"I'll be better, too," Esme promised breathlessly.
A humorous chuckle escaped Cleavis. "Don't try," he told her. "You're already better than I deserve."
"I am?"
"Oh, yes, sweet Hillbaby," he said as he kissed her. "You really pleased me, Esme. Last time you really pleased me. This time is for you, just for you."
But, in the end, it was not.
Esme squirmed and wiggled and strained for his attention. Cleav was tender and considerate, but ultimately his gentlemanly rhythm gave way to a lusty pounding that shook the floorboards.
"Yes, Hillbaby," Cleav pleaded through clenched teeth. "Come with me, fall through, let it go."
Opening her eyes, Esme meant to question his meaning. But the edges of her vision turned sunset pink, her eyes closed at the sight, and she cried out his name. She could do nothing but follow.
In the aftermath of near heaven, Cleav rocked her gently and whispered nonsense as she slowly returned to the day at hand. Their pulses still skittered, but their breathing slowed and they smiled at each other. Words were unnecessary.
He brought his mouth to hers. Opening just slightly, he applied a light pressure as he sucked gently at her sweet lips. She returned the slow seduction of his mouth and even had the audacity to flick her tongue against his teeth.
"You're a fast learner," Cleav told her as he reveled in her attention.
"You said yourself that I was very bright," she said.
"Very bright?" He gave an exaggerated look of puzzlement. "When did I say a thing like that?" he asked.
"Down by the fish ponds," she answered. "Don't you remember? The day you taught me to feed the fish."
Cleav sighed contentedly against her cheek.
"Oh, yes, Esme," he said. "I remember the day I taught you to feed the fish."
They kissed again, this time accenting the lushness of teeth and tongues with tiny pecks on noses and chins.
"Do you remember saying that I was bright?" she asked between love bites.
"I may have said it," he admitted. "But I was wrong, of course."
"Wrong!" Esme pulled back to get a good look at the laughter in his face.
"How bright can a woman be who rolls around on the floor with her husband in the middle of the afternoon?" he asked.
Esme answered his tease with a naughty pinch of his backside.
"About as bright as the man that rolls with her!"
Giggling, kissing, and exploring, the two made good use of the late afternoon sunlight to observe at close hand the partner that each had made for life.
She told Cleav about her father's warning about embarrassment. "I guess I'm nearly a sinner," Esme admitted. "But I don't feel one bit ashamed, and I'm laying here with you as naked as the day I was born."
"Not quite," Cleav corrected as he snapped the remaining garter.
"I guess it's 'cause I've been spending so much time trying to show you my legs, I plumb lost my modesty," she said.
"You've been trying to tempt me?" Cleav asked in mock outrage.
She had the good grace to blush.
"Well, I ... that first day . . . well, I saw that you liked my legs ..."
