Getting Lucky

The characters in this story are owned by Fran Drescher, Peter Marc Jacobsen and High School Sweathearts.


“You don’t have to pay me Niles.”

Niles looked at CC’s impromptu hand puppet, all thoughts of hitting the slot machines instantly driven from his mind. He looked beyond her sleeve-encased hand and met her gaze challengingly. “Just what do you mean by that Babcock?”

After a heartbeat, CC nervously looked away, letting her arm fall back to her side. “Nothing,” she mumbled. “I didn’t mean anything Niles. I was just clowning around.”

He watched her thoughtfully as she walked over to the windows. “It never goes away does it CC?” he asked softly. “The wanting?”

CC stared out over the brightly lit city, unconsciously crossing her arms in front of herself for protection. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, I think it’s time we did!” Niles crossed the floor and came to stand beside her.

She turned her head to shoot him an angry glare and then resumed staring out the window.

“What are you so afraid of Babcock? That you might like it? Might like me?”

She didn’t answer him.

They both stared out into the night, unsure of how to break this impasse. The bright lights shining from the casino opposite gave CC the beginnings of an idea. “Niles, you came in here tonight because you wanted to gamble, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied cautiously, unsure of what she was getting at.

“Well, why don’t we?” CC suggested as she went searching for the pack of cards she’d seen earlier in the bedside cabinet. Finding them, she began undoing the cellophane wrapper. “I shuffle these and you cut the pack, if it’s a seven or lower, you leave and we forget about things, higher than a seven, then we start dealing with it.”

Niles’ eyes lit up as he felt the thrill of the gamble sweep through his body. “Aces high or low?”

“High.” CC decided as she shuffled the deck. Once finished, she held them out flat on her palm and indicated to Niles to cut them.

Taking roughly half the deck in his hand, Niles held her gaze as he slowly turned his hand over to reveal his chosen card.

They both looked down and found themselves staring with bemusement at The Joker.

“Well, I guess that’s our answer,” muttered CC. “This whole idea is a big joke!”

“Nonsense!” Niles took the remainder of the cards from her and began sorting through them. “All it means is that you forgot to take out the extra cards.” Locating the offending cards, he deftly removed them and handed the deck back to her. “Try again.”

They went through the procedure again and this time Niles turned his hand over to reveal the Queen of Hearts. “A much better sign!” he declared triumphantly. “Okay, Babcock! Let’s talk!”


*****************


CC glanced around the room unsure of where they should sit. Niles solved her dilemma by walking over to the bed. After removing his jacket, he clambered on near the foot of it and sat cross-legged in the centre. “As good as place as any,” he replied to CC’s questioning look.

She hesitated momentarily before shrugging and climbing on the bed, settling herself against the pillows and copying his cross-legged pose.

Niles quirked an eyebrow and patiently waited for her to begin.

CC opened her mouth to speak but closed it again when she was unable to find the right words.

After she’d done this for the third time, Niles couldn’t stand it any longer. “You look like a goldfish!” he snorted.

She shot him a frustrated glare and began to scramble off the bed. “This is stupid. I can’t do this Niles.”

“Babcock, wait.” Niles quickly reached out to grab her arm and halt her progress. “I’m sorry. I’ll behave. I promise.”

CC looked at him sceptically. “You? Behave?”

Niles grinned slightly and gave her a solemn Boy Scout salute.

CC rolled her eyes. “I have a hard time believing YOU were ever a Boy Scout.”

“I was! I have the cooking badge to prove it.” He quickly took advantage of the ghost of a smile she responded with. “Please stay? We have to talk about this.”

Studying him for a moment, CC saw the sincerity in his gaze. She heaved a resigned sigh and moved back to her prior spot on the bed.

A brief silence fell again. This was new territory for both of them. While the insults and quips that had dominated their twenty year relationship fell easily from their lips, it seemed communicating their inner feelings, was going to be a different matter altogether.
CC glanced up to find Niles watching her expectantly. Taking a deep breath, she hoped she’d be able to say what she needed to without coming off sounding like the cold-hearted bitch he so often accused her of being.

“This…,” she gestured a hand back and forth between the two of them, “isn’t what I had planned for my life. You…aren’t what I had planned for my life.” She began to falter, hating that she’d stated it so baldly.

Niles, however, didn’t look in the least surprised by her words. “And your life plan is?” he prompted.

She gave him a dry look. “I rather think you know the gist of it, Niles. I’m CC Babcock. I’m a rich socialite who wants a successful career, money and…a respectable husband...”

“Someone like Max?” Niles’ voice was oddly emotionless.

CC met his gaze and nodded. “Someone like Maxwell.”

Niles smiled a little bitterly. “And becoming involved with me doesn’t fit into this great plan, right?”

CC shook her head sadly. “I’m attracted to you, there’s no point in denying that. But the differences are just too great. I can’t see how it would work. I’m….sorry Niles.”

“It’s okay. That’s what I figured you’d say.”

“I’m sorry,” CC repeated, her eyes downcast as she plucked at the blanket beneath her.

Niles sighed. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry, Babcock. I’m sorry that I can’t make you see how unimportant all those things really are. They won’t make you happy, CC, not really. I know you believe those things because of your upbringing but I wish…I wish you could understand that …people…and caring about people is what life’s really all about….”

To his surprise CC scooted off the bed and stood glaring down at him, her eyes blazing angrily. “That’s Bullshit, Niles!”

Niles’ head snapped up, real emotion starting to stir inside him for the first time since their conversation had begun. He found himself glaring back. “Excuse me?!”

“You heard me! How dare you judge me like that?! You accuse ME of being a snob, when the reality is…you’re a hypocrite. You’re the snob. You think you’re better than us…better than me!”

“I never said that!” Niles moved, swinging his legs over so he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

“You implied it. My way is wrong. As a socialite the things I want aren’t important…whereas you, being a working man have all the right answers, all of life’s secrets? Well, let me ask YOU something, Niles, if my priorities are so unimportant and you’re so blessed because you know what life’s all about…why aren’t you happy with your life -with who you are? Why do you want the same things I strive for?”

Niles blinked. “You’re twisting my words. And what do you mean ‘I’m not happy with who I am?’ I’m perfectly happy with who I am!”

CC snorted. “I have ears Niles!”

“Like Dumbo!”

She opened her mouth to retort but closed it realising she didn’t want to allow him to de-rail their conversation. Not this time. “I meant that I hear you, Niles. Just about every day you moan to Fran about your job and complain about not earning enough money. Every Friday you buy a lottery ticket. God, you’ve spent the last 24 hours obsessively pulling on the arm of a slot machine. Why? Why do that if being rich is so damned unimportant?”

Niles’ head was spinning at the unexpected turn of their talk. “Okay…it’s not unimportant, it just not AS important as…”

“…You want to know what I think?”

Niles stood up and started pacing around the room. “What?”

“I think that philosophy you just shoved at me is nothing more than an excuse.” CC watched him closely as he stopped pacing and turned to look at her.

“An excuse for what?!”

“An excuse for you to hide behind, so you don’t have to take a risk and go out there and do whatever it is you want to do to better yourself and risk having it fail.”

Niles continued to glare at her but inwardly he winced as he acknowledged the truth of her words. Damn her for knowing him so well! Nobody else in his life could peg him as quickly and as accurately as CC Babcock could. Suddenly he felt having this conversation wasn’t such a good idea after all. He started walking towards the door. “I have to go.”

“Dammit Niles!” CC followed him and caught his arm before he could reach for the doorknob. “You’re not going to run away! I’ve spent twenty years watching you run from your potential and I’m not going to let you do it any more. God, do you have any idea how frustrating it is to watch a man with so many talents wasting his life away because of some misguided notion that it’s his lot to fold socks and scrub toilets?!”

“Well, YOU’VE been one of the principal people telling me that that’s exactly what my place in life is!” Niles couldn’t help but snap back at her. He pulled away from her grasp and went back to the bed, sitting down on the edge again.

CC sighed and wandered over to sit beside him. “Did it ever occur to you that one of main reasons I’ve needled you all these years was so you’d get mad enough to go out into the world and prove me wrong…even if it would have been to spite me rather than doing it for yourself?”

Niles’ jaw dropped slightly as he began considering in a new light all their years of fighting together. “You’re kidding me?”

“What is it Niles? What’s your dream? What is it that you’d rather be doing with your life? And don’t tell me you don’t have one, because I know you too well. Better than you think I do.”

A sudden knock at the door interrupted them.

CC glanced at the door with a touch of frustration. “That’s probably Room Service. I ordered dinner earlier.”

Niles nodded absently still reeling slightly from the unexpected turn of their conversation. He remained where he was, thinking things over as CC answered the door. He was barely aware of the brief exchange of pleasantries and the trolley being wheeled in, the flourish with which the silver dome covering the meal was lifted, or the soft click door indicating that they were alone once more. He eventually glanced up to find CC watching him curiously.

“Niles?”

“That’s…what I’d like to do.”

CC frowned and glanced back at the door before looking at him, unable to totally hide the amused twitching of her lips. “A bellboy?”

Niles rolled his eyes. “No!” His gaze slid over to the meal trolley. “Cooking...is the one part of my job I really love. I’ve often wondered if…if I could be an A-grade chef…maybe own my own restaurant…” He trailed off with a slight flush, still not entirely trusting that she hadn’t set him up to make this admission in order to ridicule him.

To his surprise and relief she didn’t laugh. “Niles, you’d be great at that! Why haven’t you ever done it?” She pulled the trolley up to the side of the bed and automatically began dividing her meal in half.

“Thanks.” Niles took the fork she offered him and stabbed at the food half-heartedly, his mind on other matters.

“Well?” CC prompted as she began picking at her own food.

He sighed. “Lots of reasons.”

“Such as?”

“Well, one of them you mentioned before….fear. If I did this and it failed….I’d look like a fool.”

“You always look like a fool,” the smile she gave him belied her words. “But you wouldn’t fail, Niles you’d succeed at anything you put your mind to.”

Niles blinked at her words, surprised and touched by the amount of faith she appeared to have in him.

“So, what else have you got?”

Niles thought for a moment. “The Sheffields. They’re more than just a job to me. I consider them my family…I care about them.”

CC shrugged. “I know. They care about you too….but does that really mean you have to wash their underwear for the rest of your life?”

He silently acknowledged the truth of that. “Money. To do something like that costs money. I’d have to do some formal study to become qualified…then there’s the cost of actually buying a restaurant.” He sighed, “I live from paycheque to paycheque.”

“So you get a financial backer. Me.” CC raised a hand to stop him when it looked like he was about to protest. “Before you say anything…it wouldn’t be pity. I’m a business woman and I only invest in a sure thing. Plus I’d make you pay me back out of your profits.”

“You’d do that for me?” Niles looked stunned.

“Of course,” she nodded.

“Why?” Niles gave her a shrewd look. “So I’d be more ‘respectable’? A more acceptable man for you to be involved with?”

To his surprise she didn’t deny it. “Partially…yes.”

Niles’ shoulders slumped. “I see. So I become successful, make some money and then I’ll be good enough, eh?”

“No. That’s not…”

“…The problem with that Babcock, is that I’ll never know. I’ll never know if you love me for who I am rather than for what I am.”

CC gritted her teeth in frustration. “Don’t you get it Niles? We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if I didn’t already love you for who you are!”

Niles grew still as he met her gaze. “You love me?” he whispered hoarsely.

CC groaned as she realised what she’d just blurted out. “I didn’t mean to say that but…yes. I love you - and you have no idea how irritating that is for me sometimes!”

The two shared a small smile before Niles became serious again.

“But you want to change me?”

“It’s not…how it sounds, Niles”

“Then explain it to me, because all I’m hearing is that I’m not good enough for you as I am, that you’d be embarrassed of me.”

CC hesitated for a moment. “I’m scared, I guess.”

“Of what?

“Loving you. I know what I’m like - I’m not very good at caring for people. The only thing that scares me more is the idea that I could have you…and be happy…and then lose you.”

Niles frowned, “Why would you lose me?”

She sighed. “I know you think that love is all that matters….if we want to we should be together and to hell with what anyone thinks. And maybe in an ideal world that would be true. But I’m a realist Niles, and I know things aren’t as black and white as that.”

“So you’re worried about what people would think?”

“My peers…not all of them, but many of them, wouldn’t understand or approve. I know it’s shallow of me to be worried about that, but it would be an issue. A big one. I know it sounds bad but those people include my work colleges, my friends and my family. I can’t just ignore how they’d react. It’s not right, I know, but it’s the way it is.”

Niles was silent for a moment as he considered the situation from her point of view for the first time. “I’ve never really looked at it that way before.”

CC reached over and placed her hand on his forearm. “Niles, if we’re talking about changes you want to make for yourself anyway… and it would make it easier for us to be together…does it really have to be that much of a problem?”

“I suppose I just can’t help wondering what if I’d said you were wrong…what if I was happy with my life…with my job as a butler?”

This time CC it was who fell silent as she thought it over. “If you were truly happy and satisfied, in spite of the problems I’ve just mentioned, I’d take the risk…and be with you.”

Niles blinked. “So you’d be with me the way I am now?”

“No.”

He gave a snort of frustration and threw his hands in the air. “Women! I will never understand them…least of all you!”

CC couldn’t help but grin at his confusion. “It’s perfectly simple, Niles.”

“It is?!”

“When I said earlier that I wanted a man like Maxwell, I wasn’t talking about money or social standing. I meant…Maxwell had a dream of being a Broadway Producer and he took the risk of setting out to fulfil that dream. That’s want I want in a man. Someone who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to go after it.”

Niles raised an eyebrow as an image of Fran popped into his mind. “Are we talking about the same Maxwell Sheffield?!”

CC grinned. “I was referring to his professional life rather than his personal life. In his personal life the man is….fercocked.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Niles giggled. “But, I guess we can’t cast stones. They’ve only been going for three years…we’ve had nearly twenty.”

She smiled. “But we’re getting there now…right?”

He returned the smile. “Yeah, I actually think we are.”

“You know Niles…” CC attempted to look nonchalant despite her heart-rate suddenly picking up speed, “you actually haven’t said how you feel about me.”

“I haven’t?”

CC shook her head.

“Hmmm.”

“Well?”

“Well what?”

CC rolled her eyes. “How do you feel about me?”

“How do I feel about you?”

CC gritted her teeth. “Yes.”

Niles hid a smirk as he slowly ran gaze his over her then shrugged. “You’re okay I suppose.”

“Niiiles!!” CC grabbed a pillow and smacked him with it.

Chuckling, he yanked the pillow from her grasp and returned the favour. CC seized another pillow and the fight was on, each blow helping to dissipate the tension of their heavy conversation. Moments later the pillows lay on the floor, victims of battle, as the couple continued to wrestle playfully on the bed.

“How do I feel about you?” Niles asked again as he finally gained some ascendancy by partially rolling on top of her and pinning her to the mattress with his weight. “I think you are the…most frustrating...most irritating...most infuriating…,” he punctured each description with a short, hard kiss, “…woman I have ever met. And I love every delicious inch of you.” This time his lips lingered and their kiss became deeper.

CC moaned softly and wound her arms around his shoulders. Eventually Niles broke the kiss and lifted his head, smiling down at her. CC grinned back coyly as she ran a hand down his back before sliding it down around his hip and slipping it between them to cup him intimately. “So, when do I get to love every inch of you?”

Niles groaned and couldn’t resist pushing into her hand. “Well, you know me, I’ve always believed in seizing the moment.”

She giggled as she began rubbing her hand along his rapidly hardening bulge. “You call waiting two decades seizing the moment??”

He let out a half-strangled gasp, “That was foreplay…but the main course is going to be over in about five seconds if you keep doing that.”

CC grinned wickedly and increased the pressure of her hand slightly. “You don’t like it?”

Niles growled, “Babcock!” He briefly closed his eyes and drew a deep breath before his hand clamped around her wrist and determinedly pulled her hand out. “You know damned well I liked it, but I want to play first.” He gave her another swift hard kiss then slowly started unbuttoning her silky pyjama top.

“You do, huh?

Niles nodded seriously. “I do. I want to see your boobies.”

She gave a high-pitched giggle, “My boobies?!”

“What? Would you rather I…” Niles pushed the edges of her top aside and gazed at her in awe. He lowered his voice, making it falsely husky, “…paid homage to your quivering, milky-white globes?”

CC giggled again. “They do not quiver!”

“Sure they do!” Niles grinned as he cupped her breasts with his hands, eliciting a startled gasp from her when he brushed his thumbs over her nipples before jiggling his hands slightly. “See? Quivering!”

CC shook her head in fond disbelief at his silliness. “I can’t believe how right this feels…how easy it is after all these years.”

Niles smiled his agreement then gave her one of his trademark smirks. “Well, you’d know all about being easy.”

“Niles!”

However her mind wasn’t allowed enough time to form a retort when he suddenly removed one of his hands and lowered his head to capture her nipple between his lips.

“Oh God…Niiiles!”

He lifted his head and threw her an overly innocent look. “What? You don’t like it?”

Her growl almost echoed the one he’d given earlier as she wound her fingers into the back of his hair and forced his head back down. “You know damned well I like it!”

Niles chuckled then bit lightly into her soft skin, earning himself another gasp. Her moans grew louder and throatier as he continued to lick and suck around her chest. Eventually her fingers slipped from his hair to caress the nape of his neck then her hands swept down to his shoulders. She made a noise of frustration when her fingertips encountered the feel of fabric rather than bare skin.

“Niles…you’re wearing too many clothes.”

“Huh?” Niles reluctantly pulled himself away from his task and looked up with a glazed expression.”

CC smiled and deliberately spoke slower, “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

He took a moment to process what she’d said. “Oh!” He quickly rolled off the bed and began divesting himself of his clothing.

CC grinned and propped herself up on her elbows enjoying the show. Her grin grew wider when he removed his trousers and revealed his boxers. “Shamrocks?!”

Niles flushed slightly, “They’re my lucky boxers…you know…for the slot machines.”

“Somehow I think you’ll get luckier if you took them off,” she giggled.

Niles quirked an eyebrow. “Sure you can handle it?”

“Oh, I fully intend to handle it, Niles.” Her laugh grew louder as there was a noticeable twitch inside the boxers in response.

He shot her a look then put hooked his fingers into the waistband at the sides. “Ready?”

She nodded.

“Here goes nothing then,” Niles began pushing the boxers down.

“Better not be nothing.”

Giving her another look, he stepped out of the boxers and straightened up, suddenly really rather self-conscious.

CC studied him, her eyes widening appreciatively as she took in his size.

“Well?”

She raised one shoulder slightly and pretended to think for a moment. “It’s okay I suppose,” she dead-panned.

Niles laughed and sat back on the edge of the bed. “Okay, I guess I deserved that one.”

CC grinned unrepentantly. “You did.”

“Babcock, I…”

She stopped him by placing a finger against his lips. “Don’t. Whatever smart-ass comment you were about to make can wait.” Removing her fingertip from against his mouth she lowered her hand and instead ran it up the underside of his shaft causing him to shudder with pleasure. “Otherwise you’d say something...then I’d say something…I’ve had enough foreplay Niles, I want us to make love. Now.”

“You sure?”

“Very!” She pressed her lips to his and pulled him with her as she lay back on the bed.

Niles settled on top of her and deepened the kiss as their passion exploded into life again. As their tongues mated, CC instinctively arched up against his hardness, her wetness evident even through the silkiness of her pyjamas pants. Breaking away with a muffled curse, Niles moved back long enough to quickly remove the offending articles before settling between her legs again, placing his tip against her opening. “Now?”

“God yes!” CC parted her legs then wrapped them around him, desperately trying to urge him on.

He kissed her once more then braced himself on his elbows. “I love you, Babcock,” he whispered as he slowly pushed into her.

CC groaned. “I love you too...but I’m going to kill you if you don’t go faster!”

Niles smiled and suddenly completed their union with a hard thrust. “Like that?”

“Yes...like that!” she gasped.

He continued to heed her wishes and began thrusting hard and fast, both of them rapidly becoming caught up in the maelstrom as they hurtled towards their orgasms, both frantically needing the release with each other that they’d denied themselves for so long.

Soon, they both lay on their back, desperately sucking in air as they sought to regain their equilibriums. Once their breathing had slowed they turned their heads to look at each other. “It was okay I suppose.” They said in unison.

The sound of raucous laughter filled the room.

Still chuckling Niles rolled back towards her. “Although…it isn’t over yet.”

“It isn’t?”

“We have twenty years to make up for, remember? And I intend to make a good dent in that making up… tonight,” he declared as he started kissing his way down her body.

“Oh.” CC’s flew open widely as Niles found his target. “Oh….Niiiiiiles!!!”



**********************


CC awoke the next morning to the sound of the shower running and Niles’ warbling. Deciding to join him in the shower, she half sat up before flopping back down on the mattress, her aching body in total disagreement with her mind on the matter. A smile swept over her face as she recalled the reason for those aches.

As images from the previous night danced in her head, her hand snaked its way under the covers, creeping down the length of her body until it came to rest between her legs. As her fingers began their intimate caresses, her other hand settled over her left breast and began kneading gently.

“Ahem!” CC’s eyes flew open to find Niles leaning nonchalantly against the door frame, his arms folded as he watched her activities with interest. “Having fun?” he teased, unfolding himself and stepping into the room.

Quickly removing her hands, CC flushed. “I was just...er…reminiscing.” Her mild embarrassment disappeared as she became transfixed by the sight of his still damp chest. She watched as a few beads of water melded together and formed a droplet which ran down the centre of his torso before disappearing into the towel wrapped around his waist. She traced its path with her eyes, her tongue unconsciously darting out as she pictured herself following the same path with her lips.

His blue eyes grew darker as he saw her naked desire. “Can I watch?” he asked in a deceptively mild tone as he sauntered over to the side of the bed.

“Niles!” CC, uncharacteristically, blushed further.

He smiled as he sat at the foot of the bed. “It’s okay if you don’t want to, but…I’ll make it worth your while,” he finished with a wink.

A smile spread across CC’s face as she considered the idea. She cast a glance towards Niles’ lap, the towel which was now stretched tightly across his thighs clearly showed the tell-tale bulge indicating how excited he was by the idea. “Okay, I will if you will,” she replied finally.

Niles raised an eyebrow then chuckled. “I should have known you’d negotiate.”

CC grinned. “Well? Do we have a deal?”

He nodded. “We have a deal.” His hand snaked out and with one sudden flick of his wrist the blankets were pulled from her body.

Although the room was warm, CC couldn’t help but gasp slightly as her body reacted to the exposure. She watched Niles’ eyes blaze with a fierce passion as he drank in the sight of her nudity. “You like?” she asked coquettishly.

Niles swallowed hard as his gaze feasted on the vision before him. Her nipples, already erect due to the recent manipulation of her fingertips, seemed to become harder in response to his stare. Trailing his gaze slowly downwards along her deliciously enticing curves, he finally settled on the sight of her womanhood, which already glistened slightly, partially because of her digital ministrations and partially in anticipation of what was to follow. Slowly he raised his eyes back up to meet hers. “I like…very much.”

CC shuddered at the intensity.

“Touch yourself,” he ordered huskily.

Feeling a little unsure of herself initially, CC raised both hands and slowly ran them down the sides of her neck, then lightly along her collarbones. Emboldened by his audible intake of breath, she closed her eyes and brushed her fingertips over the swells of her breasts.

“Talk to me,” Niles whispered, “tell me what you’re imagining. What am I doing?”

Unable to resist, she opened her eyes and gave him an impish grin. “How do you know it’s you?”

“It is, isn’t it?”

Catching a hint of vulnerability in his tone, CC squelched the temptation to name a movie star. “Yes, it’s you. I always fantasize about you, and I have for a long time,” she whispered honestly, as she rubbed the pads of her fingers over her hardened nipples.

He smiled. “Good. It’s the same for me.”

CC let out a peal of laughter. “You think about yourself too? Oh Niles…I always knew you had an ego but…”

“That’s not what I meant, Wench.” Niles interrupted good-naturedly. “I meant I think about you too, and I have done for years.” He lowered his voice seductively. “I’ve thought about being with you a million times. I’ve thought about making love to you slowly and gently, I’ve imagined fucking you hard and fast, pounding my cock into you until you scream my name, I’ve pictured you on your knees before me, your lips wrapped around me, taking me in deep….” He trailed off, becoming mesmerized as CC began pinching her nipples, tugging them slightly upwards.

Aroused beyond belief by his words, CC’s eyes drifted shut once more as she resumed her tactile stimulation. Matching her tone to his, she began describing it for him. “I’m imagining these are your hands,” she spread her palms out and cupped her heavy breasts in her hands. “I’m imagining the feel of your skin on mine. Your fingertips are thicker, rougher than mine, they make my skin feel even softer than it is.”

Niles groaned as he fought hard against the urge to push her hands away and replace them with his own. His palms literally itched to touch her. Forcing himself to maintain self-control, he sucked in a deep breath and continued watching her hands.

“Now I’m remembering last night,” CC was plucking her hardened nipples again. “Your mouth, your lips, your tongue…God, they felt so good Niles. Nobody’s ever made me feel that good before.” She gasped as she pinched down harder.

His eyes remained locked on her wonderful fingers as they swept downwards over her stomach, travelling the same path his own hands had taken the previous evening. His breathing became shallower as one of her hands returned to her breast while the tips of the other began gently toying with her slick folds. She parted her legs further, affording him a better view, as she strove to accommodate her hand.

“I was so wet, Niles. I was aching. All I wanted was your cock…in me. In my pussy.” CC almost sobbed as she slid a finger inside herself, the intensity of her feelings from the night before merging with the intensity of the present moment.

Niles shifted slightly on the bed, unsure of how much more he could take. He was burning with desire; God, how he wanted to fuck her. He wanted nothing more than to yank her hand away, bury himself her and pound her senseless but, he masochistically forced himself to stay where he was; knowing, this torture would be worth it.

CC added a second finger, and then a third, working them in and out with increasing speed. Her commentary ceased as she lost ability to speak coherently. Bending her knees, she planted the souls of her feet on the bed and began thrusting her hips up off the bed to meet her hand. As she flew towards the edge of her control, a reminder of her deal with Niles teased a corner of her mind. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to relax and slow her movements. Sliding her fingers out, she moved them to her clit and started massaging it lightly as she opened her eyes to look at Niles.

Knowing what she wanted without the need for words, Niles tugged at the towel fastened around his waist and pushed it aside. Holding her gaze, he wrapped his hand around his cock. As he began to stroke himself, they both averted their eyes, each focussing on their lover’s hand as they pleasured themselves.

For several long moments the sounds of increasingly ragged breathing filled the air, tensions building within each of them. Initially, CC’s fingers alternated between rubbing her clit and sliding in and out of her pussy, however, the hand caressing her breast soon moved, joining its partner so both tasks could be performed simultaneously. Seeing this, Niles uttered an oath as the hand enveloping his cock began stroking faster and less rhythmically. Feeling himself rapidly reaching the pointing of no return, Niles realised he didn’t want it to end that way. Garnering the last remnants of his control, he removed his hand and unsteadily drew several deep breaths.

“Don’t stop,” he pleaded hoarsely when he saw CC follow his lead and pull her hands away. “I want to watch you come.”

“Thank Christ!” she moaned, desperate for release. Her hands swiftly returned to her body and within seconds her hips were bucking uncontrollably against them, her head thrashing from side to side on the pillow. “FUCK!! NIIIILES!” she screamed as her orgasm fully overpowered her.

Niles sat and watched in awe, committing the moment into his memory forever.

Finally her spasms eased, and she opened her eyes, smiling at Niles as she gradually regained some composure. Sliding her now dripping fingers from her pussy she held them up towards Niles, enticing him to taste.

He encased her hand in his and eagerly sucked, drawing each digit individually in turn into his mouth swirling his tongue over the skin before releasing them. He finished by pressing a kiss to each finger before letting go.

Glancing at his twitching cock, CC became intent on shattering the last of his resolve. She smiled naughtily at him and ran her fingers along her slit, wetting them again. Teasingly she moved to hold them up to him again before quickly changing paths and sucking them into her own mouth.

Niles let out a low growl and moved swiftly. A split second later he was buried to the hilt inside her. Briefly pinning her wrists above her head, he kissed her fiercely. “Witch!” Releasing his hold, he braced himself on his elbows and began thrusting hard and fast. Still sated from her own orgasm, CC simply braced herself and enjoyed the sensation of his slamming cock. “Jesus Babcock!” Niles groaned, “I’m going to…” CC smiled and clenched herself around his cock, helping him fall over the precipice. “OH GOD!!!!!” He slumped forward moments later, panting heavily as CC stroked his sweat-slicked back.

Eventually, he moved. Sliding out of her, he rested drowsily against her side.

“You cheated,” CC accused sleepily.

Closing his eyes, Niles snorted. “Complaining?”

“No.”

Sated, the couple drifted off to sleep once more.




*******************

CC awoke a couple of hours later to discover she was alone in the bed once more. She was about to get up to go look for him when the door opened signalling his return.

He closed the door behind him and smiled at her. “Hi. You’re awake.”

“I am - and I was all alone,” she pouted uncharacteristically. “Where did you go?”

“I had a few things I had to do.” Niles wandered over and gave her a quick kiss then perched on the side of the bed.

“Things?” CC sat up a bit and settled against the headboard, watching him curiously.

He nodded. “I was thinking about some of the things you said last night and I realised you were right about a few of them, most of them actually, at least partially.”

CC simply continued to watch him.

“My job. It doesn’t make me happy…or satisfied. So…” he paused and drew a deep breath, “I’m going to do it. I’m going to train fully as a chef…and one day aim to run my own restaurant.”

CC beamed. “Niles, that’s great!” She moved forward intending to hug him.

He held up a hand to stop her. “But…I won’t take your money. I couldn’t.”

“Why not? I want to help.”

“I know, and I appreciate it. Call it a pride thing but if I’m going to do this…I want to do it by myself. Well…me and the bank,” he added ruefully.

She nodded. “I can understand that…I just wanted to help somehow.”

“Just keep believing in me,” he smiled.

“Done!”

Niles cleared his throat. “Umm…there’s more… I meant it when I said you were only partially right.”

CC frowned.

“This is about making me happy. But the reality is, I could become the Bill Gates of the cooking world….and I still won’t be totally happy. Not if I don’t have you.”

“Niles…after last night…you have me.”

He shook his head. “Not totally…not in the way I really want.” Before she could even blink, he withdrew a small box from his pocket and opened it, presenting her with a diamond ring. “Marry me? Please?” He looked at her beseechingly.

CC’s jaw dropped. She looked at the ring then at Niles then at the ring again, her eyes becoming suspiciously moist. “Oh Niles.”

“Wait! Before you say anything…” To her surprise he reached into his other pocket and pulled out a deck of cards, then held them out to her in the palm of his hand. “Try cutting the cards for your answer. It worked out okay for us last night…right?”

In bewilderment, her eyes darted back and forth between the cards, the ring and Niles’ face. He gaze eventually settling on the latter. “You want me to base my decision on what the cards say??”

Niles nodded earnestly.

CC regarded him silently for a moment before giving a mental shrug and deciding to humour him, knowing that the decision she’d already made wasn’t about to be changed by the turn of an unlucky card. “Okay.”

Niles smiled and pushed his hand with the cards towards her a little more.

CC took a breath and cut the deck. Watching Niles closely she turned her hand over then looked down.

The King of Hearts.

Niles looked at the card and broke into a wide grin. “There’s your answer, Babcock!”

She pretended to sigh then smiled as well. “I guess so. Yes, I’ll marry you Niles.”

Letting out a joyful whoop, Niles pulled her into a crushing hug before kissing her soundly. CC responded enthusiastically to his embrace and quickly yanked him down onto the mattress with her.

As the couple moved onto the bed, the cards slid unnoticed to the floor, landing face up, each of them revealing themselves to be clones of the other.

Niles may have been a gambler, but he wasn’t a fool.


**END**