Free Deeper Illusions by Annie Jocoby Page B

entertwined in my hair. He nibbled my earlobe, while I stroked his back and bit his neck. I tongued the hollow of his collarbone, and grabbed ahold of his hand, and sucked his fingers gently. He sighed, and hesitated briefly, before his thrusting came harder, more insistent. All of our grieving and stress was being relieved in this cathartic experience. Both of us had been laid low and humiliated, yet, here we were, enchanted with one another, exactly as if nothing had happened to intrude into our perfect world.
    In the back of my mind, I knew that this moment was all we had, and that we would have to return to earth as soon as it was over.
    I willed it to last forever.
    As it was, it did last several hours, with us kissing passionately and slowly making love. It was all so…engrossing. Beautifully engrossing. Mesmerizing. We were completely in tune with one another again, and it was like nothing else was in the world but that. We didn’t speak any words, just communicated with our eyes and our touch. That would have to be enough for now. It was our form of escapism, I knew. But it was just so loving and r eal, that it didn’t really feel like escaping.
    It just felt like love.
    After we made love, we lay there on the bed, still not talking. I was afraid to say anything that would possibly break the spell. He kissed me lightly on the forehead, and spoke. “Thank you for that. It was just what I needed before seeing…him.”
    I nodded, not saying a word.
    Then Sarah was knocking on the door. “Hey, you guys, it’s dinner time,” she said.
    We made our way out to the sunny terrace that was on the side of the enormous home. Sarah was there with Cori and Alice and Henry. Henry was a mischievous looking scamp, with choppy dark hair and a slight weight problem. He was missing his front tooth. Alice was just like her mother, in looks, anyhow. Slender, blonde, precious.
    They both eyed me suspiciously.
    Henry spoke “Hi, Uncle Ryan. What’s this I hear about you being gay? And why are you with a woman, anyhow?”
    Ryan flushed scarlet. Sarah shot the kid a look, but he just shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not a big deal,” he said. “A lot of kids at school have gay parents and stuff.”
    Oh, geez. How to explain bisexuality to a child? I was well aware that kids in Henry’s liberal school were learning tolerance for gay people, but, as far as I knew, they weren’t learning much about bisexuals.
    Ryan decided to tackle the issue as if Henry was an adult. “Henry, I am very much in love with Aunt Iris, here,” he said, putting his arm around me. “But I also have a guy whom I love as well.”
    Henry narrowed his eyes. Alice stayed mute through the whole exchange, although I did see her kick her brother under the table. “How can that be?” he asked. “We haven’t learned about this in school yet.”
    “Well, maybe you should,” Ryan said. “You’re what, 10? You’re going to meet others like me, so you should just be prepared for that.”
    The n Alice finally chimed in. At 8 years old, she seemed wiser than her older brother, probably because she chose to keep her mouth shut. “Shut up, Henry. Let Uncle Ryan love who he wants, and don’t judge him about it.”
    I smiled. My first instinct was correct about Alice. She was precocious beyond her age.
    Henry just shrugged, and started yammering about baseball. Neither kid seemed remotely interested in me, and who I was.
    However, after the dinner, before they went to bed, Alice came up and gave me a hug. I hugged her back, and she looked up at me and said “You are so much better than the other one.”
    I smiled. “That’s what I heard.”
    “Did you really rescue pit bulls?”
    “I sure did,” I said.
    “That’s so cool. I want one so bad, but mom just wants Cori. She says she doesn’t need another dog, but I would really love one. Maybe you can drop one off the next time you’re here?” The little girl was dead serious about this.
    “Uh, your mom