Stargazing

She watched him across the small table. Every morsel of the meal had been prepared with his hands, and although she was not a gourmet, she had enjoyed it immensely. She'd tried to eat slowly, to savor each bite, but he was still slower, and had more on his plate as well. And so she toyed with her fork and passed the time by watching him from under her eyelashes.

He was a well-made man, she thought. He had a broad chest and strong shoulders, well-muscled arms, and hands equally well-suited for making war and making love. She smiled slightly, letting her gaze linger on those hands, remembering their touch. His brown hair was growing in slightly curly, but she thought that if he let it grow longer, it would straighten. Her fingers itched to tangle themselves in those soft locks and pull him to her. His face was open and friendly without being foolish, and his dark eyes had an almost astonishing range of expression. He looked up just as she was contemplating his eyes, and smiled as he caught her gaze, the slightly crooked smile she had learned meant desire, and she felt herself flush slightly in response. She offered her own somewhat sly smile in return.

His smile broadened, and he picked up his wineglass to wash down the last of his dinner. She set down the forgotten fork and drank the last swallow of her own wine. Even to her untrained palate, the wine he'd chosen for them was far superior to the most respectable labels in her own cellar. She wondered to what lengths he'd gone to acquire it, but dismissed the question - she doubted he'd answer even under torture.

As she set her glass down, he gestured for the hovering servant to collect the dishes. "Dessert, now!" he exclaimed, pushing his chair back. "I'll be right back." He flashed her his smile again as he left the room. She leaned back in her chair. She didn't really want dessert. What she wanted was to take him back upstairs to her room, to make love to him again. But that would come. She was well-content for now to wait, savoring the anticipation along with the wine.

"Voila!" he cried, interrupting her mental wanderings. She looked up. He was carrying a shallow dish heaped with berries. He held out his free hand to her, and she took it, wondering. He pulled her gently to her feet, then slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "I thought," he breathed into her ear, causing shivers to run down her spine, "that we might enjoy our dessert out in the courtyard. Get a little fresh air, do some stargazing..." She smiled and put her arm around him in acceptance, dismissing the servant with her free hand.

In the courtyard, she found, he had already arranged for a cozy nest of pillows and blankets to cushion the hard pathstones. She let him assist her to the ground, then he folded himself down beside her with an easy elegance that took her breath away. Smiling almost secretively, he selected a berry from the bowl in his hand and offered it to her.

She laughed softly, then took it from him, barely caressing his fingertips with her lips. He chuckled, and set the bowl down between them. She glanced up at the sky, then twisted around and laid her head on his lap before he could say anything. He looked down at her. "Comfortable?"

"Oh, very," she said, striving to match his light tone. She offered him a berry, and he let his teeth graze her fingers as he took it. She closed her eyes, letting the sensation echo through her body. He said something quietly, and she opened her eyes again. "What?"

He smiled guilelessly. "I asked how you could stargaze with your eyes closed?"

He was holding up another berry. She lightly wrapped her long fingers around his wrist, guiding his hand to her mouth. Her eyes locked onto his as her tongue coaxed the fruit into her mouth and then darted out again to lick the juice from his fingers. His eyes half-closed, and she felt a shudder of desire course through him, and knew that the time for anticipation was past.

She pulled him down as she sat up, lying him flat in the pillows while she leaned half on top of him. Carefully, she moved the bowl out of reach, then turned back. His breath was quick, but he was waiting patiently, watching her, desire warring with amusement behind his eyes. She smiled warmly, then picked up his hand again.

Very softly, she bit the tip of his index finger, then suckled it, stroking it gently with her tongue, never taking her gaze from his. Finger by finger, she reveled in his sighs and quiet moans and gasps. When she ran out of fingers, she began to nibble softly on his wrist. His other hand pressed against her back, pulling her closer to him, and she obliged for a moment, kissing him deeply and slowly before pulling away again, smiling.

She undressed him slowly. Her mouth, a trace of fingernail, or a brush of her long hair greeted each new exposure as he writhed in pleasure. A dozen times she watched as he almost surged up out of the pillows to pull her under him, but a dozen times he looked up into her eyes and lay back again, consenting to be ruled by her for some short span longer.

Finally, he lay naked under the stars. She knelt beside him, fingers trailing lightly over his skin, smiling as she listened to his moans begin to turn into growls. Suddenly unable to draw it out any longer, she pulled her dress over her head, so that she was as exposed as he. Before he could react, she ducked her head and took his erection into her mouth, suckling as briefly as his astonished cry of passion. Then, responding to the aching need in her own body, she straddled and mounted him, her own sudden moan matching his.

Watching his urgency grow had built her own, and she rode him fast and hard, his arms wrapped around her waist and his lips at her breasts, until she felt his climax push her over the edge into release and she let out the shuddering scream that had been hovering behind her teeth.

Passion spent, they cuddled in the warm summer night, and she slipped without noticing the transition into sleep. When she woke an hour later, she found he was propped up on one elbow, watching her. She smiled and reached up to touch his face tenderly. "What are you doing?" she asked.

He captured her hand and brought it to his lips without looking away from her face. "Stargazing."

Copyright 2000 by Elizabeth L. Brooks. Not to be reprinted without written permission of the author.