Chapter 46: The Couch Debate
"Do all the good you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can." – John Wesley
"I arise from dreams of thee / In the first sweet sleep of night/ When the winds are breathing low/ And the stars are shining bright." – Percy Shelley
Vaughn woke to find himself in unfamiliar surroundings. A light glow was emanating to his right, but his view was blocked. He was in semi-darkness, but he couldn't really see anything yet; his eyes hadn't adjusted. He was taken with a wave of panic, thinking maybe he was dreaming, then dreading for a second that all he thought had transpired may have been the dream and he was still on that hard, cement floor. The slightly stirring body next to him, however, shattered any dread he carried. Sydney was with him, she was by his side, and he knew everything was all right. He tried to figure out what exactly he was doing here, until he realized that he was on the couch. Must have fallen asleep, he thought. He tried to clear out the cobwebs of his brain, and then remembered dinner, and a movie, but he didn't remember the movie – must have fallen asleep before the movie. And Sydney didn't want to move me, so she slept here with me instead. He was moved with emotion for the woman at his side. He marveled at all she could accomplish and all she did, and that she chose to be with him. He couldn't remember if he'd been dreaming, but if he had been, it hadn't been a nightmare, because he woke up calm and collected. He glanced over Sydney towards the fire, and noticed that it was still crackling. He mustn't have slept too long; otherwise the fire would be much lower.
The flames transfixed him for a few minutes again; he wasn't really tired anymore, but was content to just lay with Sydney and be entertained by the flickering of the fire. He was strangely comfortable on the couch as well, it didn't seem to be this big or this comfortable any other time he'd been an occupant of it, but then again, Sydney wasn't sleeping with him those other times.
He was watching the flames again, after studying Sydney's sleeping form for several minutes. The fire…he remembered fire…burns…hmm…his thoughts suddenly took a turn towards the negative. He tried to push those out of his mind, but found that no matter where he tried to transfix his gaze, it always seemed to end up on the flames…and pain…
He didn't want to disturb Sydney, but slowly, shadows began creeping in on him. He tried closing his eyes, but that was a really bad idea, because all he saw was torture and all he felt was agony. When he opened his eyes, the flames burned him. Even though they were over 8 feet away from the couch, they burned him. He shuddered under the blanket and huddled closer to Sydney, burrowing his head in her shoulder. She stirred slightly, and he backed off, not really wanting to invade her probably wonderful dreams with his flames, but she slowly opened her eyes and yawned at him. She smiled and was about to say something, but she caught a glimpse of his face in the firelight and knew that something was wrong. She shifted so she was holding onto him, "What's the matter Vaughn?"
"N-Nothing," he said.
"Hmm…yeah…remember when we had our whole talk about communication? You need to exercise that right now. Don't lie to me, I know you're scared of something."
"Fire…"
"You're scared of the fire?" Sydney asked confused.
He nodded and closed his eyes, which was a bad idea again, and he opened them quickly before covering his eyes with his hand.
She reached up and moved the hand away and forced him to look into her eyes. There was fire there too, but a different kind, a pleading kind, a gentle fire, asking, urging him to tell her what was wrong.
He shivered and she moved closer, moving her body closer to give him warmth.
"I don't know what the hell is the matter with me," he said rather abruptly. So abrupt that Sydney almost jumped, but she refrained knowing this would only make him feel bad.
"What do you mean?"
"Jesus Christ, I mean, I'm fine, I wake up, you're here, everything's fine. I'm fine…there's nothing wrong and then I'm looking at the fire – I mean it's a goddamn fireplace, it's not evil…but all I can see is Sloane, all I can hear is myself screaming, and all I can feel is pain."
She was surprised at his candor, but was grateful for his truthfulness. "Vaughn, there isn't anything wrong with you. I'm sorry, you know, I never really thought of that – I maybe shouldn't have started the fire…"
"It's a fire Sydney, not Sloane, and I know that…my mind knows that, my heart knows that…but it's like it doesn't matter. Once the thought is there, I can't get it to go away, and every time I look over there," he pointed in the direction of the fire, "I just can't stop myself…and it's bad, really bad…I mean, I can't go around the rest of my life seeing Sloane and thinking about torture when I see a match or something!"
"Vaughn, give yourself a break…come on…it hasn't been that long…things are going to stick with you and things are going to trigger memories. Every time I see a grasshopper, I think of that dumb joke we both knew," Sydney said and then realized the stupidity of that remark. She backpedaled quickly before he could respond, "Now, hang on, that's not exactly how I meant that to come out. I didn't mean to make it sound as though your trigger was as stupid as the joke or anything…it was just an example, a really bad example…"
Vaughn was smiling at her, "It was kind of funny…"
"The joke isn't funny," she said in reply.
"Well, no…I understand what you're saying though…I know…I just gotta cool it…"
"How long were you awake? Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I don't want you to have to live in the 'afraid of fire' world, Sydney. Now every time YOU see fire, you'll think of that."
"How do you know I don't already? Stop worrying, and I don't want you going through this stuff alone…" she moved his face so he was looking into her eyes again, "Did you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Good…wake me up!"
"Ok!"
"Ok…" She kissed him and looked over to the fire. "What will help you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you want to make a new memory of fire?"
"I'm lost Sydney…"
"Well…" she said, "maybe if we make a new memory for you, it'll help replace the bad one…you know, so that even if you think of the bad stuff, you can remember the good and then the bad – it won't be so bad…like 'it's just Tom.'"
He smiled, "New memory, huh?"
"Yeah."
"What did you have in mind?"
"I might be able to come up with something." She said as she gripped him through his boxers.
"How did you get me undressed without waking me up?" he asked suddenly.
"I'm very talented," she replied as she stroked him, reaching her hand inside the opening of the material.
"Mmm…very…" he groaned.
She pulled him out through his boxers and moved down his body, pumping him the whole way down. When she reached his penis, she licked the tip, and ran her tongue all over the head. When she was done, she moved back to the tip, and sucked the pre-cum off of him. She cradled his balls with her right hand, while taking position at the base of his cock with her left. She began to work in unison, massaging his balls, stroking up and down from base to the head, and sucking on the tip all at the same time. His hips were bucking upward already and she kept up the motion until his legs started to shake. Then, she slowed down and let the tip of his penis slip out of her mouth with a soft 'pop.'
He groaned at the loss and looked down at her with smoldering eyes. She sat up between his legs, and moved, peeling his boxers off of him. Then she helped him sit up and removed the shirt as well. She laid him back down and stood up, his eyes followed her with interest. She stood before him, illuminated by the light of the fire, and slowly peeled her shirt off. He watched as the silky material slid from her slender shoulders and dropped soundlessly to the floor. She reached her hands to the waistband of the pajama bottoms and swayed her hips from side to side as she slowly moved the pants down. She eased out of them, as he watched her saunter over to him. Her eyes never left his; save for a quick glance she made at his straining cock. She moved slowly, swinging her hips again, her breasts swayed with the motion of her hips as she walked over to the couch. She moved to sit on his stomach and brought her breasts down to his mouth. He eagerly sucked on them, and she felt a rush of heat and moisture at her center. He nibbled and twisted the nipples with his good hand and felt his cock enlarge even more when he felt her wetness coat his stomach.
She was moaning as he licked and suckled her nipples, kneading her breasts as she rocked slowly on his stomach. She moved away, down his body further and reached for his throbbing cock. She stroked him a few times and then led him to her core. Her wetness coated the head as the first inch of him entered her. He bucked his hips gently and another inch sunk in. She watched with interest as he bucked his way inside her. Once he was fully sheathed inside her, she smiled at him and made slow, circular movements with her hips. His hips began to move with her in circles and then she drove him crazy by changing directions. Just when he'd work up a rhythm clockwise, she'd change the motion to counter-clockwise. His cock was throbbing inside her and she knew if she kept up her circles, he'd come in no time. She changed course, shifting her weight and making him move with her, in and out, in and out. Then once he was working that rhythm, she changed again and moved in a circle.
"God Sydney, you're driving me insane."
"I know…" she smiled at him playfully and did it again.
His hips were making more erratic thrusts, and she knew he was close, but decided to tease him a little and then help him more.
"Vaughn?" she asked.
"Yeah?" he said breathily.
"Are you gonna come?" she asked innocently, but her powerful squeeze of her inner muscles was not innocent.
"Oh, God, yes, Sydney…soon…"
"Good…" she said as she stopped moving entirely.
"Wha?"
"Relax…look at the fire…"
He glanced over and his face changed slightly.
"Keep looking…" she instructed as she started her movements again.
"Mmm…" he said as he looked back at her.
"No, look at the fire Vaughn."
"But I want to look at you, I don't want to think about the fire."
"I want you to look at the fire, Michael."
Oh God, he knew he was gone when she called him Michael. He looked over at the fire, but there weren't any shadows anymore. It wasn't dark in the room; it was warm and cozy. Sydney kept her movements up, watching him, knowing that her plan was working. His eyes closed briefly and when he opened them, he looked over at her.
"Look at–"
"I will…" he said, cutting her off. He pulled her down to him, and kissed her fiercely, because he finally knew what she had planned, he understood.
He looked back at the fire, and watched as the flames flickered, two smaller flames became one flame, merging totally, melding into one entity. The fire wasn't scary; it was love. The warm colors played off the couple, and Sydney felt a warmth as Vaughn spasmed and ejaculated his seed deep inside her. She came with him, making him turn his head to look at her when he came. The light made Sydney look like an angel, just like the light had done the previous night. She was his angel. She stayed on him after he came, the fire in the fireplace reduced to smoldering embers as the two came down from their blissful precipice.
