This is the end… part 14
The drive from the restaurant to Walter's hotel was filled with pleasant conversation about star clusters, nebula, and possibilities of life elsewhere.
"You said you design, too. So what are you designing these days?" Laura asked.
"A fuel booster for Richard's rocketry. He has aspirations of getting man to Mars, and I may be instrumental in helping him in that endeavor" Walter said as they reached the hotel parking lot. Laura said she needed to retrieve her clothes from when she changed earlier. Reaching Walter's room she went into the bathroom to gather her things, removed stockings and heels and changed into the more comfortable sandals she had on earlier in the day. While she was in the bathroom, Walter had opened his laptop and checked mail. Laura came out of the bathroom and crossed the room toward Walter who rose from his computer.
"Walter, I just wanted to thank you for such a lovely evening," then rose on her toes to kiss him on the cheek and turned for the door. Reaching it with hand out to open the door she turned to Walter and said "Walter, I would really like to stay here with you."
Walter remained standing looking at her then lowered his eyes to the floor.
"Walter….." she said quietly. "Would you like me to stay?"
He brought his eyes up to meet hers for a moment and said "Stay." He moved toward her, she put down her bag and met him halfway. In a moment of hesitation they stood close without touching but eyes locked. She raised her hand to gently stroke his cheek and he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, then slowly reached out to embrace her pulling her against him and their lips met in a soft kiss that quickly deepened. Breaking the kiss, Walter opened his eyes to see the rising need in her icy blue eyes. His right hand following the curve of her hip and back, his mouth again found hers in a deep, searching kiss fueled with a sudden wanton desperation, his pent up desire too long ignored. Her hands moved up his chest to wrap around his neck. There was a need in both for contact, and it was like completing a circuit, the power exhilarating. Walter thought of nothing but the feel of her bare skin after he pulled the zipper of her dress and it fell to the floor at her feet and he held her tight against him.
"Walter" she breathes and the last tenuous leash of restraint in him snaps. He wrapped his arms around her and unclasped her bra and it too falls to the floor. She unbuttons his shirt to feel his chest for skin to skin contact. He sweeps her off her feet to carry her like a bride to the bed and lays her down, just staring at her on the white sheets while he kicks off his shoes and undresses while she prepares herself to receive him. She has long passed the point of waiting to be taken- she sits up and pulls him to her, settling herself for full acceptance of him. Slow savoring of the perfect fit she sighs his name in satisfaction of his entry. Heat and friction as he drives into her, she meets him at every stroke until her tremors surround him and she arches in release with soft sounds of pleasure and she hangs on tighter to him as he makes a last deep thrust and gains release to spill his essence into her with a moan, both totally sated.
He lay back and she curls herself against him- head on his shoulder, arm across his chest and leg over his.
"You know, when I met you I was drawn by your intellect, you are certainly easy on the eye, but I never would have imagined such passion" she muttered in a partial doze. Walter pulled a cover over them and joined her in sleep.
Walter awoke to the warmth of Laura still curled against him- head on shoulder, one leg over his and her arm over his torso. He laid there enjoying the feeling, just the easy feeling of total acceptance of him. There was no need to hesitate when saying anything, no need to be careful how he acted. He turned his head and kissed her temple, brought his hand up to cup her breast and she sighed and smiled in her half-awake state.
"I think it is time for a shower… though I would really rather lay here in the warmth of your embrace" Laura said. "Gods, you are amazing. Handsome, incredibly smart and a lion between the sheets."
"You flatter me. Thought we were to be seeing the sights of Boston today. Come," said Walter. "Let's take a shower, get dressed and go have breakfast somewhere."
"You are going to have to tell me how you got such scars- cannot imagine anyone deliberately inflicting such pain."
(Reference fan fiction 'Line of Fire' and 'Red' by Vesper Nexus, 'Discovering Terror' by Yesm777)
"It is all forgotten, past, and not worth discussing as long as it does not disgust you."
"Why should anything about you disgust me?" Laura asked giving him a kiss as hot water flowed over them. She reached down and said, "Maybe we should have taken a cold shower and made herself accessible to him as he pressed her against the shower wall to the satisfaction of both.
They dried each other off and got dressed. "How disappointing. I was hoping to never have to get dressed as long as you were here," Laura remarked while combing her long dark hair and pulling it to one side in a braid to hang along her shoulder. "However, I did hear someone's stomach growl…. a lion, indeed. So, food is the next order of the day."
Walter would be on the evening flight to LA so the Bach concert was left for another day. He packed his bag, put his laptop in its case and checked out of the hotel and put his things in her car's trunk. They went to the mom-n-pop restaurant for clam chowder then walked to a park to enjoy the day and each other's company.
"You are more quiet than usual, Walter. What's on your mind?"
"Many things, nothing, you," he said.
"OK, talk to me. We just spent an incredible night and morning of personal intimacy- we know every inch of each other's body- inside and out, really, what can you possibly hesitate to say to me?"
He looked at her for a moment then asked "have you ever known someone who was the 'love of your life'? Someone you find it hard to breathe if they are away from you?"
"Oh yeah….. Jeffery. The sun rose and set on him. I know a piece of me died when he left- thought I was going to die totally when he left. Turns out what died was my unrealistic life expectations. As is said, 'reality is a harsh teacher'… and it is, especially when it smacks you upside the head while stabbing you in the heart at the same time. I take it your taciturn nature is the result of such an experience. When you talk of science, mathematics, designing, coding you are animated yet never speak of social topics, friends, lovers- just work, science, math."
"Yes, lost everything- my love, my friends, those I thought of as family, my business, my purpose, my very core self… everything. My only salvation was doing contract work for Richard. Staying focused on so many diverse jobs- coding, designing, testing, the Reinler panel, the lectures here. I had a hard time breathing, a harder time sleeping- I have a crazy service dog that wakes me when the nightmares start. On my normal self, I am barely human, that was her verdict. Immature, as socially inept as a fifteen year old, lacking in emotional development, and not man enough to satisfy a woman… I have been completely untethered and adrift."
"Wow, I thought the scars on your body were bad; your mental scars must be monumentally worse- she really did a number on you. As far as being incapable of satisfying a woman, I can personally verify that is a massively invalid statement of the highest order. Good grief- immature? You have handled MIT professors and students with amazing intellectual capacity- an immature person certainly could not pull that off. I watched the Reinler panel recording when it was made available- my god, you had all that information and incredibly advanced mathematics in your head instantly when questions were fired from all angles. Same with the two sessions here at MIT. I certainly do not understand what was expected of you by these people, but it sure was not realistic. Funny, sounds like the 'love of my life' and the 'love of your life' should get together- what a stressful life they would have…. until they kill each other."
"So, even though you went through such an emotional loss, devastating, even, do you still dwell on it?" Walter asked. "Or is it like recovery from a life threatening disease or accident? There really is a light at the end of the tunnel rather than a train that is going to smash you into a million pieces never to be whole again?"
"Yes, Walter. One does survive such a devastating loss. May never have that all- encompassing, irrational love again, but there are the more adult relationships- focused on one person, love, contentment, satisfaction, respect, admiration, all of which are more sustainable and certainly much less destructive to ones well-being. But, that's all my so very humble opinion for what it is worth. Time heals all things, even a shattered heart. All these sayings, adages, morals to stories are just some of the many ways mankind has passed on through the generations that crap happens, you are not alone, and yes, it hurts like hell, but as the wise men told the king: 'This too shall pass'." Laura snorted. "Never thought I could be jealous of someone I never met, but I am. That a woman could have the love of a man like you and throw it away. THAT I find disgusting. Come on, lets stroll around, you will be sitting on a plane for a long flight. I want to enjoy what time I have with you."
They strolled all around the downtown Boston area, had coffee, and watched the sun set. "We have beautiful sun rises over the water, I will think of you and beautiful sun sets in the west over the ocean…. time to get you to the airport, sad to say."
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