The last embers of the fire were still glowing brightly as we sat together on the floor with a stack of pillows behind our backs. My head was on his shoulder and my hands were busily at work, plucking green grapes from the stem. I dropped them one by one into Nick's mouth as he sat there with his eyes closed and his arms casually crossed in a relaxed pose. I bit one of the grapes in half and slowly ran the juicy middle section of it across his lower lip. He smiled a lazy smile and then licked all around the grape, sliding the tip of his tongue down the outer edge of my thumb. My hand retreated and with a greedy grin, I quickly popped the grape half into my own mouth. He gave a tiny moan of disapproval and leaned forward, lightly nipping at my lower lip with his teeth. Then he slowly slid his tongue into my mouth and tried to retrieve the ill-gotten fruit. Our tongues circled and slid and jabbed in mock battle. He slid the grape to the front of my mouth several times, but I snagged it repeatedly and pushed it to the inside of my jaw. I finally swallowed the fruit and we both giggled.
It was wonderful spending time together like this...no rush...no agenda...no fear of interruption by the cell phone or his pager. Too often in our hectic lives, we faced distractions that kept us from connecting. Times like this were perfect to recharge. It had been a crazy day for both of us and some quiet time in front of the fire before snuggling up in bed was exactly what we both needed.
Nick reached toward the tray of fruit on the low table next to us and selected a couple of ripe stemmed cherries. While flashing him a wicked smile, I quickly reminded him that in college I was the only girl in my dorm who could successfully tie the stem of a cherry into a loose knot with my tongue. Of course, he dared me to prove it to him. I spent the next several minutes unsuccessfully trying to make good on my claim. He laughed and took the cherry stem from my mouth and replaced it with the cherry itself. I savored the tart sweetness of the fruit as I separated it from the pit with my teeth and tongue. I swallowed the cherry and slid the cherry pit over into the corner of my jaw.
Raising my head from his shoulder, I turned around slightly on our pallet and laid down flat on my stomach with my legs pointed away from him. I propped up on my elbows and leaned over toward his thighs. I gently placed tiny kisses all the way down his left thigh to the top of his knee and then back up again. My left hand followed the path my lips had made and then slowly ventured over between his legs. He inhaled sharply as my fingers began to lightly stroke through the fabric of his cotton pajamas. I squeezed him gently and then looked up to check his facial expression. He smiled and questioningly raised an eyebrow. We had mutually decided that since the day had been exhausting tonight would be deemed a 'no sex' night. I had just changed the rules. The smile on Nick's face told me he wasn't going to complain about my little balk so I gingerly pulled on his waistband and helped him wriggle free of the confines of his plaid pajama bottoms.
I wrapped the base of my hand around his manhood and ran the pad of my thumb up and down the underside. After several minutes of alternating between caressing with my thumb and kneading his shaft with my palm and fingers, he was almost purring. I saw a drop of glistening wetness at the crown of his shaft. I couldn't resist. I slid my tongue across it and then swirled it slowly around the tip. His purrs turned to moans.