20.
"Mr. Sheffield, what are you doing here?!" half-yawned a shocked Fran, gently shaking his sleeping form.
She had wakened, feeling weight on her leg and shoulder. As she looked over, she realized that her boss Mr. Sheffield was sharing her sleeping space and was practically lying half on her. Fran was quite surprised, delighted and not to mention, totally turned-on.
He awoke, startled, and hastily looked at a confused Miss Fine and then scanned the surroundings. Maxwell stretched his arms out, still a wee bit tired.
"I… um…" he struggled, searching for an excuse. "You see Miss Fine, last night you had a bad dream… I heard you as I was walking back to my room after checking on the children. I must have, uh, fallen asleep here. Please, forgive me. I suppose I must have found your bed awfully comfortable."
Unbeknown to her, his justification was a bit of a stretch to what actually occurred.
She faintly smiled at him.
"Hmmm, that's strange; I don't even remember having a bad dream..." Fran scratched her head, baffled. "Thank you though… oh and Mr. Sheffield, it's no biggie. Now we're even!"
"Even?" he questioned, propping himself up by the elbow and raising an inquisitive eyebrow at her.
"Well, yeah! You see… I slept in your bed and you slept in mine, so we're even now," explained Fran, in an uncanny low voice.
She bit her bottom lip and along with her dark eyes, she appeared oh so very tempting. Fran flirtatiously leaned over him and drew small circles on his chest with her finger.
"You returned the favor."
Fran puffed the last word not to far from his mouth. At that time, she let go a charming, nasally laugh and playfully pushed him on the arm.
Her flirting with him in such an intimate setting made him very uneasy.
"Ah, I see Miss Fine," he responded, nervously chuckling at her boldness.
Fran lay back down, with her eyelids only partly open, as the earliness of the morning had not yet taken away all her sleepiness.
"I should leave before Niles walks in here and then gets C.C."
They both chuckled at Max's statement remembering how very upset C.C. had become when she believed Max and Fran had slept together. The chaos that had happened after the last time Max and Fran were found in his bed was not something they both wanted repeated.
"So do you think something really happened that night? That we had… well, you know," wondered Max.
"Sex?" said Fran, daringly.
"Yes," he nervously gulped.
"I dunno, do you want something to have happened?" questioned a curious Fran, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
"What kind of question is that?" asked Maxwell, with a furrowed brow.
He wasn't exactly sure how to answer that.
If he and Miss Fine had actually engaged in sexual intercourse, he supposed it wouldn't have been worth it since he didn't presently harbor the memory. However, the knowledge of it, if they did, would be somewhat pleasurable just because of the simple fact that they had. After all, Miss Fine is a vivacious and ravishing woman. Just to say that he had shared a passionate night with her would make many men jealous, even if the moment could not be revisited during the precious daydreaming hours—not that he would have told anyone anyway.
"I'm not all that sure," admitted Fran.
"I guess we'll just never know and always wonder."
It was weird for Fran to hear Maxwell talk about such a sensitive topic with relative ease.
So I'm not the only one trying to figure out what really happened. He's interested in it all too… thought Fran.
"Anyhow, you mustn't leave yet, I do so enjoy the company… Too bad you can't sleep with my every night, you're so… warm… and… cuddly…" she teased and then giggled. "I rather think I prefer you to a teddy bear."
Maxwell blushed and widened his eyes. Not exactly knowing how to respond to such a comment, he decided to make a joke about it.
"Thank you Miss Fine, it's always great for one to know that they rank just a slight bit higher than a stuffed animal," replied Maxwell, pretending to be slightly offended.
"Oh, Mr. Sheffield… you rank much, MUCH higher and I thought it was a rather nice compliment."
The beguiling, yet innocent way she looked with her head of sexy hair, in much disarray, resting upon her pillow gave him all the courage he needed.
"Speaking of compliments…" Max began to remark.
He paused to give her an amused face to show just what he thought of her so-called "flattering comments." His lopsided smile was so cute and boyish.
"That's a very nice nightgown you have on Miss Fine," he finished, his face becoming dangerously close to hers.
"Oh," she breathily laughed because he was making her anxious. "This old thing?"
"Mmm… yesssss."
He traced the edges of her pastel yellow-colored lingerie while she took in a sharp intake of breath.
"Only, I find it more… alluring than old," he admitted, retracting back some and skimming his hand down her bent, bare leg from her thigh to her calf.
"I-I… uh," Fran stammered, her eyes carefully following his every move.
The way he was leaning over her and having his legs on either side of her body began to make her feel very exhilarated, but jittery at the same time.
This time he was fully conscious and not at all intoxicated, so he was trapped in responsibility.
The backs of his fingers gently caressed the higher, curved skin of her breast just behind the intricate white lace lining of her nightie, while he stared at her chest with his vibrant green eyes for the longest time. He slowly slipped one strap off her shoulder and then delicately ran his hand over that shoulder, down to her collarbone. After doing this, he slowly graduated his sight up to her eyes and gazed at those two sparkling brown pools of hers so heavily that it was hard for Fran to turn away. She found herself becoming lost in his own eyes.
She breathed in hard and turned away from his intense glare. She had to blink her eyes a few times to reassure herself she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating all of this. This happening was something she never would have suspected. Fran's lips stayed parted in amazement.
Oh my gosh, he's touching me… in MY BED! Only in my wildest dreams did that ever happen.
He nuzzled her neck and inhaled in her delectable scent, closing his eyes. Maxwell declined closer towards her body.
"Ooohhh Miss Fine… you smell so… so delightful… mmmm. I can never get enough."
Fran almost died after hearing the words that spilled from his mouth.
He lifted her bent arms and placed them behind her so that they lay on the pillow. Max then ran his fingers lightly over her skin there. She jerked them a little, for his soft touch as endearing as it was, tickled.
They were fully necking on her bed soon after, their arms tightly wrapped around each other. If someone was to come through the unlocked door anytime soon, it would appear as if they were making love and since their bodies were halfway covered by lightweight sheets, you could only just barely tell they weren't. Fran arched her back and her hips as much as possible towards Maxwell's willing body. They grinded together rhythmically and Maxwell kissed her slowly, but affectionately. He was truly savoring her mouth and her taste. Fran grabbed Max's hair and pulled his head more toward hers. Meanwhile, his hand secretly snaked its way underneath her nightgown to right between her legs. Maxwell stroked her center gently at first, but then harder and faster. Her underwear was so very thin and he could easily and certainly feel her as she could to him. She gripped her nails into his shoulders and breathed in harshly.
Fran thought she was going to lose it.
"Ooo… Ahhhhh… OH!" she moaned softly into his lips. "I want you so badly."
Max grinned devilishly at her reaction. He—HE could do this to her! Make her yearn for his touch. It unleashed a very powerful feeling within him.
Even after his hand had let go, she was still throbbing.
When Fran looked at him, she found him staring once again into her eyes with raw lust shining in them. It was deliciously frightening and she gave him such a mind-blowing kiss that put shame to the one she placed upon him after that one kissing contest she went to with Maggie. He gratefully returned it just as incredible and even more so if possible.
They slid against each other again, hands freely roaming. The blankets surrounding them gave a sexual, bedroom atmosphere and a blurry sensual haze. It all made them almost forget they still had pajamas on and made them not think about putting on the brakes.
It even took Mr. Sheffield awhile to fully realize what was happening.
This feels madly close to almost making love… TO HER! This is ruddy ridiculous! What am I doing?
Maxwell pushed off of Fran, his eyes wild, and sat straight up as he completed recognized and comprehended what exactly he was doing. He had gone way too far—inexcusably far—off into the deep end this time with Miss Fine.
"Oh, God! Miss Fine! Please… please forgive me… I—I was completely out of line! I just don't know what to say. I don't quite know what came over me! I promise it won't happen again… I am deeply sorry for my actions," he apologized, watching her eyes quickly glaze over with hurt.
She had heard his excuses too many times before and this was just another occurrence she could add to her long list of his regrets.
He hurriedly made his way out of the room, leaving a disappointed Fran underneath the rumpled sheets by herself. Her hand drifted over to her side, rubbing the warm sheet where he had laid not too long ago and she sighed. The ghost of his presence lingered there as well as on her skin.
Why couldn't he just give in freely or leave her alone? No, he always had to be in-between on things. Her relationship with Mr. Sheffield was like a fork in the road… and she never knew which way he was going to turn. Most of the time though, his "car" just sat idle between the two signs and she was forever in suspense of which route he would take.