Mister Nobody – Part 6 | Do you remember the way it made you feel?

Lisa knew that she and Michael had a lot to talk about. It was inevitable. But during the seven years that had passed since losing him, she had to learn to reevaluate her priorities.

Before Michael’s passing, Lisa had never really thought that they weren’t going to have another day. Another day to talk, fight, make love, connect, reconnect, pretend to forget about one another. Despite what had happened to her father, she had always been sure that she and Michael would still have a tomorrow.

Another day.

In her mind, Michael really was unbreakable. And on June 25th, 2009, her world – the world the way she knew it and all the convictions she had poured into it – had been burned to the ground. Annihilated, and its ashes spread in the wind. The atomic explosion had incinerated her. Almost nothing of who she once was had remained intact.

Suddenly there were no more tomorrows to talk, explain, connect. No more tomorrows to fight, make love, speak to him over the phone, fight and hang up on him, send a letter, be mad at him and let him know all about it, ignore him being sure he was well aware of that. It was all over. Everything had come to an abrupt, unpredictable end and she was – as she had so eloquently written in her blog, the day after the world stopped – gutted. Eviscerated. Empty.

So now, after calming herself a bit and turning her punches on Michael’s back into an interminable embrace, Lisa knew what she needed to do. She knew what her – their – priority was.

She took Michael’s hand and gently pulled him to her bedroom without saying a word. She didn’t hurry, and yet there was a clear sense of urgency in the way she gripped his fingers. Michael followed her quietly, his breathing still uneven after making love to her against the door, his emotions sweeping in, wave after wave.

Outside, the sky cracked open as the storm kept battering in the dimly lit room. Yet, the buzzing sound that deafened Lisa’s ears was so much louder.

She stopped at the foot of her bed, a bed that had been empty and cold for a very long time. Something in her soul stirred and resurrected when she placed both hands on Michael’s chest. She could feel the warmth of his skin through the damp fabric of his shirt. She could feel his accelerated breathing, his heartbeat. His beautiful heart was beating.

Lisa swallowed, inhaled and let go a long, slow breath through her mouth, looking up at him. She blinked, her eyes watering. He was staring back at her, his dark, dark eyes soulful and shiny, strands of hair plastered on his sweaty forehead.

“Michael…” Lisa let out a silent sob and then shook her head slightly. His name was rolling on her tongue once again when she had believed it would stay locked in her throat forever. “…I can’t believe you’re here… Alive.”

“But I am,” he replied, his voice low and hoarse, on the verge of breaking.

“I dream of you all the time…” Tears rolled down Lisa’s cheeks. “…And I’m not even sure this is any different. It’s just… Please tell me I’m not dreaming.”

He blinked several times, then took her hand and kissed her palm, again and again. His lips were soft and warm, just like she remembered.

“You’re not dreaming, Lise…” He smiled, a sad, tiny smile, but she could tell his eyes had welled up, too. “I’m here, baby. Please don’t cry.”

Another sob shook her from the depths of her being.

Lisa let her hands slide again on Michael’s chest. Slowly, she finished unbuttoning his shirt. She undid his tie. Quietly, Michael took them off, his body still trembling.

Lisa’s eyes roamed over Michael’s torso, on his pale skin, taking in the unique map of lines and spots that she loved so much. He had always hated his body and, when they had first started being intimate, had been so shy about it – to the point of trying to hide it from her. While she had loved it just the way it was, right from the start, when she had seen it and, to not embarrass him, had pretended she hadn’t.

His body had changed now. He had gained several pounds and, when Lisa had first met him as Ethan, she had thought he was thick and possibly a bit chubby. But he wasn’t. Michael’s body had undoubtedly taken that bulkier appearance that sometimes came with the passing of time and perhaps a more sedentary life, but what was noticeable was that he had purposefully worked out a lot to change his well-recognizable appearance and silhouette. He was now massive, muscular but in a very natural way, in a more mature way. He looked amazingly healthy and strong. And oh, so sexy.

Slowly and deliberately, Lisa let her fingers glide over his pectorals, his stomach, his sides, his abdomen, savoring the texture of his skin, the heat radiating from his body. Wherever her fingers touched, her lips followed – and Michael shivered under her touch, his breath getting even more erratic. Just like she was tracing his body to make sure that he was really there, he too felt reborn just because she was finally touching him.

Her hands slid up, reaching his broad, muscular shoulders, then his neck and face, and finally the back of his head. Her fingers entangled in his short, curly hair and she pulled his head down, kissed him softly on his forehead, his closed eyelids, his ears and temples. She was getting reacquainted with his body, that she thought she would never see again, feel again, love again. At the same time, touching and exploring him as if it was the very first time was the only way she knew to elaborate the craziness of what was happening.

“Oh my God…”

Her faint whisper sounded incredulous.

Michael turned his head slightly, finally finding her mouth and kissing her. His strong hands moved onto her waist, and he pulled her into him.

They kissed, gently at first and then with a renewed passion, with an urgency that was barely restrained. His tongue stroked hers in tantalizing motions and explored her mouth, then his lips kissed her chin, the soft skin of her throat, leading a path to her earlobe. Lisa’s head fell back and all the while she reached down, for his already opened pants. She heard him take in a sharp breath and, again, redirected her lips over his, savoring his taste, closing her eyes, sucking on his tongue languidly.

Michael unzipped Lisa’s dress but, before he could take it off, she moved a step back and sat on the bed.

“Lisa…” His voice held the same urgency she had felt when they had stumbled into the house.

She smiled, very sweetly.

“No… wait…” She hooked her fingers into the pockets of his slacks and pulled him closer. He came to stand between her open legs. “Just… let me do this… I need to see you. I need to feel you.”

He sighed and looked down at her, his chin almost touching his chest, his arms hanging at his sides, giving in to her entirely.

Michael watched as Lisa pulled down his pants and underwear just enough to free his penis and had to close his eyes for a second. It was too much. His head spun. When she took him into her small, warm hand, he bit down on his lip until it hurt, fighting against the buzz rising in his ears. He felt hungover, drunk with desire for her. His woman. His Lisa. His wife. That was the only way he had always seen her, after all.

He was unbelievably aroused and rock-hard again despite having just climaxed, and that wasn’t surprising either, because Lisa had always had that effect on him. Almost no recovery time was ever needed.

He opened his eyes just as she started stroking him, with just the right amount of pressure she knew he loved. When she took him and her mouth closed in on him, he winced in pleasure and squeezed his eyes shut, trying hard to keep control over his own body. Except for their quick intercourse in the hall he hadn’t made love in years, and the risk of embarrassing himself like a teenager was a tangible possibility.

“Lise… girl… Easy… I don’t think I can…” He was barely able to speak the words and she let go of him for a second.

She looked up at him and smiled, her hand holding him firmly into her grasp, still stroking him.

“It’s OK… Do what you gotta do… We have all the time in the world…”

Her voice was soft. Then she engulfed him again, kissing and licking and sucking him again, slowly and passionately, savoring the moment and his taste.

“God… You are so gorgeous… so perfect…”

The whisper was delivered between gentle kisses. Her free hand slid up on his flat stomach.

Michael threw his head back and relaxed. His hand rested on Lisa’s head, his fingers entangled in her hair. Soon, he found himself moving slowly into her mouth, without even realizing it – his body carrying a memory, a muscular memory that his rational mind had pushed aside for far too long.

“Shit… baby… Oh, God…”

A thin layer of sweat appeared on his neck as he did all he could to last, to not being swept away by the powerful orgasm that was starting to rumble inside of him. It was almost an impossible task, because Lisa still knew his body by heart. All of it. And Michael was pretty sure that, if she intended to make him come, she would get what she wanted.

“Lisa… wait… gosh, slow down…”

With extreme difficulty, he managed to pull back and immediately sunk onto his knees, his hands now resting on her legs, pushing her dress up and uncovering her beautiful, toned thighs. Her hand was still on him, stroking him, while the other grabbed him by the nape of his neck and pulled him to her mouth. They kissed and kissed and kissed, breathing almost becoming an inconvenience, and Michael fumbled with her clothes. He needed her naked.

Off went her dress and off went her bra. He opened his eyes and stared at her, seeing her brow furrowing for a second. There was a hint of worry on her face, and he knew what it meant. Just like him, she too had her string of insecurities, and they hadn’t been intimate for years.

His eyes roamed all over her flawless naked body while, almost on autopilot, his fingers started to roll down her stockings. He usually loved making love to her while she wore lingerie, but this time he needed to feel her, all of her, skin on skin.

“God… You are so beautiful…”

He was being honest. In his dreams Lisa had always been stunning, but having her in his arms once again felt like nothing he had ever experienced before.

“I’ve never, ever in my life, seen anyone or anything more divine… You still take my breath away, Lise… Just like back then…”

Her eyes watering, she rested her hand on his face and kissed him again.

“Don’t you know by now that I want you so much it hurts? That I’ve loved you all along?”

He spoke against her lips, his hand reaching her center and slowly stroking her liquid heat. She was scorching hot, soft and tight just like he remembered, and his fingers began to explore her thoroughly.

“Michael… You… Oh, god…”

Lisa bit her lip and leaned back on her hands. Her hips moved against his hand, and his dick jerked.

“Spread your legs, baby girl…”

Michael’s voice had taken that thick, husky tone that she had never been able to forget, and she immediately complied.

He bent over her, his hands on her thighs, keeping her open to him. His face in between her legs and his mouth stroking, probing, licking her. Lisa’s body started to shake and she moaned, unable to peel her eyes off him as he loved her that way. When he finally glanced up at her, his mouth still latched onto her pulsing heat, she could tell that he felt just as intoxicated by the intense pleasure.

“Michael… please… I…” Her fingers closed in his hair and kept him in place. They pulled him in. “Oh fuck, yes… Yes… That’s it…”

“That’s it?” He smiled against her throbbing center before lapping at it again.

“Oh yeah…  Oh, shit… You’re making me come…”

She was breathless, as if she had run a marathon.

He backed off and heard her whimper. Grabbing her by the hips, he pushed her up on the bed and immediately lay on top of her and between her open legs. With an urgency that could no longer be ignored, he lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist. In perfect sync with his movements, Lisa’s hand reached down in between their bodies and grabbed him, stroking him with more force, tugging at it gently until Michael scooted up and found himself in direct contact with her center.

“Fuck… baby…”

“I need you inside of me… again… Please, Mike…”

“What?” He panted. “Say it, Lise… I wanna hear you say it.”

Lisa couldn’t detect his cocky side entirely, yet, but knew it was there somewhere. Like it had always been, humming in the background. And she knew what he needed to hear.

“Fuck me…”

“Say it again.”

“Fuck me, Michael… Do me… fuck me hard.”

And he did. He pushed into her and she screamed, feeling her body strain to take him in all his glorious size, in all his exquisite hardness, the scorching hot feeling of his body fusing with hers shattering every molecule in her body.

“Fucking hell…” She winced the moment he went all the way in and pain mixed with pleasure. “God… you feel so good… I missed you so much…”

Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and Michael let out a painful chuckle, as if caught off guard, then started to thrust into her with deep, hard, slow strokes. She reached for his pants and pushed them down a little more, grabbing his firm ass and raking her nails on his skin, more than anything else wanting to feel the way he moved inside of her, the way his muscles contracted as he pushed into her body.

“This is how… “ He swallowed and gave her a series of deep, sharp jabs. “…This is how I’ve been dreaming of taking you… since the first time I saw you again. You have no idea how hard it was for me… to pretend I didn’t… How I longed for you…”

Lisa’s eyes were a blue inferno when they opened.

“Then do it… do it now… Just like that… Give it to me hard… Do whatever you want… Oh, baby…”

Grunting, he picked up speed and took her with all the pent-up passion threatening to explode inside his chest. He lowered his head and took her nipples into his mouth, sucking them, first one and then the other, feeling her hand on the back of his head as she pushed him down, where she needed him.

How amazing she tasted. How empowered she made him feel, she had always made him feel, in bed. How accepted, how good. How right. And just like that, his place in the world was restored, more than he had ever thought possible.

Their bodies danced a dance that was ancient and unforgettable, rotating their hips, pushing up, thrusting and then relenting for a second, before picking up again, even harder and deeper, but always entirely in sync. They rolled over on the mattress and Lisa ended up on top of him, her long hair cascading around his head and shoulders, her blue eyes hazed over, caught in pleasure.

“Oh yeah… Oh shit… Just like that…” Lisa’s voice was deep and sultry, like honey. Just like he remembered it. And he was the fly.

Michael could barely fight the urge to come, feeling her body pull him in, close around him, squeezing, pulsing. The way she rode him felt like heaven and for the life of him, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so alive, so complete, so utterly and desperately happy. He supposed it coincided with the last time he had made love to that very woman that, right now, was sucking him right into the eye of the hurricane.

Lisa straightened her back, her hands pressing onto his chest, and kept moving over him, letting her lower body do the job. Gyrating her hips, taking him all in, the look on her face an exquisite mixture of pain and pleasure, the rapture evident on her flushed cheeks, on her parted lips. It felt as if all those years apart had never existed. They made love just the way they had always done.

“God… You’re so fucking huge… I’m gonna need some time to get used to you again…”

She smiled breathlessly and, for the first time, he responded with a full smile, showing his perfect white teeth. It was then that Lisa realized why, as Ethan, he would always just smirk. His smile was another dead giveaway of his true identity.

Her eyes welled up once again. She just couldn’t help it.

“There you go, Mike… Gosh, I missed that smile… I missed you so much.”

Michael sat up and wrapped his arms around Lisa’s back, looking up at her.

“I missed you more, baby… Believe me.”

He thrust up with a moan and started to take her harder and faster, loving the feeling of her fingernails digging into his shoulders, scraping his back, of her teeth biting the soft skin of his neck.

“Oh shit, baby… Fucking hell!”

She let out a moan that sounded like a plea as started to come, convulsing on him, around him, squeezing him in. Michael gritted his teeth violently, trying hard to hold back. He couldn’t.

He realized that he, too, would need some time to get used to Lisa’s body again. This was too much, and he was like a boy experiencing his first bender: one sip, and you’re done. So much for showing her how in control of himself he still could be. Well, he hoped she could give him another chance. Or a million.

“Oh, fuck… Lisa… Lisa, I’m sorry, I can’t hold it any longer… I…”

He groaned and felt her laugh breathlessly into his ear, all the while still pulsing around him. She couldn’t speak, yet her body was humming to him.

“Come with me. Come inside of me. I’m here. Just let go. It’s OK to let go sometimes.”

And he did. His orgasm boiled over and he came hard, even harder than before. He thrust violently inside of her, making her scream and screaming himself. He invaded her with everything he had to give, loving the fact they were skin on skin, no barriers in between, like he remembered. There was nothing left to separate them or keep them apart.

He watched her through semi-closed eyes as she traced a pattern on his chest with her finger, her chin resting on his stomach, her hair a mess. She looked… pensive. And breathtakingly beautiful.

Michael didn’t know what to say. He had become so accustomed to silence, to the point that now everything he felt was overwhelming. It had always been that way with Lisa, yet this was entirely new territory, a whole different animal altogether.

As if reading his thoughts, she looked up at him, and her blue eyes reflected a calmness and a sense of peace that he wouldn’t have possibly imagined. He guessed that time had taken its toll on her soul, too, and his heart bled for the pain he knew he had inflicted.

“I love you.” Her voice was soft and secure. “I am in love with you. I always have been. I always will. Took me such a long time to finally accept it… But I know that now.”

“No matter what?”

“No matter what.”

If Michael had imagined that Lisa would close off and curse and question him violently, stomp off or throw him out, he had been wrong. Of course, she had called him names and punched him a little bit earlier, but hey – her reaction had been more than understandable, given the situation. She was shocked, upset, incredulous. He had unleashed a whole bucket of shit on her in the bat of an eyelid when he was only supposed to take her our for dinner. And yet, there was now a serenity about her that he couldn’t fully comprehend. But he was ready to. At this point, he felt like he could face any challenge.

“You look… different.” She observed quietly after a long moment of silence.

Michael kept drawing lazy circles on the naked skin of her back, loving the weight of her body over his.

“That’s because I am different.”

He watched her intently as she explored his face with her fingers, inch by inch. It wasn’t the first time she did that. It looked as if that was something she did out of a mixture of disbelief, fascination, and sheer curiosity.

“How did you do it? I mean… how can you look so different? And yet… the same.”

He smiled that dazzling smile of his, and she couldn’t do anything but smile in return.

“Well… first of all, I got old.”

“You’re not old. You look fantastic… while I…” Lisa’s gaze dropped.

“Hey… No. Don’t.” Michael tipped her chin up with his fingers, forcing her to look at him. “Lise, please don’t ever say that. Don’t even think about it. It’s bullshit. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. My heart aches just by looking at you.”

Her eyes watered and she shook her head slightly, giving him a lopsided smirk.

“…You really are a gentleman. A tiny bit corny, but still a gentleman.”

“I’m just being honest.”

“…So… how did you do it?”

She was uncomfortable with the subject, and he decided not to push it. For now.

“As I said, I got old… Greying hair, wrinkles and stuff… Gained about 50-55 pounds… put on some muscles, grown this dandy beard… which took quite a while, by the way… and had surgery on my nose… to change it once and for all.”

He shrugged slightly.

“…I also stopped taking pills, got healthy again, learned to take care of myself… all by myself… to eat properly, stay hydrated… exercise without wearing myself out… But above all, I think I just got old.”

He stared into space for a moment.

As he spoke, Lisa resumed the exploration of his face. Under her fingertips, she recognized the unmistakable shape of his high cheekbones, the dimple on his chin, hidden by his beard, the line of his perfect jawbone. All was the same. Michael was right. Except for his nose, which now looked a bit bigger and of a more typical shape, he was just the same. His face was just fuller, partly painted and molded by the years that had gone by, partially hidden by his new style. And yet, he looked different.

Her fingers moved onto his head, explored his scalp, finding the scars, hidden in between an otherwise thick mane. Michael’s hair was quite short now, naturally curly, greying on the sides and right above his ears, way darker on the top and back of his head. She touched the scars gently, lovingly. There was not a single part of him that she didn’t know by heart. Not a single part of him that she didn’t love or want.

Michael looked up but didn’t stop her. He had always been comfortable with her touching him and that hadn’t changed. Draped over his body, Lisa could feel that he was calm and relaxed.

“Are you OK?”

She caressed his cheeks and kissed his naked chest, over and over again. She felt his hands run up and down her ass, her back, her shoulders.

“I am living a moment I never thought I would live again… I am more than OK.”

“Yeah… I know the feeling…”

She smiled, her lips still pressed onto the skin of his collarbone. She kissed and nipped him gently.

“So you’re not asking me to leave?”

Recognizing that familiar tentative tone in his voice, Lisa looked up.

“Leave? Why? Why should I ask you to leave, now that I’ve found you again? After all that has happened, after all this time, after all this fucking pain, why would I want you to leave, Michael?”

She looked honestly surprised by his question, and Michael felt a wave of relief wash over him.

“I am here with you, and I intend to stay exactly where I am. If you want me… And if you feel like telling me what happened to you, I am ready to listen.”

Who was this woman? The fierceness that had made him fall in love with Lisa was still there, he could see it in her eyes, yet something had changed about her. He, of all people, could understand how this could happen – but felt the need to dig in more. Not now, though. He had finally learned to recognize the value of time. The immense importance of the here and now. It was all that mattered.

“I love you, Lise… I am completely, utterly, desperately in love with you… Always been… I never stopped.”

She smiled.

“Good… Then don’t ever ask me again if I’m gonna leave or if you should leave. You already did it once, and it almost killed me.”

Michael’s eyes softened and he touched her face gently. Then he took in a deep breath and braced himself. She had said that she was ready to listen. And her blue eyes told him that he could trust her.

For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, he was ready to talk.

Chapter song