Free Until the End of Time by Nikki Winter Page A

the gentle waves,
meeting the wide smile of Sansone from where he
floated on his back. She barked out another laugh. “If we tied a cloth napkin
to that, I think we could set sail and make it back to Tahiti without a problem
or ferry costs.”
    His answer was a splash aimed at her face. She ducked
around it easily, turning over so she could follow his lazy pace. Closing her
eyes to the moon, Nyssa allowed herself a moment to drift out of reach. She was
going to miss this. The calmness she’d discovered here; a thing that she hadn’t
even known she was in need of until Sansone made it
so. He’d known. It didn’t matter the
origin of the idea. He could have paid it absolute dust and continued on.
Instead he’d made the effort to misplace her discomforts and doubts in paradise.
For that, she loved him more than words could express.
    Nyssa wasn’t self-ignorant. She knew she was a
control freak of the highest order. She could be difficult and reclusive. She
could bury her issues, impatiently waiting for the day that they finally
resurfaced. And yet, he’d snatched the reins from her—despite her desire
to withhold them—and forced her into this incredible bubble of joy that
she couldn’t shake. The lack of worry from the outside world, it helped. It
simply, honestly helped. Here, she didn’t consider timetables or ovulation
cycles.
    The fact that he’d requested a ban on all things baby
had stung initially. Then she’d slowly come to the realization as to why. Just as
he’d so wonderfully pointed out a few mornings ago, she thought too goddamn
much. About everything and nothing at all. That was
what had landed them in an eight-year friendship to begin with. Nyssa couldn’t
get her head out of her own ass. It had seemed to be an entirely too
comfortable place to rest it. As opposed to blurting out what she felt and
letting the chips fall, she’d hidden away, only to come forward in a
subconscious move that required liquid courage. All of this was a result of her
aversion to being open with her best friend.
    The same best friend that had taken her on incredible
adventures over the last few days. After whale watching there had been paddle
boarding on the lagoon—completed with a picnic on the beach that ended in
extremely inappropriate behavior, almost getting them fined .
Following the next day was an ATV race where a wager had been made on some
pretty filthy promises. The fun continued with a trip to Belvedere Lookout
where Nyssa had found herself in the backseat of their mid-sized sedan of a
rental, straddling Sansone while he rocked her into a
shuddering orgasm. That was
frustrating considering how he still refused to give in and enter her.
    She’d felt like a teenage virgin again; a rocket of
repressed sexual needs that couldn’t be met. A Tiki village
dinner and dance show led to one too many drinks—which led to Nyssa on
stage in a grass skirt with several others. Apparently with enough cocktails
she had no problem following tribal drumming while her spouse whistled from the
crowd and occasionally yelled, “Come back to my bungalow with me! My wife’s
into that!” To this she replied, “Will I be paid properly? To be honest, I
haven’t done a couple in a while and I’m a bit rusty.”
    They really were absolutely insane. She adored that
about them. The comfort in being as ridiculous as she desired without an ounce
of judgment from her nut of a husband. Hence her inspiration
to skinny dip at a crazy hour. She’d grown restless with her own book
before deciding that yes, she could enjoy
something else senselessly pleasing. The last few days had been filled to the
brim with nothing but every silly activity they could complete and she’d never
been happier. It felt so good to just be. Sadly, she understood that inevitably they’d have to leave their utopia to
return to the mental pressure of everything they’d left behind. Including the
elephant that they hadn’t packed up to bring.
    Fingertips