good musician, it's just that she's petty. Plus, you're an adult male who also happens to be a freaking billionaire. Why would you listen to Shake It Off like a teenage girl?"
Tom shrugged as he pulled some beach supplies out of his trunk. "Hater's gonna hate, darling. That's all I've got to say about it," he teased warmly.
"You are absolutely hopeless," you answered, exasperated. "By the time this contract is over, I'm going to teach you some actual taste in music."
The beach around the two of you were completely empty, part of some piece of land Tom had bought just to make his beach parties as wild as he wanted them to be. In reality, it was absolutely gorgeous. The sun beat down against the hot pavement and the sound of crashing waves called to you. And Tom stood there, looking too wonderful for words.
Within the next twenty minutes, you found yourself lying in the sun on top of silk sheets, basking in the warmth. Tom was as beautiful as you remember without his shirt on and you were beyond thankful to get the chance to drool over his perfect abs again. Some people think a swimmer's body isn't attractive, but you loved the way his body moved and rippled with strength without cumbersome pounds of muscle. Every ridge as defined and perfect just the way it was. Everyone else could keep their Channing Tatums and Chris Hemsworth. You'd take Tom over any of them any day.
Lying next to him was one of the most peaceful moments of your life. He drew hundreds of figures into your skin as you squinted up at him through the glare of the sun. Between his soft caresses and the lilting conversation, you almost fell asleep.
Until he picked you up fireman's carry and ran straight into the ocean.
Needless to say, you were less than happy as you spluttered and squealed. The ocean is nice, but not so much when your mouth is open. But of course Tom found it freaking hilarious as you glared at him and began to chase him down into deeper waters. But he was in much better shape than you were, always staying just out of your reach as he pulled you further from shore.
After each failed grab, you began to laugh. It was freedom, true and exuberant. You felt young. What could be more perfect than a day reminiscent of everything that makes a heart become weightless? There is no pill, no victory, no man made experience that could compare to the freedom like a child. Yeah, there was still a contract. Yeah, there was a new job to start tomorrow. But there in the ocean, desperately clawing through the water in between fits of laughter for someone you never believed could want you back, it all faded to the background.
By some miracle, or devious plan of Tom's, you managed to catch him just as you weren't able to touch the ocean floor anymore. The devious grin on his face confirmed your suspicions in just enough time for you to collide with his sollide chest. He arms immediately encircled you and pressed you ever closer.
"Look's like I've finally caught you, darling," he purred seductively in your ear, just slightly out of breath from swimming so far. "What shall I do with you now?"
You shivered as you felt his mouth envelop your earlobe and tug gently. "Whatever you'd like, Tom. I'm yours," you moaned.
A low growl was the only warning you had before he began his assault on your lips, sucking every drop of the ocean water from your skin. You gasped softly, giving his tongue access to devour every inch he could get ahold of. Your body began to heat up quickly despite the cool water and you couldn't deny the throbbing that began in your core, like a drumbeat calling to the most primitive instincts.
His strong hands brought your legs up around his torso and pulled your hips against his. You moaned against his lips as you felt his hard length through his swim trunks. As much as you wished the moment wouldn't be put on pause, you unfortunately had a nagging little voice in your head that wouldn't shut up.
You pulled away just enough to regain your ability to talk without making the situation worse. He clearly wasn't happy about the separation, but there was a signed contract that had to be followed.
"Tom, we can't…" You began.
"Why the fuck not?" he growled, trying to pull you close again. "Michael and I both signed on for five months. Have you already chosen so early without giving me much chance? What reason could you have for stopping things?"
Normally, that might have been more than a bit irritating, but you knew it came from the part of him that was still insecure about how you felt. And it's not exactly like the contract did much to ease that. "No, Tom, I haven't made a decision and you have all the time you signed up for. We just don't have any condoms out here," you explained with a soft smile.
"Oh," he answered, quite a bit relieved. He released your body from his and gave you some space. "God, you had me scared for a second!"
You chuckled. "Sorry to give you a heart attack over condoms. If your heart is that fragile, maybe we shouldn't have sex. Wouldn't want you to have a stroke in the middle of cumming," you teased, playing on the joke about his age that had been around since the day he turned 32.
He'd been absolutely miserable all day. It was so odd to you that 32 would be so much of a harder age than 30 must have been, but he positively mourned it. You were a little bit younger than him and he made some joke about how you wouldn't understand until you were his age. Thus the joke was born. You didn't plan on ever letting him live it down.
"I think I'll risk it," he snapped, pulling you close against him again. "Perhaps I'll just have to show you how capable this old man is of giving you pleasure until you can't keep your hands off me." His hips ground into yours, causing a moan to burst out of your mouth. Not that you could really keep your hands off him much already, but you weren't about to deny him the chance to give you pleasure.
But instead of continuing where he left off, he grabbed your sides too quickly for you to notice what he was doing before it was done. "Fuck!" You exclaimed, trying to squirm out of his grasp while he tickled the hell out of you.
After a rather unfortunate happenstance four years ago, Tom managed to discover you were ticklish. Which meant way too many random attacks on your being that you never really protested. Even if the touch was unbearable, you were happy to have him touching you at all.
And just like that, the chase had begun once more, this time he chased you instead of the other way around. The air was filled with laughter and breathless gasps as you tried to evade him. Talk about a muscle workout you were going to feel for weeks.
So chase you he did until the two of you collapsed on the sand in pure exhaustion. You turned your head to the side just enough to watch individual droplets of water cascading off Tom's beautiful body. You loved this side of him. Carefree looked good on a man that had way too much to weigh him down.
Time drifted by completely unnoticed as the two of you talked and talked until the sun began to dip low on the horizon. The conversation drifted from memories of some hilarious drunk co workers at his beach parties to what had happened with the Japanese sect of the company that was dealing with issues.
He was different outside the city limits. His skin becomes a masterpiece of interwoven strands of the purest gold the world has to offer and even the tiniest flaws look like they were painted with the same brilliance used to create the small smile found on Mona Lisa's face. You could write poetry about how brilliant those blue eyes look through the glare of the sun. You could compose huge orchestral movements about the way his voice turns into molten chocolate when he is relaxed. You could create scientific theories, trying to put his very existence into the most complex, impossible to solve equations that would be forever known as the enigma of Tom. But nothing would ever come close to experiencing him in real life.
As the sunset began, he grabbed a cooler from the back of the car and unloaded a delicious dinner of cocktail shrimp, fresh bread, plenty of fruits to go around, and a chilled bottle of red wine. Trust him to go overboard with a freaking beach picnic.
So you sat there, nibbling at the food while the sun dipped towards the horizon, painting the skies in reds, purples, oranges, and blues. The tide came in little by little, but the sheet Tom put down was far enough to keep from being drenched by the oncoming waters.
"Tom?" You asked, looking away from the sunset to catch his gaze. "Can I ask you a question?'"
"Of course, darling. Ask away."
You looked down at your hands, forming the right words in your head before beginning. "Why are you going through this contract for me? I mean, it's not that I'm not happy you are, it's just that I can't see why you would," you asked softly, almost afraid to know the truth.
"Why wouldn't I?" He shot back, meeting your questioning gaze with a warm smile. "I never deserved a second chance with you. For all my money and fame, I had no rights to the woman I wanted more than anything beyond being her employer. I'd driven you away time and time again, and honestly, I was fucking up the very last chance I had rather splendidly. By some miracle, you yelled something at me that renewed all hope that I didn't deserve to have, like fate decided to slam me into the ground and beat some sense into me just to realize there was no other chances after this one.
You had every reason to choose Michael, to send me out your door with my tail between my legs. But you chose to give me one of the happiest moments of my life. And that was more than just the sex," he added after seeing the odd face you made. "It was holding you in your bed, realizing that this was the one thing I'd been looking for. No amount of money could make up for the peace I was only ever going to find in your arms.
Thus, I'm going to stop fucking up these chances you manage to keep on giving me and take advantage of this time you've allotted to win your heart. Because even if I can't have you 100%, you are still worth having only 50%. Hell, I'd even choose to spend the rest of my life being your mail man just to see your face everyday for a few seconds," he explained gruffly.
Even in the fading light, there was no mistaking the burning heat in his eyes. You edged closer to him, entranced by the fire calling to you. He reached his hand up to brush against your face, tracing the contours and shadows there.
"You deserve more than I can afford, and that is saying something. Even if the skies were to rain the purest diamond that the earth could ever bear to imagine, shimmering in perfection, it would still cease to be unbearably worthless against the beauty you possess. And I will do whatever it takes to express this to you in enough ways to make you realize the truth," he whispered as he pulled you even closer.
You took a deep, unsteady breath as his words washed over you. There was no way to comprehend that he was the one saying these impossible things. "I'm afraid I'll disappoint you, Tom. I'm not nearly as wonderful as you seem to think I am," you breathed, fighting the lump in your throat.
"Never," Tom hushed, soothing your very being. "You could never disappoint me."
Your lips closed the distance to his in a heartbeat as you held onto him for dear life. The wave of emotions washed over you like a tidal wave, sending all your carefully constructed defenses to pieces and leaving you open to the most intimate caresses.
His kisses weren't filled with lust, like the others before. They burned, but much like dying embers, they warmed your heart with promises of kindness. And he had no intention of leaving any part of you untouched by their warmth.
His tongue danced with yours slowly, learning each other with his usual grace and perfection while his hands touched every inch of your exposed skin. He discovered the sensitive places of your body, skimming the tendons of your wrists and tracing the undersides of your breasts to your collarbones, down the sensitive nerves of your back and stroking the curves of your hips.
In moments, you were completely drunk off his touch, pulled under him on the soft sheet as his body kept you warm against the cooling air. He kissed lines down your neck and nipped across your collarbones, being careful not to leave too many marks in his wake. He untied the strings holding your bikini together and pulled it off you in one smooth movement before giving your breasts the same attention.
His lips wrapped around your nipple, sucking it into his warm mouth. You moaned softly under the weight of his body and enjoyed the way his hair fell in his face as the wind blew around you. His hands continued their discovery to your lower body, finding the weaknesses of your inner thighs and how you gasped softly as he ran his fingers under your knees. There was no denying your body was reacting to him as the tops of your thighs became wet to his attentions, if the quiet moans and gasps happening at regular intervals weren't enough to tell him.
Finally, his long fingers hooked the elastic top of your bikini bottoms and pulled them off you quick enough that your body hardly felt the temperature difference. Those fingers managed to hone in on your center immediately even in the dimming light, but still took his time to give you relief when you truly needed it. He mapped out every dip and crevice of your most intimate place, memorizing the way you jerked under him as he nudged your clit or stroked a finger inside of you. Or how you moaned when his fingers hit your G spot.
Somewhere from the depths of your minds, your managed to discover you were coming as the slow, tantalizing waves of pleasure swept over you. He helped you to crest over wave and brought you down with expert precision, allowing you the time to feel every ounce of bliss it had to offer before pulling away for a moment to grab a small packet from his backpack.
Hardly even pausing, Tom kicked his swimming trunks off, leaving the two of you completely naked in the waning light of dusk. The moment would forever be imprinted in your mind, him standing there in all of his splendor as the last light of the sun framed him angelically. The moment was only broken as he slipped the condom over his hard length, still stunning you with the pure size of it and kneeled between your legs once more.
He braced himself on his forearms above you, placing himself at your entrance patiently as he met your gaze. The pure truth sitting inside his gaze made you completely breathless as he pressed into your warmth.
The both of you gasped unhibitioned as he slid home into your depths, stretching you so marvelously. All the warm up had helped quite a bit as the pinch from the first time was completely gone, allowing you to feel the perfection of how he fit in you. He brought his lips down to meet yours as he began a slow pace.
There was no point in rushing things. It was going to happen in its own time and there was something beautiful about that. He made love to you so purely without those three words ever being whispered by either of you. It was an unsaid knowing, as the both of you feared the commitment that comes with such deep promises of either forever or never. But it was ok that nothing had been said. You truly didn't mind.
So he slid himself in and out methodically, lulled by the rhythm of nature all around you. You never thought the crashing waves as something sensual until the moment he pounded into you at the same rate. And as the tides rose, so did your orgasm build, threatening you even higher than before.
He sped up just a bit quicker, his deep groans and tensed body telling you he was close. And he didn't have to give you any orders or commands as your body immediately chose to follow him off the edge of oblivion.