As Sully carefully moved to the back of her dress, he noticed the laces of her dress had become tangled. Reaching for the knot that seemed easy enough to fix he pulled on it, but that seemed to make things worse.
Michaela, realizing that he was shifting around, quickly remarked, "Sully, is everything okay?" She knew it was possible for the laces to tangle easily and it dawned on her that she had been shifting around on her back moments ago. He replied, " Uhhh, yeah, hold on." After feeling him tug on her dress a little he paused and said, "Michaela, I think the laces are tangled."
She tensed a little and replied, "Sully, the top of my dress is loose but I can't get this off without taking some of them out, you have to do something." He grew frustrated, not with her, just frustrated with the fact that he could no longer remove her dress even if he had wanted to. She bit her bottom lip as he pulled on her dress trying to loosen the knot, but every move just pulled the dress against her breast and that certainly wasn't helping her cool down any. She started to worry a little about what they would do if they arrived in Denver with a dress that couldn't be tightened or loosened.
Sully stopped pulling for a moment and said, "Michaela, if I had my tomahawk or my knife I could just cut them, but, I didn't think I would need them for this trip." Suddenly she gasped a little, "Sully, my bandage scissors! My doctor's bag is behind the chair over there!" He got up and walked over to the chair, reaching behind it and picking up the bag he made his way back over to her and handed it to her. She set the bag on her lap and opened the top. Removing her stethoscope, she placed it in her lap, close to her body. Then reaching back inside the bag, she pulled out a pair of scissors.
She held them up for him to take. Sully took them from her and because they were on a moving train and he didn't want her to get hurt by a jab from their tips, he put the back of his hand to her back and slid it down until he reached the area of the tangled knots. She arched her back as the dress tightened around her. She heard a few snips and the fabric loosened again. "There," he breathed a sigh of relief, "now we can get your dress off."
He hadn't meant it to sound anything but platonic, but it hit both of them at the same time. Yes, that was the current goal wasn't it, to get her dress off. She sat very still and he held the scissors over her shoulder and she slowly took them from his hand and put them back in the bag. Sensing that her nerves were getting the better of her at the moment, Sully got off the bed and moved around her so he could look in her eyes.
Crouching in front of her, he took her medical bag, and turned. Because he hadn't noticed the stethoscope was still outside of her bag, when he took it she immediately reached down to get them, fearing they would not be returned to their proper place. "Sully, wait." He turned around and crouched again. Michaela looked at the device and back up at him. She lifted the device slowly so she could hand it to him but just before he took it, she pulled back a little and separated the two ear pieces. She slowly lifted them to him and put them on his ears, then guiding the end to her chest, she placed it upon her breast above her heart.
Michaela didn't need the stethoscope to know that her heart was pounding rapidly but she wanted him to hear it, maybe this would make him understand how nervous she was once again becoming. Sully was gently startled when he started hearing the rapid thumping noises. He listened with wonder as he searched her eyes. Leaning towards her he slowly kissed her lips and her heart sped up a little and the thumping got a little louder. He reached for her hand placing it over her breast as he listened to the changes. Then he released her hand and removed the ear pieces, gently placing them in Michaela's ears. She heard the pounding sound of her heart racing with arousal. Pulling it away from himself, the sound had disappeared and he stood. Sully reached for the edge of his shirt, he pushed it up, and grabbing the collar, he leaned over pulling it off of himself. He respectfully laid it on one of the wingback chairs and moved back to her.
Kneeling, he looked into her eyes. Michaela had been staring at his chest, as her eyes shifted to his. It was broad and muscular, a very healthy example of a man. She had seen his chest before but this was different, knowing she could now touch him without reproach, knowing she could allow herself to be pleased with the feeling of it beneath her hands. If only she had the confidence to do so. Sully noticed the way she looked at him, he noticed her hesitancy, and maybe something familiar was the perfect place to start. He reached for her hand that held the end of her stethoscope.
Even though he had a good idea where to place the end over his heart, looking into her eyes he gently said, "show me where Michaela." She placed their hands above his heart and shifted the end slightly. And she heard his heart pounding rapidly, and it seemed to be beating just as fast as hers. He let her listen for a moment and then he leaned forward kissing her lips as the intensity increased. He pulled back, and reaching for her hand he took the end of the stethoscope and held it against himself as he moved her hand to his body. She slowly rubbed her hand over his skin, caressing across his chest and feeling the hardness of his nipples as they reacted to the change in temperature and her touch. All while she listened to the same pounding heart as it sped up with arousal.
He reached forward and removed the two ear pieces from her, taking her bag and carefully placing the medical device back inside. Then he closed it and stood, returning the bag to its place behind the chair. Making his way back to her, he reached for her hand. He led her to her feet and then pulled her to him, stopping when they were close but not touching. He took her hand and he kissed it, leading it back to his chest, he stopped just before touching it to him. He let her be the one that continued.
And she did continue, now that she had touched his bare chest moments ago. She slowly rubbed his chest pausing at his nipple, she let her fingers gently caress over him, rubbing straight across and looking up at him as she did so. He was very still, letting her take her time, and she was enjoying the feeling of his skin, and the hair on his chest. She looked over his chest with wonder, but then she paused. Looking up, looking into his blue eyes, it all felt very one sided. She removed her hand from him and put her hands down to the front of her dress as she held her hands together and lowered her head, looking to the side and searching her feelings. She wanted to take her dress off now, she wanted more.
Sully realized she was struggling with her emotions and he wanted to help her, like she had asked him to do. So he walked around her with eyes that lingered as he moved past her. He studied every part of her dress while it still clung to her body, knowing that he would finally be looking upon her as he had longed to for quite some time in a few short moments. It was a beautiful dress, she was beautiful in it. He moved to her back and softly whispered, "Thank you for being so beautiful today, I'll never forget the way you looked as you walked towards me with your veil upon your face." He put his hands on her shoulders and bent to her neck, repeating the kiss that he had given her not so long ago on the cattle drive. Yet again, she trembled as she stretched her neck to the side and lifted the spot he kissed toward him to provide the most sensual contact possible. He slowly pulled against the remaining laces, loop by loop, removing the very last tension that held her dress to her body. When the laces were removed he simply released them and they gently fell to the floor.
Michaela was holding her dress to herself, and she knew all that was left to do was slide it down her body. She had removed her camisole when they had altered the dress at the last moment. Sully remained behind her and he kissed her neck again, and like that fateful day not so long ago, he turned her head to him and passionately kissed her lips, growing more passionate as their tongues gently caressed each other. She let go with one hand to reach to the back of his head and press him into her. She gently grasp his hair and rubbed her fingers through it as she repeatedly kissed him deeper and with more emotion. When they stopped, he slowly moved around her side and grabbing her dress where it met the tops of her breast with both hands, he started slowly pulling down, until her nipples revealed themselves and she used both of her hands to grab the dress where it met her hips and push it further down her body until it was a pile of fabric on the floor.