Free Bird

by Amelia Oliver

  After kissing Sweetie goodbye early in the morning, we headed to the airport. I’d never flown before, of course Sven had with the military. He was surprised I’d never been on a plane, having come from money, but my dad preferred driving and we never went anywhere outside the connected states. Sven had never traveled for fun, so we’re like kids on Christmas morning, excited beyond belief, bouncing in our seats with the newness of it all.

  I’m also excited over the opportunity to be alone with Sven, something we aren’t often awarded since I left life with my parents. Sure, we spent the night together, but he rarely ever just grabbed me and kissed me in the house. I think it was more for Sweetie’s sake than anything. Regardless, I packed very small bikinis and dresses and didn’t bring a bra. After we finally arrive and receive the traditional leis, I see a man standing near the exit and holding a sign with our names written on it, and I look over at Sven with surprise.

  “What’s this?” I ask him.

  “Just be surprised, yeah?”

  I growl and pout my lips in a childish gesture. I hate being surprised. He slings his arm around me and we walk out into the warm, ocean-scented air. It’s night time now but I don’t care, I already know this place will be amazing. As we ride to the hotel in a luxurious town car, I can’t make out much through the windows, it’s too dark outside. A flame becomes visible ahead and as we drive closer, more come into view, with flame torches leading the way, the hotel comes into view. The building is gorgeous and modern. The floors are stacked with balconies, the shape of the actual hotel is geometric and I’ve never seen anything like it.

  The town car pulls up under a canopy and two men approach the car from the hotel. One opens the door beside me, while the other grabs the luggage from the trunk. I feel like a wide-eyed child as Sven takes my hand and we walk through the double doors of the hotel. Everything looks mod and sleek as the geometric style on the outside is also inside. A boxy styled desk is against the wall and Sven heads over to check us in, while I wander around the lobby. Warm, light-stained wood borders the walls, while the floors are an orange and brown tile laid out in patterns. The lobby leads down to a bar, which is encased by glass and a wall of windows that stretches the entire side of the hotel. I can see that when the sun’s up, the view will be of the ocean and can’t wait to see it tomorrow.

  “Ready?” Sven says, knocking me back into now as he takes my hand.

  I nod and bite my lip, smiling like a loon as he leads me toward a man who has our luggage on a shiny brass trolley. We follow him to gold elevators that have a square cut design on the face that flows to the inside of the car as well. I’ve never been anywhere like this or seen anything like this, and it doesn’t even feel real. Since I didn’t know where we were going, I had no expectations. Even if I did know, there’s no way I could’ve envisioned this. I notice we’re heading to the top floor and Sven squeezes my hand a little, leaning in to whisper in my ear.

  “I love seeing you excited,” he tells me.

  As I turn to face him, his other hand cups my cheek and he looks at my lips. The doors ding and the wheels of the cart move along the elevator floor and then are muffled as it hits carpet. The hallway is cream with gold sconces on the walls beside each door. I notice the doors are spaced out and wonder how big these rooms are, maybe suites? We all stop as the bellhop opens the door and pushes the cart in before us, Sven ushering me to enter before him.

  My jaw drops as I see the room. One wall is lined with windows and I know we’ll have the same view as the lobby. There’s a kitchen and dining room when you first enter, then there’s an interesting sitting area. The design is something I’ve never seen before and it takes my mind a moment to realize the logistics, that if you kept walking to the ledge and went over, you’d fall onto one of the couches. Couches that line an octagon shape where pillows are set up in clusters.

  Orange, red and purple carpet paint a pattern that’s large and practically signals you toward another room, the bedroom. The bed is massive, with white bedding and a headboard that has the same light wood like in the lobby. The same wood is used for the dresser and two chairs beside the wall of windows next to the bed. The bathroom attached has a massive sunken tub and a bath sounds perfect right about now. I hear Sven thank the bellhop and close the door, as I turn on the water for the tub and test the temperature before pulling my clothes off. Pulling my hair up into a messy French twist and securing it with a complimentary clip I find in one of the drawers, I turn and wait for him.

  “Well? What do you think?” he asks, his voice halting when he sees me naked. I turn to him and walk closer, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and kiss him.

  “This place is amazing. I can’t wait to see it in the daylight,” I whisper against his lips.

  He hums as his hands run down my back to grasp my butt and pull me against him.

  “Take a bath with me?” I ask at the same moment there’s a knock at the front door. “Who’s that?” I ask.

  “Must be the bellhop,” he tells me, pulling away, his eyes taking in my body before stepping back and kissing me once more while taking a tug of my nipple with his fingers. “I’ll be back,” he finally says as he leaves me.

  I gather a towel from the counter and notice fresh purple flowers in a bowl with some bath oils and other bath items. Removing the lid from the oil I inhale the coconut scent and pour a few drops into the bath water, along with the flowers. Soaking in the tub, I sigh as I lay back and immerse myself in the aromatic warm water. I relax with my eyes closed and make a note to call Gwen and let her know we’ve made it and to check on Sweetie. Eventually I realize Sven’s hasn’t returned and I wonder what’s going on. Getting out of the tub, I don’t even bother to dry off but instead throw on the white cotton robe hanging on the back of the door.

  “Sven?” I call out, exiting the bathroom and walking into the bedroom, retrieving lotion from the bag and slathering my skin.

  I call Gwen to check in as I rub lotion from my bag on my legs and she tells me Kendall’s asleep. We chat a little longer as I describe the room and how beautiful everything is. Once I hang up, after telling Gwen to assure Sweetie I’ll call back tomorrow, I don’t hear any sounds in the living room and Sven didn’t reply earlier when I called out. I figure he must be asleep on the couch or something and I quietly make my way out toward the living area, soft music playing registers as I walk closer. Dim light comes into view as I round the corner and see candles lit all around the room and food decorating the small table between the couches. A pop startles me from behind and I whirl around to see Sven standing there, champagne bottle in hand.

  “What?” I smile in surprise.

  “It’s our anniversary,” he tells me and my jaw slackens as shock triggers me and I realize this is around the first time we met.

  “Is it?” I tease.

  “To me it is,” he smiles, stepping closer and handing me two champagne flutes. While holding them up, he pours the bubbly liquid into each. We clink glasses and sip before I lean in and kiss him.

  “You smell nice,” he comments. “Hungry?”

  I turn as he walks beside me and then let him lead me down to the table. We both sit on the floor and my eyes scan the fondue set up. Cheese and chocolate sit in ceramic dishes atop candles and there are assorted bread cubes, along with fruits like mangos, bananas and kiwis. He hands me a fondue fork and I gladly take it, using it to spear a massive strawberry and dunk it in the melted chocolate. With Sven’s eyes on me, I make a show of how much I enjoy the treat. We share eye contact before he smiles and digs in also. I look out the massive windows and as my eyes adjust to the darkness, I see stars and the white caps from the waves as they crash along the shore.

  “I can’t wait to see the view in the morning,” I comment.

  “I’m sure it’s nowhere near as beautiful as you,” he tells me.

  I give him a little grin and feel his words pull in my belly.

  “Where was the most beautiful place you’
ve ever been to?” I ask.

  “Inside your perfect pussy.”

  “Sven!” I blurt out, covering my mouth full of pineapple and he smiles at me.

  “It’s true,” he shrugs.

  “I meant in your travels,” I swallow.

  He looks at his fondue fork in the cheese and says, “Vietnam was a beautiful place, really.”

  I nod, not meaning to sour the moment.

  “I think Plantain is, honestly. It’s so magical. Desert and greenery, it’s such a contradiction.

  We drink and eat and I feel myself getting intoxicated as we move out to the balcony to enjoy the breeze and more conversation. The last thing I remember is Sven kissing me, his hand sliding into the front of my robe and me saying, “I think I’m drunk…can I go to sleep now?”

  When I do wake, soft sunlight is painted over the ocean and the sky as it rises out of sight from where I am. I inhale the scent of sea and tropical flowers. Sven’s lying beside me, naked and uncovered by the white sheet. His cock is limp and lays along his hip. One of his arms is draped over his eyes, and his heads turned away from me.

  Reaching over, I slide my palm softly down his shaft, watching his thigh muscles flex and tighten. He inhales and stirs, groaning a moment later as he becomes awake and realizes what I’m doing. Then, he rolls over and kisses me, slow and languid kisses.

  “You smell so fucking good,” he repeats his words from last night before inhaling deeply again, I can still smell the bath oil on my skin too.

  His hips rest between my parted legs, while his lips kiss down my neck and cause my back to arch.

  “Why haven’t you gotten pregnant from me yet?”

  His question has me blinking open my eyes, looking down as he draws a nipple into his mouth.

  “Because I’m on birth control pills,” I state, which is something I thought he knew. Did he really think that after one unplanned pregnancy I’d be sexually active without precautions?

  “Well stop,” he tells me, looking up to meet my eyes. My mouth opens to begin the conversation, but his mouth stops mine with a kiss.

  I know he wants kids, a future, and I don’t want to ruin this moment by letting reality of all that destroy this moment.

  **

  After we make love, we eat breakfast on a balcony off the living room I didn’t see the night before. Sven tells me to put beach gear on because he’s taking me somewhere.

  Sure enough, as we enter the main lobby, the view is as spectacular as I predicted. Ocean and sky fill my eyes and I just want to look at the view all day. But Sven leads me to a Jeep parked out front where we came in last night. At first, I think it’s a taxi, so I wait for the driver, but Sven gets in the driver’s seat.

  “What? Where are we going?” I ask, getting in the passenger side.

  “Stop, be surprised, yeah?” he tells me, mischief in his eyes.

  I let out a long breath and roll my eyes playfully, and he tweaks my nose.

  “Just drive the car,” I tell him, smacking his hands away.

  He takes me through a booming downtown area near the hotel that looks peppered with little shops and restaurants, but he keeps driving and I barely get to see what’s there.

  “We can go there on our way back,” he tells me, slipping sunglasses on as I do the same and we begin down a road near the cliffs. The traffic lessens and buildings become non-existent.

  “How do you know where we’re going?”

  “Some friends told me about this place,” he answers.

  “What friends?” I prod, turning to look at him.

  The windows are down, the wind is blowing our hair around us, and The Doobie Brother’s “Long Train Running” plays on the radio. He looks at me for a moment, before shrugging in a non-answer.

  “How do you know them?”

  His hand tightens on the top of the steering wheel but he answers me in a relaxed tone. “Vietnam…they were in Vietnam with me.”

  Feeling heaviness in my heart, not only for the war, but because I know without really knowing that Sven changed because of it. Moving closer, I take his hand and link our fingers together. I want nothing more than to just have fun and enjoy this time with my man. He told me once that he’d been out in the world and it wasn’t that great, that he wanted simple, and a fun day in the sun was simple and something I wanted too. Eventually, we stop after driving through a tree lined area and I see it: a waterfall and natural spring. There’s no one here, but I see a sign for a state park and the rules. This is too good to be true, and I give Sven a wide smile before leaning over and kissing him.

  We spend hours in the water, jumping in and splashing around. Making love on the shore and laying in the sun since we’re the only people here and feel like we’re the only people in the world. It’s perfect and I feel its just what we needed to reconnect since our break months ago. Sven told me we didn’t break-up, that he knew we were meant to be together and that it was just time apart. He said we might need to do it again sometime, but to never doubt that no matter what, we’d find our way back to one another.

  Sven packed some snacks but, by the afternoon, I’m hungry and need to eat. So as promised, we got dressed and as we drove back to the hotel, stopped in the downtown. The smell of the ocean and the flowers in the air, just makes me giddy. We find a little place and sit outside as we order lunch and talk some more.

  “I have something for you to do today,” Sven tells me the next morning as we lay naked in bed together.

  “Hmmm?” I ask, still dazed from an orgasm that just rocked me moments ago.

  He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses each finger. “There’s a place in the hotel where they’ll massage you and pamper you. I’ve made an appointment for you. I want you to relax and enjoy it, then meet me downstairs for dinner tonight.”

  I look over at him, my heart swelling from the sweet gesture. Rolling onto my front, I run my fingers through his beard and kiss his shoulder.

  “Thank you,” I smile.

  His rough palm and fingers caress the side of my face. “Anything for you Mama.”

  “And what are you gonna do today?” I ask.

  “Not sure, maybe hang out by the pool,” he shrugs.

  “Well, make sure to call Sweetie at some point today, she’s bummed she hasn’t gotten to talk to you since we’ve been here.”

  “Yeah, I will,” he replies. I move closer to kiss his lips.

  “I wanna have a baby with you,” he states.

  I swallow and look down at his lips. Nerves and something else flutter in my gut. Trepidation. Part of me fears that he says that now, but when he realizes a baby is harder than a toddler, he’ll bolt, leaving me partnerless and my kids fatherless.

  “Sven,” I begin and inhale.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he stops me. “I just wanted it out there. I don’t need a lecture or you pissin’ on my parade. Just understand me.”

  I feel bad because that’s exactly what I was going to do and I feel guilty for always mentioning the truth, the hard truth. I know he envisions life as a fairytale, that if we create a bubble for ourselves, we can live in it and not worry about anything. So, rather than being selfish, I give him a smile and nuzzle my head under his chin.

  Sven wasn’t lying when he said I’d be pampered, massages, oil treatments, hair treatments, manicure and pedicure. They even did some sort of process to my legs, arm pits and between my legs that made my hair there disappear. I didn’t ask questions, just enjoyed it and the champagne. By the time I left to go back to the room, I felt fragrant, soft and feminine.

  I was anticipating seeing Sven and I could maybe convince him to skip the dinner part, but he’s not there when I arrive. Entering the bedroom, there’s a white dress laid out on the bed. It’s a simple silky wrap dress, and it’s beautiful. Putting the dress on and looking in the mirror, I notice my tits look great and I know Sven will be able to tell I’m braless. I decide on no panties either because I like how the material feels on my now hairless skin,
making me feel even more sexy. When I put on my strappy heels, I like how the dress parts at the side of one leg when I walk, showing a lot of skin. The phone ringing beside the bed startles me and I answer, expecting it to be Gwen and Sweetie.

  “Are you ready for me?” Sven asks over the line, his voice low. The tone has between my legs tingling.

  “Yes,” I reply huskily.

  “I’m waiting for you in the restaurant, take your time,” he tells me.

  Hanging up the receiver and heading for the door, I notice a bouquet of flowers on the dining table and pick a large orange lily from the bunch, tucking it behind my ear. My stomach is a bundle of anxiety and excitement, wanting to see Sven and him to see me. The restaurant is packed and piano music floats through the air, accompanied by low chatter and tinkling of dinnerware. My eyes search for Sven. When I see him sitting at a table right beside the massive windows that look out to the ocean, I feel my pulse explode and take off like I’ve been running a marathon. Without my brain noticing, my legs begin to move me toward him. His eyes on me, soaking into my soul, coaxing me, guiding me. I know he likes what he sees, and I love the way he’s watching me. As I get closer, he stands and I see what he’s wearing. He’s dressed nicely in slacks and a dress shirt, and I wonder if he brought these clothes or bought them here. Reaching out a hand, mine slips inside his and instantly we move closer. Arms slide and move to hold and press as he kisses the side of my head.

  “I love you in white,” he whispers in my ear. His breath tickling me, and causing goosebumps.

  “I love it, thank you,” I reply, pulling back and stepping away to sit.

  He moves quickly to pull my chair out and I sit, as he scoots it in. I haven’t been to a nice restaurant since leaving Mississippi and, although not a necessity, it’s a nice treat. Sven had ordered us two beers and they come to the table moments after I sit. We clink glasses and toast to a fun trip. He also orders us lobster and I wonder what the occasion is but I fight the temptation to ask.

  After dessert, Sven asks if I want to go for a walk on the beach, which of course I do. The hotel has lit torches peppering the coastline, for what seems like miles, as we walk. The waves crash beside me as we walk hand in hand and hold our shoes in our free hands. Sven suggests we sit and we choose a spot near one of the torches, the sand cool as I run my fingers through it, watching the white caps of the waves come in. The stars are shining bright and this place really is magical.