Chapter 3

"Your first?" she echoed, a smile playing about those kissable lips. I nodded, then yielded to that desire, planting my mouth on hers. She sucked my lower lip inside her moth, biting it lightly as if to try and make this moment, these sensations, more real. Releasing me from between her teeth, she sighed, snuggling against me. "But why, baby? You're handsome. You could have any girl. Why settle for little old me?"

Pride warred with a sudden burst of anger at her self-depreciation. The latter one, saving me from myself. I tilted her face up to meet mine, slipping her glasses off and sliding them onto her nightstand. I wanted nothing, not even those clear lenses, to come between us. Far-sighted, she blinked owlishly; I knew I had just become a blur. My hands roved across her body, caressing her womanly curves, exploring the mounds and hollows of her flesh as I spoke.

"I know it sounds silly, mom. But I wanted ... well, to wait. You know, for the right one." She blushed, chancing a smile. I pressed on, eager to make her see herself the way I saw her, desperate for her to understand her beauty, her power over me. I barely dared to whisper what came next.

"I found her. I found you," I explained, pouring all my love for her into that single word. She sobbed, breaking down into quiet tears. Hardly the reaction I had hoped to elicit from her with that confession. I held her whilst she shuddered, wiped her tears away, and told her that I loved her, wanted her- needed her.

Finally, she stopped crying, though she continued to sniffle. I held her tenderly, murmuring sweet nothing in her ear. Despite her nearness, her nakedness, I remained soft; as much as I wanted that perfect body, I now knew what I truly craved; her heart, her spirit. I wanted her smile, her laugh, the power in those sea-green eyes. I whispered that to her, feeling her heart slow its pace under my hands. And with that, I was struck by sudden inspiration. I clasped one of her hand in my own, guided it to my chest, over my own heart.

"It's yours, mom. Yours and no-one else's. Now and forever." She bowed her head, then peered back up at me, a bright smile lighting up her tearstained face. She kissed me again, then tightened her grip on me, pulling us together as though she wished she could melt into me. We lay there, tangled in a lover's embrace, for long moments before I at last drew back.

I brushed an errant lock of hair back behind her ear. "I love your hair," I began. "Dark brown, fertile like the earth itself. Your eyes," I continued, "deep green pools I could happily lose myself in. Your button nose, your full lips, your freckles." I cupped her breast, flicking my thumb across the dark expanse of aureole, bringing the nipple erect. "The breasts that sucked me." My hands slid lower, searching out the opening between her legs. "The place that birthed me. That perfect, perfect place."

I left my hand there, rubbing gently at her sex. She mewled softly, as if to encourage me. "Your hips, those long, long legs. They go all the way up to heaven, you know," I added with a wink. She giggled, hanging on my praise. I sighed, carefree. "You are beautiful, mom. Even if I could choose any one, you're the only woman for me. I see that now. I just wish I'd seen it before, that I'd been able to make you feel beautiful before."

She licked her lips, drawing in a deep breath. "Oh, baby," she whispered. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." I withdrew my fingers from between her legs, leaving slick trails on her skin as I hugged her to me. She gasped, as if fighting to say something. "I ... I love you, baby." I could have stood and screamed in exultation. But I didn't. Instead, I tilted her face up to meet mine, brushed my lips against hers, and whispered my love back to her. She shuddered a few more times, sobbed, shed a handful of tears, and then relaxed against me, asleep in my arms.