Free Bachelor Mother by Elda Minger

still applies. Nothing that happens up here is going to affect my feelings toward you.”
    She cleared her throat and continued. “It’s just that I know you’ve had a lot of experience and you might think that if you took enough time something would happen, but I don’t think so. I just… I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Phillip used to tell me I was cold.”
    She felt his hand tighten on her shoulder momentarily but she didn’t look up.
    “I don’t want you worrying about a thing, Mel. Let me take care of it, okay?”
    “Okay.”
    The mattress squeaked again as he got up and turned off the light. He walked over to the window and drew the curtains. Mel looked everywhere but at him, a part of her still not quite sure how she and Bubba had got here. There was a dreamlike quality to the evening. Reality hadn’t set in yet.
    He clicked off the bathroom light and the room was plunged into darkness. She heard him go to the door and shut it firmly. Even thought the room was dark, she closed her eyes. She could sense his presence in the room, knew a split second before he sat down on the bed next to her.
    “Do you want to take off your clothes or do you want my help?” he asked.
    She appreciated his sensitivity. “I’ll do it myself.”
    She could hear him turning down the bedspread and sheets as she stepped out of her jeans and pulled her sweater over her head. Her hands moved to the fastening of her bra but her fingers hesitated. Deciding she wanted to have the cover of bed sheets before she took the plunge, Mel lifted up the sheets on her side and slid into bed.
    She could hear Bubba sliding in on the other side and closed her eyes again for one split second. There’s no going back now.
    “Mel? Give me your hand.”
    She did and felt his firm warm fingers close around it and gently pull her against him. His other arm came around her shoulders slowly. Then he was easing her against his hard, warm body. He kept pulling her against him until the tips of her silk-covered breasts rested against his chest.
    “That’s some nice underwear you have on,” he whispered softly.
    “Thanks.”
    “I like the way it feels.”
    Bubba was truly a sensualist. He was the only man she knew who took physical pleasure in an active life. He’d been quite the jock in high school and Mel knew he was comfortable inside his body.
    At least one of us is.
    She started slightly as his hand ran lightly over her shoulder, then he dug his fingers into her tense muscles. He didn’t tell her to relax and she was grateful for that. Bubba simply began to massage her shoulder, slowly working out the kinks. It felt good. Mel began to relax, began to lean into his warmth and accept his touch.
    After several minutes he pressed gently so she rolled over on her stomach. He dug his fingers into both her shoulders and she took a deep breath. Whatever he was doing, it felt good. He gave her a complete back massage, running his hands over the muscles, releasing some of the tension in her body.
    She was barely aware of the moment when his hands moved to the fastening of her bra but suddenly her back was bare and he was rubbing it, pressing the heels of his hands against her muscles and giving her firm, long strokes. A soft moan escaped her and she immediately tensed.
    He didn’t say anything when he finished, simply lay back down beside her and drew her into his arms. She felt that she was melting. Her body felt so pliable, as if she didn’t have a will of her own. Mel didn’t protest as she felt the silken scrap of her bra slowly removed from her body.
    There was a moment of silence. Their faces were close together, so close she could feel the warmth of his mint-scented breath on her face. She tiled her head back across his arm and it felt good to stretch her neck. Bubba seemed poised on the brink of something. Waiting.
    Then she felt him trace the contours of her face gently with a finger, turning her mouth intimately close to his. She knew he