Jewel Ann - Idle Bloom

He sits up never letting go of my lips until he pulls my shirt off. I moan with the touch of his mouth on my breasts, arching my back into him. He fists my hair and tugs hard while assaulting every inch of my skin from breasts to lips. I lace my fingers through his hair and rock my pelvis against him. A vague memory of my intentions to deny him as a punishment fades into oblivion as he leans me back on the couch and removes his boxer briefs. He doesn’t wait. The animal in Oliver takes over. Pushing my right knee up toward my shoulder he sinks into me. We both moan.

He pauses, looking at me with such intensity, then pulls back and slams into me, over and over. I want this feeling to last, but my body is in desperate search for a release and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I bite my bottom lip with blood-drawing intensity and thrash my head back and forth willing myself to hold on just a little bit longer. Oli takes my hand and sticks my fingers in his mouth, sucking them and swirling his tongue around them. Then he moves my hand between us. I circle my fingers, slick with his saliva, over my clitoris. Closing my eyes I imagine it’s his tongue. He picks up his pace and my fingers circle faster. His lips find mine and we both fall over the edge together, our moans muffled and captured by our deep kiss.

“I love you … just so … completely.”

His words grab me and hold me in another dimension that’s beyond the reach of the rest of the world. It’s our world where time stands still, yet together we grow and connect, our love intertwining into something so beautiful.

“My love for you, Oli, has no depths. It’s effortless and forever,” I whisper with tears in my eyes. The emotional impact of the night has caught up to the moment, and the infinite love I have for Oliver is overwhelming.

Bliss … it’s all I see in his soft, endearing smile. We cocoon ourselves in the blanket and fall asleep. Our paths to each other have been brutal and unforgiving, but I would do it all over again if it meant I’d end up in these same arms.

Oliver

Rosenberg came to visit two weeks ago … and he’s still here. Vivian’s parents were going to be out of town for the weekend to celebrate their anniversary. I’ve offered to drive Rosenberg back to Hartford, but Vivian hasn’t wanted me to go without her, and she’s been too busy to go. She also hasn’t moved back in yet. However, she’s been kind enough to leave Rosenberg with me to keep me company. How thoughtful!

When she’s not working at the greenhouse, she’s helping Alex and her mom plan for the wedding. I can’t help but wonder if Vivian has the white gown ’til-death-do-us-part dream. She’s never mentioned it and neither have I. My life is still preoccupied with the demons behind that door that’s still locked. Hence the reason Vivian is not living here.

Then there’s the incessant phone calls and texts from Doug, pleading with me to come to Portland. Most of the time I let it go to voicemail, but as of lately, I’ve been answering just to tell him to stop calling, then I hang up. His persistence and the desperate tone of his pleas cinches the already existent knot in my stomach. I feel like he’s a ticking bomb ready to ruin my life like his daughter tried to do.

“Rosenberg? Oli?” Vivian calls, and in that order, as I pull the lasagna out of the oven. That fluff ball rates way above me; it’s pathetic and embarrassing.

“He’s on the couch licking his balls.”

She comes up behind me and slides her hands up under the front of my shirt. “And you?”

“I can’t bend that far. I tried the other day, hoping you’d love me as much as the mutt, but I just can’t quite reach.”

She giggles with her lips pressed to my back. “I mean what are you doing?”

“Making dinner.”

She rakes her nails down my chest as I slice the French loaf. “I can see that, silly. It just looks like a lot of food for the two of us.”

“I know, we’re having company.”

“Oh, who?”

“Your parents. They’re taking Rosenberg home tonight since you’ve been too busy to go with me to take him back.”

I glance over my shoulder to see the look on her face. Wide eyes and a gaping mouth … just as I suspected.

“You called them? About Rosenberg?”

“I called them to see if they wanted to have dinner with us. I just assume they’ll take Rosenberg home with them. Why wouldn’t they?”

“I … well … it’s just …”

I turn and lean against the counter with my arms crossed over my chest. “You seem to be stammering. Do you have something to tell me?”

She releases a heavy sigh. “Rosenberg is my dog. I was supposed to bring him with me when I moved to Cambridge, but I couldn’t have him at Alex’s since I wasn’t living there, so to speak, and my parents have been asking for the past two years when I’m going to take him. My dad’s threatened to drop him off at the local shelter and I don’t think he really would, but some days I’m not so sure.”

She’s not giving me a press release. When we picked Rosenberg up two weeks ago I had this feeling he wouldn’t be returning home. It may have been the two thirty-pound bags of dog food, or all three of his little beds, or the large basket filled with every toy he owns that filled my car. Regardless, there were red flags everywhere and I’m not as stupid as Vivian apparently thinks I am.

“So he’s staying here?”

She nods.

“Indefinitely?”

Another nod.

“So you live with Alex and Rosenberg lives with me?”

Shrug. Pause. And finally … another nod.

I turn back around and start chopping lettuce for the salad. “Well, then it’s a good thing that my parents are the ones coming for dinner and not yours.”

“Oliver Konrad!” Her voice shrieks behind me. “You tricked me, set me up just to watch me squirm.”

“Wow, it must feel maddening to have someone trick you into something. I can’t imagine what that must feel like.”

Vivian smacks my ass.

“Damn, woman! You’re always asking for it.” I set the knife down and lunge for her. She squeals and runs into the living room. The only thing separating us is the couch with her fluff ball on it yippity-yapping.

“It was just a joke. I was being playful.”

Her plea for leniency falls on deaf ears. “I know. I like jokes, and I like to play too.”

Vivian’s eyes dart from left to right. It’s a fun cat and mouse game. I’m toying with her because she has no idea that I could hurdle this couch and have her pinned to the floor before she could so much as blink.

“You’re burning the bread!”

I look behind me and she Carl Lewises her way around to the entry. I’m on her tail, chastising myself for being so gullible with her burning-bread decoy.

“Oli!” she screams just as the doorbell rings. Leaping toward the door, she opens it and squeezes outside hiding behind my unsuspecting parents. They look at each other then at me.

“Mouse in the house?”

“Not a mouse! Oliver’s trying to spank me.”

Oh, for the love of Pete! Why is she always sharing this information with my parents?

“Oliver.” My dad cocks his head to the side while my mom purses her lips to control her grin.

They step inside, still shielding Vivian from me. “This is odd behavior considering we never spanked you when you were a child.” My mom puts her arm around Vivian.

I squint at Vivian wearing her smirky face, all huddled into my mom. “I have to finish up with dinner. Help yourselves to some wine or beer.”