With the palm of his hand he caressed her belly, and for a moment she tried to suck in her tummy, embarrassed over its rounded softness. The moment passed, and it was all right to be the way she was.
She wanted to tell him to be gentle with her, that her body didn’t have the responses. It might hurt at first; then she decided she didn’t need to. He knows.
With teasing slow strokes he moved his hand lower. And lower still. Using the tips of his fingers he caressed the tender skin of her inner thigh with slow circular motions. First one. Then the other. His fingers moved and found her sweet spot, filling her with intense pleasure. She arched her back, fire burning in every cell.
Michael had said not to worry. He’d promised that it was going to be all right. And he spoke the truth. It is all right. Very much all right.
Later, much later, he cradled her head in his hands. Without words he kissed away her pleasure tears.
She was overcome with joy and tenderness, pulling him closer, as if she could embrace and hold this moment forever.
The depth and width of her love filled her with happiness and wonder.
“I love you, Nina.”
She smiled into his blue eyes. “I love you, Michael.”
He rocked her, kissing her with small swift pecks on her whole face. He held his lips close to her ear, bringing on another shiver.
Michael spread a comforter on the bed. “Here, snuggle up.” He put his arm around her again, pulling her close.
“I love you,” she said again. “For as long as I live I’m going to cherish the memory of this day.”
Chapter 25
Exhausted from yesterday’s emotional roller coaster Nina slept deeply. Opening her eyes, she looked around at the surroundings, at first sight unfamiliar. Memories of the previous day flooded her. A warm flush of happiness washed over her, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth. She glanced at Michael’s side of the bed, found it empty, the pillow dented where his head had rested. A hearty moan of contentment escaped her. Kicking off the covers, she sat on the side of the bed, tousled her hair, stretched and with a few long strides went into the bathroom. She delighted in the shower’s many energizing sprays drumming against her skin. She dressed in yesterday’s clothes, wishing for clean underwear.
Michael had set breakfast on the table on the lanai, but wasn’t anywhere in sight. The morning was golden yellow, benignly warm. She filled a glass with fruit juice and took small sips. Leaving the lanai to walk in the garden, she breathed in the perfume of damp grass and blossoms. In the bright sunlight the garden was alive with vivid colors.
She felt his arms hug her from behind, the thick lawn silencing his step.
“There you are, honey. I checked the bedroom. When I didn’t find you in bed I figured you must be out here.” He kissed her on the neck.
“Good morning, darling,” she said, turning in his arms to face him.
“I love it when you say ‘good morning, darling’ with this accent you have.”
“Do I have an accent?”
“Yes, a nice little accent, the way say you say ‘r’ with a little burr, and the slight raise in your voice at the end of a sentence.”
She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close.
“You smell good, but different.”
“I used some of your after-shave. Do you mind?”
“I most certainly don’t. How are you, anyway?”
“I’m in love with you. That’s how I am—in love.”
His arms tightened around her. “Oh my darling, I love you too. I’ll always love you.”
“Me too.”
“Now tell me how you are,” he said his smile mischievous.
“Some muscles are a little sore, but I feel wonderful.”
A gentle laugh. “Poor you,” but without a trace of compassion. “I’m so happy because of you.”
Suddenly he let go of her. He bent his head low and swatted both hands in front of his face and around his ears, surprising her.
“What is it?”
“Wasps. Or bees.”
He grabbed her by the hand and hurried her to the lanai, slamming the door. They sat at the table, side by side, facing the pool and the garden beyond.
“I shouldn’t wave my hands; it only attracts them, but I hate those insects.” He pulled a tissue from the box on the table to wipe the perspiration on his brow. “They seem to be everywhere this time of the year.” He sounded so distraught she had to smile.
“You’re out in the garden a lot. Aren’t you used to them?”
“When I’m out there working I wear gloves and a net over my head.”
“Are you allergic?” She was alarmed. A wasp sting could be nasty if he was sensitive.
“No, I’m not allergic. I’ve been stung several times; once in a while I get a slight fever, so I stay clear of them if I can.”
He passed her a dish of cubed honeydew melon. Breakfast wasn’t a meal she enjoyed, and she wasn’t hungry, but she had some anyway, because he’d prepared it.
For a moment they ate in silence. Turning toward him she leaned closer, gazing at him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.”
He helped himself to a slice of toast with honey.
“I’ve never met a man like you. You have a way of being totally in the present, like there’s nothing before and nothing after this very instant. I’d like to learn to be like that.”
“It takes time, but you can learn.” He held the coffeepot to her. “Want some? It’s decaf.”
“No thanks.”
He glanced at her. “It’s your honesty that attracts me most.”
Huh? She didn’t feel honest, having breakfast although she didn’t really want it.
With her hand around his neck she pulled his head closer and kissed him. “Only my honesty attracts you? Nothing else?” And she tickled him in the ribs, making him wriggle and laugh.
He dropped his half eaten piece of toast on the plate. “Please don’t Nina, I’m hopelessly ticklish.” When she didn’t relent, he moved his chair out of reach. “I was wrong; everything about you attracts me. There, now please stop.”
“Okay. Eat your breakfast.” She watched him take a bite of toast and stir his coffee before taking a sip.
They sat, simply enjoying each other’s company. Such a wonderful gift to be comfortable together in silence.
“Everything about us feels right,” he said after a while. “The moment I saw you I knew something special and good had come into my life. I didn’t question what it was or where it would lead me. I know what we have is unique, and I’m prepared to follow wherever it takes me.”
She listened to him with her whole being, to each inflection, to the warm tone of his voice, gazing at his dazzling eyes. “It’s like a miracle. To think that I wanted to run away because I was afraid of you.”
His smile was impish. “And now?”
She sat on his lap, arms around his neck, lips close to his ear. “And now I don’t seem to get enough of you.”
“Want to do something about it?”
“Oh yes, I do. Right now.”
He tussled her hair. “Nina, what a change from before!”
She giggled. “Have to make up for lost time.” Suddenly she felt insecure. ‘Am I too bold?”
“Not at all, sweetie.” Arms around her, he led her inside.
In broad daylight on the bed she’d so painstakingly made only a while ago they made love until the world went away, and time lost its meaning, and they were drunk with love and joy.
The moment passed. Time moved on.
She rested her head on his shoulder, looking at his elegant feet. Nothing in her life had ever been this good. Too good to be true? Hardly. They both deserved this ha
ppiness.
He glanced at his watch. “If you don’t have anything planned for today how about going to the beach?” His eyes held hers.
Her lips stretched to a broad smile, eyes crinkling. “Sounds wonderful. There’s nothing on my agenda, except to clear the table and put the food away.”
He chuckled. “We left breakfast out there, didn’t we?”
Still smiling she left the bed. “I’ll grab a quick shower and take care of the dishes. I want to go by my house to get a bathing suit and check for phone messages and e-mail. Maybe there’s something from the children.”
When Nina returned to the lanai after the shower, Michael had cleared the table. How nice of him.
Happiness filled all of her—mind, body and soul. Her mother came to mind—Mama would encourage Nina to make a gratitude list. “When you’re really happy write out all the things you’re grateful for,” she would say. This seemed like a good time to write one.
Michael came carrying a cooler. “We’re going to a private beach. Belongs to a friend of mine, so we need to take our own drinks. Ready?”
Nina waited on the porch while he locked up. Yesterday when she walked through this door she’d been trembling from of misgivings and nerves. Today she walked through the same door a free woman. She wasn’t fully healed yet, but felt light and young, life rushing in her body with every beat of her heart. And she was dealing with the past.
Chapter 26
Upon arriving at her home, Nina went straight to her office to check for messages from Annecy. There weren’t any, and the disappointment dampened her joy. It was too late now to call them, but she resolved to time it so she would reach them. She was the happiest she’d ever been, but missing the children and the twins burned like a gaping sore.
“Here, Nina,” Michael said as she was about to leave the office. “I’m through reading your books. They’ve been in my car for a few days.” He placed them on her desk. “Great stuff. I’m proud of you.”
“Did you like them? I mean, it’s not reading you do for pleasure.”
“I did. They’re well written, easy to follow. The examples you give bring the dull subject to life through the people you portray. The dialogues you’ve introduced add dimension to both works.” With the backside of his hand he caressed her cheek. “The one on dual diagnosis should be mandatory reading in medical school.”
She gave him a quick kiss. “Well, thank you, darling. You’re making my day.”
In the bedroom she threw a few things into a beach bag, changed into a bikini, and they were off.
They covered the distance to the ocean through the midmorning traffic in a short half hour. Michael drove past luxury townhouses and gated estates, pointing out some properties along the way.
“The house over there, with the red tile roof, belongs to a colleague of mine.” He pointed. “See the shore? It’s part of his property. That’s where we’re going.”
Looking, she saw a sprawling, ranch-style house, the lush green lawn ending abruptly where it met the sand.
“I like coming here because it’s quiet and private,” he said.
“How come you’re allowed here if it’s private?”
He winked. “Courtesy of my colleague.”
“Hmm. Nice colleague you have.”
The guard in the gatehouse greeted Michael. “Good morning, Dr. Hamilton.” He lifted his hand in a salute and raised the gate. They took a paved road, bordered on each side by tall, sculpted hibiscus. It was like driving through a green tunnel, studded by crimson flowers.
After parking the car, Michael walked round to Nina’s side to open the door. The sun felt good on her skin, goose-bumpy from the car’s air-conditioning. He handed her the towels. “Here, mind carrying these?”
He grabbed a blanket and the cooler.
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” She pointed at a rolled-up sunshade he carried tucked under his arm.
“Hope so. The shade will keep us from roasting to a crisp.”
They walked the short distance to the beach on a path bordered by shrubs. On the powdery white beach she kicked off her sandals, wiggling her toes in the hot soft sand. Michael showed the way to a clearing in the shape of a horseshoe, dotted with sparse tufts of sea oats. The clearing was surrounded by dense vegetation, so tall it made the place seem like a natural gazebo.
Michael spread the blanket on the ground and put the cooler in the shade. After removing his T-shirt and jeans, he stood before her in his bathing trunks, his body silhouetted against the blue sky.
This was the first time she saw him with her glasses on. Without shame, feeling no embarrassment, she looked at him, delighted that he had a paunch. True, it was a slight one, but a bit of a potbelly, nonetheless. His legs were tall and muscular, his thighs sagged ever so slightly, and so did his pectoral muscles. His body was both seductive and endearing. The passing of time hadn’t left him untouched either. The effects of age on the human body were merciless but fair; it happened to everybody.
He held out his hand to her. “Let’s go swimming.”
“Race you,” she shouted and ran into the water. With a groan of sheer visceral pleasure she dived in, head first. The water was warm, a caress on her skin. Michael caught up with her, and together they stretched out in a brisk crawl.
Used to the ocean since she was a toddler, Nina was a strong swimmer. But Michael kept pace with her, his lean long body cleaving the water. Turning, they floated on their backs, holding hands, eyes lost in the blue sky dappled with cotton candy clouds. When they had enough, they turned and swam toward land. In shallow water they played, splashed and dunked each other, laughing and shouting.
“I feel like a grown kid.”
He cascaded water on her. “That’s because you are a grown kid.”
They half-walked, half-ran through the sand, falling out of breath onto the blanket.
Side by side, they lay on their backs in the sun. The heat and sound of the waves lapping against the shore filled Nina with contentment. The ocean always had a tranquilizing effect on her. During the years she lived in Annecy, far from her roots in Biarritz, she missed the ocean, sometimes resenting the mountains that arrested her view, often thinking they stole away the horizon.
Michael turned to her, his face serious. He put the palm of his hand against her cheek. “I want to ask you something.”
“Yes, ask me.”
“Yesterday I told you about the Rose Festival and my hopes of winning the prize ‘Rose of Roses’.”
She nodded, waiting for him to say more, eyes lost in his.
“By tradition, the winning rose has a Godmother. Like a Godmother, she pronounces the name, the one I’ve chosen.”
Nina smiled. “Sounds like the launching of a ship.”
“Something like it, yes. Would you be Godmother to my rose? If it wins the highest prize, would you announce its name?”
For a while she lay quiet, his hand warm against her face. “Michael, this is such a privilege and honor. I can’t believe you’re asking me. Are you sure? Isn’t there anybody else you’d rather invite to do the honors?”
“I’ve thought about this for a while. That night on your lanai, when we danced, I knew I wanted you to be the Godmother. You don’t have to answer right now if you’d rather think about it.” He turned on his back, pulling her close. “Take your time.”
“There’s nothing to think about, darling. I am overwhelmed that you should ask me, and proud to accept.”
He caught her hand as she started rummaging in her bag for a tissue. “Nina, please don’t cry.”
His voice was so pleading she smiled. “I won’t, I promise. I’ve never been Godmother to a rose before, I feel all sorts of emotions. Come to think of it, I’ve never been a Godmother at all.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels
of her hands. “You have to tell me exactly what I have to do. I don’t want to embarrass you by bungling it.”
“There’s a bit of a mystery involved. The name of the ‘Rose of Roses’ is a secret, until you pronounce it.”
“Why the secrecy?”
He shrugged. “To make it more interesting, I guess. It’s always been done this way. Only the President of the Festival and the rose grower—I hope me in this case—will know the name ahead of time. You’ll get a sealed envelope, inside is a printed card and you’ll read the text aloud. Then you pour water on the plant, and Bingo! It’s named.” Softly, tenderly, he kissed her lips and cradled her head on his shoulder while his other hand caressed her bare back, giving her goose bumps and pleasure shivers.
“Wonderful. It’s an honor. Thanks for asking me.”
“I’m glad I did. I wasn’t sure you’d accept, though. You’ve made this the happiest day for me. We were made for each other. I’m sure of it. Aren’t you?”
“Yes, darling, I’m sure.” She turned to take the sun on her back, moving closer, her arm against his.
When the heat became too much even for Nina, she stood. “I’m going for a swim. Care to join me?”
Standing, he stretched to his full length. “You bet, for other reasons than the heat.” His near naked body was taut against the sea and the sky, and she thought how beautiful he was, his body a study in harmony.
She glanced at him, chuckling. “What other reasons?”
He winked. “I’m thirsty. How about you?”
“Yes, me too.”
He walked to the cooler and lifted out a gallon of water. “Here, drink all you want.”
She drank, and although the water was a bit tepid by now it tasted wonderful in her parched mouth.
While Michael drank, she ran across the strip of sand into the ocean and cried out in pleasure as she dived into the next breaker, stretching out in a rhythmic crawl. I could swim to the end of the earth. Feeling strong and whole. Yes.
Turning, she headed for the shore, and waded to him as he stood in waist deep water. She threw herself into his arms, catching him off-guard. They lost their footing, went under, and surfaced sputtering and laughing. She couldn’t stop smiling; her cheek muscles pulled and kept stretching her mouth ever wider. “I love you. Tell me you’ll always love me.”
Life Is A Foreign Language Page 19
