Rhythm Ch. 02

It had been a couple of weeks since Charlie and Laura had been on their first date. They had been out a few more times and after each date, Charlie walked Laura to her door and they shared a sweet kiss. Laura was more than ready for more but Charlie didn't seem to want to go further. This confused Laura because in other ways Charlie seemed really keen, she sent Laura a text message most days and they had wonderful conversations on their dates with Charlie never failing to make Laura laugh and feel connected to Charlie.

It was Saturday night and Laura was out with some of the other nurses for a leaving do. Without planning it the group ended up at The Square, Charlie's club.

Laura was quite drunk, which was unusual for her, but she'd drunk a little more than she would normally and hadn't eaten much that day. She was dancing with her friends when she saw Charlie appear at the bar to talk to the staff. Her confidence buoyed by the alcohol in her system Laura walked over to confront the woman she couldn't stop thinking about.

Charlie was talking to the bar manager when she sensed someone behind her. When she turned around she broke out into a broad smile and leaned in to give Laura a hug. Smiling down at Laura she said, 'Hey you, I didn't know you were coming tonight.'

'Why don't you like me?'

'Sorry?'

'We go out, have a great time, you take me home and then nothing, don't you like me?' By this point Laura was leaning against Charlie's chest and prodding her with her finger. Charlie realised how drunk Laura was and eased her away from the bar to a quiet corner.

'Do you want some water or a coffee?'

'You can't even answer the question.'

'Of course I like you Laura, I think you're amazing but you're drunk and this is not the time or the place to have this conversation. Where are your friends, how are you getting home tonight?'

Laura turned back to the dance floor and searched for her friends but had lost them in the crowd. Charlie hugged her and said, 'Why don't you send them a message and I'll make sure you get home.'

'I want to go home with you.'

'What?'

Laura leaned up to whisper in Charlie's ear, in what she thought was a seductive manner to say, 'I want to go home with you, let me show you what I think about after each of our dates.'

Charlie was incredibly aroused but also knew how drunk Laura was so there was no way she would take advantage but she did need to make sure Laura got home ok. She took Laura to her office, sat her on the sofa while she made sure she wasn't needed for the rest of the night.

By the time Charlie was ready to go, Laura had fallen asleep on the sofa. Charlie tried to wake her but Laura just curled into a tighter embrace. Thankful for the back stairs Charlie carried Laura down to her car and drove them back to her own apartment. She carried Laura into the spare bedroom and gently lay her on the bed. Removing Laura's shoes she pulled the covers over her and went to her own bedroom after leaving some water and painkillers out for Laura.

It took a while for Charlie to get to sleep as she was having a hard time ignoring the fact that the woman of her dreams had all but thrown herself at her and was asleep in the room next door. Charlie hadn't realised that her slow courtship was causing Laura to doubt her affections. Laura had seemed so nervous around Charlie that she'd wanted to take things slowly. Charlie resolved to try to explain this in the morning.

Laura up woke with a very sore head and she she wasn't entirely sure where she was. She drank the water and swallowed some paracetamol before attempting to stand and find a bathroom. When she stumbled into the hall she recognised that she was in Charlie's apartment but Charlie didn't seem to be there and as Laura was still dressed from the night before they clearly hadn't slept together.

Sitting on the toilet Laura tried to piece the night together from her patchy memory. She remembered meeting up with the girls from work but that wasn't at The Square so they obviously went there later. Suddenly she had the critical flashback, the one where she confronted Charlie. Laura groaned into her hands and wondered if she had blown the relationship before it got started.

She washed her hands and went into the living room. Charlie had left a note to say she would be back after 11, looking at the clock she saw it was 10.30 and she didn't know if she should try to leave and not have to face Charlie but she realised that wouldn't help her embarrassment and so made herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the sofa to wait and promptly fell asleep again.

Laura woke up to find Charlie sitting on the floor next to the sofa waving fresh pastries under her nose. Seeing she was awake, Charlie said. "Morning sleepy, how's your head today?"

"Oh Charlie, I'm so sorry about last night, I usually don't drink that much, I don't know what came over me."

"Hey, it's ok. I own a club, I've seen drunk people before. Why don't you have some breakfast, I'll make you a fresh coffee. I may even be able to find you a new toothbrush, some clean clothes and you can have a shower."

"But..."

Charlie silenced her with a firm kiss and said, "Then we'll talk, ok?"

"Ok, thank you."

It was nearly an hour later when Laura was back in the living room, fresh and clean from the shower, wearing a pair of Charlie's shorts, t-shirt and hoodie. All of which were too big for her. Her headache had almost gone and she felt more human.

When Charlie looked up her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Laura in her favourite jumper, fresh from the shower. She smiled at Laura and patted the seat next to her on the sofa. "Feeling better now?"

Laura was feeling shy again and smiled at Charlie before apologising again for her behaviour the night before. "I really don't know what came over me, I'm so sorry."

"Well you clearly had something you wanted to get off your chest - do you want to talk about it now?"

"Can't we just pretend it didn't happen, imagine you didn't see me last night?"

"I'm happy to never mention it again but I also want to apologise, I can't believe you thought I wasn't interested." Charlie picked up Laura's hand and looked into her eyes before continuing, "I was taking things slowly because I didn't want to rush you and honestly sometimes you seem so nervous around me, I don't want to force myself on you. But I am definitely interested, you are the most incredible woman I've ever met and I can't wait to get to know you better."

"Sometimes I have trouble getting over Charlotte Rodgers and seeing Charlie, you've been completely lovely to me but I can't help but feel I'm not exciting enough for you."

Charlie looked incredulously at Laura and said, "If you knew how hard it was for me to get to sleep last night with you in the next room, you would never doubt my excitement."

"I know it's silly but I can't help it."

Leaning into Laura Charlie whispered, "How about some proof then?" She then closed the remaining gap and pushed her lips against Laura's and ran her tongue along her lips tasting the hint of toothpaste, moaning when Laura opened her mouth and met Charlie's tongue with hers.

Charlie broke the kiss and kissed her way along Laura's cheek and nipped at her earlobe before whispering, "believe me yet?"

By way of answer Laura pushed Charlie back against the cushions and the straddled her thighs. She ran her fingertips up Charlie's arms before pushing her hands through Charlie's thick black hair. She pressed her lips back to Charlie's and resumed their passionate kiss.

Charlie wasted no time in bringing her hands up Laura's thighs around to her butt, squeezing and pulling Laura closer to her. They kissed for a few minutes before Laura broke the kiss again and rested her head against Charlie's shoulder. She giggled and said, "Some more of that I'm sure I'll start to believe you."

Laughing back, Charlie said, "Just be sure to let me know when you're convinced." Charlie continued to plant soft kisses all over Laura's face and neck while her hands roamed up and down her back. "Do you fancy going out for a late lunch or I can order something in?"

"You're not exactly encouraging me to move right now and I'd need to go home and change if you want to go out."

"Order in it is then, pizza ok?"

"Sure any topping is fine but no olives."

Charlie reached for the phone and placed the order, trying not to get too distracted by Laura nuzzling her neck and blowing softly into her ear. When she hung up Charlie surprised Laura by picking her up and spinning round, reversing their positions. "It's lucky for you missy that the pizza won't be long otherwise you might have to pay for that."

Laura's eyes flashed with affection, laughter and most of all lust, and Charlie felt all three being reciprocated by her own body. Firmly kissing Laura, she stood up and went to the kitchen to get some drinks and plates for the pizza, telling Laura to find something to watch or listen to while they eat.

Charlie had stepped away to calm things down a little, she really wanted to be with Laura but didn't want her to think she was jumping into bed because of their conversation.

When she returned to the living room, Laura had turned the TV on and had paused it at the start of a film. Smiling at Charlie, Laura said, "I figured a good Sunday afternoon film is the King and I, that ok."

"Sure, a classic."

"Let me guess, you're a fan of musicals as well as Dolly Parton, you know for a butch, however soft, you really are an enigma."

"Hey, I like music, doesn't matter what kind, just has to be good."

A couple of hours later the pizza and movie were finished and both women were dosing on the sofa, lying down with Charlie spooning Laura, resting one hand on her tummy under her t-shirt. Laura was using Charlie's other arm as a head rest.

Laura was startled awake by an alert going off. She turned round and kissed Charlie, smiling as her response was to tighten the embrace and deepen the kiss. Laura pulled away and said, "Is that your alarm, I can't find your phone to turn it off."

"Shit what time is it?" Reaching for her phone and seeing that it was 4 pm, Charlie continued, "Damn it I need to go into work."

Sitting up she started to clean up things from lunch. As she took them into the kitchen she gave Laura some options, "So, I'm only going to be a couple of hours. I can take you home and we can arrange something for later this week, I can pick you up again this evening, you can come with me or you can just stay here and relax."

"What will you be doing, I thought you weren't needed on Sundays?"

"Ah, no, this is my other job. It's a song thing that I need to send over by tomorrow, I have a studio on the top floor of The Square."

"You're sure you wouldn't mind me coming, I'd love to see it. Can we call in at mine so I can at least get some jeans, I love this hoodie but these shorts aren't really working for me."

Charlie smiled and agreed before pulling Laura against her body and pushing her hands inside the shorts to caress Laura's bottom while whispering, "just so you know, they are totally working for me..." before swooping down for a passionate kiss that took Laura's breath away. Charlie cruelly stepped quickly away from Laura and laughed when she whimpered at the loss. "Let's go then babe."

"I'll get you back for that," Laura said as she adjusted her clothing and swatted Charlie's arm.

"Promise?" Charlie laughed with a wink as they left her apartment.

After a brief stop for Laura to change her clothes they got to The Square and Charlie led Laura to the top floor which opened out into a medium sized recording studio with three rooms. The largest was the studio itself which had a large drum kit, a few guitars and a keyboard in it with various microphones set up. Then there was a small production room with the mixing desks and computers. Charlie left Laura in the remaining room that had comfortable seats, TVs and a fridge of drinks and snacks. When Laura asked if she would be able to hear what Charlie was doing Charlie flicked a switch on the wall and said, "Now you will, no comments on my singing voice, this is a demo only and it's the background track that they are really after. Help yourself to anything from the fridge. I'll be as quick as I can."

Charlie went into the production room and started by playing back what she had already done and Laura took her chance to look around the room she was in. The walls and shelves were covered with awards and photographs. The awards were all from Charlie's career but the photos were older. Looking at them more closely Laura thought she could see a family resemblance in a couple but most of the photos were of rock groups from the 70s.

Helping herself to a water from the fridge Laura sat down to listen to what Charlie was doing. She hadn't said who the song was for but it sounded like it could be for Raging Lizard, if you listened to the music alone anyway but Charlie's voice was softer than Fiona's, much more suited to jazz than rock, Laura thought it was beautiful.

Charlie settled down to work on the track, redrafting the bass line and lead guitar. The track was ready to go quicker than she expected and she was done in just over an hour. She uploaded the track to the record label's server and switched everything off before going back through to Laura who was reading a magazine article about Raging Lizard.

"Ok, all done, sorry for wasting your Sunday afternoon." Charlie leaned down to give Laura a soft kiss, teasing her lips with her tongue before brings her hands to the side of Laura's face and deepening the kiss. She pushed Laura against the back of the sofa and pressed her leg between Laura's thighs, causing her to moan with the contact. Charlie felt her restraint drift away and left one hand cupping the back of Laura's head while moving the other down her side, brushing across her chest over the hoodie she was still wearing. Gently squeezing the full breast she quickly pushed her hand under the jumper to get skin on skin contact, with Laura arching her back to increase the contact.

Laura was by no means passive in the embrace, one hand was firmly gripping Charlie's bottom, pulling their bodies together and the other was tickling the hairs on the back of her neck.

Charlie broke the kiss and moved her lips down Laura's neck while pushing the hoodie out of the way, exposing the soft belly and firm breasts encased in a pale blue bra. Laura sat up slightly to remove the bulky item and lay back down, delighting in finally feeling Charlie's hands on her skin.

Resting her hands on Laura's ribs, just under her breasts, Charlie continued to plant kisses across Laura's torso, painstakingly making her way towards her nipples. Moving her hands to pull down the cups of the bra and hold the breasts still, Charlie finally focused her attention on the orbs and Laura's aching nipples, kissing, licking and gently nipping at the sensitive area, causing Laura to grind her hips down onto the thigh between her legs.

In what felt like no time at all, Laura felt herself lose control, she threw her head back and arched her body to get maximum contact, calling out Charlie's name before collapsing back onto the sofa. Charlie slowly eased the pressure from her thigh and released Laura's breasts, resuming the gentle kisses on her torso and neck, allowing Laura to get her breath back, before taking it away again with a deep kiss, plunging her tongue into Laura's mouth and sucking on the tongue that eagerly met hers.

Although there was no chance of being interrupted, Charlie did suddenly remember where they were and chastised herself for losing the control she'd been holding onto earlier that day. She ended the kiss and pressed her lips to Laura's forehead allowing them both the regulate their breathing.

Charlie then leaned down to talk softly in Laura's ear, "Sorry, didn't really mean for that to happen, I lost control."

"I'm definitely not complaining."

"What do you want to do this evening, are you at work tomorrow?"

"Nope, I've actually got the week off. After the drinking last night and the pizza today, maybe a light dinner."

"Sounds great. How about a stir fry, I can cook that without messing it up."

"Sounds lovely, your place or mine?"

"Well I've got the ingredients I think but happy to go to yours if you'd rather."

"No, that's fine..." It looked like she was about to say more but she bit her lip and looked away before shaking her head and continuing, "this is going to sound weird after what's just happened but am I likely to spend the night, do we need to detour via mine again."

"I wouldn't want to assume anything, but I'd love for you to stay, in whatever bedroom you like. Why don't we go via yours just in case, I can always drop you home later if you want, no pressure or expectations." Kissing Laura again, Charlie helped her up and passed her the hoodie and waited for her to be ready to leave.

As they walked down to the car Laura asked if all the awards were Charlie's.

"Yeah, I keep them here because it helps me separate my life, I treat this as a job and this is where I work."

"And the photos?"

"Mostly they're there because I like them. A couple have my dad in, he was a session musician."

"Cool, is that how you got into music?"

"Not really, I was just hanging out with Fiona and the girls, I was the only one who could play drums."

After dinner Laura helped Charlie with the washing up and then they collapsed back onto the sofa in front of the TV. Charlie lent back into the corner and pulled Laura into her embrace. Laura settled her head onto Charlie's shoulder and wrapped her arm around her waist, entwining their legs together. Charlie kissed the top of Laura's head and had one hand around Laura's shoulders, keeping one hand free for the remote and reaching her drink.

With her head against her chest, Laura could hear Charlie's heartbeat. Slipping her hand underneath Charlie's shirt she smiled as the pulse quickened as her fingers brushed the ticklish side of Charlie's abdomen. Circling her fingers across the warm skin she reached up and placed a kiss just inside the collar of the Charlie's shirt, causing her to tighten her arm around Laura's shoulders while digging her other hand into Laura's hair to pull her lips up to meet Charlie's.

This time Laura used her position to get her hands inside Charlie's shirt, quickly realising she needed to get to the buttons first. As she pulled away to do this, Charlie said, "So you're staying?"

Laura's response was to quickly strip down to her underwear and walk towards Charlie's bedroom. Charlie was quick to follow, taking off her shirt as she went. She was pulling off her sports bra as she walked into the room to find that Laura had removed the covers and was stretched out on the bed, propping herself up on her elbows.

Charlie wasted no time and quickly settled on top of Laura, resuming their kiss. She found that kissing Laura was quickly becoming addictive and she could do it for hours but right now there were other areas calling her. Reaching under Laura's back she deftly undid her bra strap and pulled it off her shoulders.

Dipping her head to Laura's breasts, Charlie moaned as she felt the nipples grow against her tongue, she spent a little time on both breasts but was eager to sample the sweet delights between Laura's legs. Moving down she quickly pulled off the silk panties and wasted no time in using her fingers to gently hold the pussy lips apart while running her tongue up and down the slit that was already flooding with sweet but tangy juice that tasted of Laura in every way.

Laura had collapsed back onto the bed with one arm over her eyes and the other resting on Charlie's head. "Jesus Charlie, what are you doing to me?"