Part 14
Sarah was more than a little nervous about going in with Howie. She wanted to be with him more than anything but she'd only been with Russell. She wasn't exactly experienced and what would Howie think. After all, he had probably been with tons of more experienced women.
Howie heard the bathroom door open. "Damnit, John! Can't I take a shower without you interrupting me?"
Sarah opened the shower door as she said, "I certainly hope John doesn't ALWAYS interrupt your showers."
Howie turned to see Sarah joining him. He was surprised that she was doing this but pleased none the less. He also saw that she was nervous. He took her hands in his pulling her to him. "No, he doesn't always interrupt and with you here now, he'll just have to learn to stay out. God, Angel, you are so beautiful."
Sarah blushed as she took in Howie's lean body and his growing erection.
Howie cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "There's no reason to be nervous," he said tenderly. He ran his hands down her body, lightly, just barely touching her. He stopped at her waist and pulled her body closer so that they were pressed together.
Sarah held her breath as their bodies touched, the water cascading over them. She looked into his eyes and relaxed immediately. She trusted this man with her heart and knew he wasn't going to hurt her.
Howie kissed her, his tongue exploring hers, tasting her, as his hands explored her body. He pulled back "God! I want you, Sarah," he rasped.
Breathlessly, Sarah said, "Make love to me."
Howie stepped back without letting go of her. "No, not now. I want our first time to be perfect. I want to take my time, find all the right spots, and fall asleep with you in my arms."
"But..."
Howie put his finger to her lips. "I want you. God, I want you. Don't ever doubt that. I want you so bad it hurts but not like this...with the guys waiting for us, knowing we're in here. You know AJ will be unmerciful."
Sarah laughed, "I promised him a dance to leave me alone."
Howie laughed, "That sound right."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine. Let me finish my shower and you can get yours."
"I'm going to take a bubble bath and watch videos."
"Okay," said Howie with a kiss and he watched her get out of the shower. He thought, 'Damn...that woman is going to be the death of me. Why can't this night be over with?'
When Howie got out of the shower, Sarah was in the tub watching some of their old videos. He wrapped a towel around his waist and stood watching the videos. He cringed looking at them.
Sarah laughed, "Love the hair, baby."
"Oh stop it!"
"Don't worry. I still love you even if you DID have some goofy hairstyles."
Howie leaned over to kiss Sarah. "Thanks, baby."
Howie started to go into the bedroom and Sarah asked, "What are you doing, 'D'?"
"I was going to get ready and let you have some privacy."
"Don't leave...please. The guys are okay."
Howie looked down at her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just want you with me. Help me wash my hair."
Howie eyed her suspiciously. "Baby, are you sure you're okay? I mean, you're never like this."
"Like what?"
"Well, don't take this the wrong way but you're kinda clingy right now."
"I'm fine. It's just that I'm finally free and I want to be with you."
Howie wasn't quite sure she was telling him everything but he didn't argue with her. He went back over with her and helped her with her hair.
Sarah's mind was flying. She had counted on Howie wanting to make love. Now she would have to figure out how to keep him occupied until everything was ready. The 'clingy' girlfriend was all she could think of and it seemed to be working.
As Sarah pulled one a short, tight black dress, Kevin knocked at the door. She called out, "We'll be out in a minute."
Howie looked at her, "Are you almost ready?"
Sarah pulled her hair up and said, "Help me with this zipper and I'll be ready."
While Sarah had her hair up, Howie slipped the necklace on that he'd bought her and zipped up the dress. "Look in the mirror."
Sarah looked in the mirror at the gold necklace. "Howie, it's beautiful but you shouldn't be giving me anything today."
"Why not?"
Sarah almost let it slip that she knew it was his birthday but she recovered, "Just because you shouldn't. I mean, the divorce was just final today."
"I've had this for a couple weeks waiting for the right time to give it to you."
Howie kissed her and they started to go out. Sarah stopped and pretended to have forgotten something so that Howie would go through the door first.
The crowd in the living room hollered 'Surprise' and Howie was stunned. He turned to find Sarah standing behind her smiling. She hugged him and said, "Happy Birthday, 'D'."
Everyone else crowded around a 'happy birthday' as someone cranked up the music. AJ grabbed Sarah's hand to get her to dance but she protested.
"You promised me a dance."
"I know but Howie SHOULD get the first dance."
"Fine...so go dance."
"Howie?"
"Let's get the party started, " he said and the two went to the make-shift dance floor. The music was Howie's favorite Latin mix and he pulled Sarah to him doing a very sexy Latin dance which only proved to heat thing sup between them. It also elicited plenty of 'cat' calls from Nick and AJ.
After the first dance, AJ got his dance with Sarah as did the others. When she finally made it back to Howie, he took her in his arms and held her tight.
"How did you know?"
"Kevin told me last week at Nick's. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to do all this."
"But I love you."
"I know but this was way too much."
"Don't worry about it. Kevin and the guys helped too. The hard part was keeping you in the bedroom while they set up out here."
Howie laughed, "So the clingy girlfriend routine was just to keep me in the bedroom?"
Sarah teased, "If we had made love, I wouldn't have had to do the 'clingy' girlfriend routine."
They spent the entire night together never leaving each others' side. Howie made quite obvious to everyone just how much he loved Sarah and they were all thrilled for him.
When it came time to open the gifts, AJ pulled Sarah to the side, "Look, you might be embarrassed by one of mine. If you want me to, I'll hold it back and you can give it to him later."
"How bad is it?"
"It's not THAT bad...it's a leopard print teddie for you."
Sarah laughed, "I'll be okay. Thanks for the warning."
The two went to join the others as Howie opened the gifts. The ones from the guys and Sarah were on the bottom and when they got to them, Howie looked at the four guys. "I'm not sure I should open ANY of these."
Brian laughed, "Hey, you can trust me!"
"True. Hand me Brian's first."
Sarah handed Howie the one from Brian which he opened. It was a picture frame with angels around it and a picture of Sarah that had been taken at Nick's house. She was wearing the white dress Howie had described from his dreams. Howie held it up for everyone to see, "Thanks, Bri."
Sarah cringed, "Yeah, thanks Bri! You HAD to put THAT picture in it."
The next gift was from Kevin, a book called 'Interpreting Your Dreams'. Howie laughed and thanked him.
Nick then handed Sarah a box and one to Howie. Sarah glared at him and asked, "You aren't going to embarrass me, are you?"
"No, that's AJ's job."
Sarah opened hers first to find a teddy bear that looked like Dracula. She looked over at Howie and he had a bear dressed as an angel. "Thanks, Nicky."
"I didn't know what else to get you."
AJ spoke up, "Before I give you my gift, I want to tell you what everyone here tonight has done. We all put in $100 and we're making a donation to the Dorough Lupus Foundation. And the four of us, Brian, Nick, Kevin, and myself, are each going to match the amount of that donation in our own donation."
"Thanks, guys," said Howie. "That means a lot to me."
"You should thank your girlfriend," said Kevin. "It was her idea."
Howie looked at Sarah, "It was your idea?"
Sarah nodded her head 'yes' and Howie gave her a kiss. "Thank you."
"Okay...now for my gift. Here you go," said AJ as he handed Howie the first box.
Howie opened it up and took out what appeared to be a whip. "What the hell is this?"
"A lion tamer's whip."
"Oh, I hate to think what's in the next box," said Pollyanna.
AJ handed Howie the next box and started to open it. He looked at Sarah but she was calm. He went ahead and opened it to reveal the teddie for Sarah.
John teased, "Oh, you'll look cute it that, Howie."
"When do we get to see you in it?" asked Nick.
"You won't see this again....even," said Howie as he closed it up. He looked at Sarah and was relieved that she was okay with AJ's gifts.
"What about Sarah's gift?" asked Angie.
Howie looked at her as Kevin handed her the last gift. She handed it to Howie and said, "I really didn't know what to get you."
Howie opened the card first and on the inside was a poem Sarah had written herself.
Special Feelings
When you hold me in your arms,
The whole world stops
And waits for you to let go,
But you don't.
You keep holding me and loving me
Until the world begins to turn again,
Revolving around our love.
Howie gave her a kiss and then opened the gift. It was a silver ID bracelet with 'Howie D.' engraved on it. He took it out, put it on, and whispered, "It's perfect."
The rest of the party was as much fun as the first part and lasted until almost two in the morning. When the last guest left, Sarah started to clean up. Howie grabbed her by the waist from behind and she could feel his erection pressing against her. He said lustfully as he kissed her neck, "The cleaning can wait but I can't."