She Breathed

His hands felt cold against her bed-warmed back as he moved them up under the softness of her nightgown. The loneliness of the day melted for her as his lips brushed her forehead and seemed to brush away all the nagging doubts of insomniac demons. She had waited in this bed, his bed, many nights and always just as she was sure that this would be the night that he would not come home, she would hear him. The down pillows that encircled her head were no guarantee of dream filled nights without his warm body beside her and the clock hands moved agonizingly slowly ( so slowly in fact that she would be tempted to buy fresh batteries the next day).

And as she lay there surrounded by the night sounds of tree frogs and distant waves, how many times did she swear she could hear the tires as they turned up the long driveway? But each time she would roll over to the window and there peacefully snuggled outside would be the dogs. Two handsome and devoted Goldens that made up for in loyalty what they lacked in intelligence. She knew that were he truly home they would be the first to race the path, falling over each other in fits of snorts and mock fierceness. Each wished to be the first to greet him in delight and bodies quivering "sit" when they were told and wait to be petted.

She had all she could do sometimes to stay in bed and not try to beat them up the path. When he finally did come, she thought it was a dream as she had also dreamed many times the sound of wheels on the winding drive. Her own body ached as consciousness became clear and she did indeed hear the mad dash scuffling up the path to meet him. She turned and stretched luxuriantly, blissful in the moment. Surely she had known all along that he'd be home soon, hadn't she?

Her hands moved lightly along the flatness of her warm belly and passed up over her nipples as she thought of where he'd been. The bars, the parties with the painted girls- dresses tight- eyes and mouths spilling promises and lies. She ached to feel him inside her, his liquor tainted breath on her neck, and felt unable to endure the time it took for him to walk the woods path to the house. Her hands slid down from her belly and across the soft rise of neatly trimmed hair. Each movement of her fingers sending pulses of pleasure through her body.

It seemed an eternity before the dogs gave him up, each one stopping along the path for just one last pet, each as greedy as she for his affections. As the dogs settled in together up against the house, he crossed the room. He could see on her face a small smile that told him that she had been waiting for him. Kneeling up to meet him with her arms encircling his neck- she drew him in with each breath. He kissed her forehead and her eyes and she breathed. He kissed her neck and ran his cold hands up against the small of her back his fingers tracing the hollow groove and tight muscles as she arched to his embrace. She breathed. Slowly he undressed - his lips never leaving her. His hands explored her body as she breathed him in all the places he'd been, all the things he had done. She breathed in the girls especially- their long hair and soft breasts as they leaned across him to reach the bar or brushed up against him just a little too close and asked for

– a cigarette.

She breathed in the drinks and the smoke- the darkness and the noise. She breathed him in and ached for him to touch her. His fingers slid easily inside her. She lay back on the bed and pulled him up close. She breathed him in and as he pushed up hard inside her she smiled and knew he was home.