Twelve Days The Beginning

Chapter Twenty-Three

The two men were still sat at the table chatting when Elise and Celeste returned. Tilly and Sam were nowhere to be seen.

“Didn’t take those two long!” Celeste observed, indicating the empty seats where their friends had previously been sat.

“Must be something in the air tonight.” Elise concurred and at the sound of Celeste’s laugh, both men turned around and immediately separated to allow the ladies to sit back down.

Celeste, however, did not sit and instead grabbed Roger’s hand to lead him to the dance floor where the band was playing a bluesy, slow number.

As soon as Elise slid back into her seat, Vaughn put his left arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. Shivering at the contact, Elise leaned her head into his side and snuggled into the warmth of his jacket.

“So... we are alone at last, it would seem.” Vaughn said, his voice so deep and husky that it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Elise didn’t say anything, not trusting her voice to come out as anything other than a squeak.

Vaughn shifted even closer and placed his lips against her right ear. “Have you ever gone commando before, Elise?” he asked and she immediately looked around alarmed, terrified that a waiter may have somehow materialised again. Relief flooded through her as she realised that they were completely alone, tucked away into this little corner of the ballroom, which was now darkened in deference to the band and the dancefloor.

She looked up at Vaughn. “In all honesty, no – never. No one’s ever asked me to before.”

“What a total idiot your husband is. But in some ways I am grateful to him for inadvertently allowing me to be your first. A selfish part of me wishes I could be all of your firsts but we both have pasts...” A moment of pain flickered across his face and it wasn’t the first time she had noticed it whenever he mentioned his past. She made a mental note to talk to him about it – one day. “...so I know that that would be impossible,” he continued. “This however, is a first that I can claim, and I am going to enjoy every minute of it.”

Before she had time to assimilate any meaning from his words, his right hand had moved onto her lap, and eased lower underneath the table, beneath the snow white damask cover which he pulled at the same time, to completely obscure her lap from view.

She tensed a little and as if feeling it, Vaughn began to draw comforting circles on her shoulder with his left hand, which was still hugging her close. “Trust me, babe – trust me to look after you, please?” he whispered, his breath against her ear making her tingle all over.

She nodded her assent and decided to let go, allowing herself only to feel as his hand continued its journey across the top of her lap. When he moved lower and came into contact with the tops of her hold ups, he paused and once again dragged his hand backwards and forwards across the lace through the material of her dress.

“I can’t wait to see these,” he said, “You have no idea.”

Looking up, she caught the glint in his eye and smiled. Who would have thought a pair of hold ups could have this much effect on a man like Vaughn?

“Well, you’d better behave yourself then. I’d hate to have to disappoint you after you’ve made such a big deal about them.”

“Define ‘behave’.” Vaughn said but before she had time to answer he moved his hand down further, across and over her knee and onto the sensitive skin at the back.

“Would you consider this to be behaving?” he asked, the question largely rhetorical as his hand carried on its journey, following the back of her leg and down her calf. He lingered there for a moment and then leant down a little to take the hem of her dress. Elise’s breath hitched as she realised his intention and hastily looked around to see if anyone was watching. No one was but if they had been, Vaughn completed the manoeuvre in such a way that to anyone on the outside, it looked as if he was merely picking up something that he had dropped on the floor.

As soon as he had the hem in his hands, he began his journey back up her leg; this time with his hand underneath her dress and directly running up the sheer fabric of her hold ups. His upward journey to her knee was relatively quick and Elise drew in a sharp breath as his hand headed over the top of her knee and continued up to her thigh.

“You are so silky smooth, babe – you feel unbelievable.” Vaughn had his lips pressed right against her ear and had started to run his tongue along her earlobe, nibbling here and there at the same time. She was struggling with her control and had to clench her hands together to stop her from just grabbing hold of him and kissing the life out of him in full view of anyone who happened to walk by.

As his hand continued up her thigh and almost reached the lacy tops, he paused and began to whisper in her ear again.

“Have you ever been watched, Elise?” he asked, “In public like this, trying to pretend that everything is normal when, really, you just want to let go like you’ve never let go before? How does that make you feel? Do you like it? Would you like to be watched?” His voice became more intense, his breathing rapid and shallow.

By now Elise had gone way beyond horny and his words, the implication that someone could see what they were doing, had her skyrocketing and she felt a burst of wetness release and trickle down her thigh. Normally, she would have been mortified at her body’s reaction but this was so hot that she was too far-gone to care.

“Answer me, Elise – how does this make you feel?” He was whispering more urgently now, his breath hot as his fingers continued to play at the top of her thighs.



She looked at him and saw the unmistakable lust in his eyes, knowing that it was reflected in hers too.

“This.....” she swallowed “I’ve never done anything like this before but I like it, I think – really like it. It’s so... so hot. I hate the thought of being caught but I love the thrill, the fear. I’ve never felt anything like this before. This is definitely a first.”

“You don’t know how good that makes me feel.” He almost growled in her ear. “We won’t get caught, Elise, I assure you. I told you to trust me and I promise that I will take care of you – just do as I say. I want to make this the best first time that you’ve ever had.”

With that he started to move his hand again; this time reaching the lacy tops of her hold ups where he paused briefly before he continued past them and up her bare leg, heading for the exposed junction of her thighs.

As he got nearer, she felt more wetness release and he groaned in her ear when it connected with his fingers.

“Shit, Elise – you are going to be my undoing. Seriously.”

Slowly he continued to walk his fingers upwards, massaging in her wetness along her upper thigh, until he reached the curls at the apex. Briefly he brushed over them and Elise sucked in a breath, struggling to maintain control as her thighs began to quiver.

“Hold on, babe – hold on for me.” he said, his voice low, sexy, raw and thick with desire.

Leaving her curls, he moved his fingers lower, lightly tracing the line down through her folds, slowly at first, taking her wetness with him; all the while continuing the outward pretence of the two of them sat at a table, heads lowered talking - he with his arm slung across her shoulders. She looked up and met his eyes, saw the passion smouldering there and bit gently down on her lip to stop herself from crying out. Vaughn continued to tease her with his hand under the table, running light circles up, down and around, teasing her, promising more and then moving away, only to return and tease her again. His finger lightly brushed her * and this time she sighed, unable to prevent the small sound escaping and that noise seemed to tip him over the edge. Unexpectedly, as if he could hold on no longer, he thrust a finger inside of her all the way, nipping on the lobe of her ear almost painfully as he did so.

“You are so warm and wet – Christ babe, we really need to get out of here. I’m not sure how much longer I can promise to behave.”

Despite his words, Vaughn added a second finger and began to slowly thrust in and out and around and around, mimicking a similar action with the hand caressing circles on her shoulder. He was still nibbling on her lobe and moved lower to the sensitive spot on her neck just underneath her ear. At the same time he added his thumb to his hand below the table and used it to rub lightly over her curls, parting her folds, teasing her until she was on the brink of losing control.

Suddenly, as if realising where they were and what they were about to do, Vaughn began to slowly withdraw his fingers, placing lingering kisses on her neck as he did so. Elise, however, had reached the point of no return, and clamped her inner muscles down hard onto his retreating fingers, causing him to still.

“Seriously? You really want to do this here?” he asked incredulously, his voice not quite steady.

Helplessly she looked at him – she was lost, she couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried. She needed this release now and if he didn’t give to her, she almost felt like she would die.

Wordlessly, she nodded, there was no point in trying to speak.

“F*ck ...” he bit out as he slammed his fingers back inside of her. “Hell Elise, this is the hottest thing I have ever done – and I mean ever.” He began to thrust his fingers in and out impatiently, all the while continuing to tease her * with his thumb. “I really didn’t think you’d want to do this; I was teasing you, expecting you to pull away but babe, you have well and truly called my bluff. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to get from here to my room now.”

She whimpered slightly as she started to reach her peak and she felt him curl his fingers inside of her as the first waves of her release began to form.

“Put your head into my neck, babe - pretend you’re just resting your head on my shoulder.” He instructed, “Bite down if you need to. I’ll keep you safe but you have to be quiet. Really, really quiet.”

Following his command, she turned her head and connected with the lapel of his jacket just as the first explosion hit. It was by far and away the most incredible experience of her life and she bit down hard into the rough material to stop herself from crying out. The fact that they were still in the ballroom and in a darkened corner only added to the intensity of it all and she rode wave after wave; coming like she had never come before and feeling as if it would never stop. Vaughn continued the assault with his fingers inside her until she was done and then gently removed them when the last of her contractions had passed. His breathing was shallow and uneven and from where her head was resting on his shoulder, she could see the unmistakable bulge in his trousers. She was shattered, completely sated and heady with the knowledge of what she could do to this man.

Slowly Vaughn brought his hand back out from underneath her dress and the table and she watched enthralled as he licked his fingers carefully, his eyes half closed in desire. Almost immediately, she felt stirrings of desire again, and had to look away to prevent herself from doing something way beyond what was acceptable in a public ballroom.

When he had finished, he looked up at her from hooded eyes before glancing around the room seemingly to satisfy himself that no one had noticed anything untoward.

“We were lucky, babe and shit, that was amazing – but we really need to get out of here now. You go first; I need to...compose... myself. I’m in room 154 - take the card and I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.” He thrust the key card into her hand and then helped her to stand and straighten her dress before giving her a playful swat on her backside. “Get out of here, you hussy!”



She smiled and winked at him and then walked to the exit of the ballroom. She turned back just as she got to the door to see that Vaughn had sat back down and had his head in his hands, breathing deeply. And as she closed the door behind her, she registered that he looked as ragged and shell-shocked, as she felt.