Work Text:
Mel awoke the next morning feeling fuzzy. And warm. And — for the first time in a long time — satiated.
She stirred slowly despite the alarm clock screaming next to her bed. Sunlight was filtering in through the gap in her curtains; the early morning breeze from her open window felt deliciously cool against her bare legs. She hugged the pillow under her cheek closer as her eyes flickered open hazily. Groaning, she reached over and slapped the top of her alarm to snooze it. She knew from bitter experience that she had a short hour to ready herself for work. Usually it was plenty of time since she lived close to the hospital, but something was tugging at the fuzzy corner of her memory… she had some things she needed to take care of before work this morning…
Mel's eyes flew wide open. Memories were flooding into her suddenly wide awake brain faster than she could keep up with.
Her pent up sexual frustrations the night before… the phantom weight of Langdon's fingers down her throat turning into his cock down her throat… ripping her pajamas off to start grinding against the prize bear he had won for her at the fair yesterday afternoon… the fantasy of riding his face until she came…
"Oh god," Mel whispered, stricken. She was still half naked now, she realized— she had been too exhausted to dress herself again after her late-night activities. Mel rubbed her bare legs together slowly, wincing as she felt a wet sheen on her thighs when she grazed them together. Was she really wet again already? Just from the memory of what she had done last night… of the debased things she had imagined?
Mel groaned and rolled onto her back, rubbing her hands down her face slowly. Langdon was on the schedule for today. He had even parted from her at the fair with a playful "See ya tomorrow!" the day before; she knew she wouldn't be able to avoid him at work. Only this time, she would have to look him in the eyes and pretend that the night before she hadn't fantasized about the exact length and weight of his cock in her mouth…
The alarm blared again. Mel grumbled out loud and hit the off button this time. Only 55 minutes left to shower, eat, and throw last nights guilty evidence into the wash now. Mel pulled her glasses on and jumped out of bed, flushing as she looked down at the tangled pile of fabric from the night before. Her crumpled blanket, her sodden pajamas… and the teddy bear. As if in a trance, she picked up the toy.
Its chest and face were a mess of clumped, stiff fur from where her release had dried into it. Its eyes and nose still had a shiny sheen from her dragging herself across them last night, and the red bow was completely untied and hanging loosely from its stitching in the back of its neck. Mel flushed to gaze down at it, but she couldn't ignore the sickening pull of arousal in her gut as she did. She couldn't spend all day feeling bad about what she had done— as she had reminded herself last night, he would never know. What was wrong with her simply… meeting her most human of needs? Using… whatever she had on hand? She didn't exactly self-pleasure often enough to own a vibrator, so Mr. Stuffles here was about all she had.
The name that popped into her head made her giggle and relax. Her shoulders loosened as she shook her head at herself. Before she gathered the rest of the items for the wash, however, she couldn't resist grabbing her phone off the bedside table to snap a quick picture of the scene.
She sat on the edge of her bed and angled the phone down, covering herself demurely with the stuffed animal. The picture was downright filthy: the bear was wrecked, the obvious remains of what had happened to it last night clear across its front, and she held it in a way to just scantily cover the sight of her bare pussy. Her pajamas were tangled on the floor by her feet; the shorts were obviously stained in the crotch from her release the night before, but it was nothing compared to the crumpled, sodden mess of her underwear.
Despite herself Mel bit her lip as she examined the photo, her heart jumping as she noticed that her inner thighs were ever so slightly exposed and there was a hint of shiny arousal trickling down her leg. Mel glanced down and saw it was still there, glistening against her pale skin, and let out a stunned breath. She couldn't remember the last time her sexual needs had felt this insatiable… even though she still felt vaguely guilty for what she had done the night before, and even though she was still worried about facing Langdon at work, she had a sneaking suspicion that this might not be the only time "Mr. Stuffles" would be used like this.
Mel sighed to herself and looked over the photo one last time. For just the briefest of seconds she let herself imagine a world where her and Langdon were dating… where she could innocently snap this picture and send it to him, just to watch him combust. But of course, that was not this world. Mel's finger hovered over the delete button, but instead she turned her phone off and stooped to grab the rest of her laundry off the floor. After all, what was wrong with keeping a little souvenir?
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Mel was showered, dressed, fed, and out the door in record time. Well, the shower took longer than usual: every time she went to clean her chest or between her legs she would get distracted by images from the night before and get lost staring distantly into the steamy bathroom. Her clit was aching again by the time she finally ripped herself out from under the showerhead, but she knew she didn't have time to soothe it the way she really wanted to so she was determined to save it for later.
She dressed quickly in a standard t-shirt— today she chose a mustard-yellow top with a bumblebee and flowers graphic to match the words "save the bees," since it reminded her mischievously of the pajama set she had worn during her… extracurricular activities the night before. She braided her hair neatly and started the laundry, throwing everything she had soiled the night before into the washing machine with reckless abandon before she scurried into the kitchen to grab something for the road.
A few minutes later and she was walking to work, squinting into the rising sun as she munched on a piece of avocado toast. It wasn't much, but she wasn't big on breakfast anyway; her bag was packed with a more substantial sandwich on the off-chance she actually got a lunch break today. She usually loved mornings, but today felt so different. After staying up too late last night committing all kinds of sins, going to work was the last thing she wanted to do right now. Mel thought sadly of the teddy bear, tumbling around her little washing machine, and her chest ached. She was going to retie its bow as soon as she got home that evening.
Her plan was to avoid Langdon as much as she could today. Which of course meant he was the first person she saw upon arriving at work.
"Mornin' Mel!"
Mel slammed her locker shut. Langdon jumped at her side.
"Oh! Sorry," Mel laughed, pulling on her brightest smile before turning to face him. Her stomach was churning.
God, he looked good today. He already wore his scrub bottoms but he was pulling his top on as he spoke to her; her eyes trailed across the tight black t-shirt that hugged his frame as he pulled on the top. She averted her eyes just in time for him to attempt eye contact again.
"Done your morning rounds yet?" he asked cheerfully, running a hand through his dark locks to push them back into shape. Mel mourned the lack of hair gel he had worn yesterday.
"N-no, not yet. I just got here." Mel gestured to her locker awkwardly and pulled her braid over one shoulder, fiddling with its end. Langdon's eyes followed her movements and fixed on her fingertips. A flush was threatening to make its way up her neck as she flashed back to the night before. Her fingers… sliding against her tongue… moaning around her own digits as she imagined Langdon shoving his fingers down her throat instead…
"Cool. Same. Shall we?"
Mel shoved her hands into her pockets and smiled thinly up at him as he gestured for her to lead the way out of the locker room. She scurried out, head down as she tried to shove the encroaching thoughts away. Langdon followed at her hip, easily keeping pace with his long legs. His hands were shoved deep into his own pockets as well.
The morning went… just about as smoothly as she could have hoped for. They were busy, as usual, but not so busy that she couldn’t bury herself in charting, or helping out with triage, or really anything to keep her apart from Langdon. He didn’t make it easy on her though— how had she never realized just how often he would pull her into a case with him? It seemed every time she was just beginning to relax and let her guard down he was calling across the ED floor that he needed her hands on some new case or other. Every time she folded, determined to prove to herself that she was just as capable of focusing at work now as ever before. She had told herself last night that what she had done wouldn’t affect her working relationship with him and by god she was determined to prove that to herself.
By 1 p.m. she was exhausted. There was enough of a lull in cases that she was actually able to slip off to the break room and rest for a moment— it felt good to get off her feet for awhile. But just as she had pulled out her sandwich and was preparing to eat, Langdon found her.
Because of course he did.
“Hey, that looks good.” He smiled as he entered the break room, closing the door softly behind him. They were alone.
“Mmyeah,” Mel mumbled around a mouthful, nodding quickly even as she prayed he wouldn’t stay long. She had been hoping she wouldn’t feel like she had to rush her lunch and get back to work. Her work of avoiding him, that was.
‘Please don’t stay please don’t stay oh god he’s getting his lunch out please don’t sit down— of course he’s sitting down.’
“I barely grabbed something to eat on my way out this morning,” Langdon admitted, settling across from her at the small table. Mel blushed as his foot knocked innocently against hers. She glanced at his plate, pulled fresh from the microwave.
“…Corndogs?”
“Hey, don’t judge,” Langdon scoffed, though his eyes were sparkling. "I snagged them from the fridge this morning. They're Tanner's favorite afternoon snack, but these reminded me that I didn't get one at the fair yesterday."
"Yum," Mel laughed, though she personally couldn't stand anything to do with hotdogs. The texture was… not great. "Hey, doesn't Abby usually pack you lunch? Oh no, is she still not feeling well?"
"Uh…" Langdon shifted in his seat. Mel tilted her head at the change in his tone— she wasn't great at picking up the difference, but she could tell that his voice was deeper and more strained than before. He picked up a steaming corndog and idly blew on it. "Yeah, she's still not feeling too good. Kids are with their grandparents for the day."
"Oh, well. That's good?" She wasn't sure why she said it like a question instead of a statement. Langdon smiled to himself and took a bite of the corndog, hissing at the sharp steam in his mouth. Mel averted her gaze and took another quick bite of her sandwich. The flavor completely passed her by, though; her brain was too focused on chanting 'don't look don't look don't look' at her.
But how could she resist when his legs were spreading before her? Langdon leaned back in his chair and focused his gaze somewhere over her head as he chewed. One hand held the corndog while the other casually rested against his thigh— his open thigh. His legs parted as he got comfortable in the chair, casually man-spreading as far as he could in the little space by the table. Mel allowed her gaze to dip for just a second, just long enough to glance over his crotch as she remembered the fantasy of his scrubs lowering before her eyes… the image of his dick slowly revealing to her as he pulled them down in front of her face…
"Actually, we had a fight last night."
Mel snapped her head up from where it had begun to dip towards his lap so fast that she choked on her bite of sandwich.
"I— uh, what? H-how come?"
She was always so awkward whenever he brought up his marriage troubles to her. She had never even had a real relationship, let alone been married before; she had no idea how to help him, but she was determined to try to listen and empathize in whatever way she could. Even if it made her heart leap in ways that made her deeply uncomfortable.
Langdon sighed long and low, side-eyeing his corndog before he spoke. "She was… less than thrilled that I took the kids to the fair yesterday."
Mel blinked a few times, taken aback. "Uh… why?"
"Well I kinda… I might've not asked her before I took them. Or told her where we were going before we got there. She didn't know until I sent her a pic of them on the Ferris wheel with me and she kinda… freaked out."
Mel understood a thing or two about being overprotective, but this still made her frown in confusion.
"Oh. So… sorry, why did that upset her, exactly? Was she worried about them being on the ride?"
"No— well, yeah, but not just that. I kinda have a habit of, well… in her words, 'leaping without looking.' I don't always include her in my decision making as much as I should, and I know that— I acknowledge it and I've been working on it, I swear, but… this was just the county fair, and she needed a quiet house so she could actually get some rest. I thought I was doing her a favor."
Langdon's rushed speech grew low and grumbly towards the end, making him resemble a petulant toddler more than a well-respected doctor. He took a sharp bite of his corndog and chewed harshly, which didn't help rid the resemblance. Despite the situation, and despite Langdon's obvious frustration, Mel couldn't quite resist an amused smile. She hid it behind her sandwich as she struggled to find a response.
"So… she would've rather known where you were taking the kids before you got there, right?"
"Well… yeah, and that's well within her right, but… I dunno, I didn't really appreciate the way she talked to me about it. They're my kids too, dammit, and I take good care of 'em! She insinuated I might even lose them at the fair without someone else there to help."
"You do take good care of them," Mel reassured him, grateful this was some comfort she was sure she could offer him. After having spent most of the afternoon with him and his kids yesterday, she had never felt more certain about a statement in her life. "You're a great parent. I knew that before, but seeing you with the kids yesterday… yeah, you were definitely born to be a dad."
Mel intended that last part to be a joke, but she was too lost in thought to deliver it playfully. Langdon buying his kids treats even when they bounced around with their sugar highs, Langdon smiling sweetly down at them when they wiped their sticky faces into his arm, Langdon spending all together too much money to win them each the exact carnival prizes they wanted… it all made her ovaries simply vibrate.
She frowned at that idea and casually crossed her legs.
"Thanks, Mel." Langdon's voice had softened into something gently grateful. Her heart swelled at the new tone. "I… yeah, I needed to hear that."
Mel shrugged modestly and hid her growing smile behind yet another bite of sandwich. She would need to pack a bigger one next time in case he wanted to have another overly personal talk with her— she was running out.
"Abby means well, and Lord knows I've given her plenty of reason to distrust me," Langdon continued with a sigh, "but still it… yeah, it rubbed me the wrong way. The kids were just fine, and we had a great time, and it gave her a whole afternoon of rest. It… hurt. Her acting like I couldn't be trusted on my own."
"I'm sure she didn't mean it like that—" Mel began softly, but he cut her off.
"No. I know she did."
"…Sorry."
Langdon softened again and shot her an apologetic look. He took another bite of corndog before continuing.
"She doesn't trust me like she used to. And I'm sure I've given her plenty of reason to feel that way, but it's been nearly a full year since… anyway, I just wish I knew when it would end. When I would feel… believed in my own home again."
"Believed… about what?"
Langdon slumped back in his seat even further and finished the rest of his corndog as he considered her question. Mel stared very intently down at the remains of her sandwich as she avoided looking at his parted legs. Was she imaging the slight bulge in his crotch…? Well she had to be, since she wasn't looking. Mel fiddled with the edge of her paper plate and wished she had made herself a cup of tea— her mouth was very dry all of a sudden.
"Believed about still being sober. I get drug tested at work, for fucks sake." He grabbed his second corndog and took a sharp bite out of it. "Believed about taking good care of my kids, even when she isn't around. Believed about… trying. Trying to listen to her more, put more effort into our marriage, that kind of thing. God, even something as simple as being believed about being faithful would be nice."
"Being… faithful?"
Mel wasn't sure why that was the part of his response that stood out to her the most, but it sure did. She licked her fingers as she considered this, her eyes unfocused somewhere over his shoulder. She missed Langdon's gaze lingering darkly on her mouth as she sucked around her fingertips. His hips shifted subtly in his seat.
"Yeah. Since I hid my addiction struggles from her she's clearly always wondered what else I might have kept from her, even though I keep promising her that's it. We've been to counseling about it but I'm not sure she'll ever believe me unless I get hooked up to a lie detector some day."
He scoffed as he spoke, but he also looked more uncomfortable than she had ever seen him before. Mel nodded slowly, silently, as her gaze darted around the room. She was suddenly unsure of where to look.
"That's… I mean, I understand, of course, but it still seems a bit. Y'know, much?" she said haltingly, not sure how much of an opinion she was allowed to voice on the matter.
"Well, that's what I think, but I'm trying to give her grace. It was my own fuckup that led to her feeling like this anyways."
"Well… true, but it's not like you've given her real reason to think that way," Mel laughed awkwardly.
Langdon slid his eyes away from her and took a slow bite out of his corndog. Mel's heart was suddenly beating very, very fast.
"Yeah. I try not to, anyway."
Mel regarded this silently for a moment as she pushed away her trash. Her brain was racing a mile a minute as it tried to decipher the abruptly unsettling conversation.
"Apparently I talk about you too much. Whatever that means."
He spoke very quickly, as if he had to expel the words before he convinced himself not to say them at all. Mel blinked slowly.
"About… me?" Her voice was entirely too soft for the sudden tension crackling between them, but her mind was reeling too much to focus on her tone. Langdon looked up at her slowly, his gaze dark and unreadable.
"Yeah. She doesn't always… appreciate it." He was quiet again for a moment, watching her closely as if gauging her reaction. "And when she found out you were at the fair yesterday too, she… well, she didn't exactly love hearing that."
"But…" Mel's could feel her face heating up against her will, knew that he could probably see the blush staining her cheeks, but she was too dazed to care at the moment. "But why would she… care? About me?"
"There's no reason," Langdon assured her, perhaps a bit too quickly. Mel almost flinched. "I mean… can't men and women just be friends? Jesus…"
Mel found herself nodding quickly as she struggled to form words. She was suddenly finding it very hard to breathe.
"Y-yeah, exactly. Totally. That's… that's ridiculous."
"Thank you!" Langdon said, more cheerfully biting off the rest of his corndog. "I keep telling her that, but she always manages to bring you up anyways."
"O-oh," Mel stammered, standing so quickly her knees bumped against the table. Langdon stayed seated, but his eyes traced her path as she hurried over to the kitchen counter and set about making herself a cup of chamomile tea. She needed something to calm her before her heart ruptured. "Yeah, sorry. Sorry, that's so silly."
"Yeah, well," Langdon shrugged and gathered both of their piles of trash to throw away. "Again, I can't blame her for distrusting me, but… how long is this going to last? I'm just as tired of this… thing between our marriage as she is."
"T-thing?" Mel willed the water in the kettle to boil faster as she grabbed a mug out of the cabinet, all too aware of Langdon as he came up beside her and leaned against the counter. Why was he always so close to her?
"This…" Langdon rested his hip against the counter to face her fully and gestured vaguely at the air with his hand. "The fighting, the distrust, the counseling. She's just as tired of it as I am, I know it."
Mel nodded silently and gripped the mug in her hand. She studied the pattern of flowers on it. Anything to avoid turning to face him. To show him the red flush that was spreading across her face.
"Anyway, sorry for dumping all this on you. It's just been a… frustrating last few days, that's all."
"Oh, it's no worry!" Mel said quickly, her ever-so-slightly shaking hands grabbing at the water kettle even though it wasn't quite at boiling yet. She steeped her tea with a relieved sigh. "I'm… you know I'm always here to listen."
"Yeah. I really appreciate that about you."
There was that warmth in his tone again. Mel's heart squeezed uncomfortably tight in her chest. Maybe Abby was right to worry, even if not in the exact way she thought. Maybe it wasn't Frank she needed to worry about.
Guilt was twisting in her stomach so sharply that she felt like crying. She sipped the tea quickly, burning her tongue on purpose. It did nothing to distract her from the shame. The simmering panic. The low heat in her gut, twisting through her core at just the mere mention of someone thinking he might like her back. Even if that person was his wife.
"I had a lot of fun at the fair with you yesterday, by the way. No matter what happened afterwards, I'm glad I went."
Mel smiled down at her tea and tried to ignore the throbbing of her scalded tongue. Or her aching clit. She pushed it all down, every last feeling, and turned to face him head on.
"I had a really nice time with you too," she echoed with a small smile. Langdon beamed right back at her. "I… I had my apprehensions about spending time with Becca and Adam — you know my feelings on that matter — but… it was actually really fun. And, uh, thank you again for the teddy bear."
She shouldn't have said it. The moment the words were out of her mouth she was transported back to the night before, to the dark, sweaty room she had committed so many sins in. She flushed again, but mercifully blamed it on the heat of her tea as she scalded her mouth on another sip.
"Hey, no problem— that little guy needed a home anyway," Langdon laughed, his dark eyes brightening back to their usual blinding blue as he remembered yesterday. "At least this way he won't have to go home to some sticky kid who would pull his bow off and cover him in pancake syrup or something."
Mel smirked around the rim of her mug. God, how she wished he knew the irony of his words.
"Oh, yeah. Totally."
Now that they were back on a more pleasant topic Mel wished she could have stood around all day just sipping tea and talking to him, but of course that was the moment a code STEMI was called overhead.
"STEMI with me?" Langdon asked her as he stretched. Mel gulped her tea, not even caring when it stung her throat on the way down. Her eyes lingered on the flex of his biceps. She wondered if he remembered their first STEMI together, back during her first day nearly a year ago.
"Right behind you," she smiled, setting her mug in the sink. From the sudden playful sparkle in his eye, she figured he might remember that moment as clearly as she did.
The STEMI went about as well as a STEMI could. Except that Mel was painfully distracted the whole time. Langdon stood so close to her that she could smell his cologne even after he left her side: something generic with notes of cedar and sandalwood, but it still made her toes curl inside her sneakers. His low, even voice when he spoke to her… the nudge of his elbow against her waist to direct her around to the other side of the patient… the soft praise he offered her when she instructed the intern to call the patient's wife with an update once he was more stable… it all threatened to steal her breath away.
Truth be told, she was a high enough resident now that they didn't both need to be working on this case, but she was glad he chose to keep her at his side anyway. Despite their conversation in the break room moments before. Despite what his wife thought about their friendship. Despite the dull ache between her thighs that grew with every passing word, touch, and glance.
As Mel went to leave, Langdon pressed past to hold the door for her. His hand lingered lightly on her lower back as he nudged her out of the room. Her breath hitched at the gentle, unassuming contact. His fingertips spread fire through her abdomen.
"Hey Mel, wanna join me with my patient that has—"
"Actually, I need to run to the bathroom real quick." Mel's voice came out far squeakier than she intended. Langdon arched an eyebrow down at her, his mouth open to answer, but she scurried away before he could speak. She felt his eyes on her back until she finally turned a corner and left his sight.
She didn't actually have to pee, but she did have to get away from him as fast as humanly possible. She slammed the door of the closest restroom, grateful it was the handicap bathroom so she could have the room all to herself. She locked it swiftly and pressed her back to the door so she could finally breathe.
His scent… his voice… god, his biceps…
Before she even knew what she was doing she was shoving her hand down her pants.
"No, no, no…" Mel whispered in a pained tone as her hand rebelled against her. The first slide into her underwear to brush against her sensitive clit ripped a low whimper out of her throat. She slapped her free hand over her mouth and awkwardly pulled away from the door, leaning on the opposite wall instead so she could at least attempt quietness.
"I can't be doing this here…" she hissed to herself around her palm even as her fingers circled her clit. She was even more turned on than she had thought she was— her fingers were soaked even from just a single dip down between her folds. Her clit throbbed so painfully that she winced at every touch. "Not at work… what are you even doing?"
Her hand simply would not listen, and the friction was just too delicious to deny. Mel closed her eyes tight, open-mouthed whining into her flat palm as she surrendered to the sensation. She picked up the frantic pace of her fingers as she conjured images — memories, really — of Langdon. She could still feel his fingertips pressing into the tingling skin of her lower back. If she focused, she could still smell his cologne lingering on her scrubs even now…
And then she was cumming. Mel King was cumming on her fingers, in her workplace bathroom, while focusing on the scent of her coworker and the phantom sensation of his fingers against her spine.
The orgasm was weak compared to what she had put herself through the night before, but it was still potent enough for her knees to give out. She slid weakly down the wall, her clit pulsing fervently against her fingers as her entrance clenched around nothing. She moaned as freely as she dared into her palm, grateful the noise was muffled against her wet skin. Distantly she imagined Langdon standing outside the door, perhaps even with his ear pressed to it as he listened to her self-pleasure, and her whole body spasmed again.
She sat on the bathroom floor for another minute or two, dazed as she came down from her climax. She simply couldn't believe what she had just done. Masturbating at work… cumming from just a minute or two of friction while thinking about her married coworker, who had literally just friendzoned her less than a half hour ago… She knew logically that she should be more embarrassed, but she was still too turned on to care. She didn't know who she was turning in to, but she supposed that this was probably better than throwing herself at her married friend in real life.
Mel stood slowly, wobbling on shaky legs. She went to the bathroom just for good measure — wincing as she wiped away the sticky trails of release from her inner thighs — and washed her hands no less than five times. The orgasm was still simmering lowly in her when she fixed her braid, sucked in a steadying breath, and exited the bathroom.
No one would know. Frankly, she was more embarrassed about how quickly she came than she was about where she had done it; she was realizing more with every passing hour just how desperately turned on Langdon made her. So turned on, it seemed, that she had to lock herself in the bathroom to touch herself after one single morning together. So turned on that she came from just a few minutes of touch and a few vague memories. Mel shook her head at herself and crept through the halls, hoping to avoid Langdon. She had patients to focus on now.
She had no such luck. He seemed to be there at every turn— each time, his eyes so bright and so blue and so warm when they gazed upon her. She felt as if her cheeks could burn a hole through her surgical mask even when in the middle of a trauma procedure. She just hoped he hadn't picked up mind reading since her brief lapse of judgment in the bathroom.
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That evening Mel wandered home alone with her head in the clouds. It was sunset already, but she enjoyed the painted sky with more pep in her step than she usually did after a long days work.
Langdon's marriage was rocky… in part because of Abby's assumptions about her. She felt sick with how giddy the thought made her. There had to be some reason she would worry about her husband's relationship with his coworker. After all, he didn't say she suspected Garcia was an issue, and they were in many ways even closer than her and Langdon were.
Mel slowed her steps— wait, bad comparison. Garcia was a lesbian. Okay, but he didn't say Abby was worried about his friendship with any of the other non-lesbian women he worked with: just her. Just sweet, innocent little Mel. She resumed walking faster, even skipping a little as she hurried home. She still felt bad… disgusted, even, for feeling so giddy. But… surely the fantasy was better than actually doing anything about it, right? After all, Langdon himself had told her to her face that Abby had nothing to worry about with him and Mel's relationship. He might as well have grabbed her by the shoulders and told her "Hey, we're just friends so don't you even think about it!"
But that was the wonderful part about imaginations and freewill. She could think about it all she wanted, and no one could stop her.
As soon as Mel got home she took her laundry out of the wash and put it in the dryer. She hadn't considered them sitting around all day when she put them in the wash that morning, but the slight scent of mildew was too mild for her to care about so she dried them anyway. She was too excited to wait— her heart rate spiked even just to handle the teddy bear again. Her mind was racing with plans that involved turning in early for the evening, and none of them involved sleep.
Mel took a quick shower to rinse the sweat and tension of the day off her body and then made herself some dinner while she impatiently waited for the laundry to dry. She dressed in an oversized lilac t-shirt dress since it was still so hot out and, after pushing away a flush of embarrassment, a pair of lacy pale pink panties. She liked to wear practical undergarments — usually a sports bra and plain cotton underwear — but many years ago she had bought a pack of lacy panties on a whim since they were on sale. She had never so much as worn them before, since she never had anyone to wear them for, but she was done waiting for an occasion. If no one was going to romance her then by god, she was going to take matters into her own hands and do it herself.
Dinner was a casual affair of buttered noodles and steamed veggies. Mel hesitated in the kitchen, her hand stilling as she reached for her bottle of water, and glanced towards the fridge. She was already planning on making tonight nice for herself… might as well go all-out. She grabbed a bottle of alcoholic lemonade, bought far too long ago in the hopes of inviting coworkers over after work, popped the cap off, and took a long swig before she could talk herself out of it. It was sweet and flushed her chest warm as it went down. She never drank after work but these bottles were just slowly expiring in her fridge, so why not? She was enjoying her newfound freedom anyway. Who said she couldn't light some candles, drink some alcohol, and wear cute lacy panties in her own home?
"Ooh, candles," Mel said to herself, grabbing her plate as she moved into the living room. In record time her lights were dimmed and her living room was aglow with scented candles. As she lit them she hesitated, thinking of the stuffed bear tumbling in her dryer and her plans for the evening, and decided to light some in her bedroom as well— just to be prepared. Mel inhaled deeply as she curled up on her couch, tucking her legs under her as she turned on some relaxing, vaguely romantic even, music. She was ready to enjoy this evening alone: just her, her candles, her teddy bear and her own wandering touch. No prying eyes, no external judgment, and mercifully no Langdon around every corner.
Her phone buzzed.
Mel glanced over at it with her fork halfway up to her mouth. She froze, mouth open, as her eyes darted over the message preview. A buttered noodle slid off the fork and fell back onto her plate.
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Dr. Langdon 🧸
8:34pm: Hey Mel. Sorry for reaching out so late but I just wanted to say thanks again for that chat earlier. I really appreciated it
8:35pm: You're a good friend 🫀
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The most surprising part of him reaching out was that he remembered he had her number. They had texted exactly once before: a few weeks ago he took her home after their shift since they had both worked almost until midnight and he didn't want her walking home alone. He passed her his number then, so she could reach out if she ever needed a ride, but she never really felt comfortable asking him to go out of his way to take her home. She texted him a thank you after he dropped her off, and he had responded with "anytime." Simple, casual, coworker behavior.
But why was he reaching out now… and so late? They had said goodbye ages ago. Mel stifled her sigh and threw her fork onto her plate, wincing at the sharp clatter of dishes as she reached for her phone. Didn't he know real-life him was interrupting her plans with imaginary-him?
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Mel
8:37pm: no worries!! i was happy to listen
8:38pm: btw… did you really just send an anatomical heart instead of an emoji heart ?
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Dr. Langdon 🧸
8:38pm: ….yeah
8:39pm: I thought it was funny
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Mel smooshed her face into her phone and groaned as that childlike blush and goofy grin spread across her face again. She had assumed it was a misclick… but nope, Frank Langdon had actually just sent her a heart over text. A silly anatomical heart, yes, but a heart was a heart and Mel wasn't picky.
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Mel
8:40pm: lol that is funny!
8:40pm: and dorky, to be clear
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She wrote and erased a third descriptor: "and cute." She wondered distantly if he was smiling down at his phone just as she was at hers. Her smile slipped as she wondered whether Abby knew who he was texting right now.
Mel swallowed hard, but even still she couldn't resist clicking on his contact. No photo — she didn't have any of him — but yesterday she had added the teddy bear emoji next to his name. She had snapped a picture of her new prize bear once she got home and had spent several minutes debating over sending it to him to thank him again or not. After remembering that he was probably busy taking care of his sick wife she decided against it, but she couldn't resist adding the emoji next to his name anyway.
She smiled wistfully at his blank contact photo and decided to add the anatomical heart next to his name as well— just in time for him to text again.
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Dr. Langdon 🧸🫀
8:42pm: Hey that's not dorky!
8:42pm: Okay fine maybe that is dorky :P
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Mel covered her face with her hands again and willed away her cheek-numbing smile. How could she have a crush on a man this dorky? She peeked at her phone through her fingers as it buzzed again. Okay, maybe it did make sense: she had always liked nerdy, goofy guys. It was just her luck that the nerdiest, goofiest guy she had met in years was also utterly charming and utterly handsome and utterly married.
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Dr. Langdon 🧸🫀
8:43pm: Seriously though sorry again if I overstepped earlier but you listening really did mean a lot to me
8:45pm: It's been a rough few days
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Mel stared down at the two innocent texts as her heart climbed into her throat. The subtext was practically screaming at her. He wanted more comfort right now. Abby obviously wasn't giving him any at home… especially if he felt like he had to reach out and text her instead. She knew that he wasn't really close to anyone outside of work, and the coworkers that he was close to hadn't even bothered to reach out during the ten months he was gone; she figured he wasn't exactly quick to talk to them outside of work these days.
He was one of her closest friends now, even after just a month of knowing him. Hell, he was kind of her only friend since she also wasn't close to anyone (beyond Becca) outside of work, and no one from work had ever even bothered to text her. Until now.
Mel remembered him at the fair yesterday, the gentle warmth in his eyes and the comfort of his laugh and the buzz that ran through her body when he stood too close. She remembered the unassuming way he held the teddy bear out to her, as if winning it for her had been the most natural thing in the world.
Suddenly she knew what she had to do. How to comfort him and remind him of their budding friendship and their comradery at the fair yesterday all at once.
She opened her photo app and immediately closed it again.
Oh god. She had forgotten about the picture she took this morning.
The ruined teddy bear barely covering her naked pussy… her spread legs and the underwear discarded in the background… the bit of arousal glinting on one exposed thigh… why had she taken such a picture?! Mel flushed with embarrassment and looked away, her fingers tapping around the screen blindly as she sought the delete button. She couldn't stand to look at the picture anymore— not while she was busy comforting the man who had gifted her that bear on the very same phone that housed such an inappropriate photo.
She glanced back at the screen just long enough to confirm that she had pressed delete and then heaved a long, heavy sigh. She felt like an elephant had just stepped off her chest. She looked quickly at the picture she had taken the day before and winced: her bare legs were in that one too, but thankfully in a much less inappropriate way.
She had snapped the picture after getting home but before changing; she sighed as she remembered that she had also angled the camera down in this photo, so her bare legs and jean shorts had been caught in frame. Still, it was better than fishing the half-dry toy out of the dryer now and retying its bow in time for a fast response. The warm glow of her alcoholic beverage was trickling through her blood stream, emboldening her. Mel threw caution to the wind and sent the text before she could talk herself out of it.
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Mel
8:50pm: no worries!! me and Mr. Stuffles are always here to listen ;)
<attachment: 1 image>
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She threw her phone on the couch cushion next to her and shoved a forkful of lukewarm food into her mouth. The usually-comforting pasta tasted dull and greasy all of a sudden. Mel made a face but forced herself to chew. She hoped he would find the picture endearing rather than silly. She hoped the winky face read as cute and playful rather than childish. God, why was it so hard taking to people?! It was like every word she spoke, every response she settled on was somehow just ever so slightly wrong.
Every passing minute without a response made her heart hammer just a little harder. He was probably tucking his kids into bed right now or fetching his wife some cold medication, but here she was curled up on her couch actually stressing about some silly little text. She felt ridiculous, but she just couldn't relax. She forced her shoulders to slump and her jaw to unclench anyway as she leaned back into the soft embrace of her couch. The playlist she had put on was definitely romantic now, and though her face flushed she forced herself to leave it on. Despite Langdon texting her and throwing the whole rhythm of her night off, she was still determined to romance herself.
Unfortunately, Mel could only feign nonchalance for so long. She checked her phone after five minutes… she had been left on read. Her heart lurched. Her eyes focused only on the little notice underneath the picture: read 8:50pm. Seen, but no response.
"Maybe I confused him," Mel said quickly, sitting up straighter. Her blood pressure was definitely spiking right now. Panicked and embarrassed, she shot off a clarifying text.
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Mel
8:55pm: Mr. Stuffles is the bear btw lol
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Mel hit herself in the face with her lockscreen. "Why did I say that. Who else would he think Mr. Stuffles is? My landlord?!"
Mel threw her phone to the side again, determined to ignore it this time. If he responded: great. And if he didn't, well… he had a family he was no doubt with right now. He probably shouldn't have been texting her in the first place, and she probably shouldn't have been so quick to respond. Mel forced herself to breathe slower and think a little clearer. Her evening would not be ruined by this: the night was still young, and she had a whole date planned with herself.
Mel turned the sound on her phone just in case, but left it face-down and instead turned on her TV. She loaded up Netflix and turned on Bridgerton, which she had watched approximately one million times over despite its numerous historical inaccuracies. She found life was more fun when you could suspend your disbelief for a little while and simply enjoy Charli xcx as played by a string quartet.
She left the romantic music playing out of her portable speaker lowly and the candles burning in the dark of her apartment as she watched her show and finished her dinner. With every passing minute — and every passing sip of her alcoholic lemonade — the silence of her phone grew less scary. He was just busy. Helping his wife fall asleep, maybe reading to his kids… normal, domestic stuff that she had no right to intrude on anyways. The silence was better for both of them.
She actually managed to make herself believe that, too. Which was why the sudden knock on her door was so alarming.
Mel shot straight up, her dress slipping off her shoulder from the sudden movement, and twisted her head around to stare at her entryway. Maybe she had hallucinated it.
But there it came again. A heavy, incessant, knocking.
Mel turned her TV off as her heart pounded. An angry neighbor, perhaps? Though she wasn't exactly being loud. Mel stood slowly and grabbed her fork for protection; it was better than nothing, she supposed.
She crept to the door as silently as she could and peered through her peephole to see…
"Mel?" Langdon called through the door, his voice low but urgent. "You in there?"
"Oh my god," Mel gasped. Her fork clattered to the floor as she fumbled with her door locks. She flung the door open and stood back, wide-eyed as she took him in. He was hunched in her doorframe, his hair askew, his eyes wild. His chest was heaving as if he had run up to her door. "D-Dr. Langdon?!"
He looked just as shocked as she was, as if somehow he hadn't expected to see her despite standing in her doorway. His eyes flitted down her body, widening even further as he took her in. Mel studied the sudden darkness in his gaze and looked down at herself, flushing heavily as she registered what she was wearing. The soft lilac t-shirt dress, oversized so it hung off one bare shoulder. No bra, no socks or shoes, just bare legs and… a pair of lacy pink panties, mercifully hidden from his wandering eyes. Mel pressed her thighs together self-consciously and pulled her fallen sleeve back up over her shoulder before pushing her hands through the loose, messy waves of her hair.
"Um… what are you—" she began, but he cut her off with a sudden frenzy.
"The bear."
"O-oh? What—"
"The bear, Mel. You know what I'm talking about. Where is it?"
Mel bristled at the sudden firmness of his tone. She crossed her arms over her chest, hoping he wouldn't notice that she wasn't wearing a bra.
"What does that matter? Why are you here?" she demanded, sharpening her voice a little to match his. Langdon sucked in a deep breath and ran a steadying hand through his hair.
"I— I had to see you."
His voice was suddenly soft. Too soft. Mel squirmed in her doorway.
"…Why? And how did you get here so fast? We were just texting a little bit ago—"
"Oh, I broke several traffic laws," Langdon said, shrugging as if it were unimportant. Mel arched an eyebrow at him even as her heart fluttered. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Mel… what happened to that teddy bear I gave you?"
Mel tightened her arms across her chest. How could he… no, he couldn't possibly know. She hadn't told anyone, so unless he really did learn how to read minds today he had no idea what had happened.
"What are you even talking about?" Mel asked. She tried for an exasperated tone, but the words left her mouth weakly. "And how are you even here? How did you get my address?"
"I drove you home after work that one time, remember?" Langdon sighed, obviously eager to get back on topic.
"But… that was weeks ago? Did you memorize my address and apartment number?!"
"Yes. What happened to the bear, Mel?"
"Oh. Uh— n-nothing? I still have it, of course, if that's what you mean?"
Langdon fumbled in his pocket with a shake of his head. Before she knew what was happening, he was shoving his phone in her face. Mel glared at the screen in dazed confusion.
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Langdon
8:45pm: It's been a rough few days
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Mel 💛
8:50pm: no worries!! me and Mr. Stuffles are always here to listen ;)
<attachment: 1 image>
8:55pm: Mr. Stuffles is the bear btw lol
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"I— yeah, I know, that's what we were just texting about," Mel said, confused. Her eyes lingered on the yellow heart. Did Abby know Mel was in Langdon's phone with a heart next to her name? She also noted the time with a quick gasp— it had only been twenty minutes since she sent that text. Twenty minutes and here he was, out of breath at her door after apparently breaking "several traffic laws" to drive across town because he "had to see her."
Langdon silently tapped on the photo she had sent so that it took up his whole screen.
Mel suddenly forgot how to breathe.
She had sent him the wrong picture. The one she had intended to send was taken yesterday evening, illuminated by the dusk light and containing the bear, her bare legs and sneakers, and a hint of her jean shorts. Innocent, cute, friendly. The one she had actually sent him was the one she took this morning… the dawn light brightly illuminated her naked lower half, barely censored by the teddy bear, and lit up the soft curve of her spread inner thighs and the tangle of messy undergarments on the floor at her feet. And the bear… he was disheveled, his fur clumped together with spikes of her arousal as his bow tie hung off his neck.
"Oh my god," Mel whispered, mortified. She turned and ran back into her apartment, snatching her phone off the couch and quickly pulling up her photos. Langdon stepped into her apartment after her awkwardly, his eyes wide as he looked around the living room. Her lights were still off and candles were aglow everywhere. Romantic music still softly played through her speaker. Mel's dress slipped back off her shoulder as she looked down at her phone, but she was too focused to notice.
She had deleted the wrong photo. In all her fumbling around and embarrassment, she hadn't looked clearly at what she was doing… so she deleted the innocent photo and had instead sent him— Mel whirled around to face him again, her phone falling back onto the couch as she stepped toward him.
"I— oh my god, Langdon, I'm sorry, I— I had meant to send you a different photo, that was a mistake, I—"
Langdon closed her front door silently and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Mel didn't remember inviting him in, but that was the least of her concerns right now.
"It's okay, Mel. I just… I just wanna know what happened."
Mel took another step towards him as she fumbled for a suitable excuse.
"Uh… he, uh… I took a bath last night. After the fair. And it, uh, fell in the bath because… because I took one right after I got home so I still had all my belongings on me… including the prize you won me but, uh, I took that pic this morning because I thought it looked… silly. Like that."
Langdon took another step towards her. Mel fought the urge to back away. His eyes lingered on the bare skin of her exposed shoulder.
"Bullshit." Her heart was crawling into her throat just to hear the roughness of his voice. "What happened, Mel? Tell me the truth."
Her whole body was on fire. She had been found out. She had been so certain she could avoid this moment… that he would never know the things she had done, had imagined last night…
"I'm sorry," Mel whispered, tears welling in her eyes as she tilted her head to meet his gaze fully. "I'm sorry, it was wrong of me. I… I thought you wouldn't find out, that it would just be… a little secret, I dunno…"
"I'm not mad, Mel," he murmured, his voice so low and raspy that her pussy began to throb against her will. "You can… you can tell me anything, okay? I won't judge."
He was standing too close to her again. She could smell his cologne just as sharply as she had at work, hours before. Her heart was hammering so loudly that she couldn't focus on anything else.
"…I used it," she admitted, her voice a mere whisper. Langdon's sharp gaze darkened into something so deep and consuming that she couldn't tear her eyes away from his even if she wanted to. "Last night. I couldn't… it was so hot and I was so pent up and… oh god, Langdon, I needed some kind of release and the bear was just there and I tried to resist it, I really did, but it felt so good and I just couldn't help myself and then I took that picture this morning because I wanted to remember it all but I felt so silly afterwards and I tried to delete it but I must have deleted the wrong one when I went to send you this other picture and—"
Langdon surged forward. Mel's frantic words died in her throat as his lips crashed against hers. She let out a low squeak that fizzled into a whimper of painful longing as she kissed him back, dazed and confused. His lips were soft and warm and tasted of spearmint, as if he had recently brushed his teeth. Tears escaped from the corners of Mel's eyes and carved trails of overflowing emotion down her cheeks. Langdon brought his hands up to cup her face as he kissed her, his thumbs running soothing circles into her jaw.
When he pulled back Mel stayed still, her eyes closed lightly as she savored the moment. Dr. Langdon — her Langdon — had just kissed her. In her apartment. After 9 p.m. While she wore next to no clothing. After she told him she had used the teddy bear he won her to self-pleasure. Despite telling her that they were "just friends" that very afternoon.
Mel fluttered her eyelids open to find Langdon gazing down at her— just staring, a few inches from her face. His expression was so tender that her stomach clenched. His thumbs wiped tears away as they pooled around her chin. She had to be dreaming.
"You're married."
She hated herself for saying those two words. She couldn't just live in the moment, savor the lingering taste of spearmint against her lips, and look into his loving eyes. No, she had to bring reality back into the room.
Langdon shrugged and didn't look nearly as bothered as she thought he ought to.
"Details," he joked with a wince and a small smile. Mel stared blankly, unmoved, up at him. Langdon dropped his grip on her face but then raised his left hand and ran it through his loose hair, purposefully pushing it back out of his face. Mel traced the movement slowly, her eyes landing on his ring finger and studying it. His wedding band was missing. "Show me the bear, Mel."
She blinked at the sudden, softly murmured order. Her clit was throbbing with excitement against her will.
"I… it's in the dryer," she explained awkwardly. "I washed it this morning."
"Is it dry by now?"
"Uh… maybe? It should be."
"Then show me."
Mel swallowed hard. She could tell without even clenching her thighs together that her lacy underwear was already growing soaked.
"O-okay."
She turned and led the way through her apartment, too lost in thought and overwhelmed with sexual frustration to notice the way Langdon lingered behind to swiftly blow her candles out. Her little washer-dryer unit was snuggled down the hall between her bathroom and bedroom. The dryer had just finished; Mel rummaged through the laundry for a second before pulling the bear out. It sat heavily in her hands, its fur almost too hot to touch. She turned back to Langdon slowly, shyly, even as her thighs clenched and her lips tingled from the kiss. She felt like she was wandering through a dream. A dream she desperately did not want to wake from.
Langdon took the bear from her quietly and ran his fingers through the fur on its chest. Silently he retied its bow and held it up to look at it in full. Its beady black eyes gazed back emptily. Mel shuddered to think of what Mr. Stuffles would say to Langdon if he could speak.
"I want to see."
"Wh-what?" Mel blinked at his sudden words. Langdon tilted his head down toward her and held the bear out. Mel felt dizzy with déjà vu as he gestured for her to take it.
"I want to see what you did to him. Show me."
Mel took the bear slowly, her mind whirling too fast to keep up with. She had never felt so confused and so turned on in all her life. "You want me to…?"
"Yes." Langdon's gaze was dark and cool as he regarded her, but she didn't miss the rapid rise and fall of his chest as he spoke. "Show me exactly what you did last night to the prize I won you."
Mel's mouth went dry. Her whole body felt almost numb with arousal. Sluggishly, she turned. She didn't even grace him with an answer as she led him into her bedroom. The tender music still playing in her living room trailed down her hallway and entered with her; the candles she had lit earlier flooded the room with a soft, romantic golden light. Shadows flickered on the walls and danced on her bedsheets as she slowly turned to face him.
"I… uhm, I just kinda… sat on him," she explained haltingly, still unsure of what exactly he expected of her. Still unsure of how her evening had turned out this way, in fact.
"Don't tell me. Show me," he repeated, closing her bedroom door softly and standing in front of it with his arms crossed.
Mel was so turned on she could barely speak. Her knees were weak. After another second of hesitation, she placed the prize bear on the bed and moved to climb onto it.
"Wait."
She froze, one knee on the bed, and looked up at him. Langdon was staring down at her bare legs with an undisguised hunger. Mel blushed deeply— no one had ever looked at her like that before.
"Did you wear underwear while you… used him? They were on the floor in the picture you sent me."
"O-oh." Mel lowered herself off the bed and ran one foot up the back of her leg self-consciously. "Uh… no, I was naked except for my top." She had expected to feel more embarrassed admitting that to the object of many nights of longing, but the way he looked at her soothed any inhibitions immediately. He looked almost pained in his desire as he stared down at her. Mel felt a rush of sudden clarity and energy surge through her flushed body— she suddenly found that she would do anything, absolutely anything keep him looking at her that way.
"I said show me exactly what you did last night," he whispered, his voice raw. "So take them off."
Mel swallowed hard and wondered just how far she should go with this… whatever was happening between them right now. She watched his folded arms clench as she obediently lowered her hands to the hem of her t-shirt dress, tracking his dark vision as he watched her begin to hike her dress up to expose her soft thighs.
"Yes sir," she said lowly, more to tease him than anything. The effect of her words was immediate. As her hands pulled the hem of her dress up above her thighs, just enough to expose a flash of her lacy, pale pink panties, Langdon let out a strangled groan and lurched forward.
"W-wait!" he gasped, falling to his knees before her. Mel sucked in a sharp breath of surprise, her hands freezing. The dress was hiked just up to her hips, her panties clearly uncovered before him. She looked down at him slowly, her brain working overtime to register the image of him on his knees at her feet. He looked up at her wildly, his breathing ragged and his pupils dilated darkly with some desperate want. "Let me. P-please, let me take them off."
"Oh," Mel breathed, her heart fluttering as she took the image in. There's no way she wasn't dreaming right now. "Yeah. Okay."
She felt silly for her answer but she was just too stunned to react. Langdon couldn't care less— his hands were on her immediately, warm and ever so slightly shaking as he pushed her dress up a little further and ran his fingers over the waistband of her panties. She was suddenly very glad she chose to wear this particular pair tonight.
"These are so pretty, Mel," he murmured, leaning in until his face was right in front of her crotch. She closed her fingers tightly around the hem of her dress, holding it up to give him access but desperately wishing she could drop it to run her fingers through his hair. "You wore these just for me, hmm?"
Mel flushed at the implication even as she wondered why he might think that: after all, he was the one who had reached out to her in the first place.
"You know I did," Mel whispered, playing along as a thrill of excitement electrified her skin. She felt freshly confident— like a whole new person, in fact. The faint buzz of alcohol through her veins certainly helped. She still wondered distantly about the missing ring on his finger, but the closer his face drew to her throbbing pussy the less she seemed to care.
That first brush of his lips against her panties was a dream come true. He kissed the front of her covered cunt gently, his touch feather-light, but Mel jerked her hips as if he had bit her. She made a noise low in her throat that she was sure she would be embarrassed about later, but for now she couldn't care less. Her logic was melting into a puddle of longing and the desperate need for friction.
Langdon grinned, pressing another kiss just over her aching clit as he began to tug the panties down. Mel parted her thighs before him and hiked the dress even further up as he slid them down over her bare legs. How badly she wanted him to push his face into her again, to kiss against the soft curls of hair between her legs and lick deeply into the soaked heat before his face, but he stubbornly withheld. Instead he kissed along her thigh, dragging his lips teasingly downwards until he was kissing against her knee as he slid the lacy panties off over her feet.
They were quickly discarded on the floor. Mel looked down at him shakily, wondering if she would ever catch her breath again. He looked up at her from between her legs, his face absolutely wrecked with desire.
"Langdon…" Mel began, her voice shaky with need, but he cut her off quickly.
"Not yet, baby. I'll take care of you, I promise… but first you need to show me what you did last night, remember?"
Mel whined lowly and dropped the hem of her dress to push her hands through his hair. His eyes fluttered shut at the contact as she ran her fingernails over his scalp.
"I need it… I need you so bad," Mel choked, her voice thick with emotion and yearning as she relished the soft hair between her fingers. Langdon tilted his head up, his Adam's apple bobbing heavily as he swallowed. Mel traced the movement with hungry eyes, remembering her fantasy from the night before where she had sucked the sweat off his sun-flushed neck.
"Soon," he promised softly. "But you have to be a good girl and do this for me first, okay?"
She brought one hand down from his hair to cup his jaw, tilting his head up even further as she stared down at his parted lips. Silently, contemplatively, she ran her thumb across his bottom lip. His eyes never left her face as she dipped the finger into his open mouth, skimming across the tip of his tongue. His mouth was dark and hot and wet, panting raggedly against her finger. She wondered what he would do if she told him no right now.
She felt a dizzying buzz of excitement as his tongue licked against her thumbprint and decided she would rather not find that out just yet.
"Okay," she whispered, sliding her hands off his face and taking a step back towards the bed. His eyes followed her movements eagerly. "I'll show you."
He exhaled sharply from his seat on the floor as she raised the hem of her dress again, exposing herself to him. He eyed the sticky mess between her legs with such a possessive gaze that Mel felt nearly sick with desire. She settled onto the bed and positioned herself over the bear, tucking the dress around her hips so that he could still see what she was doing. And then she lowered herself onto it again.
Langdon whimpered lowly in his throat as he stood, swallowing thickly as he stared down at Mel. His eyes never left her hips as she shifted over the bear, settling onto him more comfortably. The sensation was familiar already, nostalgic even, and she couldn't resist biting her lip. Her dress was still slipping off her shoulder so she shimmied a little to encourage it to slip down even more, exposing a hint of her bare breast to his darkened gaze. If she was going to give him a show, then she was going to do it right.
She began to rock her hips. The bear was still warm from the dryer— the added temperature pulled a shaky moan from her throat as she slid her thighs over the soft fur. Langdon stepped to the edge of the bed, his breath hitching in his throat as he watched her soaked pussy slide across the front of the teddy bear. The teddy bear that he had so innocently, so unassumingly, given her just the day before.
"Jesus, Mel," he gasped raggedly, his hands clenching at his hips. Mel bit her lip harder and looked down at herself, watching her slick folds as they rubbed across the prize bear's fur. It was growing wet and sticky under her movements already. "Did you… did you imagine me while you did this?"
The question made her groan in earnest this time, her hips picking up the pace as memories flooded her overwhelmed mind. She longed to close her eyes and sink into the fantasy, but she had something better this time: the man himself, standing slack-jawed right in front of her. Mel raised her eyes to meet his and nodded quickly.
"Y-yes, god yes, Langdon, I tried not to but… but all I could picture was you…" she whimpered, her eyes round and full of longing as she gazed up at him. Langdon's wide eyes flickered between her loving expression and the obscene sight of her wet cunt rocking down into the teddy bear, torn on where to focus.
"Tell me," he urged, almost choking on his own words. "God, Mel, I need you to tell me everything…"
Langdon was trying to be subtle, but Mel didn't miss the uncomfortable way he was shifting before her. She glanced instinctively down at his crotch and grinned, secretly proud to see the bulge of arousal tenting his jeans. She hoped that it wouldn't be too long before she could see if her imagination matched the real thing. All reservations left her: she would do anything for him right now, tell him every dark secret and embarrassing fantasy she had ever thought. She had no idea what her expression looked like as she humped against the stuffed toy, but from his gentle gasp and the sharp longing in his eyes she figured he might just be able to see the plain devotion written across her face.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you," Mel confessed shakily. She gasped as she rocked her hips over the bear's warm plastic nose; her clit was so aroused and so agonizingly sensitive that she had to grit her teeth. "All day yesterday I couldn't stop staring at your — ah — at your biceps… and your neck… and y-your stomach when your shirt rode up… and when I got home last night I just couldn't contain myself anymore…"
Langdon groaned lowly at the image. She gazed up at him hazily as he began to palm his erection over his pants while he watched her rock her hips against the prize bear.
"F-fuck, Mel, I didn't know…"
"I didn't want you to know," she said quickly. "Or— or maybe I did, I don't know, but I do know that I just couldn't… I couldn't contain myself last night, the things I imagined were…"
"Tell me," he practically pleaded, taking another step closer to the bed.
"Licking your neck," she gasped, rolling her hips as she thrust down into the plush body beneath her. "While you were at the fair, it was so hot and there was sweat rolling down your neck and I… oh my god, I wanted to taste you so bad… and I fingered myself and imagined it was y-you touching me, eating me out…"
Langdon groaned long and low. She watched in a daze as he removed his hands from his crotch and began clumsily fumbling with his belt buckle. Her stomach clenched with excitement— she rushed on as he whipped his belt off and threw it to the side.
"I played with my tits and imagined it was you, and I— I even sucked on my fingers and imagined they were actually yours in my mouth… your fingers and… other things…"
"Wh-what other things?" Langdon asked breathlessly, his fingers fumbling with his jeans button as he attempted to free himself without tearing his eyes away from her. Mel whimpered, her mouth flooding with saliva as she watched him deftly unzip his pants and palm across the heavy print of his cock over his exposed underwear.
"Your dick," she whispered, too far gone to care when a trickle of spit escaped the corner of her mouth and ran down her chin. Langdon actually moaned at the word, his head slumping in barely contained arousal as he grabbed at himself through his underwear. "I saw you standing in front of me, just like this, only I was on my knees for you… and you had your cock out and I imagined you were f-fucking my throat as I sucked on my fingers," she confessed darkly, hurriedly, her chest heaving as she studied his reaction.
"S-show me," he choked. "I told you earlier, I want to see." Mel nodded silently, her eyes growing wider as she watched Langdon grab the edge of his shirt and rip it off his body. Her eyes trailed his exposed chest and torso shamelessly, taking in the firm muscles and dark expanse of hair hungrily. His eyes returned to hers as he resumed palming himself through his open zipper.
His hair had fallen messily into his eyes, but she locked her gaze with his anyway as she obediently opened her mouth before him. She paused for a moment, just like that — mouth open wide, saliva pooling on her tongue, thighs clenching around the prize bear as she humped down into it — and took note of his reaction. His whole body trembled with effort to stay where he was as she presented her open mouth to him. She grinned crookedly at his stricken face and slowly slid her fingers into her mouth.
She moaned exaggeratedly as she sucked on them, her eyes fluttering shut for just a moment as she once again imagined it was actually his dick in her mouth. Thick and heavy and warm against her tongue… she pressed down harder, shoving her digits so far back that she choked around them. She felt more saliva trickling down her jaw and opened her eyes just in time to take in Langdon's heaving chest as he gazed down at her. He looked wrecked.
"Good girl," he murmured, kicking his shoes off as he rubbed himself over his underwear. "Fuck, you need the real thing so bad, huh…"
Mel nodded eagerly, making her eyes longing and plaintive as she whimpered and sucked around her fingers. She picked up a steady pace with her hips as she dragged herself across the bear, purposefully grinding her clit against its firm nose every time she passed over it. She could feel her climax swelling inside of her already. She pulled her fingers out with a wet pop and swirled her tongue around them to clean off the saliva. Langdon whimpered lowly.
"I also… I imagined more… so much more…" she continued, her breath shuddering as she licked around her fingers. "When I rode this bear last night I— I imagined it was actually you underneath me instead… and that I was grinding myself against your f-face, and, god, Langdon, I came all over this toy and the whole time I was imagining cumming right into your mouth…"
"Fuck," Langdon cursed, shoving his pants down as quickly as humanly possible. "Get off the bear, Mel, now."
"But— why?!" Mel cried, her hips picking up in speed as she rutted against the plush toy. "I don't w-wanna… feels too good…"
"I'll make it better, I promise," Langdon moaned darkly. Mel sharply inhaled as she watched him hook his thumbs into the waistband of his underwear and pull them down. His cock sprang free, twitching and throbbing the dim light of her bedroom as he bent to kick off his socks and underwear.
He was big. Even bigger than she had imagined, and slightly curved, and so veiny that her mouth immediately flooded with saliva again. Mel's eyes traced the dark path of his hair possessively as she rocked down into the prize bear. Her climax was mounting so quickly she didn't know if she could stop it.
"Mel," Langdon said, his voice harboring a dark note of warning now. "Be good for me. Get off poor Mr. Stuffles."
Despite herself, Mel actually laughed. Her thighs clenched around the bear, still unwilling to give up the delicious friction, but she couldn't rip her gaze away from him. From the tantalizing accessibility of his body. What a dream this was.
Except the best part was that it wasn't a dream. Or a fantasy conjured by a lonely, longing mind. He was standing at the edge of her bed now, his dick so close to her that she could practically feel the heat radiating off of it. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple as she tore her gaze away from his cock and looked up at him. She slowed to a stop, resting heavily against the stuffed toy as she gazed up at him. Silently, he reached a hand out and pressed his index and middle finger against the soft curve of her lips. Mel parted them instantly.
Langdon sank his fingers into her mouth up to the knuckles, cursing roughly under his breath as she swallowed around them. His skin was salty against her tongue— she whimpered and sucked forcefully around them, her chest heaving so heavily she thought she might pass out. She fluttered her eyelashes up at him as she licked around the digits, opening her throat so that he could press those deliciously long fingers all the way down to the back of her throat.
"Mel, sweetheart," he murmured, his eyes almost glazed over as he gazed down at her. "Get off the bear. It's my turn."
Mel nodded around his fingers slowly, a sugar-rush of giddiness swelling in her chest at the sound of his voice calling her such a gentle pet name. When he slid his fingers back out of her mouth she barely managed to resist the urge to chase them with her lips again. Instead, she begrudgingly shifted her body up and off of the prize bear. His bow had come untied again.
She kneeled to the side of the bed, stretching her legs to stimulate blood flow as she tried to resist the urge to shove her hands between her thighs and continue working towards her climax. She wanted to be good for him so, so bad.
Langdon exhaled roughly as he picked up the bear, running his fingers through the soaked fur with an uncharacteristic reverence. Mel's lips parted with shock and arousal as she watched him plunge his face into the sticky fur, inhaling her scent deeply. His free hand returned to his cock and stroked it quickly as he breathed in the heady scent of her release; Mel clenched her thighs together when she heard him whimper slightly into the plush toy. She let out an airy, stunned breath at the obscene sight.
The noise brought him back to the present— he glanced sideways at her, his face still buried in the wet fur, and grinned playfully. Her stomach twisted with need as she watched him inhale once more, kiss the ruined stomach fur of the prize bear, and then set it softly to the side. His cockhead was flushed as deep of a pink as her face was; it weeped precum down the side of his shaft as he crawled onto the bed. Mel didn't want to stare, but she couldn't tear her eyes away as he crawled towards her. She still wasn't entirely sure that if she blinked, he wouldn't just vanish back into the flickering shadows of her room.
"I think I've made you wait for me long enough," he said meaningfully. Her heart fluttered as she watched him lay on his back, his head propped up by her mound of pillows. "Fuck, you've been so good for me tonight… and always. Jesus, Mel, you're always so good… so perfect. Had I know how you felt about me before I— I would've—" He couldn't seem to make himself continue. Instead he gestured for her to come over to him. "C'mere, sweetheart. You wanted to ride my face, yeah? Let me make that dream come true."
Mel could barely contain herself. Vibrating with lust, and longing, and disbelief she hurriedly ripped her dress off over her head and flung it to the floor. Langdon choked as he took her naked form in, his eyes openly roaming her chest and navel as he stroked his cock languidly. Rather than jump straight onto his face, however, she couldn't resist moving around to straddle his legs. Langdon blinked owlishly down at her as she lowered herself until her soft breasts pressed against his bare legs; she placed a long, hot kiss into the flushed skin of his open thigh.
"Fuck— Mel, what're you…?"
"Just let me," Mel pleaded, panting open-mouthed kisses up his inner thighs. "Please, Langdon…"
"F-Frank," he corrected her, his voice cracking as she kissed feverishly up his parted leg.
"Frank," she moaned into his skin, immediately sinking into the intimacy of his first name. She was almost delirious as she mouthed her way up to his exposed cock. "Oh Frank, I've been dreaming about this… about having you here underneath me, just like this…"
"Yeah? You wanna tell me about that some more, baby?"
He gasped at the first touch of her lips on his dick. She kissed his tip delicately, swiping her tongue around the flushed head to gather the glistening precum into her mouth with a heady whimper.
"You taste just like I imagined you would," was all she said before wrapping her lips around his cockhead, but it was enough to make him groan and buck his hips up to thrust into her mouth.
"God, Mel, you're an angel," he grunted, his hands landing on her head and delicately winding into her silky hair. "D-don't worry about that right now. Come up here, I w-want you to ride my face…"
Mel hummed around his tip and relished the way his body twitched and squirmed under her. She wanted to stay exactly like this, hovering over him while she swallowed his precum and massaged him with her tongue, but her whole body was trembling with the urge to climb onto his face already. She pulled herself off of him, savoring the wet noise of his cock sliding out of her mouth, and missed the weight of his tip against her tongue immediately. She pressed a sweet, chaste kiss against his frenulum before moving further up his body: her sights were set on something else now.
"God, Frank, these biceps… I can't believe I get to touch them right now," she sighed dreamily, kissing up his torso and pressing her lips against the flex of his arm. He shivered as she kissed her way up his forearm, tonguing over the rippling muscles as he shifted beneath her. She ran her hand through his thick, dark chest hair as she mouthed over his muscles, humming sweetly to herself as she pressed her bare chest against his. The intimacy, the tenderness of the moment, was otherworldly— he tasted even better than she had dreamed. He curled his hand through her messy golden locks and smiled down at her as she sucked against his sweat-salty skin.
"From now on, you can touch them whenever you want," he promised lowly, amused. Mel glanced over at him from her spot on his arm and arched an eyebrow.
"Promise?" She mumbled around his bicep. "Even… even at work?"
"Oh, especially at work," he teased, grinning fondly down at her. "Whenever you get stressed you can just take me into the break room and give them a squeeze, okay?"
"Perfect," she giggled warmly. Her heart felt dangerously close to bursting. "By the way, you should know I masturbated at work today. While thinking about you."
Langdon froze beneath her. Mel kissed her way over his shoulder and nuzzled into the side of his neck.
"You— what?" He sounded breathless. Mel realized his chest had grown still beneath hers.
"After that STEMI. I couldn't stand having you so close yet… so far away. So I went to the bathroom and… kinda took my frustrations out on myself." Mel licked a long, hot stripe up the side of his neck. "I came in minutes just from thinking about you. In the spirit of honesty, I figured you should know."
"So… when you said you had to go to the bathroom earlier you were actually…" He exhaled sharply, his chest heaving underneath her bare breasts as if suddenly remembering how to breathe again. "Mel, I need you on my face. Right. Fucking. Now."
Mel whimpered at the sudden agony of his command. She kissed against the side of his neck once more before rising off of him slightly.
"Yes sir," she whispered coyly, crawling the rest of the way up to his face. Her whole body was throbbing with so much energy she could barely contain herself. She felt like she was sleepwalking.
Langdon braced his hands against her hips as she straddled his neck, carefully positioning herself over his face. She had never done this before, but there were a great many firsts happening in her life tonight; this had to be the one she was the most excited about.
Her eyes locked with his as she lowered herself over his mouth.
"F-fuck-!" she cried brokenly as the first slide of her cunt over his face registered in her already overstimulated mind. Langdon grinned at the noise, at her sudden uncharacteristic curse, and opened his mouth. Hot breath engulfed her soaked pussy as he licked up into her. "Oh my god, Frank, that feels so… so good…"
She braced her arms against her bed's backboard and ground down against him, careful not to press her full weight onto his face as she dragged herself across him. He peered between her thighs at her with such tenderness that tears began to well in her eyes again.
"It's okay, Mel, just use me," he whispered, like her fantasy sprung to life before her. "I want to take care of you… I want to make you feel good…"
Mel whimpered and nodded, too far-gone to speak as she rested a little more of her full weight onto his face. His fingers pressed bruises into her thighs as he held her close, locking her legs around his ears until she felt securely in place. He licked up into her again, eliciting low whines and moans from her open mouth as he ate her out. His fingers pushed into her, encouraging her to move against him, so she began to rock her hips in earnest.
"Frank," she moaned, her knuckles growing white against the backboard as she picked up a steady pace. "F-Frank..!"
His name felt like the hottest thing in the world to her right now. Something as innocent as a first name shouldn't turn her on as much as it did, but she wanted to moan it until her voice gave out.
She rutted against his face as she had against the prize teddy bear. She slid her soaked folds across his mouth and chin, wiggling her hips a little to press her aching clit deeper into his nose with every thrust. And oh, how the reality was so much more delicious than the fantasy. Langdon held her hips steady as she ground down against him, his tongue a firm pressure against her needy heat as she relieved herself on him. His eyes never left her face, even when she threw her head back and moaned unashamedly up at the dark ceiling. They were round and tender and adoring as his fingertips pressed bruises into her thighs and his tongue hollowed her out. His breath was hot and shuddering against her throbbing clit.
"You taste s-so good, sweetheart," he mumbled around the push and pull of her cunt. He nuzzled between her folds hungrily, devouring her arousal as fast as it pooled between her thighs. "Jesus, Mel, you taste fucking amazing."
Mel flushed at the compliment, her thighs clenching around his ears as he praised her. Her glasses were crooked on the bridge of her nose. His hands slid further back on her hips, pawing hungrily at the plush curve of her ass as he pressed his face into her soaked, pulsing pussy.
"I… I dreamt of you too, Mel. Fuck, I know I shouldn't have, but…" Mel's pace staggered as he murmured broken confessions into her core. "I… I couldn't help it. Jesus, you're just too… too perfect."
Mel bit her lip and ground down against his nose slowly, relishing the breathy friction against her clit before pulling back and allowing him to breathe. He gasped between her thighs.
"I'm not perfect," she whispered lowly, bringing down one hand and winding it into his sweaty hair. He grunted with arousal at the tug. "I… I shouldn't have ever thought about you in the ways that I have, Frank…"
"And I shouldn't have thought about you in the ways that I have," he insisted lowly, lapping against her clit until her breath hitched. "Some things just… fuck, can't be helped. You're just too beautiful, too smart, too… caring. Jesus, Mel, it's like someone made you in a lab for me."
Mel looked back down at him, flushing darkly at his tender words. He was still gazing up at her as he circled his tongue around her clit. She pushed her hips forward slowly as she tugged at his hair— she watched his mouth and nose disappear under the wet glide of her cunt and felt the tremor of his moan deep inside of her as she ground down into him.
"So… what you said at work today… about faithfulness?" Her breath was coming out in short, breathy gasps as she fought for control over her lungs. "When you said your wife had nothing to worry about, you were…?"
"Lying," Frank finished for her, his voice low and wrecked as he swirled his tongue around the thrust of her clit. "I'm s-sorry Mel, I didn't wanna drag you into this whole mess, but… oh sweetheart, I just can't contain myself around you…"
He… liked her. Frank Langdon liked her— maybe even as much as she liked him, somehow. Despite his marriage, whatever remained of it… despite his earlier insistence that she was just a friend… he had a crush on her too. The realization was was so shocking, so surreal, that the rock of her hips stuttered and slowed. She felt faint.
For just a moment, she allowed herself to imagine a future with him. Lazy, sleepy mornings cuddling before work… slow dancing in the kitchen in their pajamas before bed… taking his kids to the park and holding hands while they watched them play… she felt a sugary rush of happiness and hope like she had never known before. The chance at love, at a family with him… Mel swooned and dazedly ground across his face once, twice, three times as she let the realization grow from a churn of excitement in her belly to a warm glow that spread through her whole body.
And then she was cumming into his open mouth— for real this time, not just fantasy. Because he actually liked her.
Her back arched and her mouth fell open as she came, a choked gasp of wonder and ecstasy flooding out of her as she gushed into his open and eager mouth. And it was gushing; she had never released just this much before. It went on and on and on… Mel looked down at herself as she found her voice, a thin cry escaping her as her thighs shook and clenched around his head. Clear liquid ran rivulets down his face as she squirted into his open mouth, gushing like a waterfall just from her delirious excitement. Her whole body shook with the strength of her orgasm. She tugged Langdon's hair until he was wincing and squirming beneath her hips, but it was all she could do to hang on as her body released its last month of pent up sexual frustration down onto the man who had caused it.
She had never cum so hard she squirted before— it was almost too much for her. Her head hung as wave after wave of the orgasm crested through her body, leaving her trembling and exhausted. Langdon whimpered as she came, his fingers pressing so harshly into her thighs and ass that she gasped again. He swallowed her release eagerly, mouthing against her as she flooded him with arousal. It was too much for Mel: her vision faded in and out so fuzzily that she almost thought she might pass out. The orgasm, the realization of his feelings… her heart pounded so hard she thought it might actually leave a bruise on her chest.
Slowly, achingly slowly, her climax wound down. Her cunt pulsed and clenched around air as her fountain of release finally ran out; Langdon licked against her softly, his tongue weak and spent as he cleaned between her folds. His fingers loosened on her hips, though she almost missed the pain of their grip. She carefully unwound her own fingers from his hair, wincing as she realized she might have pulled too hard. As her vision returned to normal, she tilted her head down to meet his gaze again. Her glasses had grown foggy from her breath. He stared up at her between her thighs and smiled, a bit dazed but gentle nonetheless. His face was soaked.
"S-sorry," Mel whispered, her voice raw from crying as she came. "I didn't… I didn't know that would happen, I've never…" She was so embarrassed she was lost for words. Langdon pulled his mouth away from her pussy and slowly licked his lips.
"You— you've never squirted like that before?" he asked softly, almost incredulously. Mel shook her head quickly, tears springing to her eyes from the many emotions that were coursing through her weakened body. Langdon's eyes darkened almost possessively up at her.
"Mel… don't ever apologize to me for that again," he insisted, bringing his mouth back up to press a kiss against her pulsing clit. She jumped and yelped lightly at the contact. "I could watch you do that forever… could taste you forever."
Mel groaned lowly, still embarrassed but now desperately turned on again. Would this insatiable hunger for him ever end?
"Okay… um, do you want me to take care of you?" She asked softly, hoping he wouldn't pick up on the note of hope in her voice as she gestured behind him. Langdon licked his wet lips again and smiled almost shyly.
"Uh… actually, it kinda took care of itself," he admitted. Mel twisted to look behind her, gasping as she took in his softened cock, laying still against his lower stomach. It twitched headily under her gaze. She hadn't noticed him cumming, but the evidence of his spend was clear across his stomach and chest. He came, untouched, just from her riding his face.
"Oh! Here, let me grab something to clean with," Mel gasped, carefully untangling her legs from around his neck so she could stand. Her legs wobbled as she stood off the bed; rivers of extra release ran down her inner thighs. She could still feel the ghost of his fingers gripping her hips. She relished the feeling.
There was no towel in her room but she didn't feel like leaving long enough to run into her bathroom, so instead she grabbed the teddy bear off the edge of her bed.
"Sorry Mr. Stuffles," she sighed before she flipped it over and used the dry side of its body to clumsily wipe down between her legs. Langdon propped himself up on his elbows and watched with amusement as she cleaned herself, then turned back to him. He drew the back of his hand across his mouth as she wiped the stuffed bear across his chest and torso, gathering his cum in the bear's soft fur.
"This bear has been well worth the money I spent on winning it," he teased as she finished cleaning it up and awkwardly tossed it to the floor. The teddy bear lay there, messy and discarded for the second night in a row. Her stomach twisted with a wicked excitement to see it there again, knowing that this time when she looked back at her bed the man of her dreams would still be there.
A sudden shyness bloomed in her chest. She glanced back at him slowly, twisting her hands together as she drew her gaze over his naked body, sprawled leisurely across her bed. He tucked one arm behind his head while his other hand rested against his stomach, just by his softened dick. He smiled at her adoringly even as she averted her gaze again and reached for her dress. Her blush was so intense she felt as if her whole body was permanently tinged pink.
"Langdon," she whispered softly, unsure of how to begin the conversation that needed to be had. His first name felt too intimate all of a sudden. "What… what are you doing here? I mean, I saw the texts and everything but that was just a mistake… would you have come if I hadn't sent that picture?"
She pulled the dress on to cover herself as Langdon sat up quickly. Wordlessly she tossed him his underwear, hoping she wouldn't have to use her words to ask him to cover himself. She felt like a shy schoolgirl around him all over again.
"I… I dunno, Mel, but I'm glad I did. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted when I reached out earlier, but it turns out it was this." His voice was so tender that she wanted to scream. She pulled off her glasses to clean the steam off of them — and obscure her vision — as he hopped off the bed and pulled on his underwear.
"But… what about Abby?"
She could barely bring herself to say his wife's name. The certainty of what she had done… of what they had done… was settling into her bones. Her skin felt itchy and uncomfortable, like fire ants were trailing across her body. She ran a shaky hand through her hair and tried to steady her breathing, but she felt the unsteadiness of an anxiety attack swelling within her.
"Fuck. C'mere, Mel."
Suddenly his hands were enveloping hers, warm and grounding as he led her back over to the bed. He sat on its edge but she stayed standing before him, trembling as she tried not to focus on the distracting way his hands completely dwarfed hers. He lowered his head until his eyes found hers and captured them, sharp and meaningful. She allowed herself to sink into their blue depths with a deep sigh.
"I should've told you before all this happened," he murmured, his eyes searching hers almost warily. "Abby wants to get a divorce."
The roaring of blood in her ears gave way to a blissful, echoing silence. She stared blankly at him.
"She… what? I know, you said that before but—"
"No, I mean… she wants one now," he sighed, his hands tightening around hers. "After I got home from work today she sat me down at the kitchen table and we just… talked. For ages. She's unhappy, Mel. And so am I."
"Oh." Mel's mind was reeling, but the steady warmth of his hands kept her still. She studied the sudden sheen of tears in his eyes and relaxed, breathing slowly and unsteadily. "So… you two agreed to get a divorce?"
Langdon winced. "Well… not quite…"
Mel frowned at him so he hurriedly continued speaking.
"I said I needed some time to think," he explained in a rush. "I needed to think and I needed some air so I stepped outside and I just… I wanted to talk to someone. So I texted you, and for just a moment I felt okay again, like— like I had someone who cared for me outside of my marriage or my family and I was already considering asking if you wanted to, I dunno, hang out tonight or something when you sent that picture and that message with the winky face and Jesus Mel, messaged received loud and clear."
Langdon laughed hesitatingly as he spoke, but Mel's frown just deepened.
"'Message received'…?" she repeated slowly. "But… I already told you, that picture was a mistake. I meant to send you a picture I took yesterday but I accidentally deleted it instead of the one I took this morning where I was— anyway, there wasn't a secret message, I swear."
Langdon arched an eyebrow up at her, but when she just looked back in confusion he tilted his head to one side.
"You sent a winky face with it Mel. A winky face."
"I was trying to be playful!" she insisted hurriedly. His head tilted even further to the side, regarding her with open fascination now.
"Mel, when I got that message I left immediately. I told you, I ran about ten red lights just to get here and see you as fast as I could, and when you opened your door you were wearing nothing but a dress that was slipping off one shoulder and a pair of lacy panties," he said slowly, pointedly. Mel flushed deeply.
"I was just wearing something comfortable because it's hot out! And the panties were because I never wear cute underwear and I wanted to try something new for a change!"
"Oh, and the candles and romantic music you filled your apartment with? You want me to believe that was what, just a coincidence too?" he teased lowly.
Mel looked around her room slowly, taking in the flickering candles with new eyes. She remembered the music with a gasp— she could hear it now that she focused, muffled behind her closed bedroom door.
"It is!" she laughed, her face so red she felt like a candle flame herself. "I was trying to have a nice night in! I figured… I figured if no one else was going to romance me, then I should just… do it myself."
Her voice grew quiet and hesitating at the end, painfully aware of how lonely she sounded. Langdon made a distressed noise in the back of his throat and squeezed his hands around hers even tighter.
"Oh, Mel…" he murmured, his eyes truly welling with tears now. He leaned forward, tilting his head up to press his lips warmly against hers. She melted into the kiss, her shoulders finally relaxing as the tension melted out of her body. She could taste the tang of her release and the salt of tears against his lips. When he pulled back, there was fresh moisture streaking down his cheekbones. "You don't have to worry about that now. I'm here. You won't have to do anything alone ever again," he assured her, his voice low and loving. Mel nodded plaintively, almost too choked up to speak.
"So… what are you going to tell Abby?" she finally ventured, her heart aching with hope and guilt.
"…I already made my mind up the moment I got in my car to drive over here," he admitted softly. "When she suggested we get a divorce tonight, I expected to feel like I did the last time she brought it up: scared, confused… hurt. But tonight I just felt… resigned. Relieved even, that the idea was out in the open. I couldn't even be sad; it's no use clinging to something that's run its course. I'll always care about her and the life we built together, but our marriage has been dead in the water for years now— we just didn't want to admit it. Well, I didn't want to admit it. But… it's easier not to lie to yourself when you have a fresh perspective on life."
"And… I'm perspective?" she checked quietly, tears of surprise and wonder springing to her eyes.
"Yes, Mel, definitely," he murmured, smiling up at her wistfully. "Spending time with you at the county fair yesterday, seeing you with my kids and spending time with your sister again, it… it gave me hope. That a better future was possible. And yeah, maybe we did this whole thing out of order, but… at least we're taking our lives into our own hands at all. I can't feel ashamed about that."
Mel pulled their hands up to press a kiss against his knuckles. His eyes fluttered shut, savoring the contact.
"I'll be here for you as long as you let me," was all she said, kissing across each knuckle reverently. Fresh tears slipped out of the corners of his closed eyes and hung off his jawline. "I'm… glad to be a fresh perspective."
"I'm glad you sent that photo," Langdon whispered lowly, his eyes flickering back open to gaze up at her through the tears. He smiled crookedly at her embarrassed laugh.
"Me too," she admitted, her thighs squeezing together as the warm glow of her orgasm pooled around the tender, slow throb of her clit. "And I'm glad I wore the panties, and lit the candles, and played the music… even though I swear I didn't know you would come over."
Langdon grinned fully now, blinking away the tears and pulling her hands close so that he could kiss against her wrist. Despite the things they had done tonight, the sins they had committed together, she still felt shy and awestruck as his lips brushed against her pulse.
"Me too. Christ, Mel, I never knew you were so good at seducing people by accident."
Mel giggled, her breath hitching in her throat as he kissed along her wrist.
"Me neither," she whispered playfully. "I'll have to remember that for next time."
"Oh no, Mel, next time I want it to be on purpose," he said lowly, grazing his teeth across her pulse just teasingly enough that she jumped.
"Okay," Mel said shakily, her heart pounding with love and excitement. She could still scarcely believe she wasn't just dreaming. But here she was, feet planted firmly on her bedroom floor, hands clasped warmly by the man of her dreams. He was brushing his lips across her wrist, his eyes wet and tender and so loving that her heart ached as he looked up at her. "But I need you to do one little thing for me first, Frank."
"Anything for you, sweetheart."
"…Divorce your wife, okay?"