He walked up from behind and put his arms around her shoulders, lifting one finger to her lips in that universal sign.

"Shhh!"

She immediately stopped wiping the plate dry.

"What?" she whispered.

He brought his mouth down close to her right ear. Close enough that she could feel his breath caress the lobe. "Do you hear that?"

"WHAT?" she whispered. Her ear was tingling pleasantly, but what was this about a strange sound?

He moved his head so that his mouth was now hovering next to her left ear. His breath teased her ear to a tingle. "That's the sound of two consenting adults alone in an empty house."

She relaxed in his arms, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't recognize it at first." She finished wiping the plate dry.

He gently took her hand and guided it down to the counter top where she released the plate voluntarily. "Me neither. Should we do something about all this silence?"

She tossed the dishtowel onto the plate and backed up against his chest, bringing her hands up to rest on his arms as he held her. She let her head fall back to rest on his wide shoulder as his mouth came down to plant tiny sucking kisses from her ear lobe to the base of her neck. Little currents of electricity ran through her with each kiss and the first tiny fingers of arousal began to fan out through her body.

"Back in the day, you used to make me scream."

He leaned back and gently nudged her head to the other shoulder, continuing his feather-light assault on the other side of her neck.

She felt the tell-tale bulge rub against her backside as he shifted his weight.

"I still can. It's the kids that quieted you."

"The kids that quieted me have left for summer camp," she said.

He brought his mouth back up to her ear and whispered, "Mmmhmm. I bet I can make you scream again..."

"I'd like that."

He pulled his arms away and down, resting his hands on her hips then tucking the thumbs up under the fabric of her white t-shirt. His open hands swept lightly up her ribcage pulling the fabric up with them and came to rest cupping her breasts, his thumbs teasing and stroking her nipples erect through the thin fabric of her satin bra. She moaned quietly and leaned back into him a little more, pressing against his erection and reveling in his touch. His hands shifted to the center and unclipped the tiny clasp between her breasts. He slipped his hands underneath, and, as she raised her arms he pulled both the bra and the t-shirt up and off, discarding them on the counter next to the towel and plate.

"This is so unfair..."

She turned and smiled seductively up at him, gazing into his eyes as she reached up to unbutton his shirt. When all of the buttons were undone she slipped her hands up under the front of his collar and ran them down the tops of his shoulders, brushing the shirt off and down his arms in one fluid caress, tossing it onto the counter next to her things. Turning back to him she moved into his embrace, running her arms around his midsection and tilting her head up, lips open, surrendering to his mouth and yielding to his tongue. The touch of his stiff curly chest hair made her already erect nipples rock-hard. The glowing heat in her abdomen intensified.

They kissed like that - naked to the waist in the middle of the kitchen - for several long minutes, taking it slowly for the first time in months. They were lost in caressing each other, savoring every touch and taste and smell. He reluctantly pulled his lips away from hers and whispered, "I'm not sure I can make it to the bedroom."

"I'm not sure I can either... wanna cook in the kitchen tonight?"

"Is there a special recipe you had in mind?"

"I thought I'd see what I have on-hand, maybe do something special with it..."

"Now don't get fancy, just some meat in a nice sauce maybe? Some nice, simple home cooking."

She giggled, "That sounds good, I'm definitely hungry for meat..." she reached down, slipped the tips of her fingers in between the waist of his jeans and his bare skin, and unbuttoned them. "Do you know where I can find a nice hot dog at this time of night?"