Dance in the dark

The sense he'd had a moment ago of the fragility of his evening evaporated with her touch. He didn't realize he'd closed his eyes, until he snapped them open again, and found himself leaning towards her, reaching out to trace the line of her jaw and tilt her chin towards him. The anticipation was intoxicating.

"We are here, and I have promises to keep."

He bent to steal another kiss.

This time there was no hesitation as she leaned into him, her lips parting ever so slightly as they kissed. Her fingers ran through his hair and she pulled him closer, into her, as the engine idled in the parking space.

Her heart pounded in a rhythm with the purring of the car's cylinders and her breathe was coming in gasps. She didn't want the moment to end, even though she knew that the evening held much more in store. Still, she wouldn't be the one to break the passionate embrace any time soon.

Every moment he spent with this woman just convinced him that the next would only bring something better - he could feel a need in her, waiting to be fulfilled. It was with great reluctance that he eventually pulled back, breathless, and only because he knew that every minute they stayed in the car increased the chances of some asshole with a camera wandering by. Having her face plastered in some tabloid seemed an extremely uncharitable way to repay her for her company.

"We should go inside. How many people do you want to scandalize?"

Ronnie laughed and pulled back herself.

"Oh dear god, my mother would kill me. She reads the Starr every week."

She opened the door and breathed deep as she got out into the warm Texas evening.

"Please tell me you're in a smoking room. I have a feeling I'll be needing a lot of cigarettes tonight."

He grinned wickedly and he stepped out to join her, settling his arm around her shoulders and casually resettling his kilt. "You're kidding me, right? I would go crazy otherwise. Crazier."

The lobby looked dark, other than the lights at the check-in desk. It suited him just fine - as he recalled from the night before, it was a pleasantly timed elevator ride up to the top floor.

As they entered the Lobby, the man at the check-in desk looked up from playing a video game at the computer and smiled at them. Ronnie returned the smile and held Indigo's hand tightly as they walked to the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors had snapped shut Ronnie turned and wrapped her arms around Indigo, pulling him towards her as she kissed him with a passion and strength that was surprising.

With her body pressed so tightly against him, he was pleased to let her passion direct things, for the moment. Once they got to the naked part, he figured she might need a bit more direction. He let one hand slide down the curves of her body, the other tangling in hair as the force her her embrace soon had him pressed up against the wall, but it was instinct that guided him.

Some remotely rational part of his brain, at least, thought to hit the floor button, and they began to ascend.

Lost in the moment, Ronnie barely noticed as the elevator slowly began rising. She didn't really know what she was doing, as unaccustomed as she was to this sort of thing, but she let instinct guide her hands for the moment as she pressed herself against him.

Silently, the floors ticked off on the elevator panel as the two lovers lost themselves in each other. Ronnie briefly wondered whether there were security cameras in the elevator, but it was a fleeting thought, no sooner formed than forced out of her mind by the feel of Indigo's hands on her back, his lips on her neck.

Another time, another woman, indigo may have just given into himself and had her right there in the elevator. It wouldn't have been the first time.

But as worked up as he was, he had a pressing sense that she deserved better - that if who he wanted to be was someone to give others a chance to leave their problems, their binding selves behind, to let go and be free even for a little while, that Esperanza was someone who needed that more than the rest, and that this chance to give it to her shouldn't be wasted so basely.

It was still physically difficult to pull back when the doors slid open, to just rest his hands on her shoulders and catch his breath.

"Our floor," he panted, cradling her head against him for just another moment.

Ronnie laughed as she tried to catch her breathe, her face laying lightly against Indigo's hand.

"Wow..." she said after a moment, "I umm... that was... incredible."

After another long moment she followed Indigo out into the dimly lit hallway.

He had to grin at that as they finally stepped out into the hallway, catching the door with his arm just as it threatened to close on them.

"Just you wait, babe. I will show you incredible."

The top floor of the Hilton held what they called their 'Executive' Suites - as far as he could tell, most others were empty, which suited him fine. He fumbled one handed in the side pocket of his kilt for the key card in his wallet, not wanting to let go of her completely.

He kissed her again, lightly, as he unlocked the door, pushing it open behind them.

"I'll hold you to that." Esperanza said with a laugh.

She returned the kiss eagerly as the two walked through the door into the finely furnished room. Her eyes scanned the furniture and layout, knowing that however luxurious the room might look to her, it was probably a cut-rate pit-stop for Indigo.

She took off her hat and coat and put them neatly on a coat-rack by the door. For just a moment the handle of her wood-handled revolver flashed into view. She bit her lip and looked up at Indigo, unsure if he had seen it or not.

He raised his eyebrows as the handle of her gun flashed in to view - he'd noticed something in the elevator, but it hadn't really registered at the time.

"Welcome to Texas?" He grinned wry, leaning against the door to close it, and sliding the privacy bar closed.

Ronnie laughed nervously and sighed.

"It, uh... it was a gift. Most of the time I hate the stupid thing. Except when it saves my ass. I'm not much of a fighter, but there are some people... things... out there that can't be won over with a smile and a dance."

"Yeah, tell me about it. At least its practical?"

"Practical maybe, but it still makes me nervous, even after learning how to use it."

Ronnie smiled.

"Don't worry, It stays in the coat tonight. My mother always taught me it's rude to shoot a man on the first date."

She took a step towards Indigo and grinned mischievously.

he smirked, pulling her close again. "You know, its funny, because that's not what I heard at all. Well - man, woman.... whichever."

Ronnie laughed as she allowed herself to be pulled into him again, one half-step at a time. She put one hand on Indigo's chest, looking up into his face.

"Oh really now? So you're a shoot first and ask questions later kinda guy?"

He lifted a stray lock of hair out of her face, fixing her face in his mind. "I think the important one's already been answered, or we wouldn't be here, would we?"

"No, I suppose not." she said. She leaned forward and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, enjoying the intoxicating scent of him.

"Thank you." she whispered.

She was thanking him? No, that wasn't right..... but he would just have to show his gratitude some other way.

He smiled, kissing her temple and letting his hands slide down lower along her body...

Ronnie felt Indigo's hands moving gently against her and she slowly reached behind her, smoothly sliding down the zipper of her dress, exposing the smooth, almond skin of her back. As he slid the fabric down her shoulders she took his face gently in her hands and kissed him.

(...fade to black, etc @_@)

~Fin.~