::TWENTY ONE::

The tiny hairs at the base of her neck aren’t quite blonde, maybe a really light brown. How can they start out that light and end up such a dark brown colour? It took me about fifteen minutes to move the arm she was sleeping on, my free hand soothing across the curve of her naked hip when she stirred. It’s easier to watch her sleep like this, resting behind her on my elbow, and I like to watch her sleep.

She snuggled back into me when I moved my arm, pulling my other hand into her chest, to rest against her breasts. The cut on her arm from the flying glass is almost completely healed, it’s just a scratch now, a little lighter than the skin around it. A fading memory of the day I thought I’d lost her. Her left hand rests on mine, her skin paler, and more delicate, compared to my scarred up hands. Shifting in her sleep, her hand moving across mine, almost like she’s reassuring herself I’m still holding her.

Our wedding rings make that strange warm deep sound that only gold can make, when they click together. We always seem to be holding hands, even when we didn’t start out with that in mind. When we’re near enough to touch, we touch. It’s different to hold her like this though, our left hands touching, our rings touching. It’s happened only three times now, and every time it does, it sends a jolt through me, that strange comforting warm sound of it.

It’s something we’ve laughed about a few times already. People would look and assume we were married, because of the rings. ‘We are, just not to each other’. Closing my eyes as I rest my lips against those tiny hairs at the back of her neck, I picture her wearing my ring, instead of John’s. Curled up beside her, as my wife, not my girlfriend.

I bury my nose in her hair, breathing deep against the wave of butterflies in my gut, pulling her close to my chest. I don’t ever want to let her go. I want her here forever, I’m getting in so deep. Kissing the back of her neck again, as she makes that soft moaning sound she makes in her sleep, I realize it’s just a matter of when to ask her. ‘Watch your heart but don’t watch it too close’, is what Alvarez said. Jeanette has my heart already.

I kiss her ear, sucking her earlobe before nipping it, grinning as she wakes up. Not all at once, just that soft moaning sound, her lips parted slightly as she rolls onto her back. Her hands are already reaching for me, and she’s not even awake yet. She’s smiling softly, her eyes still closed, her hair a beautiful dark tangle against the pillow.

She likes to sleep so it doesn’t take long for her to drift off again. Shifting my weight to crouch over her, making sure I move slowly, and keep her covered with the comforter, so she won’t get cold and wake up suddenly. When she’s still again, I lean down to kiss her neck. A soft trail down the sweep of her throat, pulling the comforter over my head as I move down to kiss her breasts, keeping my weight off her. That soft nearly purring sound she makes can almost be felt through her skin.

Kissing her belly she lets out a girlish giggle, still sleeping, if a little lighter, her hand reaching down to stroke over my stubble before resting on her belly. She stirs a little more when I ease between her thighs, kissing the inside of one, then the other. Letting out a quiet whimper, her hand slides across her belly and through her dark curls. Her fingertips circling slowly and gently against her clitoris, before coming to rest, against the small bud. I let out the breath I had been holding watching her play with herself. I wonder if she’d let me watch when she was awake?

My tongue traces over her fingertips first, sucking them slowly, before I ease her hand out of the way, kissing her button first. A deeper whimper as she wakes, my tongue circling and pulling up at her clitoris. She whispers my name and I slip my tongue deep within her wetness, her hips rising to me as she wakes fully. Her fingertips trace over my ear when my tongue circles over her clitoris again, growing hard under the pressure.

The comforter ruffles as she pulls it over her head as well. I try not to laugh thinking about us both hiding under here. Looking up between her thighs, I watch her grin back at me, her smile still a little sleepy. Crouched over her, I kiss her belly, paying attention to the silky softer skin of her stretch marks, the skin there so sensitive that her back arches. From pleasure or because it’s ticklish I couldn’t say. I scrape my beard hair gently over her nipple before taking it with my teeth, then my tongue, before kissing it softly. Kissing her neck, when she tilted her head, her throat bared, making that purring sound again. How can she sound so damned sexy?

I let out a moan first as my erection brushes against her wet curls, a mind of it’s own, and again, as I lift a little higher off her. So I won’t be tempted to just sink deep and lose myself in her. “‘Morning, beautiful.”

“It is now. What a wonderful way to wake me up, Sean.” I could listen to her say my name all day. My thumbs traced over the laugh lines at the corners of her eyes, just brushing against the tips of her long lashes. Our noses nearly touching, we’re close enough that I can see myself mirrored in the deep chocolate depths of her eyes. I wonder if she’s looking up at me, and seeing the same thing.

I hesitate a moment before kissing her, the taste of her still on my lips. Her lashes flutter against my thumbs as she pulls me to her, the kiss deep and passionate, tasting herself on me. Another groan, as if I wasn’t hard enough already. I lower a little, resting against her curls and trying to stay still, knowing that if I move, I won’t be able to fight it any longer. That I’ll have to make love to her, bare, and knowing I can’t just yet.

Her eyes narrow, as our kiss breaks. Her tongue tracing a line over her lip, we both taste like her now. “You’re driving me crazy, ‘Nette.” Her thighs squeeze mine, bringing us closer together, her clitoris pressed hard to me. She turns to see where she’s going as her hand reaches back for the nightstand drawer. It’s awkward for her and she breaks into a silly grin as her arm drops back to the bed, looking up to me to help her. That playfulness in her eyes again, like last night. Sexy and playful and innocent, all at the same time.

I pull my weight off her a little more, to deal with protection, before lowering between her thighs again. Her hands cup my face, her thumbs playing with the edges of my beard, before whispering over my stubble. “This will be the last time we have to do this, Sean.”

The next time I make love to her it will be only her I feel, her wetness and heat against me. I kiss her parted lips softly, her face cupped in my hands. My fingertips just resting against her pulse, feeling it race as I pull back to watch her, our noses barely touching.

“I love you, Jeanette.” My voice is little more than a whisper when I say it, watching her eyes, my whole world in them. Like going home I press deep into her, as her hips raise to me, taking me deeper. Her eyelashes flutter against her cheeks, her lips part, the pink of her tongue glistens, in a soft gasp. I close my eyes for just a moment, and rest deep within her, to still myself.

“I want to watch you, open your eyes beautiful.” Her dark lashes trace arcs over my thumbs, as I stroke the corners of her eyes. Withdrawal is pain, her lips parted again, but in a whimper. Not physical, but loss of another kind. “I love you.” Whispered again, as we slide gracefully back together, like something meant to be. Her hips raise to mine at every slow stroke, our bodies moving in a slow rhythm our hearts set.

“I love you, Sean.” The sound of my name in her beautiful voice has me want to drive into her harder, and faster, but I don’t. I can’t. I want this to last forever. To watch that spark of heat in her eyes, a spark that has nothing to do with sunlight, a spark just for me. To sink deep within her, and know that I love her, completely.

I make love to her slowly, our bodies glide together and apart but our eyes never leave each other. The truth of what we’ve said plain to see in their depths. I love her, and even if she never said it again, I’d know she loves me the same, just by watching her.

I watch the swirl of fire in her eyes, of desire, as our bodies slick with a sheen of sweat. Her legs wrap tighter around my waist as she fights to keep from bucking. I love to hear her scream beneath me, driven half mad with the passion that drives her. But I love this too, her moans growing louder and a little higher with each slow stroke, her orgasm beginning to crest.

She moans my name, her hips bucking up hard against me, as she comes. I know I’ve given her more, that last night she came so hard she nearly blacked out, but this deeper somehow. This quiet orgasm, one I got to watch wash over her, to watch her eyes turned softer as she held mine. To watch her and know, to really know, that she loves me the way I love her.

Everything tightens, as though everything, me, Jeanette, the whole world between us, is a fire in the pit of my belly. My thumbs trace over the trickle of tears at the corners of her eyes, knowing I’m about to come and wanting her to watch me too. To feel what I feel. Her muscles tighten around me in a deep squeeze, as our hips buck one last time as I come.

Her tongue slides over mine as we kiss and even in this, we’re slow and gentle, to make it last as long as we can. Only stopping when I have to withdraw, regretfully. The next time I won’t have to.

“Do you want me to take you to the doctor’s, ‘Nette?” I shifted my weight to lie beside her again, missing the heat of her the moment I moved. My fingers moved through her hair, touching the outer shell of her ear, needing to keep touching her.

“It’s only going to be a quick appointment, over my break…” The skin above her eyebrows bunched up, as I watched her answer. She doesn’t want to inconvenience me. Jeanette’s the farthest thing from an inconvenience.

I grin at her, smoothing over her hair, as I lean in to kiss the spot between her eyebrows. It seems we’re always doing that to each other. Something else we have in common. “What time’s your appointment at?”

“Two o’clock. Are you sure? I don’t want to be a pain…” She flips over onto her belly and elbows, resting her chin heavily into her hands. I get lost again for a seconds as I follow the line of her back down to the curve at the bottom, the lines swelling again over her rear. I close my eyes, thinking of swelling. But we don’t really have time, not right now.

“You could never be a pain. I’ll pick you up at…is one forty five okay?” I could take a late lunch, and make sure she gets to the doctor and back. I like the thought of seeing her again anyway. Maybe if we’ve got time I could grab a bite to eat with her.

She smiles at me as her head drops and rests against my shoulder. “Thank you, Sean. You’re spoiling me, I hope you know that.”

“Good.” She’s mine to spoil. Damn, it’s almost seven. Alvarez will be here any minute I’m guessing. I sigh, resting back on the pillow for a moment. I don’t want to get up, and I don’t want to leave this bed. I don’t want to leave her.

She nuzzles against my arm before muttering into my shoulder. “We have to get out of bed, don’t we.” She isn’t moving, I guess she doesn’t want to get out of bed either.

“Yea, Alvarez should be showing up any minute.” We both sit up, swinging our legs over the edge of the bed but keeping the comforter over us, as though fighting to the last to stay in bed. My foot nudges against the box from the lingerie store that I had left beside the bed last night. “I picked up something else for you, ‘Nette. Will you wear it for me today?”

She breaks into a huge grin and leans over to kiss my ear. “I love you, Sean, you’re wonderful. If I wear it, don’t we run a risk of not being able to get out of this room?”

“Like that’s a bad thing…” We both said it at the same time, laughing. If last night was anything to judge by, I’d say no, that we wouldn’t be getting out of bed for at least another hour. We watch each other for a moment, thinking the same things. Our hands finding each other and touching again, before we let out small sighs, knowing that we can’t stay in bed, as much as we want to. That changes on Tuesday. For a week, neither of us have to worry about getting out of bed if we don’t want to.

Her head tilts to the side in a silent question, watching me as I break into a huge grin. “Next week we don’t have to get out of bed if we don’t want to.” My voice is a little hoarser as I say it, my hand playing with her hair. It’s not just making love to her, it’s more, so much more.

We kiss softly one last time, knowing that this is it, we have to get out of bed. My fingertips trace over the red silk before I take it out of the box. I leave my hand on her hip as she takes it from my hands, blinking back tears. I had never thought I could find a woman’s blush to be sexy before, maybe it’s just Jeanette.

“You’re so beautiful Jeanette.” I didn’t think anything could look any sexier than the teddy she had on last night, but the dark red is beautiful on her. My hand runs over the silk cups of her bra, her nipples already hard, down her side to rest against her thigh, my fingertips tracing just under the edge of her panties. “If I don’t go have a cold shower now, I’m going to be hard all day just thinking about you.”

Her playful grin is back, making me groan out loud. Why can’t it be Tuesday already. “Let me in quickly, and then it’s all yours.” I watch the subtle sway of her hips as she walks to the bathroom, the small flutter of silk at the bottom edge of her panties revealing and then hiding again the bottom curve of her rear. Falling backwards on the bed I run my hands over my face, trying to breathe. I’ll definitely need a cold shower to get through this day.

Painfully hard again, I wince as I get up, pulling on a pair of boxers and making a pot of coffee, before getting into the shower. She’s dressed in a plain black skirt and top, and holding out a cup of coffee for me, when I get out. My hand runs over her side, caressing over the outlines of her underthings. There’s nothing plain about what she’s got on underneath. That it’s something only I get to see just makes it that much sexier.

“We’re back here.” I shout around the corner as Alvarez knocked on the door before letting himself in with his key. I watch Jeanette as Alvarez gives her a quick hug, as we head out to his car. Maybe I should give her a key too, or would that be too far? It’s kind of funny, when you consider I just put a sizeable amount of money away to buy her an engagement ring, but I’m worried how she’ll take it if I offer her a key. I grin into her neck, kissing her, before closing the car door for her.

“Adriana and the boys wanted to do something for you Tuesday morning, before we drop you off at the airport. You eat waffles Jeanette?” Alvarez will find any excuse to make waffles. Just the sound of the word makes me hungry, reminding me that we didn’t have time for breakfast.

Her stomach makes a rumbling sound, her head resting back into the seat, her eyes closed. “Oh, that sounds so good.” I reach back beside the seat to touch her leg, hating that she has to be hungry.

“Can you eat at work, ‘Nette?” I nod to Dan outside, unfolding chairs and putting them beside the tables as I walk Jeanette up to the front door. She nods, tilting her head up to catch my lips, the kiss deepening instantly. “I’ll be back for you a little later.”

Alvarez is grinning at me when I get back to the car, shaking his head at me. “I like this side of you, Vetter.” I watch Jeanette as she walks up the two steps to the front door of the bookstore, and see deep red silk where everyone else sees her black skirt. Resting my head back on the seat as we turn the corner, I grin over at Alvarez.

“You look like you haven’t slept, Alvarez, you okay?”

He looks over at me when we get to the stop light, letting out an exasperated sigh. I wish I had a camera right now, the look on his face is priceless. Amused? Pissed off? Stern? He shakes his head again at me before laughing, and driving through the intersection. “Sandro and Miguel, all damned night with those kazoos, Vetter.”

We’re both laughing so hard we can barely get out of the car by the time he pulls into the parking lot.

copyright © 2006 xxx evilgrin xxx

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