Chapter 51
Fools in Love

The sight of Annie Joy walking slowly, seductively towards him caused an immediate roadblock on the information highway between his brain and vocal cords. There was no fear of him overthinking now as she rose up on tiptoe and lightly kissed his cheek. Her lips trailed slowly to his. He could feel her breath.

Amber fire flickered and flared as his eyes widened in acknowledgement. Then with a sigh, the merest of exhalations, his eyes fluttered closed and he gave himself up to the warm sensation of Annie Joy’s delicate fingertips traveling along his chest releasing the buttons of his shirt, marking her progress with her lips. His pants tightened as she unfastened his belt, then she released the button. He kicked off his shoes as she tugged off his shirt.

Her smile, as old as time itself, asked, invited, and promised as she slowly unbuttoned his shirt she was wearing. With a seductive wriggle it fell off her shoulders, slithered down her arms and fell unnoticed to the floor. She stood before him; her only adornment the butterfly pendant nestled in the warm hollow of her breasts. Then just as a liquid takes the shape of its container, Annie Joy filled Urs’ arms, leaving no space.

**********

They lay in bed, grin to grin and hip to thigh, her leg between his, his arm beneath her head, and felt the galloping thump, thump of each other’s heart slow to a walk. Of all the scenarios he’d mentally rehearsed he couldn’t remember even one that called for him to be laughing when he told her he loved her, but he had.

He had mentally rehearsed. He was ready. He would be serious yet romantic, earnest yet not too eager. But Annie Joy had blown his plans right out of the water, as she’d done from the first day they’d met, and it had just gotten better and better. Would he ever get used to it? He hoped not. To say he had somewhat lost control of the situation would be to say the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona.

They had come together in a deliciously intimate party, and like most memorable celebrations it was fun, spontaneous, noisy, slightly messy and given in the spirit of unselfish love. The host and hostess played on their natural affinity toward each other, anticipating and communicating their needs again and again throughout the evening by touch, sight, sound, and words.

Gott! How I love her words. Not mindless chatter or dictator instructions or porn movie dirty. How wonderful not to have a silent partner. She talks to me. I love that we can say what we feel, what we want, openly and naturally.
Do you like this? What about this? Faster? Slower? Does this turn you on? I love it when you do that. Amazing, that’s amazing. Let’s see if we can. If you could just. Oh, perfect, perfect.

Nothing bothered her. When he’d mentioned protection she’d quipped about her once a year regimen. “See there,” she pointed over her shoulder to an imaginary spot, “just above the right antennae is my expiration date, March 31.” Annie Joy about expired right then and there from Urs’ methodical and loving search for the nonexistent date. Oh yes, Urs loved her tattoo, literally and figuratively.

And when she stole his thunder he really couldn’t protest. He told himself he was still in a weakened state from their first course of dessert and besides she already had his heart. She had rolled partway onto his chest and put her hands over his ears to turn his head. He smiled as he remembered. Who knew she’d go for his ears…among other places he reminded himself smugly. In the next moment he was jerked out of his instant erotic replay.

“Urs, I love you! You are so, I mean this…this is a whole plate of cookies day. I love you! “ Annie Joy’s hugging, kissing declaration was so enthusiastic that Urs was momentarily at a loss for words or thoughts or breath for that matter. Actually it was several moments because he suddenly found himself feeling very fit indeed.

And then he threw his head back and laughed with such boyish pleasure that she felt her heart had flipped and traded places with her stomach. “Annie Joy I love you. I think I started loving you from that first moment you ran me down.”

He set the hook beautifully. “But it was an accid…” Her playful protest was stifled with a kiss as he rolled her beneath him and began the main course.

His teeth grazed her earlobe. She could feel his smile as he whispered, “I think we’re gonna need a bigger plate for the cookies.” He gently ran his tongue around her ear as her arms snaked around his back and tangled in his hair.

Much later, after Urs’ main course consumed them, they really did order room service that they heartily consumed, at times in a rather unorthodox fashion.

“Get your hands off mine, you thief!,” Urs scolded and pushed her hand away from his plate. Annie Joy closed her eyes in bliss and chewed slowly on the French fry she’d just swiped.

“Mmmm, yours are much crispier than mine,” she concluded as if that constituted a sufficient alibi for French fry theft.

“Probably because I refuse to drown mine with that awful catsup. Your plate looks like the scene of a mass murder,” he commented dryly. His nose wrinkled in distaste but not for long as his mouth quirked in a grin and his eyes laughed.

He reached for her milkshake. His had already been ‘shared’ several minutes ago when Annie Joy had plopped her straw, albeit an unused one, into his glass and challenged him, “I’ll race you to the bottom.” She’d won and he’d gotten brain freeze. He chalked it up to her having more practice.

So here they were in the wee small hours, two white robed picnickers sitting cross-legged on the floor devouring hamburgers (Annie’s choice), fries, and chocolate milkshakes, (Urs’ choice, well at least the chocolate part). If anyone saw them they would have commented, ‘Fools in love’. They would be right.

**********

While Urs loaded the room service cart and pushed it outside the door, Annie Joy used the extra toothbrush and towels she found waiting in the bathroom. Did the woman looking back at her in the mirror seem any different? It was obvious she’d been well and thoroughly loved, her lips were still slightly swollen and small pink patches showed where his stubble had grazed her tender skin. A warm flush spread over her cheeks as she thought of Urs’ lips and hands, so wise and gentle.

She finger-combed her hair, retied her robe, and leaned in closer to the mirror. As ridiculous as it sounded she thought there was something about her eyes. Did she see an added spark, an extra measure of understanding now? All she knew was she had never felt so alive, so real.

She smiled sleepily as Urs joined her in bed after his turn in the bathroom. He kissed her soft and slow and turned off the light. The bed dipped as he slid under the duvet and spooned her into the solid warmth of his chest.

Her voice floated out into the air like a weather balloon, testing the temperature. “So now we know.” It was a half question, half statement sent out in hope he’d remembered his words the night they’d found each other again.

She could feel his warm breath as he kissed her hair and whispered, “Ya, this attraction, this feeling can’t get more real than this. I’m so glad you are here… It helps me to realize how beautiful my world is.”

She counted them, 1, 2, 3 as he dropped light kisses on the nape of her neck and skimmed his fingers over the butterfly outline. She smiled. “Are you saying goodnight?”

His arms tightened around her. “To both my butterflies. Do you mind?”

“I love it…I love you, HL.”

He snuggled her head under his chin. “Sleep well, my Petit Papillion. I love you.”

Are you there, Great Minnie?

I’m here, child, you rest. You’re where you were meant to be.

Great Minnie, I want to be with him more than I want to breathe.

Great Minnie expelled a huge sigh and smiled. At last she knew a tiny bit about how God felt on the seventh day.