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I was perfectly not

I simply couldn’t be It was tooof hi perfectly there I thrashed, I shimmied, I arched and I flexed And he stayed perfectly still The leahty work of art

Then he lifted his head and opened his eyes Singularly focused, dark, and of oneout almost entirely, he thrust low And hard And serious

And I came out of my skin

He rode me, rode my body and my sex, and when he leaned heavy over inable in ht as he caas I could Even when he lifted s around his waist as he laughed He unraveled me, threw me over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, and slapped my bottom

He then ate an entire loaf of zucchini bread with his pants around his ankles while he leaned on the counter, resting his head on my botto for you," I said fifteen minutes later, when I was finally allowed to putup the kitchen

"Would that ever happen?" Si, or perhaps because he’d just eaten an entire loaf of bread?

"Doubtful It’s a , obviously"

"I should say" He smirked as I poured him some coffee and marched him over to the sofa "Why a and you’re in the way Plus you just got back, so let me fawn over you a little"

"But rabbed a broom and swept up soined I’d find those in bed later tonight He loved to hide the questions

Si whenover the ri sketching on a Saturday? You gotta work today?"

"Kinda sorta"

"Kinda sorta?"

"Yeah, a big job that Jillian put et this job it’lldeal" I hesitated, not even wanting to say it out loud This would be big giant balls big

"That’s great! What kind of job?"

"A hotel in Sausalito Jillian’s givenand her honey and threw the raisins into the trash Grabbingroo ood, babe"

"Plus, I’onna be swamped"

"You can handle it I’et the job Till then it’s just a bid But fingers crossed, right?" I laughed, lying back against the cushions as he rubbedabout this Maybe we’ll have so toe "Speaking of celebrations, how’d you like to coain, whuh?

"I love when you drop your consonants," heover me

"I said that out loud?"

"You sure did"

"Okay Well, then, answer my whuh"

"No one on the planet has ever said that exact sentence before" He chuckled, drawing a line with his fingertip down ainst my mouth

"Rio? In Decehed, I scra to explain I booked a job in Brazil--I’ll be working in Rio on Christirl withcaipirinhas under festival lanterns Coconut oil Bikini Simon

Second Christmas away fro up I had a favorite aunt and uncle-- doesn’t everyone? Technically ends in our fan or nature, I never knew; no one ever talked about that But they led a life that I had always dreamed of

They traveled every year, and I ood money, invested wisely, and when he retired at sixty-five they hit the road They owned a hoo, but they just used it as a base They had friends all over the world and spent time in places like Madrid, Athens, Rome, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Caracas, and São Paulo Rio de Janeiro They took off whenever they wanted, and herever the wind told theo They were only occasionally around for Christmas, and I was always excited to see where my present would coe would be from

Did they love their falobe for Christh some of the e and a little selfish that they didn’t want to be singing carols atturkey with everyone else

I thought it was ro, and a little wonderful

They passed away a few years ago, within three o through sos and I came across their passports They were battered, worn, and stalobe, some of which I had never heard of

And when I went to Salzburg last year to keep Sie I thought it was ro, andfrom traditional, but maybe a Simon and Caroline tradition?

I mentally calculated whether my additional work responsibilities would allow me to take time off The holidays were a busy period for us, but the week between Christeable This invite was out of the blue, but not out of the world of the possible

I began to hu across my face