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“William, please…”
It wasn’t often that you requested anything from William. He was attentive, cared deeply for your every need and he’d happily move Heaven and Earth for you. However, for some unspoken reason, this was proving to be a difficult ask of him. All you wanted was to give William a massage. A simple massage. Something that anyone else would accept in a heartbeat, but the confusion in his eyes was clear. As if you had spoken to him in an unknown language.
“And what am I supposed to do during this, Dear?”
Any other day, unbuttoning William’s waistcoat and shirt would be accompanied by distracting kisses. Not today. There’ll be plenty of other times for the pair of you to become lost in each other. Right now, you need to stay on task. You kept yourself focused on undressing him from the waist up before motioning towards the bed. William half-expected some dreadful whale sounds, disguising themselves as music, to echo through the bedroom. That’s what normally happens during massages, right?
You left it quiet whilst William got comfortable; laying on his stomach with his arms tucked beneath a pillow and his cheek resting on top of them. The room remained still for a second then William felt - rather than saw - you straddle the small of his back. Your weight was enough to be grounding without being uncomfortable.
“Just relax.”
Relax? William wanted to laugh at the concept. It sounded easy when said in your sweet voice. In practice, there was nothing easy about it. William could hardly remember the last time that he permitted himself to simply be. There was no time for relaxation. Work demanded much of his time, leaving very little space for any sort of a personal life. He was lucky that you were so understanding when it came to the long hours and the amount of travelling expected of him.
The first brush of your fingertips on his shoulder startles William from his wandering thoughts. It was soft whilst having enough pressure behind it to be felt. With the next touch, he followed the path of your fingers as they ran upwards between his shoulder-blades then back down to the middle of his spine. There was something calming about the steady movement and William found himself sinking further into the mattress. It was similar to watching the rhythm of waves; rolling lazily onto shore before pulling back then rolling onto the sand again. Maybe this is why people watched the ocean in times of great stress to calm themselves. By the third pass of your hands along the faint lines of muscle, William’s eyes had fallen shut.
His body wasn’t used to this. Being cared for. It only understood violence and the bloodlust of uncaring men. You were the only one who treated William with any sort of tenderness. And, oh… How he adored it! William relished the warmth of affection behind your every touch, no matter how fleeting. Every time you reached for him, it was a sign of love instead of the unbridled hatred that he had grown accustomed to. He would never admit to anyone, even you, how he felt himself crave the innocence of intimacy just as much as the passion of sex.
Time became irrelevant as you slowly worked your way down the length of William’s back. Your technique was thorough and steady with no pauses. Aside from the occasional brush of your lips to his warm skin after working to loosen a particularly deep knot. William had long since lost focus on the world around him and drifted into a gentle doze so you happily continued under your own volition.
It was almost bittersweet when the massage came to an end and you carefully moved to lay beside William for a moment. He didn’t stir. In his sleep, the lines at the corners of his eyes faded and he more closely resembled his younger self. William had been considered handsome in those days. Now, he was distinguished. You couldn’t resist reaching up to comb your fingers through his greying hair with a ready apology when William began to wake. He turned his head enough to press a kiss to the inside of your wrist then another to the palm of your hand.
“I have for the first time found what I can truly love – I have found you.”
“Charmer…”