Chapter Fourteen

Posted especially for Teresa as she asked so nicely.


Erin woke up and stretched. She cracked open an eyelid and stared blearily around the room. She was in her bed, alone. She tried to remember why this was bad and her eyes flew open in shock. Oh God…Richie! She recalled the previous nights events and the wonderful, magical end to the night and wondered why she was in bed alone. Was he not happy with her? Did he mean it to be a one night only kind of thing? Oh god, did this mean she’d have to look for another job?

The bedroom door flew open. She turned over to look at a very naked man standing in the doorway.

“There you are darlin’. I woke up and you’d gone. You went to the bathroom in the night. Did you forget you were with me and go back to your own bed?”

Richie walked over and jumped on the bed.

“Move over, it’s way to early to be up.”

Erin looked at the clock. “It’s 10:30am”

“Exactly, way to early, now move over.”

“The world will not end just cause you got up two hours early, you know.” she intoned, dead pan.

“Cheeky mare, I ought to tan your delicious backside for that.”

Erin couldn’t help the frisson of thrill that shot through her at his words.

Richie heard the short gasp and watched her eyes darken and narrow slightly and lifted an eyebrow.

So it was like that, was it? He just had to find out. With a swift move he yanked the quilt off her, exposing her beautiful backside and planted his large hand across the firm flesh with a resounding slap.

Erin’s eyes flew open and she struggled against his arm that was pressing against the small of her back, to hold her in place.

Thwack! Another direct hit and this time she couldn’t hold back a small moan as a bolt of heat hit her core. This was just delicious. She could feel herself dripping wet and aching for his touch.

Slap! His large palm made contact with the reddened flesh. Erin whimpered as pain shot through the haze of pleasure.

“Hush darlin’” he crooned as he blew gently over the raised welts. Erin wriggled against the cotton sheet trying to get some friction against her clit.

Richie could see what she was doing and slapped her pussy lightly.

“Oh” she moaned as a delicious thrill shot through her.

Richie smiled to himself. It had been such a long time since he’d been with a willing partner. He slapped her pussy again but this time his ring caught against her flesh and she cried out in pain.

“Hey, hey, sweetheart. That was too much right? I’m sorry, here let me make it better.”

He tenderly flipped her over onto her back, noting the slight wince as her sore buttocks came into contact with the cool Egyptian cotton. Her pussy was slightly red but dripping wet. She was oozing juices and the cotton beneath her was quite soaked. He placed a warm hand between her thighs and noted with satisfaction how she flopped her legs wide open to allow him access. Quickly he thrust his arms under her legs and grasping her hips pulled her closer to his hungry mouth.

Erin squealed as his tongue laved her clit. His ring had caught the delicate skin and it was really smarting. It stung under his saliva but quickly settled down to an acceptable ache. She knew she’d somehow opened some kind of Pandora’s box with her willingness to be spanked but she had no idea what else could be in the box.

Richie looked up and along her body and groaned, feeling it right down to his balls. Erin had stretched her body out and had her arms above her head, clasping the metal struts of the head board. Oh god, he felt quite dizzy with the possibility. Could she be the one?

Erin clasped the head board, feeling her orgasm brewing when the thought of handcuffs came into her head. She’d wondered ever since the first slap whether Richie was into the kind of things she wanted to get into and decided to try something. She’d tried once, with Michael, and the look of revulsion across his face had said it all. She’d only tried after he’d slapped her playfully across the backside once, back in the days when they were still chasing each other around the bedroom. That playful slap had awoken such a hunger and need in her that his revulsion at the idea had made her feel dirty. She wondered whether it was that incident that had led to him backing away from her and felt nervous about asking Richie. She felt the deliciously wicked pain shooting through her and decided in for a penny….

“Master?” she whispered, loudly as a shout.

The word travelled to Richie’s hard cock without bothering his ears. He hissed as he felt himself grow larger than he’d ever been. She’d called him Master. He felt his heart beat wildly and struggled to control his voice which felt thick with emotion.

“Yes? You can speak.” he replied, his tone even and low.

“Master, do…do you have any handcuffs?” she asked, shyly, unsure of his reaction. Her eyes were closed in submission.

“No, but I will make sure to have them for next time.” he replied, his tone struggling to stay even; his heart thumping loudly in his chest in response to her words.

“Master? If I may?” she spoke again, timidly, her head to one side.

“Yes?” his voice was taking on a bored affliction.

“If I may Master, there is a silk scarf in the top drawer…you…could use that…”

Richie smiled to himself as he leant across her to retrieve the silk scarf before tying it in long loose knots around her wrists.

“I see you’ve done this before.”

“Not really.” she replied without thinking before realising her mistake. She hadn’t called him Master.

As quick as a flash he flipped her over, making sure it was scarf that got twisted and not her arms before scooting to the edge of the bed and laying her across his lap. He could feel her juices flowing out of her and down his leg and his cock twitched against her stomach.

“For that piece of insubordination you will get ten whacks. Anymore nonsense will result in more. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Master.” she whispered, hanging her head, bracing herself.

“One.”

Ok, she thought, I can do this that wasn’t too bad.

“Two.”

Ooh, that hurts a little but not too bad, in fact it’s quite nice, that heat.

“Three, four.”

Oh ok! That did hurt, not funny Rich.

A lone tear slipped sideways as she closed her eyes against the wave of pain.

“Five, six, seven.”

“Ow.” she moaned as each successive slap caught the already reddened and sore skin underneath. Tears leaked from her eyes but her pussy was gushing and subconsciously she tried to get some friction against her aching clit.

“Stop. Or I will have to punish you…severely.”

He lovingly fondled the reddened skin and remembered his first time. His Mistress hadn’t been as kind as he was being and he hadn’t been able to sit down properly for days. Normally that wouldn’t have been a problem. Trouble was the band were half way through their monster Jersey tour and he’d had to stand on stage with tight leather pants rubbing against the painful raised welts. He’d also had to contend with trying to hide a monster erection that threatened to burst every time the leather made contact with a welt. He smirked when he thought of Jon’s reaction to the first of many flowing shirts. Jon had called him Grandpa, thinking the older man had completely lost it fashion wise. He’d often wondered what Jon would’ve said if he knew the real reason for the flowing shirts. People often commented too on the faces he pulled whilst playing the guitar. How many would be horrified to know it wasn’t that he was so into his music but that his pants had just rubbed a particularly sore spot. Sure the music was his life but when leather rubs on sore, wet skin sometimes all you can do is grimace and bear it.

He watched Erin writhing on his lap, trying to find relief from the tension in her pussy and smiled. She had kept her eyes closed the entire time so maybe she’d be into blindfolds as well. His cock bobbed painfully against her stomach and he knew he had to end it soon.

Erin gasped as her clit came into contact with his upper thigh. Beads of sweat ran down her face as she concentrated, not on the pain that radiated out from her buttocks but on making contact again. She needed orgasm dammit!. He was purposefully not touching her which was just plain mean. She moved a fraction until….there! Oh god yes, just there. She tried to press her body down onto his but he was too quick for her.

The slap caught her by surprise, right across both buttocks and part of her clit. The skin rang out with pain and tears sprang from both eyes. She tried to hold in a sob but Richie caught part of it.

“I told you what would happen if you didn’t calm down.,” he said, running his palms lightly over the sore spots, “Now as it’s your first time with me I’ll be lenient this time but only if you calm down and do what I tell you.”

Erin tried, she really did but her body had other plans in mind and all she could think of was the blessed release she would get if she just pressed down hard enough…

Slap, slap!

Two rapid hard slaps knocked the wind out of her and she burst into tears.

Immediately Richie reached over and loosened the ties before pulling her into her lap.

“Oh baby, it was too much, I know, it hurts. I’m sorry, it was too much for your first time with me.”

Erin mumbled something and he strained to hear it.

“Your first time..ever? Oh honey why didn’t you say something? I wouldn’t have been so hard on you.”

“but I liked it.” she replied in a small voice, her head buried into his shoulder as her tears dried.

“Oh I know, believe me honey. There’s damp spots all over the bed from you.”

Erin smiled as she rested her head against his sweat dripped torso. She felt relief. Finally knowing that what she wanted wasn’t dirty or perverse. If it was how could this wonderful man be into it. She sniggered as she thought that maybe, knowing Richie, it could be a little perverse, but never dirty and that maybe she wasn’t all those things Michael had told her she was. That she wasn’t a reprobate, or a pervert or any of those things but a normal person whose tastes ran darker than mere vanilla.

“So why are you into this kind of thing?” she ventured after her tears had dried.

Richie shifted on the bed. “Do you mind if we lay down? Not that you’re heavy or anything…” he smiled devilishly.

“Oh…you!” she playfully slapped his arm.

“Don’t be starting that again unless you want me to finish it.” there was a hint of a dark warning in his usually honey molasses tone.

Erin looked as his cock began to bob about, straining under the pressure and gulped. Ok maybe now was a time to cool things down a little, or likely he’d burst before she got any relief.

Gently he lay her down on the slightly saturated bed and stretched out beside her, his warm, strong body lightly touching and warming hers.

“It was an ex girlfriend who introduced me to this life. She was a quiet enough person outside of the bedroom. In fact I nearly didn’t even notice her, and hell, you know me, I notice every woman. But there was something about her that spoke to whatever it was deep in my soul, my psyche, that what it was I was craving was attainable and not just some misbegotten sense of not fitting in.”

He noticed the quizzical look at his use of words.

“Hey, don’t let the “idiot” act fool ya. I have two degrees. One in Psychology and the other in Philosophy. Both done in whatever spare time I had.”

“So why act like a country bumpkin then?” Erin asked, having been privy to his act at the party.

“Hell darlin’ I’m not stupid I’m just plain lazy and if I can get people to do things for me instead of having to do them myself? Then it leaves me more time to do the things I wanna do, instead of the things I have to do.”

“Oh, so does that mean you can cook?”

“No, that is one area I really am an idiot in. I really can burn water, but to tell you the truth I can work the coffee percolator. I just don’t want to.”

“You rotten sod!” she burst out laughing, “You made me go through that charade of telling you how it worked and you knew all along. That’s just plain mean Richard Sambora.”

“I know darlin’ but you were just so damned cute when you were patiently explaining it to the ‘old fart’, that I let you carry on.” he sniggered at the indignation on her face. He leaned over and trailed wet kisses up the top of her arm and across her shoulder. “You are just too disturbingly cute.” he murmured as he reached to touch an erect nipple.

Erin stopped short of slapping his hand away, instead she threaded her fingers through his.

“You were telling me about the ‘whole slapping thing’”

“Oh yeah, you see it’s you, you’re distracting.” he smiled, licking his full lips, leaving a trail of saliva on his bottom lip.

“Well how about I cover up whilst you tell me the story?”

“How about you don’t, I’ll hurry up and then we can finish what we started?”

Her breath hitched in her throat as she stared into his eyes, the pupils so enlarged as to make the entire eye black.

“Sounds good to me…” she said, feeling herself being pulled to him.

She blinked and looked at him.

“You are just….stalling, now go on with the story.”

“Ok. Well one night, won’t go into too many details, but this ex girlfriend.”

“What was her name?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

“Listen do you want this story or not?” he said, “then stop interrupting.”

She gave him a mock salute and he fixed her with a look that told her she would pay for that at some point. Erin gulped as desire began to build again her.

“Anyway, she suggested we try something different. Man I was up for anything in those days. Sexually I mean, never really been into the whole drug thing. Alcohol and sex yes, drugs…nah. So she reached into a bag and brought out a whip. Man I nearly ran through a locked door. But she was gentle and patient and taught me the fine pleasure than can come from the art of discipline. BDSM isn’t for everyone but for me it opened up a whole new world. A new way of looking at things. You know for someone who has a pretty heavy timetabled life I’m not really in control of it. You know, lunch is around 1pm, dinner around 9pm, I’ll get up around 12pm…not really an issue. Now if I was Jonny? I would have every second of every day mapped out and woe betide the person who gets in the way or makes him even a second late. I swear he’d have made a good drill sergeant. Anyway my ex introduced me to the idea that discipline is used to make you a better person, to strengthen yourself, your resolve. To make you better equipped to deal with life’s upsets. She taught me that pain isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When I broke my shoulder in the shower, if I hadn’t felt pain I wouldn’t have known anything was wrong and would’ve made things worse. Pain, when given out correctly can bring the most intense pleasure with it. It’s all to do with disciplining yourself through the initial pain and into the pleasure beyond.”

Erin felt herself growing wet at the thought of being taught by this man and wriggled on the bed next to him. She didn’t know whether to feel disgusted or elated at his words, all she could feel was a growing desire.

“what’s BDSM?” she asked, as a thought hit.

“Bondage, Domination, Sado-Masochism. I presume you know what the actual words mean? I don’t mean to be condescending darlin’, just thought I’d ask.”

“I know what the words mean, I think, though I always get confused between sadism and masochism.”

“Sadism is when you hurt others for your pleasure, masochism is when you allow yourself to be hurt for yours and others pleasure. Me, I’m not really into the whole hurting people or being hurt. My particular thing is the Domination. I am a dom, or a dominatrix. Not all dom’s are women. You, by calling me master, took on the role of a sub, or a submissive. Someone who is at the dom’s beck and call. Some people don’t even introduce sex into the whole role play, preferring to have a sort of Master/Slave thing going. Me? I prefer both sexual and non-sexual. In fact it was the non-sexual thing that kinda got me divorced.”

“In what way?” Erin asked, finding herself utterly rapt and fascinated at the thought of being this man’s submissive.

“Well Heather, for all her ‘I’m a rock chick’ vibes, really wasn’t you know? She was more vanilla cream and I’m into whipped cream… sorry crap joke. Anyway, she thought I was cheating on her. Tell me something, let’s say you were into writing short stories about your favourite person, yeah? And you were with someone who didn’t like you writing these stories in their presence. So you joined a writing club where you could indulge yourself in your hobby. That’s not cheating, right?”

“No, it’s not, but then I’m not likely to be sitting buck naked at a type writer surrounded by equally naked writers.”

“True, but remember what I said about sometimes it’s not sexual? It’s about discipline? Yeah, well heather couldn’t understand why I needed the release, so I joined an underground club that my PA had told me about. She’d come across my ‘collection’ so to speak one day whilst looking for some papers I’d filed. I file things in all sorts of strange places. Remind me to tell about the time she found my driving licence in the freezer. Anyway, Stephanie and I would go along to this club and after a while it was a natural progression that she and I brought this ‘relationship’ into our professional life. Now I never laid a hand on her physically, never touched her, certainly didn’t fuck her, but I did spank her from time to time. Unfortunately Heather came home early from filming one day and caught us.”

“but if you just slapped her arse, surely you could’ve passed it off as a joke kind of thing.”

“Yeah…thing was though,” he pulled a wry face, “Stephanie was blindfolded, buck naked, handcuffed and chained to a hook in the ceiling. I was also buck naked with a raging hard on and a leather paddle in my hand, so you can kinda see how it looked. She started divorce proceedings from that day. Moved out and won’t spend any time with me alone. Had to fire poor Steph otherwise I’d never get to see my daughter. So, there we are.”

He smiled at the captivated younger woman, lying trembling next to him. His expression turned serious and he held her jaw in his hand, stilling her, staring deep into her eyes.

“Is that something you would be interested in pursuing?” he asked carefully, his voice low and deeply sensual.

Erin could only nod, too overwhelmed by the rush of hot desire and emotion that ran through her.

Richie smiled and bent his sleek, dark head to kiss her as he plunged two fingers inside her, rubbing her clit furiously with his thumb.

Erin shrieked and yelled into his mouth as the most intense orgasm she had ever had came crashing through her, threatening to cut off her oxygen supply. Before she could recover, Richie thrust himself into her deeper and harder, pushing them both towards the edge of an abyss. As Erin felt her body arch yet again as they both exploded, she knew they had just crossed a line into dark territory. Richie cradled the young woman in his feeling his heart rate and breathing slowing down. He had been so lost for so long, not knowing who to turn to, not knowing whether what he craved was perverted and dirty as heather had said and Erin had walked, or rather stumbled , into his life. A powerful feeling of relief and peace settled on them both as they slipped, quietly into sleep, neither willing to let go of the other.

Chapter Thirteen

Erin sipped from the glass of champagne she held and looked around the vast sumptuous room. There were so many celebrities mingling around she felt quite out of place. Cameras had flashed in her face as she and Richie had exited the limo and she still felt slightly blinded by all the flashbulbs. She had no idea where Richie had gotten to as he’d been whisked away almost as soon as they had arrived. She’d wandered around for a bit and had at one point been chatted up by a minor celebrity until he’d discovered she wasn’t famous herself and had left her mid sentence, with a bemused look on her face. She was sat in a corner by herself, watching but not participating. She could see Sir Bob Geldof and Sting chatting to each other with Sir Bob getting quite demonstrative and passionate about something. She sniggered thinking it was probably cause he hadn’t gotten his sainthood yet.

“What are you sniggering about?” smooth whisky tones.

“Oh er, nothing important.” she smiled, turning to Richie, “Where did you get to?”

“Oh god I got ‘clobbered’ as you’d put it as soon as we got here by some bigwig. Had to tell ‘em my girlfriend was getting lonely without me just to get away.” he smirked, breathing in her delicious dry scent. He twitched at the very nearness of her, wanting nothing more than to whisk her off into a deserted room and bury himself tightly inside her. A tendril of hair curled down to her shoulder and he reached out to play with it.

Erin shivered as she felt his warm, calloused fingertips brush her shoulder and she closed her eyes and fought to stifle the groan inside as his spicy musk scent enveloped her. He sat as close to her as he possibly could, his mouth lingering where his fingertips had been.

Erin breathed deeply to stop the moan as she felt his tongue dart out to taste her overheated skin. She felt tension building in her abdomen and heat spreading through her body. It radiated over her skin, like molten lava rolling down a hillside. She couldn‘t deny the emotional and physical response this man provoked in her.

All reason was lost. His heady aroma engulfed her once again and she inhaled it desperately, audibly, wanting more. At this, his eyes shifted, but didn’t move from her face. They flickered over her; mouth, nose, forehead, searching her, taking in every detail he saw, before returning once more to penetrate her eyes more deeply than ever.

Not a word was spoken as they both stood, both wanting, no needing be with each other. The Limo was waiting outside for them and they entered it, still both silent, fingers touching and rubbing the sensitive skin of each others hands. They could both feel the tension mounting perceptibly as they neared Richie’s house.

Erin placed her shawl and bag down onto the kitchen unit and breathed deeply. His hands came up behind her, touching the backs of hers with his palms and running them slowly, sensuously up her arms. She shivered involuntarily and he blew a breath onto her hair. Her head fell further back onto his shoulder and her mouth opened as she tried to replace air that seemed to have been stolen from her

His head dipped and she felt his warm, firm lips on her shoulder where it joined her neck. His mouth travelled liquidly up, up her neck, kissing, nuzzling, nipping as it went. She reached her hand up and back, clasping his hair and pulling him down into her, desperate for him to savour as much flesh as he could. He groaned into her neck, the vibrations sending an wonderful wave through her body. Within the moans she could just distinguish his voice, low and urgent against her skin, “Need you ... need you, now ...”

His right hand came round to her belly, she gasped as a searing heat spread through the dress and across her belly from his touch. The tactile fingertips rubbed, caressed ever upwards until they reached her heaving breasts. She arched her back, willing his hands to touch, rub and pinch her. He pulled the dress strap slowly, sensuously off her shoulder and, stepping back slightly, allowed the slinky material to slither down her body, landing in a puddle around her feet.

His hands now found one breast each, while his hot mouth continued its assault on her neck. Her breathing came in gasping pants and her body arched towards his hands, willing them into her flesh. He complied, gently at first, rubbing his palms over her nipples, drawing them out into hardened points of sensitivity. His finger tips then maintained the delirious friction, flicking, circling. All the while, his mouth continued its exploration of her throat, ending at her collarbone. A moan escaped her and she pulled her fingers in tightly on his hair. The strands were pulled tight.

He hissed out a breath and with that his fingers closed hard on her nipples and tugged. It was rough, and Erin emitted a guttural cry, partially in surprise, but also from the agonising delight which shot through her veins straight to her core. He proceeded to pinch, rub and twist her points until unending moans were pulled from her throat. Never had she imagined such pleasure could be derived from such wonderful pain. She turned her head towards his mouth and he silenced her with it, his lips tearing into her, forcing hers apart to allow his tongue to dive into her hot, wet sweetness. Their tongues met and mercilessly assaulted each other. She wanted to disappear into him, his mouth and his hands her universe.

Then his hands dropped from her breasts to her waist and he spun her round to face him. He grasped her head in his hands and attacked her mouth with renewed vigour. She responded in kind. He groaned as she stood before him, her top half fully exposed for the first time, clad in panties, stockings and suspender belt. She was desperate to feel him and tore at his shirt urgently. Several buttons sprang off and she groaned in frustration as she fumbled to undo the others. She was at last able to pull the shirt down off his broad shoulders and she had his bare torso in front of her. They both paused briefly, their breathing heavy and rapid.

She reached out her hands and placed them on his smooth, sculpted chest, a deep sigh of longing and delight sounding from her. It was exactly how she had imagined, only even more beautiful. She languorously ran her hands up his muscles, delighting in the firm resistance she felt under her fingers, just as she had that first day in The Megastore. She mimicked his attention to her breasts, reaching down and licking towards his nipples. She took one in her mouth, her tongue flicking over it, then sucking it as hard as she could into her. He let out a sharp hiss. She merely smiled up at him and moved to the other, repeating the process, only adding her teeth at the end. This was too much for him.

“Fuck, Erin, no more...” he hissed, grabbing her head and pulling her up once more to look at him. It fuelled her desire yet more. Their eyes locked, the fire of unbridled lust burning strongly. He suddenly reached under her and carried her forcefully over to the kitchen table. It was covered in papers and books, but he set her down roughly, scattering them. His hands quickly swept the remaining objects onto the ground, the noise the only sound discernible besides their heavy breathing and Erin’s frequent moans. His mouth found her body again and burned a trail of fire over her belly, down, down towards her sodden centre.

It was now her turn to express her need. Her clit ached for contact and she let out a sob as she raised her hips up towards him, pleadingly. She expressed her feelings explicitly but wordlessly.

He stood back from her and she bucked in protest, thrashing her head, her insides molten with lust and anticipation.

He gazed at her, a look of complete desire on his face. There was no denying his longing for her.

“Tell me what you want from me.” he said, his smooth honey toned words rolling over, inflaming her skin even further

Her insides jolted, his voice sending her desire over the edge. She didn’t think she could form words, but heard herself saying from somewhere deep inside her being, “Please ... my God ... I want you to fuck me ... fuck me so hard ... now ... God ... please ... I’m going to die ... Richie ... please ...”

He smiled a self-satisfied smile, lust sparking his eyes and lowered himself towards her, breathing into her ear.

The nub at her centre was on fire, it was crying out for attention, her panties soaked with her juices already. His mouth once again trailed down her belly, this time mirrored by his fingers which pulled her panties down her legs and off. Her legs fell open and she heard a low moan as her sex was revealed to him. His tongue was so close now, each touch placing a burning mark on her. She ached for it. He trailed further down and at last, at last she felt him at her sweetest place. He licked leisurely up her folds, parting them slightly with his fingers. She thrust towards him violently, a cry escaping her lips. With this, he grabbed her hips brutally, pinning them down forcefully with his strong hands before reapplying his attentions.

His tongue teased ever upwards, in long languid strokes, ever closer to the tender bud she so longed him to reach. He was there, but circling it, so close. She whimpered with pleasure and despair that it was no closer. She felt a long, questing finger slip inside her, and she pushed down to meet it. It was quickly joined by a second, stroking, searching towards her very centre. His tongue continued in dizzying circles round her clit, the occasional lick so tantalisingly close she could bear it no longer. She twisted his hair in her hands forcing his head deeper into her. He groaned against her, the vibrations sending another wave of wonderful pleasure shooting to her depths, but still he managed to hold her teetering on the brink.

She threw her head to the side, muttering feverishly, “Now, Richie ... fuck ... now... please make me come ... NOW!” She relaxed her fingers in his hair, hoping he would comply, but it merely allowed him to move away from her again, drawing his fingers out too, a deliciously conceited smirk on his face.

She feared for a moment he might stop altogether and a sob was wrenched from her throat. But she needn’t have worried. She raised her head enough to look at him. His hand was finally at his belt and button, his talented fingers swiftly undoing the clasps. She could see the straining within his trousers but at last his clothes fell to the floor and he stood naked.

Erin could not suppress a gasp of longing and shock. He was considerably more well-endowed than she could have imagined. He stood erect and tanned in the light. She had always wondered why people were fascinated by such an odd-looking thing as the male phallus, but looking at him now, so magnificently large, smooth and rigid in front of her, she knew it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Immediately, she needed it as deep inside her as possible, wanted it buried in her to the hilt, pounding her. She lay back down, arching her back, willing him to enter her, the deepest moan filling the room.

This was the end for Richie. He had waited so long, denying her, denying himself, and now, gazing down at Erin laid out before him, her heaving breasts rising up, her face a haze of uncontrollable lust, her hips searching him out, his hunger finally broke and he knew she was his at last. With one last sweeping look over her body and face, he positioned himself at her entrance, rubbing slightly towards her clit.

He paused. She turned her head and met his eyes. He thrust, filling her to the hilt in one.

A low, unearthly cry was ripped from his throat, but he held her gaze. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in silent awe. At last they were connected, mind, soul and body.

They remained like that for a while, not consciously moving, but she could feel each throb of his engorged cock inside her, so perfect was their fit. She was complete.

Then, when neither could bear it any longer, the lust in his eyes seemed to reignite his mind and he moved out of her, only to thrust back in almost immediately. Erin moaned at the force of it, as he jolted her up the desk. He repeated it, sliding almost out, then roughly back in. She reached around his back, clasping him to her as hard as she could, her nails digging deep into his smooth, toned flesh, causing him to moan in delicious agony. Her insides gripped him like a vice, sending such pleasure shooting through both of them, that they neither knew where one ended nor where the other started.

His pace quickened and her insides were melting away, she was so close. Her whole being was centred on his iron cock and the feelings it elicited in her. His face was a picture of wonderful bliss as he thrust harder and faster and deeper than before.

He reached down and at that moment found her swollen clit with his thumb, rubbing it hard as he thrust one final time. Her innermost depths clenched, the feeling radiating out, all her body tightly wound before the precipice, that final wonderful moment before the cataclysmic drop. Then Erin fell, tumbled over the edge as her body melted around him, over and over, her limbs jerking uncontrollably into the most shattering orgasm she had ever had. Her world blinded. As her pleasure reached its highest peak, her mouth opened and his name was ripped from her lips.

RICHIE!

Her scream of his name and the perfect sensation of her walls pulsing around him sent him too over the edge. His head fell back, eyes closed, mouth slack, and he came in several long, gasping spasms, shooting his seed deep into her, his own cry of utter fulfilment colliding with hers in the heavy air.

He collapsed onto her, breathing heavily. She tried to lift her legs to bring them round him, but found they were useless, as if her bones had turned to jelly. She managed to drop an arm across his back, slick with sweat, and held it there, held him there, as if afraid he would vanish. They stayed like that for as long as they could, living in each other’s breathing, in each other’s skin. She could still feel him firm inside her and marvelled at his size and endurance.

Eventually, his arms reached under her back and he pulled her up to a sitting position in front of him, still buried inside her. Their eyes locked again, no words were spoken. He inclined his head gently towards her and kissed her lips, so tenderly, parting them softly and slipping his tongue in to taste around her mouth. It was so delicious after their brutal coupling that her eyes pricked and she felt tears running freely down her cheeks. He moved away from her mouth to lick and kiss her tears away. He finally slipped out of her and a groan of loss escaped her. He took her head in his hands, wiping the last of her tears away and smoothing her hair from her face.

Message from CelticCross

Hi Guys

Sorry for the wait, i;ve just started a part time job as well as studying and my muse is taking a bit of a break. She will be back soon though, i promise and thanks for bearing with me.

Chapter Twelve

Erin was already in the kitchen when Richie entered. He looked at her and stopped dead in his tracks. She was wearing a Grecian inspired one shoulder dress in white that was gathered under the bust by a thin gold cummerbund and then fell to the floor in swathes of soft material. She’d had her hair done in a mass of snaky curls that framed her heart shaped face beautifully. Her eyes had been made up in shades of gold and bronze and looked sensual and sexy. Her lips had a touch of barely there nude gloss. Richie felt himself twitch at the sight of her. He smiled broadly at her. It was not going to be easy to keep his hands off her tonight.

Erin stared at the tall handsome man as he entered the kitchen. He looked amazing. She had gotten so used to seeing him with mussed up morning hair and old ripped tee shirts that he took her breath away. He was dressed in a Nehru jacketed black suit with a snowy white mandarin collared shirt. His hair had been flicked out and feathered and she desperately wanted to run her fingers through it. He had a touch of black eyeliner around his lower lashes which gave him a devilish look.

Richie shook himself from his reverie; contemplating not going to the charity event and just ripping her dress from her and taking her on the kitchen table, and walked towards her, slowly.

“Erin, you look amazing.” he said as he neared her.

“So do you.” she replied, dreamily as he got nearer.

He stopped about a foot away from her and smiled. If he was to seduce her and break through her defences he had to take it slowly.

She put down her coffee mug and smiled up at him. If she was to get through his defences and make him see her as a woman and not an employee she was going to have to be clever about it.

“Are you ready for a night of tedious boredom?” he asked smiling.

“I don’t think it’ll be that tedious.” she smiled, looking at him from under her lashes, as she picked up her shawl and evening bag from the table.

“Why not?” he asked as he placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her out to the waiting Limo.

“Because you’ll be there.” She flirted, with a soft giggle as he opened the front door.

He looked at her and just waggled his eyebrows devilishly.

They walked companionably to the waiting car, enjoying each others closeness and the balmy night air.

Richie opened the door to allow Erin to get in enjoying the view as she did so. He followed her and they settled down in the plush leather seats.

“I love Limos” Erin said as she buckled in.

“Do you get in them often?” he asked, smiling at her.

“Oh god no, this’ll be the third one ever. The first two were in New York. My ex and I went over for Christmas shopping shortly after I moved in with him. It was amazing, we went out for dinner one evening and he’d rented us a limo to take us on a trip round the city before driving us to that restaurant in the middle of Central Park, you know the one I mean?”

“Oh yeah, I know it.”

“the food was heavenly!”

“So what about the second time?” he asked, liking the fact that she was unbuttoning bit by bit, but wishing it was her clothing that he was unbuttoning.

“Oh that was the ride from the hotel to the airport.” she sat smiling at him as she was lost in thought.

Richie noticed her smile grow dim and sat silent watching her.

Erin had been lost in thought of the trip back to the airport and of Michael handing her a small box and asking her to marry him.

Richie reached over and squeezed her hand. Erin gave a start as she felt his warm hand on hers but that turned into a smile as he squeezed reassuringly.

She turned to smile at him, “Thank you.”

“Anytime darlin’ I don’t wanna see you upset, and besides we’re here to enjoy ourselves tonight.”

“We are?” she lifted one eyebrow sardonically.

“Well, no…” he admitted shrugging, “ but we might as well have a few drinks while we’re there.” he smiled before leaning in closer, “Let’s get pissed and have a ball!” he whispered conspiratorially.

Erin just laughed, thinking that the evening may well turn out to be a lot more fun that she had originally thought.

Chapter Eleven

Erin padded into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks.

“Morning sleepyhead, coffee’s brewed, want one?”

Richie was sat at the kitchen table fully dressed. He had on tight jeans, a black tee shirt, cowboy boots with a pair of sunglasses sat on the table next to his coffee mug.

“Have I overslept?” she asked, completely puzzled as to why he was dressed already.

“Nope, I just couldn’t sleep very well. To be honest I feel really bad about the other night and I wanna take you out to say sorry.” he said, looking directly at her as she stood, sipping her coffee.

“That’s ok, you don’t have to, really.” she replied.

Richie stood and walked over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes, noting the vulnerability that lay there.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you and I’m sorry. I took advantage of you and I shouldn’t have. Forgive me?” he said sincerely.

Erin was completely taken aback at his volte face. She hadn’t seen him for 2 days and now this? She could feel the warmth of him radiating through the thin tee shirt she was wearing and wanted nothing more than for him to kiss her again.

She looked up into his deep chocolate brown eyes and took a deep breath. He had just apologised and obviously wanted to get back to just a working relationship. She knew she should be relieved so why did she feel so disappointed?

“Of course I do. It’s partly my fault, I shouldn’t have just reached out and grabbed your hair like that. It was totally unprofessional of me.” she said, smiling up at him as she moved out of his reach.

Richie smiled, “Well, go and get dressed then, cause I’m taking you shopping.” His tone brook no argument and she hurried upstairs.

The smile faded as she left the kitchen. He knew he ought to be relieved that she had accepted his apology and things were going to get back to a working relationship so why did he feel cheated?

--------------------------------------------------------

“Richie you can’t buy me that!” Erin said, shocked as he picked up a delicate but very expensive silver and diamond bracelet.

“I can and I will.” he smirked, “Don’t forget, you agreed to come with me as my date to this charity thing, so you’ve gotta look like you belong.”

“But it’s too expensive!” She paled at the price tag of £2,700.

He just shrugged and ordered the sales assistant to wrap it up.

They were in Bond Street and had been shopping for the best part of three hours. Erin had discovered that he loved to shop and had lost count of the amount of times she’d given her opinion on an item of clothing as he modelled them for her. She’d learned from him that he never usually went out clothes shopping by himself as he was red green colour blind and if left to his own devices would come home with the most awful mismatched clothes. After the first half an hour of watching him model clothes for her she’d relaxed into it and had really enjoyed watching him swirl around before her, especially when he’d done a really awful impression of Right Said Fred and had started humming ‘I’m too sexy.’ She’d laughed so hard tears had run down her cheeks.


“So, we’ve got shoes, bracelet, necklace, all we need now is a killer dress. Thanks again for agreeing to this Charity Event, I hate going to them, especially on my own.” he said as he handed the packages to Erin.

“That’s ok, it’s not like it’s a date or anything is it? I’m just accompanying you to an event.” she smiled, a part of her reverently wishing it was a date.

“Er well you see darlin’ they think you are my date.”

“What?” her eyes widened.

“Erm, when the event was planned I was sorta dating someone.” he looked at her, a sheepish grin on his face.

She looked up into his handsome face and frowned slightly. She began to think about whether it would be a good idea or not when her brain apparently took a long over due vacation and her heart kicked in. She was attracted to him; had been since she’d bumped into him and she wasn’t going to let her brain spoil things for her, even if he wasn’t that interested in her.

“That’s ok, that’s fine. I’m sure we can pull this off.” she smiled as they headed off to find a killer dress.

Chapter Ten

Erin hardly saw Richie over the new couple of days as he’d seemingly thrown himself into his work. She’d taken coffee up as usual the afternoon after the night before and had found a note on the door of his study.

‘Erin

Sorry but I’m gonna be really busy for the next 48 hours so please leave food and coffee outside and just knock to let me know.

Thanks

Richie’

At first she’d sighed with relief but after two days of not seeing him she’d begun to miss him. Still it was a chance for her to get her head around what had happened. What had happened? One moment she was laughing and joking with him and the next he was kissing her. As the solitary hours dragged by she found herself reliving every moment. From telling him he’d looked like a pineapple to reaching out for his hair. Why had she done that? Up until that point everything had been fine. Sure there was an undeniable attraction between them.

Erin sat in the lounge mindlessly watching crap TV and thought about the attraction. Was it really there? Or was he just as lonely as she was? Was that all it was between them? With a heavy heart she sat looking at but not seeing the TV.

‘That’s it. That’s all that was; he’s just lonely, his divorce has just come through, thanks Gwen for telling me that, and he was just being nice.’ she thought.

‘Nice? So a handsome man like him is being nice by kissing you and making your toes curl?’ a voice in her head argued back

‘I’m sure he didn’t mean to do it, it was just one of those moments. Maybe that’s how he says thank you to a woman, after all I did show him how to make coffee.’

‘That’s is such a lame excuse, go wash your brain out girl. No man thanks a woman by kissing her that way. Maybe a peck on the cheek but not a full blown prelude to a snog’ the voice said, suggestively

‘Shut up!’ she thought, warning the devilish voice.

‘OK, but I think he’s interested in you, and not just for your cooking skills either…’ the voice cackled, smoky and dark.

‘Great, I have two voices in my head and one thinks she’s in a jazz club. No, he was just being kind and got a bit carried away, that’s all. After all what would a man like him see in someone like me? Even my so called fiancé didn’t want me.’

With that final sombre thought she sank back into the sofa and sighed.

--------------------------------------------

Richie sat at his desk, the paper covered with doodles, not one of them looking remotely like a usable lyric.

‘Why the hell aren’t you down there talking to her? Telling her why you kissed her? She must feel like shit, and yet you’re up here hiding away like some fucking coward.’ he thought as he strummed away softly on his Les Paul ‘58. It was one of his prized possessions and he adored it. His calloused yet surprisingly soft fingertips picked at the strings lovingly and he smiled as a soft melody surrounded him.

‘Why the hell did you kiss her?’ he asked himself, ‘you knew she’d just broken up with someone, hell you listened to enough of her conversation last night to have gathered that you asshole’ he berated himself.

‘I’ll tell you why, because you wanted to.’ a voice in his head replied.

‘I did not.’

‘don’t lie to me’


‘ok, so what if I did? I’m a man, I’m not responsible for ‘him’, you’ve watched American Pie right?’


‘You liked kissing her.’ the voice almost purred

‘Yeah, and I reiterate, I’m a man! But, you don’t go kissing someone who’s just broken up with her fiance after ten years just because you wanted to.’

‘Why not?, she liked it. Didn’t you hear that little kitten moan she gave, deep in her throat, so soft that she didn’t even know she’d done it? I know ‘he’ heard it….’


‘Stop it.’

‘Only if you admit why you kissed her.’ the voice whispered, devilishly softly.

‘Because I wanted to, and I’m the worlds biggest shit.’

Richie put the guitar down and sighed.

Chapter Nine

Richie suddenly had his arms full of warm woman as Erin came flying round the corner and nearly bowled him over. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her to steady her. He could smell her wonderful dry smoky scent and breathed in deeply, feeling the softness of her hair and body as she fitted against him. For a few seconds until his brain kicked in he felt at peace.

Erin found she had her face pressed against a broad, taut, warm chest, covered with a soft tee shirt. She could feel his muscular arms around her and sighed softly. He smelt of freshly washed clothes and sun warmed skin. For a few seconds until her klutz monitor kicked in she felt secure.

“Oh god, Richie, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.” she stammered, pulling away from him.

“That’s ok darlin’ I didn’t see you either.” he smiled down at the petite woman he’d just been holding and wondered what he’d need to do to hold her again.

“I was..”

“I was…”

They both spoke at once.

Erin motioned for Richie to speak first.

“I was coming to ask if you wanted a coffee. I was on the way downstairs to get you to make some when I heard voices, figured you were on the phone and came to see if I could make you a coffee instead.”

Erin was so touched by this that she just smiled at him, at first.

“I’d love a coffee but I’ll make it for us.” she said.

“I don’t mind making it.” he countered.

“You don’t know how it works, remember?”

“Ah…good point.” he conceded, allowing her to lead him down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Come on, I’ll give you a lesson in how to use a coffee machine.” she smiled as she walked down the stairs barefoot, her skinny jeans highlighting her slim figure, along with the baby tee she was wearing, with the slogan
‘1% Angel, 99% Power Hungry Bitch’

Richie was impressed. He’d only ever seen her in baggy jeans or sweat pants and had begun to believe she didn’t own anything more suited to showing off her curves.

He followed her into the kitchen, his eyes straying to her backside more than once.

“Ok, this is the coffee machine.” she smiled as she pointed out the black machine.

“That much I know.” he intoned, one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips.

“Good, then you won’t get it mixed up with the bread maker next to it and end up with a soggy loaf…” she said, dryly, smirking back at him.

Richie sniggered and moved to stand closer to her. The more he got to know her the more he was discovering her quirkiness and found himself liking it.

“Right, “ she started again, “lift this lid," she indicated a large lid atop the machine, “and place a filter paper in it, then put the coffee grounds into it.”

Richie watched as she patiently went through the motions of how to use the coffee maker, not having the heart to admit he already knew how to use it but was just too damn lazy to actually do it himself.

“Right, once you’ve added the coffee then fill up the pot with cold water and pour the water into this bit here. Put the coffee pot back onto the hot plate and switch it on. That’s it really, it’s not rocket science.” She looked up at him and grinned, a sly giggle emanating from her.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, smiling down at her. She really was quite a short person and at 5ft 4ins meant he could rest his arm on her head, if he’d wanted too, of course.

“Oh nothing really, it’s just that if Gwen could see this she’d be totally shocked.”

“Gwen?”

“My best friend. I’ve known her for about 25 years, ever since the first year of school and she’s one of your biggest fans. If she could see me teaching you, one of her all time guitar heroes how to make fresh coffee she’d probably batter me around the head for being so cheeky and presumptuous.”

“I don’t think you’re cheeky.” he said, looking at her, thinking smiling suited her much better than crying did.

He paused, looking at the coffee pot, then looked back to her, “Does that mean you’re not one of my fans then?” he asked, grinning at her.

Erin scowled at him, knowing he’d put her in a corner.

“Erm, well…,” she prevaricated looking everywhere but at him, before looking him in the eye, “I used to like your music but was never really a fan as such. Gwen was the fan and she would drag me along to your concerts. Sorry…” she shrugged, smiling.

“Ah well, can’t win ‘em all I guess.” he laughed, “So who were you into? When you were growing up?” he asked, leaning back against the kitchen counter, smelling the fresh coffee brewing.

“I was a new romantic.” she said, pulling her hair up into a ponytail and securing it with an elastic band she’d had round her wrist.

“Oh good god!” he laughed, “Don’t tell me you were into frills and pixie boots and those stupid haircuts.” he grinned, enjoying the conversation. It had been such a long time since he’d had a conversation with someone that hadn’t included how much money he’d earned over the years, or why he’d gotten divorced and he was really enjoying it and, judging by the way Erin had casually leant against the counter, she was too.

“You can talk about stupid hairstyles! I swear you used to look like you had a pineapple glued to your head, “ she laughed, sticking her tongue out at him, “and don’t even get me started on the dead badger that Alec used to model his hair on,” she scrutinised his hair and reached out to touch a silky strand, “hmm, much better.”

Erin suddenly realised how close they were to each other and the fact that she had, effectively, just run her fingers through his hair. She froze as she felt his lips brush hers. She closed her eyes and allowed his tongue to sweep over her top lip. The coffee machine beeped behind her and, her eyes flying open, she turned quickly, just about remembering to let go of his hair as she did so.

“Oh coffee’s ready.” she said in an overly bright voice to hide the tremor she felt, “I love fresh coffee, I love it’s smell and the taste, you really can’t beat the taste,” she babbled as she poured out two mugs. She picked up her mug.

“Well, I think I’ll go and watch TV. Good night.” she practically ran from the kitchen.

Richie watched her leave and picking up his mug took a sip.

“Shit.” he swore softly.

Chapter Eight

“He’s a nice man.”

“Nice? For fricks sake Erin he’s Richie frickin Sambora, sexiest guitar player in the whole world and all you can say is he’s nice!”

“I hardly know him Gwen, we’ve had a few chats now and then but he spends most of his time up in his study, doing whatever it is he’s doing. I just pop in there every hour or so to refresh the coffee pot, it‘s really quite boring if you want the truth.”

“Boring? How?”

“Ok, here’s my day, I get up at about 12, go downstairs in my pj’s to make lunch, he comes down about ten minutes after that and we eat. Then he goes back upstairs and I clear up. I then have a shower, sit down at the pc in my room to answer any correspondence. I then have the rest of the day to myself except for having to replenish coffee every hour or so and cooking dinner at 9pm, so I usually end up doing the garden. There that’s it, not such an exciting life after all.”

“Well no but my god, if I was living with him I’d have spy cameras installed to catch him naked!” Gwen laughed.

“Gwen! I work for him, that’s all.”

“Yeah well I still think you’re the luckiest moo ever.”

“Lucky? Who’s husband was it who surprised her with a trip to Ibiza? Even going so far as to call her boss to arrange holiday time off for her? Was that me? Oh no, I’m not married.” Erin finished sarcastically, laughing.

“Oh I know, I know, Jamie is the best, but you‘re living with one of THE sexiest men ever to grace the front page of Kerrang Magazine.”

Erin sighed, “Gwen it’s not even been two weeks since…”

“Oh honey, I’m sorry, I know how you must be feeling.”

“I miss him Gwen. I miss waking up next to him.”

“You told me he was always up and out before you woke up, that he was always at the office two hours before you got there. In fact you used to moan about it.”

“Ok, so I miss the scent of him. The anticipation of seeing him at work.”

“Come off it missy, now you’re romanticising him. He was a twat and treated you like a frickin skivvy. What kind of man asks you to marry him then waits eight years?”

“Oh Gwen, “Erin sniffed, on the verge of tears, “ what is wrong with me? Why would he do that to me? I feel like I‘ve wasted ten years of my life, and for what?”

“I told you he’s a twat, in fact I’d go as far as saying he’s a cunt.”

“Gwendolyn Evans!! Language!” Erin laughed.

“It’s not Evans anymore darling.” Gwen laughed, “Do you remember when we were at school? And we talked about what we wanted from a man?”

“Just about.”

“Do you remember what you said?” Gwen asked, trying to get Erin to see just how bad Michael had been for her.

“Yeah.”

“Well?” she said impatiently

Erin huffed, “I said I wanted someone I could curl up on the sofa with and watch crap TV with, someone who would share a big bowl of popcorn with me and not mind when I pelted the TV with it during those crap TV programmes.”

“Go on.”

“I wanted someone fun, someone who would listen to me, who would let me prattle on about whatever it was I did that day or what I’d heard. Someone who would love me for me, warts and all and not try to change me.” She sniffed again, feeling a tear run down her cheek.

“And was he like that?” Gwen asked.

“No.” Erin admitted after a pause, “he wasn’t.”

“I know you’re feeling lonely honey but you were lonely even with him.”

“I know.”

“Anyway enough of that twat, more about Richie. What’s it like living with him?

“Gwen I told you, I hardly know him. I see him when I cook lunch and dinner and when I take up coffee and then he’s usually so nose deep in writing or playing the guitar he doesn’t even notice I’m there.”

“I tell you what, ask if you can invite me over and I’ll get all his secrets from him.” Gwen laughed.

Erin looked at her watch, “Oh better go matey, I’ve got coffee to do, though it would be nice if someone would get me a coffee.” She laughed as Michael had not once in their ten year relationship ever made her a cup of coffee.

“Well you’ll have to wait till you come over here again and I’ll make you one honey.”

“I’ll hold you to that, and as for coming over here I’ll see what he says. Night darling, kiss Jamie for me.”

“Night sweetie, love you.”

“Love you too.”

Erin put the phone down and walked out of the lounge only to go slap bang into Richie.

Chapter Seven

Richie stared at the sheet of paper in front of him. He’d been staring at it for the best part of an hour. It was still blank. He’d already written he music for it and couldn’t understand why the lyrics just weren’t flooding out. He usually found it so much easier to express his feelings through his music rather than verbally and he usually had no problem getting them firstly onto paper before enmeshing them with his music to create songs that expressed themselves with a deeper understanding into his psyche every time you heard them, but now? Zip, nada, nothing.

He wondered whether it had something to do with the fact that his divorce had just come through and he was, once again, a single man. He wondered whether his divorce had happened because he was unable express himself verbally. Shrugging he hummed the simple yet haunting melody to himself as his hand poised, wordlessly, over the pristine paper.

‘Coffee, that’ll help.’ he thought turning to look at the pot that sat on it’s own warming plate. It was empty. Erin hadn’t replaced it. He looked at the clock. She’d last been up with fresh coffee over two hours ago.

Frowning at having to interrupt his emotional thought process, he reached for the pot and made his way downstairs. He only used the elevator when he was carrying his tray of food. He’d found out the hard way that carrying a tray laden with food and coffee up two flights of stairs was synonymous with an accident waiting to happen.

He entered the kitchen to find it empty. He looked around wondering where she was. He knew she wasn’t in the lounge as he’s poked his head in on the way down.

He felt a slight warm breeze caress his skin and realised she was probably out in the garden. He made his way over to the fridge and walked down the corridor to the right of it. He passed by the utilities room and walked out the back door into the large garden. Being England the sun was shining but the temperature wasn’t scorchingly hot. He spotted Erin kneeling down by a clump of what he assumed to be weeds.

Erin turned as a shadow passed over her face to see a pair of feet. She look upwards to see Richie looking at her.

“Oh shit. Coffee. I’m so sorry I lost track of time. These weeds are all over the place and I guess I just lost in the job.”

Richie looked at her reddened eyes and thought she’d been doing a lot more than just weeding. He wondered why she’d been crying but didn’t want to push it. Instead he sat down cross legged on the grass and stretched.

“It’s ok, I’m completely stuck with work at the moment so I guess getting out in some fresh air ain’t exactly gonna kill me ya know?”

Erin smiled and went to put her trowel down.

“Oh, it’s ok, carry on with whatever it is you’re doing.” he asked, intrigued as to why someone would willingly put their hands in dirt just to pull up a few green things.

Erin turned back to the space she’d begun to clear of weeds. Gardening soothed her. It helped her forget her problems and soothed the savage beast that beat in her breast. Michael had always made sure she scrubbed her hands after gardening as he didn’t want people to think he was living with a scruffy person. He’d even bought her some top of the rang gardening gloves but she preferred to feel the earth directly.

Richie just sat and watched as she worked. He could see her nimble fingers working through the big clods of earth, breaking it up, enabling her to remove the weeds without leaving any of the roots behind.

Deftly she threw the weeds into a pile and lovingly tended to the flowers and shrubs.

Richie stretched out onto his side and smiled. He’d never met a woman before who loved getting covered in dirt. Every one he’d ever met, on a non fan basis, would run a mile before pulling a weed from a garden that wasn’t even hers.

Erin sat back on her haunches and sighed. She’d been out in the garden for over three hours and her back was beginning to ache, however the borders were looking so much better. She reached around for her bottle of water and took a long drink.

“Does that feel better?”

She jumped, having forgotten he was there, and water dribbled down her chin and soaked her tee shirt, which was already wringing with sweat.

“I’d forgotten you were there. I get so in the zone when I’m doing this, a nuclear bomb could go off and I wouldn’t notice.2 she said, wiping her forehead.

“Hmm, I bet you would.” he grinned. She had a smudge on her cheek and another on her forehead and her hair was in a messy ponytail which all combined to make her look adorable.

“Yeah, eventually I guess.” she laughed, “when the flowers all died from the radiation fallout.” She sat down onto the grass and stretched her legs out, feeling the sore muscles protesting.
“Have you been interested in gardening long?” he asked, not at all worried about getting back to his blank paper.

“Not really, I used to have a back garden and developed a love of it after I moved in and found a jungle. It took me six months to clear it all. Michael would just sit indoors and watch me. After I’d cleared it all I realised that I love gardening, but then, when we split I lost the garden.” She smiled but Richie noticed the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

They sat together in the garden companionably. As Erin got up to go make some coffee, Richie vowed he was going to find out what was making her cry. If he couldn’t compose he’d start prying instead. With that thought in mind, he smiled, closed his eyes and lay back on the grass, enjoying the sunshine.

Chapter Six

Erin ladled chicken curry onto two plates and carried them over to the table, placing them next to an opened bottle of red wine.

She had been working for Richie for just under a week and had quickly settled into his routine. It had taken a couple of days to get used to it as he usually rose at midday, completely ravenous. The first day she rose as normal and was up and dressed by 8am. She’d gone down to kitchen and had started breakfast and coffee and had waited..and waited…and waited. Finally she’d had to throw the breakfast out and had sat in the lounge, watching daytime TV, waiting for Richie to wake up. He’d stumbled past the lounge at around midday and had looked at her as if to say, ‘why aren’t you cooking for me?’.

After he’d eaten he’d told her his daily routine and had asked her to be on hand for those hours. For someone who rose at 7am and was fast asleep by 10:30pm, having to switch to night time hours was hard and the first night she’d fallen asleep on the sofa. Richie had come downstairs for more coffee and had just covered her with a blanket. When it happened again the second night he woke her up and presented her with an empty coffee pot and a smile.

Erin had gotten into a routine of cooking lunch at around 1pm and dinner at around 9pm. Richie had agreed to this and generally made it down to the kitchen in time.

Erin placed his plate on a tray with a mug of coffee and sat down to eat her dinner. She looked up to see him walking in. His hair was all over the place and he was wearing an old pair of sweatpants with a ripped AC/DC tee shirt and was barefoot.

She smiled as he walked towards the table, fully expecting him to pick up his tray and take it upstairs via the hidden elevator she’d discovered on her second day.

It was situated to the left of the staircase and she’d only really discovered it when Richie had stepped out of it, scaring her half to death. He’d explained that the previous owner of the house had lived there for over 50 years with his wife and had it installed when she’d become wheelchair bound. It was only big enough for one wheelchair or two standing people and ran on the smoothest and quietest system she’d ever heard.

Erin turned back to her food and was quite surprised when, instead of taking the tray, he sat down opposite her and began to eat. She’d become quite used to eating alone but was glad of the company.

“This is lovely, did you make it yourself? Or is it out of a tin?” he asked

“Oh I made it myself. The sauce is shop bought though. I can cook basic foodstuffs but Indian cookery is not my forte.” she replied.

“I can burn water.” he replied, grinning as he shovelled the chicken and rice mixture into his mouth.

She laughed at the idea that someone was so useless a cook that ingredients would hide from him. She could imagine packets squealing and trying to hide behind tins when he opened the cupboards.

“Yeah, but then again I can’t play the guitar.” she said

“Good point, but isn’t everyone supposed to be able to at least make toast?” he asked.

“No, not really. I can only cook through trial and error. I used to try new dishes on my ex and watch his face as to whether it was any good. I gave up trying to create new things after I nearly killed him with an overload of curry powder!” she laughed.

The forkload of food halted in midair as he looked at her suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly ok. I‘ll show you the bottle it came out of if you want.” she giggled.

Richie smiled and ate the forkful.

After he’d eaten his fill he sat back with a contented sigh.

“You know I get so involved with what I’m doing that I forget what the time is. I’ve had to set an alarm to remind me to come down for food. Oh I meant to see you to say thanks for the ever ready coffee and apologise for not really being around for your first week. You know writing an album is like making a baby. It takes a lot of effort cause you want everything to be perfect and then when it’s finally done or born, you can’t quite believe you had anything to do with it as it’s just so perfect, then come the sleepless nights as you worry about it, is it going to sell, will people like it, ya know? And I get so wrapped up in it that time slips away. So anyway, how has your first week been? I know there isn’t a lot of actual PA work to do at the moment but I promise you there will be.”

Erin was taken aback as it was the longest speech he’d given since she’d moved in. She had already come to the conclusion that she wouldn’t get to see much of him over the next six months and was bracing herself for a solitary existence.

“It’s been fine, I love the garden so I’ve spent some time out there. The flower borders are fantastic but needed weeding so I did a bit of that, I hope you don’t mind. The PA stuff takes me about an hour and a half which pretty much leaves me the rest of the day, except for dinner and making coffee every hour or so.”

“I will have some paperwork for you to deal with soon, and some letters to type up and send out. Stupidly I’d already agreed to going along to some charity events parties and I need you to arrange that for me.”

“Do you not like partying then?” she asked, surprised.

“Hell yes, when it’s the right kinda party but I’m not Jon, I can’t go along and make small talk to people who bore the fuckin tits off me ya know, all in the name of making contacts. Jon? He’s the fucking master at doing that. The only one I’ve really enjoyed is the Habitat for Humanity which we got involved in to help build new homes for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, but having to talk to some heavily made up Lady wotsit or Lord hoohaa? Christ it’s a cure for insomnia.”

Erin laughed, she liked this side of Richie, the honest, funny side. She’d almost forgotten what he’d been like when she’d first turned up.

“I know what you mean, my ex is a lawyer and every few months I’d have to get dressed up and go make meaningless small talk all to help him get noticed by the big bosses. You tend to develop a meaningless smile that you plaster on your face and I don’t know about you, but I’d end up with this massive ache across my mouth when I got home and sometimes it felt like the smile was frozen.”

“Oh yeah, when you’ve been photographed as many times as I have the aching face is nothing. Wait till you’ve had to hold a position for so long that your limbs have gone to sleep. That happened once and I went to walk and fell over, my foot was completely asleep. Jon nearly bust a gut laughing at me, bastard!” Richie laughed, completely relaxed.

It was weird, but he really felt he could talk to Erin. After the really bad first impressions he’d got he’d expected her to be a complete klutz but she wasn’t that bad. No coffee mishaps in over a week. Things were looking up. Plus she was easy on the eye, even if she did wear shapeless clothes that hid her figure.


He put his coffee mug down and smiled. "Oh well I'd best get back up there. I'll see you later. Thanks for dinner." he said as he got up and exited the kitchen.