Holiday Dream

Author’s Note: Although ratings are nice, nothing beats a comment or two about what you liked or disliked about a story. Please take a moment to leave one. Thank you.

********

February 1971

Eric Daniels sat in the third row of the orchestra, his eyes tightly fixed on the flag draped Presidential Box above him to the right. As he listened to the Park Ranger recount the events of April 14th, 1865, he closed his eyes for a moment and could visualize the seats around him, filled as they had been that night. Few of the attendees that night probably gave notice to the well-dressed young man working his way along the walls of the upper tier, even though he was one of the most celebrated actors of the time. They had no way of knowing the murderous intent in his heart, or that the history of the Republic itself was about to be changed.

In his imagination, Eric could hear the single shot that ended the life of Abraham Lincoln and see the blur of motion as the assassin used his blade to clear a path, injuring the President’s guest before leaping over the railing to the stage below — fracturing his leg in the process. History had always been one of the sandy haired carpenter’s favorite subjects back in school, and while he was far from a historian, the twenty-one year old had read several books about the assassination.

As the tour group exited the theatre and moved across the street to the Peterson House where Lincoln had died the following morning, Eric decided that just the chance to visit Ford’s Theatre would’ve been enough to justify the trip to Washington; everything else was just a bonus. Of course, he’d felt the same way yesterday after visiting Arlington Cemetery, as well during the nighttime tour of the city which had encompassed the White House, the Capitol, the Washington Monument and of course the Lincoln Monument.

The trip itself had been organized by the Harristown Historical Society, taking advantage of the recent law that moved the celebration of Washington’s Birthday to the third Monday in February. A change that, with Lincoln’s Birthday falling on the previous Friday this year, created a four-day weekend.

Eric wasn’t a member of the Society, and even if he had been one, the trip wasn’t one he was originally supposed to go on. Sandwiched in between the two Presidential birthdays was Valentine’s Day, and even though he and his girlfriend had only been dating a month, she took a dim view of his going off to look at a bunch of old buildings and musty paintings as she described the trip, instead of spending the holiday with her.

But then, just before the multi-holiday, Cheryl had an abrupt change of heart. Not about the trip, which she still thought a waste, but about Eric himself. As attractive a prospect as she had initially thought him to be, she’d since found him lacking in certain aspects and abruptly broke off the relationship.

Eric didn’t have too long to feel about the break-up because, on the same day, Stuart Gilbert, who was a Society member as well as both a former teacher at Eric’s high school and Eric’s current employer, took a fall and badly sprained his ankle. The sixty-year-old had been employing the carpenter to build a new set of bookcases and knowing his interest in history, had offered him his ticket for the trip — an offer that Eric had been quick to accept.

When he arrived at the parking lot of the local mall from which the Tour Bus was leaving from, Eric saw, at a quick count, some forty-nine people waiting to board. He recognized a few of them, but most were strangers, especially since Stuart had mentioned that the Society shared transport and accommodations with another group from Darbyville, which was the next town over. The bus rental cost the same whether there were twenty passengers or fifty, so it was important to fill as many seats as possible to keep everyone’s individual cost low.

As he boarded the bus and looked for an empty seat, it became apparent to Eric that few of the tour’s participants looked to be under fifty. Among the few exemptions were two women sitting together toward the rear of the bus and as luck would have it, there was an empty seat right across from them, in which Eric quickly planted himself. As the trip progressed, however, it quickly became clear that the two women were more interested in each other’s company than in making a new friend.

‘Well, I didn’t come on the trip looking for a date for Valentine’s Day,’ Eric had thought as he retrieved the book he had brought from his backpack and started to read.

The weather in DC hadn’t been bad for mid-February, with the daytime average ranging from the mid-forties to fifties and no inclement weather on the horizon. Overall, the trip had been great, Eric felt, with perhaps one small exception. Well, maybe not so small.

Again, to help reduce costs, everyone shared a room at the hotel. Oh, you could get your own room if you did you were responsible for the added cost. As far as Eric knew, no one had thought it worthwhile. The rooming arrangements had been worked out well in advance, and since Eric was traveling on Stuart Gilbert’s ticket, he also got his roommate.

At first, Eric hadn’t seen that as a problem. Joshua Morgan, who had taught history at West Valley High School for nearly forty years, seemed a nice enough guy and Eric figured they’d get along fine. That was until the first night, however, when he discovered that the man snored like a freight train. A problem that wouldn’t have been one for Gilbert, because he was hard of hearing; when he wanted to shut out the outside world, all he had to do was shut off his hearing aid. Not being so lucky, Eric had barely gotten four hours’ sleep.

After the trip to the Peterson House, the group broke for an early lunch, intending to spend the rest of the day on the National Mall and go to the Smithsonian Institute. The schedule further called for them to have dinner in the city before heading back to the hotel in Arlington. Tomorrow had been set aside to see the remainder of the sites they had only driven by last night, and the last day would find them stopping at Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, on the way home.

-=-=-=-

They didn’t get back to their rooms until after nine, and most of the group decided to call it an early night in order to be well rested for the next day’s excursions. Surprisingly, even with his limited sleep the night before, Eric didn’t feel all that tired himself. So, he figured he’d have a drink or two at the bar. If nothing else, it might help him fall asleep despite the distracting noise.

With tomorrow being Valentine’s Day, it wasn’t surprising to find a few couples in the hotel bar getting a head start on the holiday. It was also not surprising to find a lack of single women in the bar, at least of women anywhere near his own age. On a Saturday night, they would most likely be found in one of the local bars frequented by townies, rather than one that catered to tourists.

At five nine and a hundred and seventy pounds, with a tightly trimmed beard and a pleasant visage, Eric Daniels was, by most definitions, a good-looking guy — one that drew his share of female notice. His problem was that, most times, that attention came with a certain set of expectations. Guys that looked like Eric weren’t supposed to turn out to be nerds. And with his interest in history, as well as science fiction and fantasy, he very much fit the textbook definition. So, while he did occasionally get laid, few relationships seemed to last long after the initial attraction – Cheryl having been a case in point.

Finding himself an empty table — there were plenty to pick from — Eric ordered a beer and spent the next quarter hour half watching the overhead television screen. He had little interest in the sports recap that seemed to occupy the men sitting at the bar, but he really didn’t think the bartender would take too kindly to a request to switch the station over to whatever the local CBS affiliate was, so that he could watch “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The sitcom was one of his guilty pleasures, having had a crush on the star since his teen years, when she’d charmed audiences as Laura Petrie on the “Dick Van Dyke Show.”

A second glass soon followed the first, but this time Eric drank it much more deliberately. He only wanted to relax a bit, not get inebriated. He’d just taken his second sip when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone approaching from his left. Laying the drink back down on the table, he started to turn in that direction.

“Excuse me, but aren’t you part of the tour from Harristown?” a woman in a green and white print dress asked.

Now that she was in his full field of vision, Eric took a moment to take in the woman who had addressed him. In her mid to late forties, she had dark curly brown hair, accented with a few gray highlights. She stood Standing about five six and the younger man would’ve put her somewhere around a hundred and forty pounds. The dress she wore was just tight enough to highlight her breasts which, while average for her build, were still enough to draw his notice.

“Yes, I am,” Eric replied as, once he finally took a second look at her face, he thought she did look familiar.

“I thought I recognized from the bus,” the woman smiled. “I’m Peggy Caldwell; I organized the Darbyville contingent.”

“Nice to meet you,” Eric smiled as he wondered what she wanted.

“I know that this place has nothing but empty seats, but would you mind if I joined you?” she unexpectedly asked.

As if to confirm her statement, Eric glanced around him at the numerous empty tables, finding little had changed since he sat down. Nevertheless, he motioned to the empty chair on the other side of his own table.

“Thank you,” Peggy said as she stepped around the table and took that seat before adding. “I find that if I sit alone, it’s usually not long before some stranger will decide that I’m probably looking for company. And yes, I know that is just about what I did to you, so I hope you really don’t mind?”

“No, not at all,” Eric smiled.

Peggy had barely settled in when Marie, the waitress who had earlier served Eric, reappeared at the table. She quickly inquired if she could get the new arrival anything.

“Hmm, that looks refreshing,” she said, noting the cold beer sitting in front of Eric. “Why don’t you bring me one of those?”

Nodding her head, Marie then looked to Eric to see if he wanted another. He raised his still nearly filled glass and said he was good for the moment.

“I know most of the Harristown Society members, but yours was a new face,” Peggy said. “Have you been a member long?”

‘I’m not actually a member,” Eric replied. “I was given a ticket for the trip by someone who couldn’t go.”

“Are you a teacher?” Peggy then asked.

The question, Eric thought, was a reasonable one as most of the members were teachers — active or retired. Since all their field trips had some academic connection, much of the cost could be written off as professional research.

“No, actually, I’m a carpenter,” he replied, “but I’ve always been fascinated by history.”

“Me too,” Peggy responded. “In fact, that’s what I teach at Darbyville High.”

Eric was about to make an inane comment about none of his history teachers in high school looking like Peggy, but was saved the embarrassment of doing so by the return of Marie with the brunette’s order. Once she’d laid it in front of her, the waitress glanced first at Eric, and then at the small pile of bills in front of him, the change from his own drink. Without really thinking about it, Eric nodded his head and she reached down and withdrew enough to cover the cost of the beer.

“That wasn’t necessary, but thank you,” Peggy said as the waitress walked away.

“It’s nothing,” Eric replied, finally realizing that his planned comment would’ve been a mistake.

“What should we drink to?” the history teacher asked as she lifted her drink. “How about, new friends?”

“New friends it is,” Eric agreed as he picked up his own glass.

The toast made, they each took a taste, then returned both glasses to the tabletop.

“The person you replaced, that wouldn’t have been Stuart Gilbert by any chance, would it?” Peggy asked, a touch of concern in her voice. “This has to be the first time I’ve ever known him to miss one of these outings. I asked a few people I knew from earlier trips, but all I could get was that he had some sort of mishap and had gotten hurt.”

“It was just a twisted ankle, nothing to worry about,” Eric said, confirming that the older teacher had indeed been the source of his ticket. “His doctor said he’s going to be fine, but that he should stay off it for a few days.”

“Thank goodness,” the older woman said with relief. “I was concerned that something might have been really wrong with him.”

“I take it that you and Stuart are friends,” Eric said.

“Well, I’d say more than just friends,” Peggy offered, a fluctuation in her tone adding an unexpected weight to her words.

‘Oh?’ Eric thought, but at least this time had the foresight not to say, as he considered what she might have meant by that. Then he chided himself for having a dirty mind for even going there.

“I was one of his students when I wasn’t much younger than you,” she added a few beats later, a broad smile on her face. “In fact, he was the one that inspired me to become a teacher. So, I guess you might call him my mentor.”

“You’re kidding,” Eric said. “I was one of his students too. I was in his class the year he retired. I didn’t become a teacher, but he did show me how interesting history could be.”

“It’s a small world, isn’t it?” Peggy remarked before taking another taste of her drink.

As she did so, Eric revisited his self-admonishment for even thinking there might have been something between the two teachers. After all, they were only about a decade apart in age, which, as people got older, seemed to matter less and less. Peggy was still a striking woman and had probably been even more so when she was younger. He knew that Mr. Gilbert had never been married, because he often joked that he was married to his work, and when he looked, there wasn’t a ring on Peggy’s finger either.

“You said you were one of his students, so that means that you once lived in Harristown,” Eric noted, also recalling that his former teacher had been at the local high school all his career.

“Born and raised,” Peggy replied. “I moved to Darbyville after I got married.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize that you were married,” the younger man said, realizing that he had made an incorrect assumption.

“Was,” Peggy corrected him, adding after a pause. “I’ve been divorced for, oh, well over twenty years now.”

Her addendum surprised Eric even more. Even though divorce was becoming more common, twenty years ago, back in the fifties, it was almost considered scandalous.

“I’m much happier now,” she continued, “and so is he. He married again and the last I heard, his wife, who’s much younger than he is, is pregnant again. They have four kids already, but I guess some people don’t know when to stop.”

“What happened?” he heard himself ask, then apologized just as quickly, saying it was none of his business.

“How did she get pregnant?” Peggy asked, a mischievous grin on her face as she brushed aside his apology. “I would’ve thought that you’d have figured out how that works by now. If not, I’d be happy to recommend a book that explains it.”

Eric could only respond with a look that said he had walked right into that.

“Seriously, that was the problem in a nutshell,” Peggy said, now that she had enjoyed her laugh. “He wanted kids and I wanted a career. Some women can divide their time and have both; I wasn’t one of them.”

“Oh,” Eric said, thinking how his mother always seemed to have her hands full dealing with him and his two sisters, especially since they were twins.

“But enough of that,” Peggy said, changing the subject as she again picked up her glass. “Are you enjoying our little field trip?”

“Yes, it’s been very interesting,” Eric replied as he again reached for his own glass. “I’ve always wanted to visit Washington, but never really got around to it.”

“This is my third time,” Peggy pointed out. “You’d think I’d be tired of it by now, but each time I come, I always manage to find something that I never noticed before.”

“Like what?” Eric inquired.

“Well, did you know that there is an FDR Memorial?” she asked him.

From the look on his face, it was obvious that he didn’t.

“If you didn’t, you could walk right past it and not have any idea it was there,” Peggy explained. “It’s over by the National Archives and is nothing more than a block of marble about the size of a desk. In fact, that was how President Roosevelt described it when he was asked what kind of remembrance he might like. It just has his name and the years he was born and died, as if it was a tombstone. In fact, it does resemble the one at his actual grave. I saw it some years back when I visited Hyde Park in upstate New York.”

“That seems somewhat understated for someone who was President for so long and accomplished so much,” Eric observed.

“You’d think so, but that was what he said he wanted,” Peggy replied. “Still, this city loves its grand monuments, so I’m sure that one of these years they’ll create one for him. One more fitting to his stature.”

They spent another half hour discussing some of the other things to see in the Capitol, finishing their drinks in the process. Also, as they talked, Eric learned a bit about Peggy. He had been close with his guess about her age; she had just turned fifty, and had been teaching for over twenty-five years. As she had mentioned before, she wasn’t attached, but did date occasionally when she found someone of interest. The mention of her own occasional involvements made her inquire as to his.

“Didn’t your girlfriend mind you coming down to DC the same weekend as Valentine’s Day?” Peggy asked, shifting the focus of the conversation from her back to Eric.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Eric replied, “well, not any more.”

He took a few moments to explain that only last weekend his girlfriend had decided to call it quits.

“That’s surprising,” Peggy said once he finished. “Not that she broke up with you, although I don’t know why, you seem like a nice guy, but that she did it a week before Valentine’s Day. Usually, it’s the guy who does that to avoid having to spring for something extravagant for the holiday.”

“I’m not totally sure, but I think she might have already made alternate plans for the weekend,” Eric suggested.

“Oh, that’s cold,” Peggy noted.

Eric just shrugged his shoulders, thinking it was what it was.

The beers now consumed, the conversation seemed to reach a lull and Peggy glanced at her watch, taking note of the time.

“Well, it is getting a little late and tomorrow is going to be a busy day,” she pointed out. “So maybe it’s time to call it a night.”

“I think that maybe I’ll stay and have one more,” Eric replied, “but please don’t feel obligated to stay.”

Curious as to whether there was a reason Eric seemed hesitant to go back to his room, Peggy made a joke, inquiring if his roommate had put a sock on the door.

“No, nothing like that,” Eric laughed, having understood the reference. “I just, well, the truth is that the person I’m sharing the room with snores rather loudly. In fact, I only got a few hours’ sleep last night.”

“Oh, that’s awful,” Peggy expressed.

Eric replied with a ‘what are you going to do’ gesture.

“I’m guessing that you’re hoping that having a few drinks in you might let you sleep through the noise,” she conjectured.

“Something like that,” Eric replied.

“Have you considered earplugs?” Peggy suggested. “They might have them in the hotel gift shop, and at least they don’t come with a hangover.”

“I actually did bring a pair to help me nap on the bus, but they didn’t help with the snoring,” he explained.

“Roommates can be a bitch,” Peggy noted. “I remember when we went to Gettysburg some years back, the woman I got paired up with just wouldn’t shut up about how Richard Nixon was going to be the downfall of the country.”

“What did you do?” Eric asked out of curiosity.

“There wasn’t much I could do,” she said, “at least not at the time. Since then, however, I spend a little extra and get a private room. I’ve found it’s worth the cost.”

“Next time I’ll know,” he remarked.

Eric expected Peggy to say goodnight at that point, but not only didn’t she do so, she made no further motion to leave. Instead, she just sat there silently for a very long minute, as if she was trying to decide about something.

“You know, normally I wouldn’t suggest something like this, but you are a friend of Stuart’s,” Peggy finally said, breaking the silence, “which sort of makes you my friend too, and I feel a certain affinity towards you since we were both once his students. I guess what I’m saying is that, even though I have a room to myself, it still came with two beds.”

“Excuse me?” Eric asked, unsure if she was proposing what he thought she was.

“I mean we’re both adults, aren’t we?” Peggy added, making it clear that was exactly what she meant. “It would be sort of a crime to let the extra bed go to waste, when using it would let you get some sleep.”

“Are you serious?” Eric asked, wanting to be sure he wasn’t misunderstanding her.

“I wouldn’t have offered it if I wasn’t,” Peggy replied. “Of course, we would have to be a bit discreet about it because, well, people do like to talk, even if there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Of course,” Eric quickly agreed, hoping that the possibility of ‘talk’ didn’t suddenly cause her to change her mind.

“So, why don’t you give me a ten minutes head start, then follow me,” Peggy said as she gave him her room number.

Eric was pleased to discover that not only were they on the same floor, but in the same wing — which certainly made things a lot easier. If anyone saw him strolling down the hall, he could simply act like he was going to one of the vending machines by the stairwell.

-=-=-=-

Eric paused near the door to Peggy’s room, glancing over his shoulder to be sure that there was no one else in the corridor. Then he turned to his right and was about to gently knock on the door when it unexpectedly swung open. Evidently, Peggy had been watching for him through the keyhole.

He rushed into the room as she just as quickly closed the door behind him. When he turned around to face her, he saw that she was laughing.

“Doesn’t it all feel so conspiratorial?” she said with a grin, sliding the chain lock on the door into place.

Eric had to agree, it did seem a bit that. Yet at the same time he recognized that, even though his reasons for being in her room were innocuous enough, there was always someone who could see something inappropriate in it. Peggy had a respected place in her community and one had to be cognizant of the need to protect her reputation.

Glancing around the room, Eric found it identical to his own, right down to the framed prints on the walls. When his focus shifted to the twin beds in the center of it, his expression reflected an unspoken question of which one he should take.

“The one closest to the bathroom is mine,” Peggy said, mirthfully adding that when he got to be her age, he’d understand why that might have some import.

Smiling, even though he didn’t get the joke, Eric stepped over to the bed nearest the window and sat down on the end of it. As he expected, it felt identical to the one he had tried to sleep on last night. Peggy meanwhile had moved over to the dresser against the opposite wall, removing the few items of jewelry she had been wearing.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Peggy said as she dropped her earrings into a small ceramic cup. “You can turn the television on if you like.”

A bracelet and a watch followed the earrings, after which Peggy moved back over to her bed and, sitting down, removed her footwear.

“I don’t know about you,” she said as, with her back to Eric, she carefully slipped off her pantyhose, dropping them into the night table drawer when she was done, “but I always take a quick shower before I turn in.”

With that, she turned and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. A few moments later, Eric heard the shower coming on. He listened for a few seconds, then turned on the television to drown out the sound.

Ironically, the set was tuned in to the local CBS affiliate, although it was far too late to catch “Mary Tyler Moore.” So, he settled for watching the second half of “Mannix.” The story, about a missing college basketball player, seemed interesting enough, but Eric found himself having trouble keeping his mind on it. Instead, his thoughts kept drifting back to the fact that there was a naked woman taking a shower only a thin wooden door away.

It didn’t matter that Peggy was twice his age — she was still an attractive woman. It was hard to block out the thought of what her body looked like as she soaped it all up and ran her hands across it.

‘This might not have been such a good idea after all,’ he said to himself as he realized that his body was reacting to that image.

Hearing the water shut off, Eric tried to think of anything that might make the swelling in his pants less noticeable. He’d partially succeeded by the time the bathroom door opened, only to have his efforts undone as out stepped Peggy, wrapped only in a bath towel.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice his discomfort as she stepped over to the bed and pulled out a red nightdress from under the pillow, laying the knee length gown across the mattress. For a moment, it looked like she was about to take off the towel, but then paused as if she suddenly remembered that she wasn’t alone.

“Why don’t you freshen up while I change?” she suggested as she turned back to her guest. “There’s an extra toothbrush in the holder you can use.”

Stepping into the bathroom, he found the extra brush, still wrapped in cellophane, along with a similarly wrapped paper cup that went along with it. Before using either, Eric decided that perhaps Peggy had the right idea about a quick shower before bed and reached behind the curtain to turn the water back on. Stripping off his clothes, he carefully laid them on the seat of the toilet, thinking as he did that, since he didn’t have any pajamas, he’d have to at least put his pants back on before he emerged.

He called out before stepping back into the main room, just to be doubly sure that Peggy was presentable. When she called back saying that she was, he walked out carrying his shirt and footwear in his hands.

Eric had half expected Peggy to already be in bed, but instead, he found her standing in front of the television, watching the local news.

“I just wanted to check tomorrow’s weather,” she said without taking her eyes off the screen.

It wasn’t the weatherman on the screen that captured Eric’s attention however.

The light of the television was just bright enough to silhouetted Peggy’s body through the thin material of her nightgown. As she turned in Eric’s direction, he could see the outline of her breasts, including her nipples. For a woman who was almost the same age as his mother, he had to say she still had a nice body.

“Well, it looks like we’re going to have another good day,” she said before clicking the tv remote in her hand to turn it off.

She laid the control down on the dresser next to the nineteen-inch screen, then turned back to him. A look of amusement appeared on her face as she noted that he was still half dressed.

“I do hope you’re not planning to wear those pants to bed,” she said. “I have seen men in their shorts before and the whole point of this was for you to get a good night’s sleep, wasn’t it?”

Eric still hesitated.

“Seriously,” she added in response to his continued reluctance.

‘I guess I am being a bit ridiculous,’ Eric thought as, moving over to the opposite side of his bed, he sat down and slipped off his pants, revealing the boxer shorts beneath them.

“Yeah, baby, take it off,” Peggy laughed as she mimicked the first few bars of the classic stripper refrain.

Eric glared over his shoulder.

“Alright, I’ll stop,” she said as she stifled her laughter, “but I have to say, you do have a cute tush.”

The comment made Eric blush and he hoped it wasn’t that noticeable in the dim light from the lamp next to Peggy’s bed. He pulled down the cover on his own bed and was about to climb into it when he noticed that while the older woman was doing the same, she had walked around to the near side of her bed to do so, presenting her back to him.

He watched with interest as she bent over, causing the bottom of her nightgown to wrap around her ass cheeks, highlighting their spherical shape. It wasn’t something he’d have felt right in voicing, even in jest as she had done, but he couldn’t help but note that he wasn’t the only one with a nice ass.

“Well, I guess it’s time to call it a night,” Peggy said as she again turned around to face him.

“I want to thank you again for letting me use the spare bed,” Eric replied, not really knowing what else to say.

“I’m happy to do it,” Peggy replied, “but just remember to make it up before you leave in the morning. We wouldn’t want housekeeping to speculate as to who might have slept in it.”

A flash of concern filled Eric’s face; he hadn’t thought of that.

“Although …” Peggy said, drawing out the word as if it had more than two syllables, “there is a simple solution to that.”

‘What?’ Eric though, not having any idea what she was talking about.

“We could leave that bed as it is and just use mine,” Peggy suggested.

Eric was dumbstruck; he certainly hadn’t seen that coming.

“Oh, come on now, a bright young man like yourself can’t really have thought that I invited you back to my room just so you can sleep in my spare bed,” Peggy said, stepping around the corner of the space between the two beds.

At that moment, Eric felt like the world’s biggest idiot because that was exactly what he’d thought. Despite what he’d been feeling since walking through her door, it had never occurred to him to think otherwise. Especially since he’d been constantly reminding himself that not only was she Stuart’s friend, she was a respected member of her community. Now, for the first time, he looked at her and saw her as a woman with needs — needs that might be fulfilled by him.

“Or have I read this all wrong?” Peggy inquired as, stopping only a few steps in front of him, she noted the perplexed look on his face.

-=-=-=-

Eric was a gifted carpenter, a master of his craft who made few errors. In his personal life, however, he was sometimes a bit slow on the uptake. Once he realized a mistake, though, he put everything he had into correcting it.

As he had noted earlier down in the bar, differences in age seemed to matter less as you got older. Since entering the working world, he had certainly interacted with a more varied mix of people, at least age wise, than he had in school. An interaction that even extended to the women he dated. And while the oldest he had ever gone out with had been no more than five years older, he couldn’t fail to notice the charms of women more than twice that. Looking again at Peggy, he considered that perhaps it was time to expand that envelope.

Taking a few steps backward, Peggy made it clear to Eric that the next move, if there was going to be one, was up to him. Peggy had opened the door; it was up to him to walk through it. Taking a shallow breath, he closed the small gap between them and, gently laying his hands on her shoulders, Eric pulled her closer, leaning inward until their lips met.

It was a soft kiss, one mouth barely brushing against the other, but it didn’t remain that way for long. The die cast, Peggy threw her arms around Eric’s neck, pulling his body against hers as she pressed her tongue against his lips, forcing its way into his mouth.

Eric met her tongue with his own, reflecting her passion as the two intertwined. Additional kisses followed, creating sparks that ignited a fire deep within them. A blaze that emboldened the young man as he laid his hand on the brunette’s breast, squeezing it through her nightgown, the firmness of her nipple pressing against his palm. Pleased with his touch, Peggy offered her own, sliding a hand between Eric’s thighs, an appreciative smile reflecting her delight at the hardness she found there. A discovery that generated a wetness between her own.

“Just do whatever feels right,” Peggy softly whispered into his ear after one last kiss. “Follow your dreams.”

Feeling a sense of excitement unlike any he’d felt with other women, it didn’t take Eric long to do just that. He kissed Peggy again as his hands slid across her back before gliding downward until they reached the cheeks of her ass. To his surprise, he could feel the warmth of her flesh through her thin garment as he pressed his hands against each mound, making it clear that she had nothing beneath it.

As Peggy again reached deep into his mouth with her tongue, caressing its inner reaches, Eric pulled up the back of her gown to stroke the bare skin. In response, the brunette moaned softly, withdrawing her mouth from his for the briefest of pauses. Shifting his hands to now engulf her breasts, the younger man slid the nightdress’s straps off her shoulders, causing the top of the garment to fall downward and exposing the bounty it had concealed.

Eric kissed her on the fold of her neck, running his fingers across the softness of her right breast. A second kiss replaced the touch of his hand and a third came to rest against the darker areola, his lips closing around the thick nipple while his tongue ran across its tip.

“Oh yes,” Peggy moaned softly as, running her fingers through his hair, she pressed his face harder against her breast, “that feels nice.”

Eric continued to suck on her nipple, even as he brought his other hand to her left breast, massaging its supple flesh and squeezing its extended nub between his fingers. Then, after a few minutes, he switched positions, replacing the caress of his hand with that of his mouth.

“Yes, oh yes,” Peggy repeated as she arched her head backward.

Emboldened by her encouragement, Eric ran his free hand across her stomach, slipping it under her nightgown, and then between her legs. Excitedly, he ran the tips of his fingers across her thickly haired mound, caressing the sensitive flesh before guiding two extended fingers inside of her, their passage made nearly effortless by the depths of her arousal. Peggy moaned loudly, her cry growing in volume as he penetrated her even deeper.

“Oh God, yes!” Peggy exclaimed as she pressed her body against his fingers.

Pleased with her reaction, Eric continued to work his fingers in and out of her, eventually adding first a third, and then finally a fourth finger to his efforts, the speed and intensity of his thrusts increasing with each passing breath.

With the twin delights of his mouth at her breasts and his fingers within her, it wasn’t long before Peggy began to quiver with anticipation as rolling waves of excitement cascaded across her body. Waves that continued to grow in strength until, finally, they exploded into a small, but highly pleasing orgasm. One that more than validated her decision to invite Eric back to her room.

-=-=-=-

It took Peggy a few moments to regain her breath, but once she did, she complimented the younger man only now stepping back from her, offering her thought that he did that quite well — much better than she might have imagined. She was about to suggest that perhaps she might return the compliment when she was even more surprised to discover that Eric wasn’t done yet.

Easing her back against the wall between the two beds, Eric turned her to face it, easing the nightgown the rest of the way off her as he did so. He kissed the back of her neck, working his way down her spine until he came to her ass, where he added the caress of his tongue to that of his mouth. With a hand on each cheek, he pulled them apart, even as Peggy laid her own hands on her breasts, squeezing them just as tightly. His path now clear, Eric balanced himself on his knees and pressed his mouth against her asshole and caressed it with an extended tongue. A touch that proved electric.

“Oh baby,” Peggy gasped as the younger man slipped the tip into her most forbidden of entries.

Twice in her life she’d had men play with her ass, but none as energetically as Eric was doing. It was immediately apparent that he believed a lady’s pleasure should always come first, an observation proved even more a few minutes later when he spread her legs far enough apart that he could also reach her now saturated pussy.

He pressed his tongue in as far as it would go, swirling it back and forth along the breadth and width of her sex. An extended finger followed, duplicating his actions of before with similar results. Peggy added to her delight, bringing one of her own hands down as well, the other was helping to brace her against the wall, using it to play with her clit.

Since Peggy had always had a hair-trigger, it again didn’t take her long reach the edge of orgasm. A precipice that Eric soon sent her hurtling over, as not only did he continue his efforts, he nearly doubled them, not stopping until long after her body had come to rest after a second climax.

Her body caked with sweat and the aftermath of both orgasms, Peggy turned and pulled Eric upward, now pressing him against the wall as her mouth quickly found his as she tasted herself on his lips. A kiss that only went deeper as their hearts continued to race.

-=-=-=-

Now it was Peggy’s turn as she took hold of the bottom of Eric’s undershirt and pulled it upward, exposing the smooth, nearly hairless chest beneath. Dropping it off to the side, she ran her fingers across his torso, sliding them back and forth, tickling his nipples as she manipulated them to a thick hardness. A playful kiss on each of them followed, along with a wet swipe of her tongue before drawing each into her mouth.

Eric was never much of an athlete, but he did take good enough care of his body to have a decent form. Not quite a swimmer’s build, but one that he could be proud of nevertheless. Peggy seemed to agree as, after taking a moment to admire his physique, she displayed her approval in the form of a broad smile.

Then, just as quickly as she had taken hold of the bottom of his shirt, Peggy did the same with the waistband of his shorts, pulling them down with one quick thrust, her body following their descent to the floor, so that by the time they reached it, she was down on her knees. Her attention immediately focused on the hard cock standing at full mast only a few inches from her face.

“Not bad, … not bad at all,” Peggy mused as she reached out with her index finger and ran the tip of it down the length of his manhood, judging it to be a good six and a half inches. “Quite nice in fact.”

The fingers of her other hand closed around the base of his cock as Peggy leaned forward and, in a well-practiced motion, wrapped her mouth around his cockhead, sliding her tongue along the underside, a motion that sent a pleasing shiver racing through Eric’s body.

It was hardly the first time that Eric had had a woman suck his cock, but in the short time it took Peggy to swallow his full length twice, sliding her lips back and forth across the sensitive flesh in between, it became obvious that this wasn’t going to be just another blow job. Aside from the experience the older woman exhibited, skills his previous lovers couldn’t hope to match, there was a hunger that was also clearly apparent. With each caress of her lips, and each swirl of her tongue, both combining to create increasingly pleasant waves of delight, it became clear how much Peggy loved cock.