Page 56 of Indirect Attack
“It’s not too warm, is it?”
Jasmine’s eyes had been closed, but they opened, and even in the dim light of a few candles, I could see the amusement in their depths.
“I’m pretty sure with you asking me every single time I take a bath, I would remember. If I somehow managed to forget in the first place.”
I chuckled, nodding my awareness of my hovering. I’d improved, especially as we’d come around out of the first trimester and fears had eased. In a strange turn of events, I’d been the one who had been far more worried—Jasmine had taken the entire thing in stride, even when she’d been glued to the toilet at the peak of her morning sickness. It had taken conscious effort on my part to keep my anxiety hovering in check, but it snuck out every once in a while.
As I came closer, Jasmine beckoned, sitting up to make room. I replied silently to her request, stripping down and joining her in the lukewarm water, which felt good in the sticky July heat.
It was a blissful moment of peace, neither of us feeling the need to sully the air with words. It was enough just to be together.
Finally, Jasmine shifted, then stood up and pulled a towel around her to dry off. I followed but paused as she put a hand on my wrist before I could get my own towel.
My breath caught as I met her gaze—the jade green glowed in the soft candle and moonlight, longing, and desire swirling in their depths. She pulled the pin from her hair, allowing the black mass to cascade around her shoulders before her fingers closed around my arm. The only thing I could do was follow her into the bedroom.
Our kisses were soft, full of the gentle peace of the moment, slow as we took our time with each other. The fiery passion of our first days, weeks, and months was still there at times, but we had also found the bliss of slow moments, of the toe-curling deliciousness of unhurriedly exploring each other.
When we were ready, I picked Jasmine up and lay her on the bed before stretching out beside her. I took a long pause just to take her in, the way the moonlight skimmed over every curve, taking in the beauty of her body and soft rounding of her waist where it had been flat only a few months before, where our child grew.
I put my hand over the spot, love and warmth welling inside me until I felt like I was going to burst with it. Pressing my lips to her belly, I let my kisses trail lazily up her body, pausing to take her erect nipples in my mouth, swirling my tongue around the pebbled surface until her eyes closed on a soft moan. I cataloged the faint changes of pregnancy in her body, which I knew better than the back of my hand, reveling in each one, kissing each one.
My mouth returned to hers as I slipped a finger into her waiting sex, enlarged and warm with the extra blood flow of pregnancy. Jasmine cried out, arching and pushing against me. I chuckled and obliged her, driving her almost to the edge before I pulled my finger away.
When I finally entered her, blissful warmth washed over both of us. I moved slowly, and Jasmine matched my rhythm, our gazes locked.
Our lovemaking was full of laughter, gasps of delight, soft moans, and affirmations of love. We took our time as the moon climbed higher in the sky, throwing the room and each other into silvery light and shadow that shifted as we shifted, sometimes faster, sometimes slower.
We reached the tipping point, Jasmine’s plea for release in my ear, the feel of her whispered breath against my skin sendingshivers dancing under my skin. I obliged, our movements growing faster, more frenzied as our cries echoed together in the still room.
Jasmine cried out as her orgasm crested, then crashed over her, her eyes closing on the surge of ecstasy. My finish came only a minute later, the light of the moon expanding rapidly until it blocked everything else out for a moment that could have been an eternity or only a heartbeat. It carried me up until I was among the stars, then set me gently back down.
Afterward, with my wife breathing softly on my chest, my arm around her shoulders, holding her close, I lay staring up at the ceiling. In these moments, it always amazed me how far Jasmine and I had come. From kids in school playing tag on the playground, to teenagers stumbling their way between childhood and adulthood, to young adults who thought they were far older and wiser than they were. Now we were here—two people making their way together through life, hand in hand.
It was beautiful, and it was all that I had ever wanted and more. I knew fate had brought us together, again and again, until we’d finally taken the hint.
We were together, now, and forever. And I wouldn’t have had it happen any other way.
THE END
