A Deeper Shade of Love

You turn the music on and immediately I feel a small drop of refreshingly cool water fall like a raindrop on the back of my thought-parched mind. I watch hungrily as you take off your shirt, leaving your pajama bottoms on. Our anticipation has been building with every casual touch and each stolen kiss.

My eyes lose their focus for a moment as I picture the first one so long ago, rising to the balls of my feet with my hands on your shoulders and the warmth of your crooked finger under my chin as your lips brushed across mine. I had to open my eyes to be sure you were really there because the touch was so fleeting. Your chest vibrated with silent laughter under my fingers at my coy blush. Even now, after all this time we've spent together, you still have the power to make me blush without any effort at all. I playfully smacked your shoulder with my palm and my voice cracked as I tried to tease you. "Decorum, Dearest, decorum."

My eyes clear and we lay the quilts down, three of them, thick and cushiony on the floor in front of the fireplace. You lay down while I get the oil, a pillow under your upper chest and one under your head... your arms wrapped around the top pillow, your forehead resting so that the back of your neck is extended, trusting and patient. I bring back the oil, a blend I have specially made with vanilla and cinnamon.

I settle on the backs of your thighs with my knees on each side of your hips. The heat coming through the cotton material is more than just the warmth of your skin; it's like the friction heat of two magnets. You look serene and contented, ready for me to begin.

I lean forward, resting on my elbows placed next to your ribs, and trail my nose between your shoulder blades, just barely touching the skin, breathing in your scent. I so love the feeling of your hair on my face and you smell good. A natural, you-scent that brings memories of everything from loving hugs to tears being kissed away. The raindrops are misting in the back of my mind now, thoughts of work and kids beginning to seek shelter from the coming storm.

Drawing a line with the tip of my nose up to the hairline of your neck... I feel your entire body tense when my lips connect, nerve endings spiraling sensations to your brain. I hear your sharp intake of breath as I taste your skin.

Lips tingling as I move them slowly from right to left, not quite kissing just connecting enough to let the sparkles raise the hair on the back of your neck.

Behind your closed eyes, a memory floats lazily to the surface and you smile, hugging the pillow closer to you and arching your upper back more.

"Remember the first time we met?" you ask me. "The first time we ever laid eyes on each other?"

When I reach the base of your neck, I move to the right first, tasting you with the very tip of my tongue. The sensation with each stroke is like touching my tongue to a small battery. Tiny little licks that spread a fire through your muscle burning the tiredness out and filling it with a potential energy. Moving in a straight line back to your spine, my tongue spreads the heat. I tap a tiny peck of a kiss to the center of your spine then move back to the outer curve of your shoulder... meticulously covering your shoulder blade with my lips, inch by inch.

"Yes, I do, Darling."

I draw the line up your spine with my nose and murmur as I move to the left side.

"We were at the airport. I was watching for you to come off the plane. Terrified that you would look at me and get right back on it and insist that the pilot fly you immediately home." I giggle a little with the memory of how nervous I was... comparing it to earlier tonight and finding little difference.

Seems like we've known each other forever and not just for these few years... or is it months? We fit together so well from the very beginning that it was comfortable, destiny is what our friends call it when they see us together.

"I remember the anticipation as I waited to get off the plane. The feeling that the people in the line should all know that I was waiting impatiently to meet you and that they should just break ranks and let me move to the front of the line for exactly that reason. I pictured you standing outside the door getting all flutterbyed in the stomach about meeting me and wondered for the more-hundredth time why you would be nervous about meeting an average joe like me." A wry grin pulls at the corner of your mouth as the thought obviously crosses your mind again.

Caressing you with my opened lips along the line of your shoulder, my breath lighting tongues of flame in the muscle as I work my way back. Depositing a chaste peck to the center of your spine each time I reach it. I hear your breathing speed up and feel your heart race.

"Because you are the only average joe who makes my heart stop when he whispers in my ear, Silly!"

Sliding down a little on your legs, I bring my arms to cradle your sides as I leave thin wet trails across your ribs with my tongue. I place chaste kisses down the center of your spine with each pass lower.

The arch of your back has been rolling with me... you move instinctively to offer me your body as I begin biting gently into the tender skin below your ribs. Never causing you pain, my teeth rest lightly against your skin with just enough pressure for you to feel them. I hear quiet little gasps and whispers of sounds coming from you that tell me how much you like it.

My lips find the waistband of your pajama bottoms and hesitate. Mmmm... you taste so good that I don't want to stop. I lick with the rough flat of my tongue slowly just under the edge of your pajama bottoms from left to right then growl and sit up.

"You were such a vision when I saw you that first time. As I came off the plane, my eyes were searching the crowd. Looking for any familiar image, I had memorized the pictures that you sent but my mind went blank when I needed to remember. I couldn't just look for a nervous beautiful lady because the airport was filled with nervous women of varying beauties. I needed to remember more than just that you had beauty, I needed to remember what made you beautiful to me but my mind would not bring into focus any part of the image."

My face heats up and I can feel the blush spread from my cheeks outward... dissipating somewhere beyond my neckline. I rest my burning forehead on your relaxed buttocks until it abates. The flannel is slightly rough against my brow and your timely muscle clench, along with your husky chuckle sends shivers tugging up my spine as I playfully nip material and skin then lift my head.

Sliding back to the top of your thighs, I take the oil and pour a little into my hands. The scent of the oil mixes with the wood smoke and I feel the mist in the back of my mind whorl and eddy as it changes to a whirlpool washing away the little worries and stresses that clutter even the best of days with unnoticed irritations. Listening to the fire pop and the music for a moment, I feel you settle back into the pillows and your heartbeat slows again, your breathing becoming tranquil.

I rest my hands with thumbs together along the line of your spine and fingers splayed around the column of your neck. Letting the heat of your skin seep into mine. The slight coarseness of the stubble against my skin feels like fine-grained sandpaper as I begin to move my fingers casually. Stroking you with my fingertips, I apply pressure gradually until you move your head just a little and a small sound escapes your lips.

"What I remember the most is the certainty that... no matter how nervous I was on the outside... the feeling deep inside was calm. I was terrified but I knew without the slightest doubt that it was all happening the way it was meant to. I searched every face as the plane emptied, desperate at that point to match the crisp sharp image in my mind to the real person moving toward me in the crowded walkway. Willing people to move faster and wishing they would all disappear so that I could find you. Of course not a single one of them could be willed anywhere and some very insistent wiggly worms had now joined the flutterby's in my stomach and there was still no sign of you."

I massage the muscles along your spine using the heels of my thumbs... slowly, moving from the base of your skull down. I knead the muscles of your shoulders like a kitten, following them out to your arms and rekindling the fire as I soothe the tension out of them. Coming back for a second round I push deep circles with my palms until my arms begin to feel heavy from the unaccustomed workout.

I hear you singing under your breath, the song playing in the background... "... Amazes me to say, I been so trying to find my way, closer to you..."

The fire crackles as I move my palms to your shoulder blades and press outward from your spine to your sides. Lifting my body just off your thighs, I lean forward to put a little more pressure behind the movement when I am near your spine then settle back onto my perch as I move away from it. Moving just slightly down each time to be sure I light every sinew of muscle.

When I reach your ribs, I roll the flesh, pressing into the muscle with my thumbs and moving the skin above it with my fingers. A deep guttural moan is proof that I found the spot that I was searching for and I work that area until the muscles give in and relax. Your breathing evens out and slows as I feel the stress leaking from the loosening muscles.

You pick up the conversation as though you hadn't stopped talking.

"So I was nervously scanning the crowded group of people waiting for us to leave the plane, seeing the young couple kissing like they had been apart for months. I saw the young mother handing her tiny baby over to what must have been his father and the gray-haired couple greeting what could have been their children, a tearful reunion between two young men I did not question as anything but that of long-lost brothers, then my eyes lit on the ever shrinking assemblage waiting for us to arrive."

"I noticed in the front of the group the most intense set of eyes looking back at me. A sudden widening of them and the smile that broke out was breathtaking. I knew my definition of beauty again."

"You certainly kept it quiet then, didn't you?! Although the bear hug you gave me should have given me a clue that there was more than just a deep friendship being affirmed. I thought maybe I had bought myself a new male corset without knowing it!" My grin spreads from ear to ear and my hands pause for a moment as I remember the feeling of your arms so tight around me that first time.

Resuming the deep pressure I move below your ribs and downward to the small of your back, remembering in my own mind the vision of you coming off the plane, almost the last one in line.

Eyes moving through the people, systematically discounting each possibility, I saw your head turning in my direction and our eyes locked. I felt the slam of my heart against my ribs and felt it climb its way into my throat. I knew at that moment that I was in trouble. It had been difficult enough to hide my feelings before this but now... face to face...in person! I heard a scream of mixed agony and ecstasy echo in my mind.

I reach the base of your spine and put one palm on each side of it, pressing deep into the muscle as I follow the line straight up your back to your shoulders again. Your breathing is slow and steady... can't tell if you fell asleep on me or if you are just totally relaxed, so I lean forward and nuzzle behind your right ear, nibbling on it when you move your head to let me reach it better.

I whisper in your ear, asking if you feel better now and you respond with a sound... mmmhmm. I sit up again and use my fingernails to draw patterns on your back... I love the way your body reacts to my touch, your back arching slightly and those wonderful sounds coming from you.

The cool water soothing my stress-seared thoughts changes to a gentle rain.

Moving off your legs, I lay down next to you; my body nestled against your right side, leaning on my elbow. My fingernails still trailing patterns across your back and making shivers travel down your spine.

Your smile starts in your eyes and wends its way enticingly to your lips. My breath catches in my throat and a single silken thread of need draws me towards you, stopping just short of your mouth. My fingers slow and then stop as I am mesmerized by your lips... the shape, the texture, the growing desire to taste them.

In slow motion, like a prey from its predator, I retreat. Lying on my back as you move your upper body over me, your weight pressing me into the quilts, pinning me and effectively stopping any further resistance I might offer, our lips remaining chaste and apart.

Your mouth just a whisper away, your smile fades and your eyes delve into mine. There is nothing in our world right now but the indefinable feeling engulfing us both.

Your lips brush across mine. The contact so ethereal I remember again that first kiss.

Your tongue flicks out to take pleasure in my lips and I whimper softly, hear your answering growl.

You lick my lips again and they part slightly, your tongue slipping through as you kiss me. Your mouth moves with mine as our lips seal and the passion quickens.

My hands come up to cup your head, my fingers working into your soft hair.

Your mouth moves... tongue playing with mine as you kiss me passionately. The hunger grows and we feed off each other. The fire in the background devouring the wood and begging for more with its crackles and pops, heat flowing from it in waves as it cheerfully burns itself to satisfied cinders.

You pull back and my fingertips move over your cheeks to caress your lips before I let them fall to my side. My chest feels cold where your body was resting against me and I shiver... you smile with a devilish twinkle in your eye.

I feel your eyes trailing down my body, like the touch of a ghost, and goosebumps appear on my skin.

Your breath comes a little faster as you take in my flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips. The rise and fall of my chest under the cloth of the flannel pajama shirt adds another twitch to your growing excitement. Down the length of my legs your gaze travels, stirring me without the slightest contact then slowly returning along its eager path to my face.

You relax onto your elbow and lift the buttons of the shirt carefully away from me before undoing each one... laying the cloth precisely in place, leaving the skin covered and untouched.

Reacting instinctively as always with you, I hear your whispered command, "Rollover," and move to my stomach without conscious thought. Acknowledging your dominance and possession without a word.

"You were shaking when you hugged me and there were tears in your eyes. I remember wondering if it was the nerves or the anticipation."

My upper body rises for you to place a pillow under my ribs and I pull another under my chin, allowing my chest some room without putting pressure on it. My arms stretch behind me so you can lower the pajama top to my hips, keeping my modesty intact.

"And? What did you decide, Honey? Was it flutterbys or the eagerness to meet you after all that waiting? You know it had been about a year we'd been getting to know each other by then."

You settle yourself, straddling my hips. I can feel your weight resting lightly on my butt, your feet tucked close to my hips with your toes just under the bone. The two layers of flannel between us cushion the sensation but I can still feel your growing excitement as you move to become comfortable.

"I don't know... I think it was... "

I pull the pillow in close and crunch it down so I can lower my chin to my chest without smothering myself.

"Pretty sure it was..."

I feel the hair on your chest tickle my naked back as you lean close, your elbows on each side of my body at breast level. I squirm as you move, your body holding me entirely captive, your nose just behind my right ear, nuzzling.

"Must have been..."

Your beard grazes roughly against my neck and the involuntary squeak coupled with the shivers that race down my spine draw that erotic and entirely masculine chuckle from deep in your chest.

"Anticipation"

You exhale softly and my wriggling along with that silly squeak again tell you that you've touched the right spot on my neck and my body is now supersensitive to your every touch.

I can't quite seem to catch my breath completely as you burrow into my neck and shoulders with your beard and nose.

"Cheating! En... ti...mmmmmm... entire... ly.... unf.... unfair "

"Shhhhhhh"

A light nip at the back of my neck and I lose track of all conscious thought, the sensations overwhelming me and creating a physical need that I can't control.

The pressure of your weight changes and you sit up.

Hands thumb to thumb, fingertips spread wide, you start at my shoulders spreading the sensitivity down like molasses... my entire back is covered with goosebumps and my shivers of excitement have put a mischievous light in your eyes.

The comforting sprinkle of water in my mind intensifies, a warm breeze of exhilaration drifting my thoughts toward possibilities like a summer rain in the night, silently inviting you to forget everything but the childhood joy of jumping in the puddles.

You begin at the small of my back and work your way very slowly upward. Pressing deep and finding every hidden ounce of stress and strain hidden in the muscles that you touch, you relax me completely. A latent eagerness invading the muscles as the revitalizing energy spreads through my psyche.

You force me to ride along that fine edge of overwhelming sensitivity. Every time you notice my pulse slow, you lean forward again and nuzzle that traitorous spot. I'm unable to make more than the most guttural and primitive moans and grunts as you work my body into a state of tranquil arousal.

You reach my shoulders, tickling me with your chest hair as you kiss a line straight down the center of my back... kisses filled with purity and innocence that simply let me feel the warmth of your lips moving across my skin. My body arches sharply to your lips.

Shifting your body once more and placing the tip of your tongue against my place of weakness, your soft puffing against my neck brings a low growl of intense desire this time... you kiss my neck and nip gently as you give me that husky chuckle.

A smile comes to my lips as I realize that you are enjoying this as much as I am. I wiggle my butt just a little, feel the hardness jump and twitch and hear your sharp intake of breath.

You move your weight down to just above my knees and again lean forward, putting your elbows on each side of my ribs. Your lips find the center of my back and my eyelids lower as you take the skin into your mouth, teeth resting just lightly enough to feel the roughness, tongue flicking back and forth quickly. Moving like a sigh over my skin to the next place... lazily licking and nibbling a heart shaped pattern then tracing it with your warm breath.

You move your elbows down just a tad so that they are pressed close above my hips... your forearms molding to my body, fingers reaching under my ribcage to caress as you use your beard to tickle my lower back, making me squirm under your chest. I yelp and beg for mercy, struggling playfully to get up. You snicker at me... offering no quarter as you continue to tease and taunt my body.

Finally giving in and sliding the pajama top back up my body, helping my arms find the sleeves before you let me rise. Buttoning from the bottom up, letting the shadows conveniently cover the view, I work my way modestly up the line. I peek at you from under my lashes, knowing exactly what you are trying to see and feigning innocence at hiding it