The Irish Rose

She looked beautiful. I had always known I was with the most gorgeous lady in the entire world, but tonight she was especially radiant. Lisa had been waiting for my arrival at the Hotel Regal, the five-star hotel where she was staying. Her musical career allowed her to live in such accommodations. I pulled up to the valet parking lot, slipped a tip to the valet, and walked through the revolving doors. The lobby itself was impressive. ; Marble walls, pillars, a red carpet leading to the staircase directly across from the entrance, a crystal chandelier above.

I sent Lisa a text. "In the lobby."

A moment later, I got a reply. "Coming right down."

A minute later I beheld her. She wore an orange, haltered dress, which fit her figure perfectly. I laughed, inwardly. She knew I loved orange. Her light-brunette hair was professionally curled and done up with a hair band. What struck me the most was the sparkling radiance coming from her face; she was truly the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She seemed to float down the staircase, with her lovely, outstretched arm sliding down the bronze arm rail. I met her smile with a smile of my own and walked over to meet her.

"Did you like the show?" She asked in that Irish lilt that is music to my ears.

"Like it? I loved it! You have the voice of an angel," I said.

I grasped her hand and kissed it. She smiled and reached over to kiss my cheek. I was sure I was blushing.

This was how we spent a lot of our times together. After she finished singing, I'd come meet her here from the show. Our encounters didn't normally last as long as a few hours, but this night was different, and I knew it from the moment I got a text to her this morning:

"Come dressed up, k? I've got a surprise for you! <3"

I thought about it during the entire show, as she and I held eye-contact from her onstage to me in the front row. What was she planning?

I looked to the left of the lobby into the West Wing. There was a sign next to the doorway: "Grand Ball"

I could hear the music in there, as well as the clinking of champagne glasses. I looked at Lisa, inquisitively. She nodded. I held out my elbow and escorted her through the doorway.

I sat her down at a table, took my seat, and was greeted by a waiter holding a corked bottle.

"May I interest the gentleman and madam in a glass of champagne?"

Lisa, you sly boots! I smiled in her direction as the waiter poured into the crystal glasses.

I raised my glass. "To the most beautiful, most talented girl I've ever met, and to my pleasant surprise," indicating the ball.

She raised her glass. "Oh, the ball is not the entire surprise." We sipped our drinks.

The live swing band began "Beyond the Sea."

The band, too, Lisa? I looked at her. Her beautiful face met me with a look of expectation. I smiled, stood up, and offered my hand. She took it, grinning, as I led her to the dance floor.

"You know I love this song," I said.

She giggled. "I know."

"I suppose the band knows about my surprise?"

She smiled and didn't answer.

I twirled her and sang the song to her as we danced.

Somewhere beyond the sea

Somewhere waiting for me

My lover stands on golden sands

And watches the ships that go sailing

The swing was exhilarating. And she danced beautifully in my arms, twirling around, switching hands, her beautiful grin never leaving her face.

Somewhere beyond the sea

She's there watching for me

If I could fly like birds on high

Then straight to her arms

I'd go sailing'

It's far beyond the stars

It's near beyond the moon

I know beyond a doubt

My heart will lead me there soon

We'll meet beyond the shore

We'll kiss-

But before I could sing "just like before," her lips met mine. We shared one, long, deep kiss. I stood there stunned and smiling. Then she slid her hands into mine, and we continued swinging. But this time, we danced a little more intimately. I continued singing.

I know beyond a doubt

My heart will lead me there soon

We'll meet (I know we'll meet) beyond the shore

We'll kiss just as before

Happy we'll be beyond the sea

And never again I'll go sailing'

At this final line, I had Lisa's left hand taken in my right hand. She spun into my arms, and we paused there, her back to my front, in a reverse embrace. I looked her in the eyes, those beautiful green eyes -- the beautiful, green, Irish ocean in her eyes. I could swim in that ocean for days -- forever. She smiled, and gestured toward the stairs with her eyes. We moved, still trapped in our embrace, moving gently, hips swaying, me still singing, "No more...no more...no more sailing."

We moved up the stairs and down the hallway to room 19 -- the Presidential Suite. Temporarily dropping my hand, Lisa opened the door. We walked in and stood in the entrance.

I leaned into her ear and softly sang, "No more sailing." She pressed her cheek to mine.

We finally broke the embrace. Lisa moved across the room, swaying her hips like she was dancing with herself, humming as she walked across the floor.

Across from the doorway, the room had two halves. On the left side of the doorway was a large bedroom and living area. The right side was a spacious bathing area with a large built-into-the-floor Jacuzzi as its centerpiece.

Lisa turned to me and smiled. The window beside her showed a snowy skyline. The contrast of the warm hotel room and the cold scenery outside was remarkable.

Lisa sang from her singing group's cover of "Let It Snow:"

The lights are turned way down low...

She raised her arms and clapped twice. The lights dimmed down to a romantic mood. I walked across the floor to meet her.

I sang, "Let it snow...let it snow..."

Suddenly, she grabbed my tie and pulled me close. She sang back, "Let it snow."

She pulled me in closer and kissed me. My hand brushed her hip and ran up to her face. I took her beautiful face in my hands, and said softly, "Lisa, the beautiful Irish rose in a world choked with thorns..."

She reached to the back of her head and let her hair down, and then she grasped my hands with hers. "Taylor...this rose is for you...only you."

Her hands touched my chest and began untying my tie. Then she grasped my neck gently.

I sang again, this time from "Let It Snow:"

When we finally kiss goodnight

I know you'll hate walking out in the storm

But Baby, I'll hold you tight

Lisa sang back, "And all the way home I'll be warm."

She unbuttoned my shirt and revealed my chest. She then twirled behind me and embraced me from behind, her arms resting on my chest, which had my pounding heart beneath. Then her arms slid down...down...down, and she began unbuckling my belt.

After finishing the job undressing me, she took my hand and led me to the bubbling Jacuzzi. As Lisa held my arm and lowered me in, I was met with comfortable, relaxing warm water. I realized that the side she was lowering me into was grooved in such a way that was meant for lying down. The edge of the Jacuzzi was shaped to allow a head to lay back and rest. I assumed the rest position. Lisa walked behind me, so that I saw her upside down. She leaned down and kissed me like that -- upside down. As my body settled into relaxation, Lisa placed a cloth soaked in warm water and vanilla-scented oils.

"Take deep breaths," called Lisa's soothing, motherly voice, "and relax. Don't worry. I'm right here."

In darkness, I felt her lips meet mine.

My body slipped into nirvana. Every inch of my body lost all tension. I began to embrace the darkness presented by the cloth. I rested without a care or a worry.

I returned from nirvana when I heard Lisa's body slide into the water. Through the darkness, I felt her presence approach me. My body was greeted with her lips. They brushed my stomach, my sternum, my neck, and then my lips.

She removed the cloth from my eyes. She put her hand on the crook of my neck as we sat, naked in the Jacuzzi. I sat up from the Jacuzzi bed and went to her. We embraced each other, our arms around each other's necks, her legs wrapped around my waist. Together, we shared the most passionate of kisses. My body tingled all over, my mind filled with passion. For several minutes, we explored each other's bodies with our lips and tongues. Occasionally, our entire bodies dipped below the water. This didn't worry us, nor hinder us from each other.

Finally, we stopped kissing each other, and Lisa got up and sat at the edge of the Jacuzzi. I stood before her, taking her hand into mine. She caressed the back of my hand, looking at it as she did.

"Lisa," I said. She turned her head to me. I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I love you."

Her eyes softened, she smiled, reached down and kissed me. Then, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. She walked across the room towards the bed. As she reached it, she turned around and looked at me.

I followed suit, wrapping a towel around my waist and walking over to her. I stood before my love -- my rose. She held out her hand. "Come here," she said, softly.

I moved closer and took her hand. With her free hand, she gave her towel the slightest of pulls, the towel went tumbling down, tracing the form of her naked body as it fell. She then reached over to my waist and did the same with mine, except this time, she pulled it away and tossed it to the side. I watched the towel as the wind swept through the cloth in a failed attempt to make it fly, and ever-jealous gravity brought it down to the ground.

I turned back and looked at Lisa. She looked me straight in the eyes. Then she took my hand and guided it over to her face. She kept it there for some moments, and then slowly brought it down...down...down to her breast. As my hand touched the warm, soft breast, she exhaled in a low, quiet moan. She then took my other hand and guided it over to her behind.

I pulled her closer and kissed her deeply, my heart pounding the whole time. Then Lisa got onto the bed, lying down with her head on a pillow. This was it. This was the moment. As I ran my hand through her hair, and it fell through my fingers, so too fell away the concept of time - time that will only lead to more pain, more regrets, more expectations.

As I lost myself inside her, I was thrusting, pushing, and shoving away the cruel world of monetary Darwinism, where those with money, a job, and an education survive. There was nothing that could hold me back from pursuing my passions - my love. I could freely, unashamedly, take something that was mine alone. I was free to completely explore her body with mine.

No part of her body was left unexplored or untouched. I've never had a home to call my own. Now I was a conqueror, I could take the land of her body; the humble savannah of her hair, the Irish green ocean in her eyes, the gently rolling hills of her breasts, the smooth plains of her stomach, all the way to the hidden valley, where only I bore witness to its wonders.

Before my pounding heart could respond, she had turned the tables on me. Her eyes fixated on mine, and I fell into a trance under her gaze. She pushed me up to a sitting position, and then gently laid me down. Now she was the conqueror. Her body slid between my legs - my only defenses rendered useless by her power. My freedom was not dashed, however. As every inch of my body, now being explored by her, screamed "Conquer me," her whole being celebrated my freedom. The entirety of the land of her golden body shook before me.

The mountains quaked.

The savannahs shuddered.

The plains shifted.

And her hidden valley, with all its powers and wonders, opened its doors and let the aching explorer in.

I lay there, slipping into nirvana, more powerful than the cloth soaked in warm water and vanilla as the bondage wrought by the chains of every thing and everyone that hurt me or held me down shattered under the massive earthquake my body endured under the conquering Lisa.

Lisa brought herself down to me. The loving conqueror met the eyes of the conquered. Her body embraced my form. My worries erased, my toils defeated, there was nothing in me that screamed in hurt or pain. The only thing in me, registering beneath the shaking of my body and beating heart, was the realization that this was meant to be.

Suddenly, a new feeling came over me. I gasped at the sudden feeling of a burning fire that began somewhere in that hidden valley. My eyes widened, my mouth quivered... I shut my eyes, in futile hope for a temporary break to realize what it was. The fire burned in the darkness of my closed lids, too. I opened my eyes and looked into hers. I was shocked to see that she could feel it, too. Her breath quivered, and she let out a moan, seemingly as a call for me to take action.

She raised herself, and I reached up to embrace her...as I lowered her down, so the land of her body settled again...I took the call unspoken. She had given me the reigns of the earthquake. I was free at last. I took control and the fire burned hotter, hotter, and even hotter.

I lowered my body on top of hers. Bracing myself for what was to come. The embers spread from her valley, all the way up the plains of our stomach, the mountains of her breasts, the plateaus of my chest, and suddenly, I saw the flame in her eyes encased by the green ocean.

The fire exploded.

Lisa and I shook vehemently, every nerve ending in our bodies screaming from the fire - the lovely fire which set us free. I opened my eyes during the quaking. And I realized that Lisa was letting out a moan that echoed in my heart.

The reward of my freedom, of our freedom lay in her valley; the seed of freedom, let loose by the explosion of that lovely fire.

Breathing heavily, we came back to Earth. I looked in her eyes, and her eyes met mine. We did not say a word.

Rather, I embraced her, digging my weary head into the crook of her neck, my face buried into the mattress. Every muscle within our bodies relaxed. We clutched each other, and breathed....just breathed...

As my consciousness drifted away, her lips pressed against my ear, and she replied to something I said over an hour ago...

"I love you, too..."

My dreams were full of the many colors of her - red, golden, and green. They danced around me, and sang lullabies to me. Truly, it was the best sleep I've had since I was a baby.

But as most sleeps do, there's always an end.

I arose to the surface of consciousness. I was lying in the bed that cradled us through our endeavor, and I found that I was covered in blanket. I looked over to my left.

There was my Lisa - my rose. She slept on her side, facing toward me, her eyes closed, her breathing deep.

My mind wandered to her. This rose was for me - only me. I quietly leaned forward, slid one arm under her, one arm over her. Pulling her close, I cradled her shoulders and wrapped her in my arms.

Her eyes did not open...but a smile stretched across her face. She slid her arm around my side, sighing deeply.

She drifted back to sleep. I remained awake.

Her words echoed in my ears.

Only for you.....only for you......for you.

I kissed her forehead, and fell back asleep.

The End.