Silence stretched between us. Charged, but not nearly as awkward as I would have expected it to be.
“I... I mean, if... I said yes to this. Is there a way to, um... show me what it’s like without going inside—without putting your tongue inside? And I don’t want...”
The image of Dennis plopping down between my legs with porn playing on his laptop came to lurk at the perimeter of my mind. “I don’t want you lying on top of me. I know that might be a deal-breaker.”
He regarded me for a long beat. Then said, “Your boundaries are never a deal-breaker, and there are plenty of ways to enjoy the experience without crossing either of yours. Do I have your consent to engage with you in this way?”
It was touching. It wastouching, but...
I squeezed my eyes closed and nodded.
“Bell…” he said on the other side of my closed lids. “You’re aware how much I appreciate an exchange of words. I’ll need your yes. Spoken out loud.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
It only took a couple of tries.
“Alright,” he murmured. “Lie on your back. If it helps, keep your eyes closed.”
Actually, it did help.
I turned onto my back, letting myself get enveloped by the same peaceful dark I’d found in the graying black bear’s arms.
“I’m removing the blanket.”
“O-okay...”
The light summer chill of morning suddenly settled over my body, but not Zion.
“Spread your legs, sweetheart,” he instructed softly. “Provide a space for me to kneel at your altar.”
He was so unnecessarily dramatic with his wording. But I appreciated the opportunity to inwardly laugh at him as I made room for him beneath my “altar.”
And I didn’t jump when his legs grazed mine as he got in position.
“I’m unbuttoning your shirt, and eventually, removing your underwear.”
The panties I understood. That was an access issue. But... “Why the shirt?”
“I wish to look at you.” He undid the top button of his green shirt, then the next one.
“Why?” I asked, thinking of the chemise Dennis had made me wear to cover up my middle-aged body.
“Why?” Another button was loosened, and another. “Have we not made it abundantly clear how much we enjoy gazing upon you?”
I mean, I’d caught all of them staring, but that didn’t mean…
A knot of dread tightened in my stomach as he made his way down to the last two buttons.
I wasn’t a perfect specimen of anatomy underneath my clothes, like he was. He was going to be disappointed in my body. So dis?—
“You’re beautiful, sweetheart,” Zion said, cutting off my despairing thoughts.
Maybe he was lying—being nice.
But I relaxed a little as he hooked two fingers under the band of my cotton underwear and even lifted my hips to help him pull them down my legs.
There came an audible sniff, once I was naked below. Then: “May I touch your breasts and lay my lips upon your skin?”
