Page 300 of Falling Backwards
“Magnolia….”
Other words elude me; there are too many I could say.
I take her mouth with mine, and she takes my body with an embrace.She doesn’t say anything else right now either, except for all the things that are in her breathless noises of satisfaction.
Our heartbeats are fast, but we give to each other without hurry.
She holds on to me with a pressing grip that isn’t as fierce as before and is sweetly possessive instead.She blesses my cheek, jaw, neck with kisses that are as reverent as the way we move and the way she looks at me any time our gazes catch.
I touch her everywhere I can reach, lightly and with worshipping intent, using my palms and just fingertips, knuckles.I kiss her eyebrow, the place below her ear, her collarbone and the L on her necklace that has been jostled off-center.
Can’t stay so languid for too long, though.Neither of us.
By the time I’m approaching my end, we’re both damn near gasping, and a faint sheen of sweat is on her wrist beneath my lips, and my muscles are pleading for the snap of all this delicious, built-up tension.
The unexpected second snap of hers pushes me right over the edge.
I blow out, “That’s my girl, come with me,” and she goes from moaning sharply to consuming me with a kiss, clutching me as tightly as I clutch her while white-hot pleasure overtakes me.
After, as we lie side-by-side and try to catch our breath, she says in a soft, tired huff, “Holy fuck.”
Between being surprised to hear her rare use of that word and being in complete agreement, I dissolve into wheezy yet hearty laughter.
So does she.
“Yeah,” I agree out loud.“Thank you.”
“Thankyou,” lands laugh-laced against my balmy shoulder before her lips do.“Although now I don’t feel like doing the workout we planned.”
I turn my head and meet her eyes beneath her mussed bangs.
I will never get tired of the good things I do to those eyes.
“Think it’s time we tried yoga,” I say.
“Really?You would do yoga with me?”
“Sure.That video Joy showed us the other day looked peaceful as hell.”
She smiles and nods, remembering.One of her friend’s resolutions for this year is to get into yoga, and the video made me feel like that kind of exercise wouldn’t be as hard to start as the bendy and balance-y stuff I previously saw led me to believe.
“Yeah, okay,” she says.“Sounds good.”Then, more cheerfully, “Let’s get stuff for eggs Benedict after that.”
That perks me up too.I roll onto my side and let my fingertips start following the lovely curves of her body.“Aw,yeah.Perfect idea.Then let’s go to my place and start taking down the Christmas stuff.”
She shifts and bends one arm up so she can play with my hair.“Okay.And maybe we should….”
We lie here with these little touches and make plans for the rest of our day, then for tomorrow and later in the week, our mood as golden as the sunshine filtering through her light curtains.
And when we’re drawn into new laughter, bright-eyed looks, and jokes over the memory of our first time cooking together, deep within me settles the truth that as good, gorgeous, and gratifying as sharing our bodies feels, sharing our hearts feels infinitely better.
—
“Oh, wow,” I say.I humbly dip my head.“Sincerest thanks, gentlemen.”
One of the businessmen points at the hefty cash tip, which they just handed to me instead of putting in the leather guest check holder.“You deserve it, young man.Great service, especially for being on your own.”
“I try.Y’all have a great rest of your day!”
