In Over Our Heads
Page 21
“Lie back and think of me, babe.”
I mouthed one adorable cheekbone and scraped my tongue over the sexy bristles on his cheek. Walter sighed and closed his eyes, his little half smile melting me all over again. He tasted delicious, and I took my time loving him, pouring love into every inch of him. What a sensual meal to have.
I helped myself to his face, the warm skin on his neck, his hunky shoulders. Trying to perform as comprehensive a job as he had on me that magical night in Key West, I trailed my lips slowly down his furry chest, teasing each pink nipple until it pebbled, and I was rewarded when he made a low, rumbling sound. Then I moved over to his arm and lightly bit my way down until I reached his hand, sucking each wide finger into my mouth.
When he grunted and his half-hard prick filled, I mentally patted myself on the back. I so wanted to get that thing in my mouth, but I admonished myself to be patient. After I sampled his other arm and feasted on those fingers, I returned to his broad chest. Mmm, his hairiness turned me on. I buried my nose in the black wiry hair and moved my head back and forth like a dog delighting in its owner. He laughed, and the vibrations tickled. I grinned up at him, then proceeded on down his abs, taking a nibble here and a nibble there, which made him squirm and laugh more. Oh Walter, my Walter, how I did love to make him laugh.
I had fully intended to torture him as he’d tortured me, by bypassing his lovely hard dick and coming back to it later. But it was right there, large and leaking and so tempting. I just had to… no, be patient. Well, maybe one little lick. I touched the head with my tongue. Jesus! His musky smell and the taste of that salty slickness intoxicated me so, I lost my mind. When I came to, I’d taken as much of his cock as I could get into my eager mouth and was sucking him like a man possessed. So much for patience. He full-on groaned and clamped one big hand on my head, anchoring me there. As if I’d come off. Please!
A wave of love overwhelmed me as I lavished him with the best blowjob I could, reducing him to whimpers. Then he stiffened and flooded my mouth with come, and my only thought was, I want to do this every day of my life.
“I LOVE when you do that.”
“What?” Walter lay flat with his eyes closed, one arm around me as I snuggled by his side, my head on his shoulder. He’d returned my blowjob in kind—so kind of him!—and we were resting up for Round Two.
“Smile like the Cheshire cat.”
His smile deepened. “I can’t help it. You make me do it. I haven’t smiled this much in twelve years.”
So many years wasted. I definitely did not voice that thought. Part of my new normal with Walter, I’d decided, was to put the past to bed. I’d forgiven him, and it was time to dwell in the glorious present with the added shine of an exciting future awaiting us. “Let’s talk about Life 5.0.”
He opened his eyes. “5.0?”
“Well, it’s your 3.0 and my 2.0, so together we’re doing Life 5.0.”
“Okay.”
“Or we could call it something else! Some chemical compound! What’s a chemical compound of love?”
“Oxytocin.”
“Life Oxytocin? Hmm, too much like Oxycontin. Although you’re pretty addicting.” I smirked at him, and he laughed.
“How about, you’re the sodium to my chloride?”
“Wha…?”
“Well, sodium becomes a positive ion and chlorine becomes chloride, a negative ion, and they’re drawn together. They can’t fight it, you know.”
“Ohhh.” I kissed his neck adoringly. “Do go on with your chemistry porn.”
“They’re opposite energies that come together in an ionic bond. Then they form what’s called an ionic lattice, and that’s how crystals are formed. So we could be, I don’t know, Life Crystalline.”
I gasped. “That’s so hot and romantic I want to jump your bones right now.”
He chuckled and turned his head to me, and I kissed him. Who said scientists weren’t sexy?
Epilogue: LIFE CRYSTALLINE
Chapter ONE
May 2017
WALTER STARED at Anthony, who stood at the back of the dive shop talking with Patricia and Sophia. Sophia had flown in the day before for Anthony’s first art gallery exhibition, which was taking place that night. Marco, Jonathan, Anthony’s parents, and Miles were due to arrive later in the day. Walter was proud of Anthony and looked forward to his exhibition. But right now, the mere sight of him filled Walter with delight.
He drank in all the details—Anthony’s bright turquoise top with the sea turtles and the hot pink swim trunks that showed off his cute butt; the way a shaft of sunlight from the window lit up his blond hair and illuminated his face; how that face was full of all of those Anthony expressions, the ones Walter had thought he’d never see again. Anthony said something Walter couldn’t quite hear, and all three of them laughed. When Anthony turned and saw Walter, he smiled and beckoned for Walter to join them.
They’d been living together for five months now, but to Walter it was still unreal sometimes. How is this my life? What did I ever do to deserve this? Walter strode forward, batting the negative thoughts away with one of Anthony’s favorite sayings. Accept it, babe. We’re destiny!
“Who’s ready to snorkel?” he asked. He was gratified by the expected squeals from Anthony and Sophia.
“And scuba diving tomorrow, right? It’ll help me unwind after the exhibition.” Anthony beamed at him.
Walter’s insides clenched, half love and half the fear that never seemed to completely disappear. The difference these days was that Walter wasn’t letting the fear rule him and keep him from love.
“Right.”
WALTER TREADED water, holding Anthony, who had his legs wrapped around Walter’s waist. Anthony had shoved his mask and snorkel onto his forehead. His blue eyes were alight and he was laughing, as usual, and Walter’s heart wanted to bust open with love. Oceans and oceans of it.
“Come on, W-boy! Let’s keep snorkeling! I want to find that orange fish again!”
Walter didn’t care about snorkeling. He wanted to hold Anthony and watch him laugh and listen to him call Walter “W-boy.” No one else had ever given Walter nicknames. No one else had ever laughed and acted so joyous around Walter. Correction—people had laughed and were joyful around him, but no one had done that with him, as if he were the reason for their joy and laughter. No one except Anthony.
He wished he had Anthony’s way with words so Walter could tell him the vastness of his love for him. But all he could do was squeeze Anthony tighter, kiss those smiling lips, and get ready to snorkel some more.
They launched themselves on the water’s surface and stuck their masks in. Anthony’s hand found Walter’s. That was another thing Walter had never experienced—snorkeling hand in hand. The reef came into view, and they swam closer. Walter would never tire of the sight of the colorful fish weaving in and out of the waving sea plants. The scientist in him wanted to study and categorize every inch of it, but with Anthony by his side, Walter was content to be swept away by the reef’s beauty.
Later they sat on the catamaran with Patricia and Sophia. The other three sipped champagne while Walter limited himself to sparkling cider so he could sail them home. As Walter watched Anthony banter with the girls, and anticipated the evening to come with their friends and family, he felt whole. He didn’t deserve this happiness, but then again, who did? All he could do was accept it the way one had to accept hurricanes—as an act of God.
Chapter TWO
THE CLEAR blue water lapped gently against the houseboat dock. That’s how I’ll start the chapter about my new life, I decided from the depths of my deck chair as I took a sip from my mojito. Walter had offered to make mudslides, but too many of them and my svelte figure wouldn’t be so svelte. The sounds drifting from inside, him cooking as he whistled tunelessly, made me feel cozy.
He brought the plates out to the deck, and we watched the sky turn pink and purple as we feasted on fresh grouper with mango salsa. Walter smiled and listen
ed to me chatter, as usual. Tonight I was excited about the upcoming foundation staff retreat.
“I can’t wait to be in Cape Cod again! It’s going to be fun dragging you back to your old haunts, doll.”
“You won’t be dragging me. I’m looking forward to it too.”
“Aw.” I kissed him, which I was wont to do almost constantly, but so far he hadn’t complained. “I can’t wait to see Miles again. I’m not sure, but I think something’s going on between him and Chad.”
“Chad?”
“You know, the cute guy who directs the youth chorus for the foundation. Anyway, I need to get Miles alone so I can pump him for details.”
“Hmm. As long as it’s only details you’re pumping him for.”
“Silly.” I leaned over and kissed him on the nose. “And we finally get to see Jonny and Marco’s new house! The pictures look spectacular.”
“It must be pretty big if it can fit all the foundation staff for a week.”
“It is. I swear, to think of my cousin Jonathan living in a mansion with Marco Pellegrini… who would have ever thought? And then there’s me, living on a houseboat with Walter Elkins. Baby, I never would’ve predicted this.”
“Me neither.” Walter sat back with a sigh of contentment and gazed upward. “The stars are coming out. Well, not coming out, but being revealed as the sky darkens.”
“Oh, honey, love that science talk.” I giggled happily and sipped my wine.
“You know, we’re made of stars.”
I stared. By now I was pretty used to surprising things coming out of my scientist-poet’s mouth, but this was a new one. “What do you mean? That sounds fabulous!”
“You sure you didn’t get this in seventh-grade science? It’s pretty well known.”
“Doll, as you should well remember, me and science aren’t exactly besties. And if I did hear this at some point in a science class, it went in one ear and out the other. So do tell!”
“Well.” He made a show of slowly setting down his fork and precisely folding his napkin, knowing that I was waiting to hang on his every word, the devil! “The lightest elements—like hydrogen, helium, and oxygen—all come from burning stars.”
“Okay.” I had no idea what he meant but knew he’d get there, and I loved watching his face as he rambled on—so adorably serious.
“Okay. We’re starting this story up in space.”
“Why not, doll?”
He smiled. “When a star begins, it burns hydrogen. As the star gets older and older, it moves from burning hydrogen to burning heavier elements like helium and oxygen. Finally it runs out of fuel and collapses on itself and ultimately explodes. That’s the death of the star, when it explodes.”
“Oh, so sad!”
“Kind of, but also the reason we’re made of stars. We call the exploding star a supernova. When a star goes supernova, the explosion creates all these other elements—heavier elements, like calcium and iron. Also sodium and chlorine.” He lifted his eyebrow at me.
“Life Crystalline!”
“Exactly. So back to our supernova. Because the star explodes, all of these elements that were created at the last second of the star’s life get scattered into space. They continue traveling in space until they fall into the gravitational well of another star.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Basically, the elements start hanging out with that star now. Eventually all these little pieces of elements clump together. That’s how our planet Earth was made.”
“From clumps of elements that came from exploding stars?”
“You got it. First there was Earth and then the water, and then eventually, through evolution, people emerged. You could say we came out of the basic elements of the Earth. So if you look at people, we’re made up of all of these elements, the same ones that came from stars and made up the planet. Like, why is our blood red? From iron. Calcium is in our bones. Etcetera. And these elements are the elements that were made when the stars exploded.”
“So you mean… what you’re saying is we’re made of stars?”
“Not just any stars. Supernovae… the biggest, brightest stars at the moment of their explosion.”
I stood and sat on his lap, throwing my arms around him. “I love you so, so, so, so much! My star-man. That is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”
He smiled his glorious smile with all those teeth made of stardust. “I love you too, Anthony. Always.”
“We’re gonna love each other until all the stars explode, and so does the Earth, and we’ll return to our beginnings.”
“Something like that.” He kissed me and I clung to him, breathing in his steady goodness.
We watched the stars twinkle as the water gently lapped the dock and the frogs croaked. Walter squeezed my shoulders, and I knew my life to be celestial, star-born, and blessed. I would live it with my love and not fear the end.
For we were made of stars—then, now, and forever.
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