Free Love Unfurled by Janet Eckford Page A

tongue and fingers that causes my body to clench and release with pleasure. The rough texture of the scruff he’s growing on his face skims against my inner thighs, and I don’t know if I’ve ever felt anything better. He’s so good it scares me because I don’t want to like it too much. I don’t want to fool myself into believing that our lusty interludes could ever evolve into lovely moments.
    He pauses in his ministrations and whispers words of praise and gratitude to the most intimate part of my body and I’m lost. All it takes is a slight brush of the very tip of his tongue and I come in great waves of pleasure, and it is bliss.
    “Beautiful,” he whispers looking at me as he rises.
    Rubbing his thumb against my bottom lip I feel him staring and that fluttery feeling from earlier has found its way back inside of me.
    “Still up for that drive?” I ask with a smirk.
    He leans in and presses against my body and gently whispers in my ear, “How about breakfast too?”
    I laugh as I nuzzle my lips against his neck and think, maybe this could be a lovely moment after all.
     

II
     
    “Shit,” I sigh as the pot boils over.
    I had grand plans for tonight. I wanted our first Valentine’s Day as a couple to be perfect when Joel got home after being away on location for so long, but as I look at the disaster that is the kitchen I scramble to think of what to order from take out. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway sends me into a frenzy because I realize he’s home early. 
    Tears prickle at the corners of my eyes and I want to slap myself for being so silly. Get it together girl, I chastise myself. Realizing that the kitchen is a lost cause, I turn off the stove and sprint out of the room and down the hall to our bedroom. It’s been a year since we’d moved in together but I still get a fluttery feeling in my stomach whenever I thought of anything as “ours”.
    “Elisa,” he calls out as he comes through the front door.
    I sprint into our bathroom and try desperately to get the remnants of food off of my face and…dear God, how the hell did I get it in my hair. A great ball of hysteria threatens to take over as I pluck at a bit of food tangled in one of my unruly brown curls.
    “Fuck it.” I grimace at the reflection of myself in the mirror and run back into our room.
    I stop at the sight of Joel standing in our doorway. He’s holding a bouquet of wild flowers and wearing a silly grin. I don’t know why but watching him standing there makes me nervous because I realize just how much I’ve missed him while he was gone, and that scares me. I also realize that I’m still wearing my ratty housedress and not the sexy little black dress I’d planned on, and I sink down on our bed with a sigh.
    “I was hoping I’d get a better greeting than this,” he says dryly as he walks into the room.
    “You’re early,” I reply in an accusatory tone.
    “Once again, hoping for a better greeting.”
    He plops next to me on the bed and waves the flowers in my face. I’m really gone now and those foolish tears I fought off earlier work to claim a space in the corners of my eyes, threatening to flood my face.
    “Hey, babe, what’s with the tears?” he coos as he wraps his arm around my shoulder.
    “This isn’t how I planned it. I was going to wow you with my culinary skills, whilst seducing you in this sexy little black dress I’d bought for tonight,” I sniffle and twist the fabric of my housedress in my hands.
    The sound of his laughter doesn’t help my mood and I snatch the flowers he bought me out of his hand and hit him with them. He grabs my wrist before I can swipe him again and pins me under him on the bed. I look into his laughing eyes that are equal parts mischief and warmth, and I chuckle. I can never stay mad at him for long.
    “I’m definitely hungry but not for something that can come out of the kitchen, and you know you’re always sexy to me, no matter what you’re wearing,” he