The Houseboat

The sun glides gently down to hide behind the hills to the left. To the right, miles away, boats sway evenly against their moorings...echoes of wood brushing against the pillars holding boats safely away from fickle tides...

She is at peace as she watches night take its place over day. Pulling the blanket snuggly around her she walks to the water's edge. Miniature waves lap onto the sand just beyond her bare feet and the sand still holds the heat of the day even if the air does not...

His arms slide around her from behind. She would never tire of the feel of him against her back. He kisses her behind her ear where he knows he will start her quivering. How well he tunes into her body's reactions, as if by instinct. She turns in his arms, opening the blanket for him to come closer and she wraps both of them into its folds resting her head against his heart...that sound, and the warmth of him, touching her in a way she still wonders at...

She remembers watching him walk off of the plane 2 days ago. Her stomach tied up in knots, thinking of what his reaction to seeing her in person would be. They had shared much in the time they learned each other's hearts and souls before this first meeting. Would it be different face to face and only a breath to separate them instead of an ocean and computer screens?

She watched as he came through the doorway looking for her. She recognized the nervous look on his face as similar to the one she had seen in the lady's restroom mirror a short time ago. She stood still...waiting for him to see her...watching his face for the slightest hint of disappointment..and then...he saw her. Still she stood frozen in place...and then...that look she knew so well...the slight tilt of his head and his eyes as warm as she had seen them on her computer screen...even warmer as he came closer. She felt the impact as fresh and intense as that first message from him. She saw then that he was not unmoved. He reached out and touched her and she was lost all over again...

The houseboat was perfect...

Her brother's friends had gone away for a week and told her that she was free to use it while they were gone... so.... they came here to the shelter of the secluded cove where the boat was docked. Driving here had been torture as she felt his eyes on her almost every minute of the ride. Except for the sweet kiss hello they had held back the urge to give into the fire built from words and pictures they had shared for nearly 2 years. It would not have mattered that they were in the middle of the airport among hundreds of people if they had taken the kiss a little deeper. Both knew they had to be alone together...and soon...

They had spoken few words during the ride...tension building to unbearable levels as she pulled the car up to the edge of the gravel path. The silence after she turned the car off was broken only by the sounds of uneven breathing...his and hers. She opened her door first but found he was standing next to her before she was out of the car.

No more waiting...no more wondering...the need was too strong. The fires were too hot to be pushed aside any longer...just like in her story to him. Making love would come later...this was a force without reasoning...instinct was the guide and bodies soon stood naked in the moonlit dark without shame or knowledge of how clothes were now scattered about the ground and on her car. Mouths and hands greedy for what had been promised in separate little rooms an ocean apart. The initial fire had to be quenched...

In that instant she wanted to give to him everything she knew she would when she could touch him without a keyboard between them.

As she gave, he gave and at last she knew what he meant by treble....

Somehow they made it into the shelter of the boat as the rain started...and still the fire raged. As it was satiated it built again and demanded attention.....

At a point, before sheer exhaustion, it appeared the flames were under control. The boat still rocked a little unevenly and breathing was labored. Both bodies, in the fold-out bed, weak and drenched. He lay on his back, she laid in the pocket of his arm with her leg crossed over his and they said nothing as their breathing settled into regular patterns. She kissed him at the place where she fit against his chest and felt him pull her closer to him...his head moved to rest on top of hers and the rhythmic movement of his hand across her lower back was hypnotizing....

His hands came from beneath the blanket as they stood at the water's edge, her eyes drifted shut as he tilted her face to meet his in a kiss that was filled with promise...

Hands began a wondrous journey ....exploring tentatively this time..soon hands were not enough and mouths followed...salty and sweet ..the moisture on both bodies mixing and savored by each...no crevice or cavern left untouched by hand or mouth...he watched her face as he entered her...moving slowly this time...sweet torture, the attempt to draw this out, to make it last this time. She watched his face as he realized she was meeting him with her own idea of where they would go this time...and he smiled...he knew she would be his equal here...that her needs would be as strong as his...and that no matter where they would go when this path had been traveled neither would walk away untouched...