Page 81 of His Virgin Vessel

Asa took a brief moment to consider the cyclical nature of life before saying, "If only we'd known that there was a bed right above us."

"Tell me about it."

Clothes vanished in short order, and we dived beneath the covers. I delighted in having Asa's naked body close to me again. There had been times when I had thought that this might never happen. But here we were, together again and in our home. The first time we had made love in our own home. The first of many. And, as that thought struck me, it was followed quickly by another one: this was a first time. The nature of our relationship had meant so many last times. Every time had been a last time. This was the first, first time, since that first time that had taken place ten feet below us.

It felt like a first time. Neither of us had the self-control to wait for anything as time-consuming as foreplay. We were both achingly ready. As soon as Asa thrust into me, I felt a first orgasm burst through me. I had been waiting so long for this moment, for this perfection, and that was the only possible reaction.

It goes without saying that the sex was great. Asa and I always worked together in every way. It goes without saying that it was more than great sex, that there was the same meeting of souls that made our love-making something beyond the physical pleasure. But, as always with Asa and I, there was also so much more, so much we could say with our bodies that went unspoken. There was an optimism, a hope for the future, and, above all, there was passion. We made love like we never wanted to stop, each desperate to express how much they had missed the other and how they would never let the other go again. At one point, as the headboard knocked a hole in the wall, someone in the room below started banging on the ceiling. Fiona might be glad that we were back together, but she had a business to run.

Afterward, when we lay in each other's arms, slicked in sweat and deliciously exhausted, Asa took in the room.

"You know, you did a real nice job with this place."

"Risa and Joseph helped."

"Joseph Hartman?"

"Yeah."

Asa shook his head. "A biker with a flair for interior decoration. Who'd have thought? I guess everyone has their hidden side."

"The parts that they play."

Asa nodded. "I'm glad you gave him the opportunity to be himself." He fell silent for a bit.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, just thinking." He wriggled round on the bed to look at me. "Actually, I've been doing a lot of thinking recently. Not much else to do, you know? And I realized that I wasted ten years of my life, maybe more."

"Not wasted..."

"Let me finish. I wasted that part of my life on being someone I didn't really want to be. Then, in a matter of a few days, you turned me all around and made me realize the man I should have been all along. And, even though I ended up in jail, I was still happier for it. Happier than I've ever been in fact. I guess my point is, if that's what you can do for me in a few days, how much happier could you make me in a week? A month? Or the rest of my life?" He reached off the bed for his pants and fumbled in the pocket. "The thing is, I could wait an acceptable length of time, but why bother when I already know what I want? Why wait for the rest of my life to start, when it could start right now?"

Before my gaping eyes, he brought out a wooden ring from his pocket.

"It's not much. Obviously, there are not jewelers in prison, but I made this in the woodshop. So, Corinne Dugas, I know you prefer to say the opposite of whatever gets suggested to you, but, in this case, I hope you won't. Will you marry me?"

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