The room still looked like a scene from an NC-17 movie, only now more candles were lit. There was a path of them from the bed to the bathroom door, flicking their golden light against the walls. Elly smelled heavy cologne. Isaac prowled slowly towards her, wearing only light linen pants. Where does a person even GET those? Elly thought. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“Er, hello”, she said quickly, in the second before he reached her. Isaac grabbed her roughly and kissed her neck. Elly gasped. Suddenly, her heart was a consuming fire. Passion spread from her toes, up through her belly. It twisted around his hands, which softly stroked the small of her back. To hell with it - who cares, thought Elly, he is so delicious. She pressed her lips roughly against his.
“Take me now,” was on the tip of her tongue when he tried to pick her up without warning. Quickly, he swept his arms under her legs and lifted. Nothing happened. Elly heard a small grunt, a hefty breath and then her legs came up off the floor about two inches. The next thing she knew, they were sprawling across the hardwood floor. Elly rolled a couple of times and ended butt-up, her head inches from the base of the bed.
“Owwww!” she shrieked, grabbing her skinned knees, “you LAUNCHED me!”
Isaac was a couple of feet behind her, laid out on his stomach. “I’m so... sorry” he panted. “You were heavier than I thought.”
Luckily, he didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence, as his linen pajama bottoms suddenly caught fire from one of the candles on the floor. Isaac elicited a high pitched shriek as flames licked up the bottom of his pants. Elly felt adrenaline surge through her, erasing any lingering intoxication. She grabbed the sheet off the bed, which sent red carnation heads showering down around them, and threw it around Isaac’s leg. The small flames on the side of his shin extinguished immediately. She threw a nearby glass of water on him, putting out the rest. There was a moment of awkward silence as he lay back on the floor with a thump.
“Well, that was interesting,” he muttered.
“Are you okay??” asked Elly frantically. “Do I need to call an ambulance? Are you hurt?” She ran her hand over his calf.
“No, but I think I might have lost my leg hair. Do you find that attractive?”
Elly slapped his chest with relief and tried to stand up. “Whoa…I’m still a little woozy still.”
Isaac slowly stood up and walked around the room blowing out the candles. Elly collapsed on the bed, rubbing her sore knees.
Did that just happen? Lord, I dodged a bullet there, she thought to herself. Man, I was so drunk. He got me drunk! Thank you, pants on fire! She lay her head down on the pillow and closed her eyes, the siren of sleep calling her into floaty weightlessness. Suddenly, Isaac was over her, kissing her face and touching the strings that held up her reindeer pants.
“Isaac.” She sat up, kissing him softly. “You were on FIRE. Does that not bother you?”
“Nope,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “It’s not the first time I’ve been on fire this weekend. Just looking at you makes me excited.”
That was it.
“OH-KAY.” said Elly, feeling in control of herself once again. She pushed him off her roughly.
“Isaac. Seriously. I love being here with you. This has been one of the best days ever. You kiss me and I completely lose myself. I have such a good time with you, and I literally count the minutes until I see you again. But I told you in the car that I wasn’t ready for this.”
“Mmm..hmmm,” Isaac murmured, “But I knew you were just saying that.”
Elly pulled herself away from him. “No. I wasn’t. I’m not sure who you’re used to dating, but I’m not that kind of woman. It’s too soon.” Elly paused, weighing her next sentence heavy on her tongue. “You don’t know this, but…I caught my husband having sex with another woman.”
Isaac sat back, shocked.
“Sex is still something that I associate with the worst moment of my life. Aaron was the only man I ever slept with. It might not be a big deal to you, but it is to me. I’ve spent the last two years trying to overcome that one, awful moment.” She cupped his face. “I hope you understand – until I met you, I had not been able to forget about it. Now that I’m with you, I feel alive again. You are so familiar to me. My heart seems to know you. I’m not saying never. I’m just saying not right now and maybe not until I’m married again. I have my Mother’s values.”
Isaac groaned and lay at her side, running his fingers over her arm.
“Okay. So it’s just that? It’s not a religious thing or something?”
“Well, maybe it is a little. I’m a good old-fashioned church girl, you know.”
“That’s hot.”
Elly gave him an exasperated smile. “Listen, I’m just not ready.” She kissed him gently. “But if you still want me, you have my permission to kiss me as much as you want.” Isaac raised his eyebrow.
“Anywhere I want?” Elly growled at him. He laughed lightly. “You are quite the woman Elly Jordan. Frustrating, but intriguing. Thank you for sharing this with me.” He nibbled her ear softly. Elly ran her hand over his back.
“Just one more thing.”
“What?” he said, exasperated.