A Birthday Wish Come True 2.

“I’d have thought they would be well into it now.”

“Oh, yeah – they’ve been working on it for over a year now, but the number of programs they’ve got running is enormous! They don’t so much need skilled programmers to deduce how to solve their problems, they just need people who know Cobol and can make the changes they’ve figured out, and they need *lots* of them! Van Heyn came looking to get our entire class. And Mutual of Omaha is fairly desperate – they’re paying us handsomely for something that’s only slightly more challenging than data-entry.”

“You’re getting paid right out of school? No probationary period?” Nadine snuggled up next to him as they looked down on the frozen stream.

“Well, I think I got slightly more than the rest for my good deed to Mr. Van Heyn, but they’re paying me! I got enough of a signing bonus to take a vacation and buy you a car. They’ll accommodate all of us for free – the whole class jumped at the offer – provide each with a car for transportation, and a nice per diem for food and entertainment. I won’t even TOUCH my paychecks; they’ll go straight into the bank!”

“But you’re Canadian, what about work visas?”

“They’ve done all the paperwork; I’ll have to renew myself after six months, but all the hassle has been taken care of.”

“Sounds great!”

“Yes, and I start as soon as I can. Here’s the clincher: I’m working on contract – I work with them for the rest of 1998 and we see what happens then.”

Nadine looked worried. “So you could leave at the end of that.”

“No, so I could start my own consulting business wherever I wished…like maybe Geneva, Nebraska. I signed the deal Friday and started packing. I landed in Hastings last night.” He leaned over and kissed his lover on the lips, and the kiss lasted for as long as they could manage.

Nadine pulled him into her arms and replied, “You given me the best birthday present you could; thank you.” Her eyes started to glisten under her glasses.

“I honestly couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to do. You are the most important thing in my life, honey.” Mikel’s voice began to crack.

They held each other for another few moments and then lay back onto the blanket. They kissed again, and their mouths wandered; her lips massaged his cheek. He started to whisper to her: “Iloveyou-Iloveyou-ohGODIloveyou…” Mikel ran his hand down her arm, gloved fingertips massaging her muscles through the coat, reaching her hands. Their hands locked together, and he rolled Nadine onto her back, spreading her legs with his knees.

“No, Mikel – please.”

He shifted position without skipping a beat in nibbling her jawline, kneeling outside her legs. “S’ok, honey,” he whispered as his teeth neared an earlobe.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that we’re so…exposed. It’s daylight,” she moaned, still holding him on top of her.

“You didn’t complain this morning,” he pointed out sarcastically.

“No, I mean we’re in public-”

“Hardly, this is private property, and we’re not visible from the highway – heck, even overflying aircraft can’t see us!”

“Planes?” She frowned and released his hands, hugging him to her.

“Oof! Yeah, Mitchell and I saw a couple contrails of high- flying jets when we were setting up – probably commuters from Omaha to Denver or something…they wouldn’t be able to pick us out even if we started waving flags.” He smiled at her, and kissed up the side of her nose to comb her eyebrows with his lips.

“Well, that may be, but I just don’t feel comfortable,” she replied, before sucking on the tip of his chin.

“Fine, we’ll just neck for a bit longer,” he announced, shifting down her face to fulfill his prediction. “<muh> We should be getting back to the apartment, anyway: what time was that phone guy supposed to show?”

She placed a kiss on each of his closed eyes, and shifted them into a sitting position. “I thought you knew exactly what was going on…”

“Well, sadly my memory is as leaky as a colander – a lot of unforgettable stuff has happened to me in the last few hours, so the details just slid out of my head,” he sighed, his lips curling into the grin she saw so often on his face.

The man pulled his lover tightly to his chest, as if he wanted to force their bodies into one complete being. “I love you,” he announced, “and meeting you and loving you, Nadine Sanders, has only strengthened that.”

“I can’t find anything wrong with you – even your few scars are attractive to me; you are just so perfect,” she gasped. “Flatterer! Anyone’d think you wanted something.”

“I do…I want you – but just not here.”

“Well, I’ve said my first priority is your happiness – where do you want to go? Back home? To a cheap motel, or to the most expensive hotel in Nebraska?”

“NNNNNNgh, you KNOW I’ve got that appointment about the phone line, you *tease*,” she laughed, reaching up and tousling his hair.

“Fine then, let’s get going so we can meet this cable monkey and get on to more serious things…” He released her and stood, holding her hands to help her up.

“Finally!” She gave her man a quick hug, and looked around at all the gear of their picnic.

“Do we take this?”

“Yep, we’ll put everything else in the trunk and then come back to collapse the windbreak and pop that in the back seat. You can give me a lift to Hastings tomorrow and we drop it off. I check out of my hotel and we get down to business of a happy life together,” he finished with a wicked, mischievous smile as he tossed the afghan onto a cooler and packed up the camp stove. “Of course, I’ll have to find a place to sleep, but I hear there’s a campground near Geneva – I just have to get a tent and a warm sleeping bag…”

“Ha! Like I’m gonna let you out of my sight for a SECOND,” the woman retorted.

“So you’ll put me UP?” Mikel inquired suggestively.

“Heh-heh, I’ll see what I can do,” she replied, running her hand on his thigh.

“<growl> – fine then, but grab that cooler and take it to the trunk; you’ve got the key!” Nadine complied with his request, easily hefting the empty container. She walked to the car and placed her load on the bumper. She fumbled in her pocket, fished out her key, and opened the trunk. About to heft the cooler into the car, she was confronted by a black case.

“Hey, what’s this?”

“What’s what?” Mikel replied, stepping up behind her and putting down his load. “Oh, that. What does it look like?”

“Duh; a briefcase!”

“What’s in it?” he asked, taking hold of her shoulders.

“I don’t know,” Nadine replied, playing along. “Let’s see…” She reached down, flipped the catches, and lifted the lid to find a portable computer. “Hmmm – a laptop. Yours?”

“Noooooooooo,” he replied, his voice almost a purr.

“Another gift?”

“Well, I figure you could use something a little more flexible than that old thing you had on the table. ‘All the better to read my posts’,” he answered, embracing her.

“Love you, you extravagant man.”

————- End of Chapter Three {empath} “A Birthday Wish Come True” ( M/F oral rom ) [4/4]

Copyright 1997, by Empath

WARNING: This narrative contains subject matter that has been deemed unfit for the perusal of those under the age of majority. A good rule of thumb to follow is if you are unable to vote where you live, don’t take the risk of getting caught reading this. (That also covers the less.’enlightened’ of the world’s governments.)

————-

They returned to town, with her insisting that he drive, and she kept him stimulated all the way back. Despite these distractions, Mikel returned them to the parking lot safely and quickly. Getting back into the apartment was a different story.

“I thought YOU took the key back. It’s your apartment; surely you’d concern yourself with it.”

“I figured you would make an EFFORT to give it back to me and *don’t* call me Shirley!” she replied.

“Yuuuhhhhh; you’re right – I should have either thought to keep the key with me, or consciously return it to you…I’m sorry. But this doesn’t get us inside – do those windows open?”

Nadine sighed. “No; I’ve got central air, remember?”

“Well, we can get the super to let us in.”

“He doesn’t live in the building, and isn’t around on weekends.”

“But you have a number to call in an emergency like this?”

“Oh, yeah…inside.”

Mikel said a bad word as he sat on the floor.

“Well, maybe the phone repairman will have something,” she posed as she sat beside him. Mikel rested his head on her shoulder, and looked up at her. He frowned for a second, then straightened up. “Or maybe you’ve got something. It’s a good thing you have long hair, honey – gimme one of those hairpins!”

“Oh, come ON – that’s so cliche,” she replied. She did fulfil his request, though. “You mean to tell me you can pick locks?”

“No, this piece of metal is too thick, and I only know the basic theory behind that, but I am gonna try something.”

“What – you’re MacGyver or something?” she joked.

“Almost certainly not – this probably won’t work!” He straightened the curved strip of wire.

“It’s better than sitting in the hall here until Monday, though” Nadine said, standing up and pulling her boyfriend up after her. He knelt in front of the handle and fiddled with it a bit.

“What’re you doing – I can’t see!”

“Good – this is a State Secret; if I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he joked.

“Whatever, I’ll worm it out of you later.”

Before long he cried out with success and pushed the door open. “Aprez-vous, Mademoiselle.”

“Merci, mon tres, tres cher amour!” She gave him a kiss for his efforts and entered. He smiled and stood with a click. She grabbed his hand and tugged him into the apartment.

Once Mikel was sure the door was securely shut, they hugged and Nadine showed him around her small domicile. When they were done, Mikel remarked, “I gotta get you a couch for Christmas, too.”

“Oh, you’re so full of practical gift ideas.”

“Heh, you want to see just how *full* I am right now, love?” Mikel asked in a deep voice as he stroked her back and put on his ‘salacious grin’. His audience was prevented from saying anything by a sudden buzz. “That’ll be the Phone Company – keep that thought for another hour and I’ll make it worth your while!” She slipped out of his embrace and answered the intercom, allowing the real technician up.

She glanced back to see him putting the notebook on the table before her other computer. “Eager to try my laptop out, hon?”

“Yes, and I’m dying to show you the ins and outs of your new computer, too!” her beau replied, getting a throw pillow in the back of the head for his troubles.

They both made for the door when a knock was heard, the woman glancing through the peephole. “Could you show me some ID or a work order, please?” she called. There was a short pause, and she remarked “I *guess* that’ll do,” as she opened the door, frowning disapprovingly at her lover.

The telephone repairman – or woman – stepped in, causing Mikel to raise his eyebrows. The look on Nadine’s face said: ‘there; that’s one surprise I’ve given YOU’ before she turned to the technician and asked “I’d like the plug over near the table with the computer – computerS on it.”

“Oh, you want a MODEM line; we can put in a dedicated line for that and get you a nice fast hookup. It’s not much more expensive than the second phone line, anyway.”

As his belle was mulling it over, Mikel stepped up. “Well, I think she was planning to save the money, uh, Joanne, but now that her primary reason for email is HERE,” he announced as he embraced Nadine from behind, “she MAY want to ‘spurge’ – especially considering that we can afford it.”

“Yeah, go ahead with the special line,” the hugged woman decided.

“Okay,” Joanne replied. “But I’ll need better cable, and you’ll have to install a particular modem that we provide.”

“Ohhhh, this’ll take long, won’t it,” Mikel asked, nearly whining.

“Um, yes – I may even need to call in for some help-”

“Oh, I can help!” he blurted out. “I’m rather adept with electronics and computers; anything to save time – uh, well you must have other customers to see this afternoon,” he added hastily, provoking a vague smile from the woman in his arms.

“Okay; excuse me while I go down and get the gear from the truck,” the technician replied.

“My, aren’t we gallant, Mikel; are we attracted to Joanne?” Nadine asked after the other woman had left.

“Hardly, she’s too tall for one thing. Why do men prefer short women?” he asked.

“Because they don’t like to get sore necks from looking up all the time. Yeah, you told me.”

“Well, the reason I offered to help is to get her done and out of here as fast as possible so you and I can-”

>BZZZZZZZZT<

They laughed at the timing of the interruption, and let Joanne back into the apartment. “Okay, this is the cable I’ll be stringing through the wall,” she said, handing Mikel a coil of heavy wire. “This is the modem you’ll have to install – and here are the forms you’ll have to sign, miss – this is a different job than what you asked us to do originally,” and she handed Nadine two pieces of paper.

“Right, thanks.”

“Well, I’d better pop downstairs to see where the phone switchbox is, could someone show me the way?”

“Nadine, you had better; I’ve only been here…five hours,” Mikel admitted, checking his watch. He picked up the box with the modem and opened it. “Mind if I use your tools, miss?”

“Not at all; like you say – you’ll save me time, and I only need a measuring tape.”

“And maybe a flashlight,” Nadine added, “the lighting isn’t very good – just the laundry area.”

“Right then,” Joanne grabbed the two items from her toolkit and handed it to Mikel. “Let’s go.”

When they returned, Mikel had completed his task. Joanne got to work and before long another plug was installed in the wall.

“You’re now ready, hardware-wise,” Joanne declared, ignorant of the smirks that her customers failed to suppress.

“But we still have create an account for you.”

Nadine spoke up. “So when all this is over, I can just…”

“When we have your account ready, you’re ready for anything!”

“How soon can you get the account ready?”

A pained expression accumulated on her face, “Now that’s not so great – we’d usually have an account ready for you in a matter of hours, but it’s Saturday…”

“And the guy who does that isn’t in on the weekends.” Nadine realized.

“Sometimes,” the other woman countered, “but only if he knows in advance he’ll be needed, and I thought you just wanted a regular phone line.”

“Oh well, you’ll have it for her on Monday then?”

“But I’ve got to be at school on…” Nadine began, but was cut off by her lover. “Remember, love – you don’t HAVE to do anything anymore! Do you *want* to keep at the classes?”

She thought deeply for a moment, brow creased and a hand over her mouth. “Yes,” she finally decided. “I started it, and I’d like to finish it.”

“Good for you then,” and he hugged her from behind, his chin on her shoulder. “You can go on to classes on Monday, and I’ll hang around here take care of this for you; the phone call won’t take long, will it?”

The technician looked surprised, “Oh, no – we’ll have to drop off your information; we don’t give out that sort of stuff get out over the phone!”

“But you’re the PHONE COMPANY,” he exclaimed.

“Yes, and they know just how vulnerable their system is; why almost ANYONE could – I don’t know – maybe dress up like a repairman, and claim to work for them, couldn’t they?” his lover asked him with an evil grin.

He coloured, and gritted his teeth. “Gee, well I *guess* that’s possible…I’ve never heard of it happening, but you’re right – it wouldn’t take much to fool the average person…”

Joanne sensed a shift in the mood, but decided not to follow it. “Anyway, someone will just drop off a sealed envelope with your account name and starting password…uh, tell you what; do you two want TWO accounts, or are you lovebirds gonna be sharing this one?”

“Gee, is it that obvious?” Mikel asked insincerely as he pulled Nadine even closer into his arms. The two women just rolled their eyes. “Well, what do you think, hon? Are you going to use this account in and of itself, or just use it to piggyback to your HCC account or others you might get? If you won’t use it for anything personal, we may as well both use it – I’ll even be able to access my old freenet account back in Nova Scotia.”

“That sounds fine – I’ve been using my college account all this time, and that’s where people expect to find me – I’d hate to get them confused; we’ll just take the one and share, thanks.”

“Okay then, good luck with your classes on Monday, and you’ll get your account info sometime that morning.”

They gathered her gear together and Joanne exited quickly, noting the mood of those two changing yet again, and thought wistfully of her schedule for the afternoon. ‘Two more calls, and then I can get back home – oh, I hope Geoff got Mom to take the kids!’ She grinned at the force with which the door was shut behind her. ‘Huh! I got outta there not a moment too soon for them!’

In fact the door had been closed by the weight of two people leaning against it; Nadine, back against it and pressed by Mikel who was diligently attempting to draw her very soul from her through her open mouth. They kissed quietly but passionately. When they had exhausted themselves of air, he relinquished her lips and tilted his head down so that their foreheads rested together and the tips of their noses just touched.

“FINALLY, I couldn’t wait for her to leave!”

“Oh, is that why you helped her out?”

“Hey, I was just making sure you weren’t getting screwed…that’s MY job,” he exclaimed with a wolf-like grin.

“Mmmmm, time to get back to work then, lover,” Nadine ordered as she locked her hands behind his neck and drew him back to her. She trailed her lips up his cheek to breathe hotly in his ear, running the tip of her tongue around the ridges of his earlobe. He was filled with desire and energy, and his arms snaked around her body and bundled her up into his arms again.

She was surprised as he tilted back taking her body’s weight on his abdomen, their combined center of gravity securely over his hips and strong legs. “Careful,” she gasped, but he stepped back, not staggering, striding slowly but steadily toward the bedroom. They continued slowly and after what seemed to be an age, they fell onto the bed side-by-side.

“Well, I don’t want to complain, but I got the impression that you could’ve got us here faster…”

“S’good practice; if I keep at it, before long I’ll have the build to easily carry you across the threshold…”

“You mean-”

Mikel took her head in his hands. “I love you, Nadine; I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are the most important thing in the world to me – your happiness is foremost in mind. And I’ve always skirted around this topic because I couldn’t talk of it properly – say what you will, growing up in a relatively isolated culture has left a large part of me as old-fashioned: what I want to ask of you I can only do so in person…”

She sat up cross-legged on the bed as he reached over to his suitcase and removed a small square jewelry box. He slid off the bed and knelt before her, taking her hand in his. “You know what I’m gonna ask, love, but there is a protocol that’s to be followed in these sorts of things,” he jokingly admonished her, waggling a finger in her smiling face.

“Will you marry me?” she blurted out.

“That’s MY line!” he raged, grumbling as he eased up to the bed and pressed her back into the mattress. “Yes, I will be your husband, gladly and willingly and for as long as you will have me, and you?”

“Yes,” Nadine whispered, gazing up into his glistening eyes, and pressed her lips to his.

Mikel’s mouth opened and he sucked on her lips, coaxing her tongue to explore him. It was met by its counterpart, and the two muscles stroked each other and pressed back and forth over teeth and lips. They rolled around like a pair of lovers, mirroring the passions of their owners.

His hands unbuttoned her blouse, and hers did similarly to him. She pushed him up and they stopped kissing to breathe. He delicately removed her glasses, assuring her that “I don’t think you’ll be interested in looking at anything more than six inches from your face.” Each slipped their arms from their garments and he encircled her, nibbling on her neck with tiny, tickling bites. He reached behind and, while one hand moved her adust mane clear, she felt a brief tightening in her brassiere strap, then a release.

“Told ya I knew how to handle a bra-catch,” he announced to her, smugly smiling as he slipped the straps from her shoulders, revealing her breasts. He bent down to attend to her nipples, warming the air surrounding these awakening rosebuds with his breath. His fingers cradled her breasts gently squeezing and stroking them. Her heavy breath was testament to his activities’ success.

As Mikel’s lips encircled one nubbin, Nadine’s hands ran through and grasped his thick brown hair, guiding him to the intensity of his suckling. Her chest flushed, blood rushing to her breasts, causing them to swell, and her breath came in gasps and moans.

With his mouth firmly attached to one breast, and one hand caressing the other, his free digits wended their way down her torso, tickling this patch of skin, pinching that, until they reached her only remaining articles of clothing. His hand cupped her sex, grinding the fabric of her slacks against the pubic hair. As his fingers began to stroke her labia through the material, she tensed and sat up.

“No; while I can still think – let me do something.” Nadine pushed him over onto his back and stroked his bare chest. Her hands moved from his well-defined shoulders, down past undeveloped pectorals and traced circles around the slight bulge of his abdomen.

Mikel noticed the focus of her attentions, and spoke. “Yeah, I know, it’s not exactly the washboard abs of a ‘Baywatch’ beefcake…”

“Oo, hush,” she replied, lightly slapping his belly. “What’s important is that it’s part of you, and – most of all – it’s *here*.” She concluded her comment with a kiss on his navel. “Now, there’s other parts of you that I’d to take a closer look at.”

“Fine, fine – it’s not like I can’t guess what you’re talking about,” he replied, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“Hey, careful, bub,” Nadine retorted, planting her hand over his crotch and gently squeezing. Her lover’s eyes widened with concern and he quickly blurted “Sorry, sorry – you’re beautiful, lovely, gorgeous, witty, sexy, funny, you make people feel better just by being around…”

She snorted derision at Mikel’s attempt of flattery, and grasped his belt. “Whatever! I seem to notice that you’re not quite so happy to see me…”

“Oh? Ah well, you have to remember that the poor little guy has had more exercise today than he’s had in SEVEN YEARS; it’s expected that he’d need a little more time to get ‘pumped’ for the next event!”

She pulled the zipper of his khakis, and slid her hand under his jockeys to grasp the topic of their conversation. “I’d have thought he’d be raring to go whenever I was around – the available female?”

“Give him time – I’m sure he’s willing…I know I am,” the supine man replied, his voice dropping to a lustful growl at the end. And sure enough, as her hand shifted to encircle him, she felt a twitch, and a slow warming of his manhood.

“Fine then, let me give him a little encouragement,” she said as she drew his shaft from his underwear. “Aw, he looks so cute when he’s little like that,” Nadine exclaimed, enjoying the blush of Mikel’s cheeks. She lifted his prick with a finger and thumb, taking a close look at the appendage in front of her face. She bent down and lightly touched her lips to his cockhead. In response, the shaft twitched again and his knob swelled. “Oooo – he moved for me!”

“Yeahhhhhh,” came a moaned reply. Mikel’s eyes were closed and his face a mask of pleasurable concentration. He frowned and inhaled quickly as he felt his lover’s tongue run down his prick. She kissed her way back up to the tip, and then slipped him into her mouth. A hiss escaped from his lips as he she licked the underside of his head, and her teeth grasped the ridge of his glans. Nadine then plunged her head down an inch or two on his cock, sucking as she drew back and leaving a ‘high-water mark’ of her saliva. Several more strokes had his entire penis glistening and rigid. She let it slip from her lips and said, “there – now he’s ready for action!”

With his eyes still shut, he heard the rasp of another zipper, sighed as he felt a hand grasp him and awaited the feel of the condom. He was surprised to feel something rather different sliding over his cock.

“Woah, love – are we forgetting something?” he asked, as his eyes opened.

“No, and since you love quantifying everything, try this out,” she replied grinding her mound into his pubic hair as she ticked off her fingers. “One: I’m only a few days away from finishing my first prescription of birth-control, so there’s not *that* much chance to start. Two: as you’ve said, this is Little Willy’s third time at bat, so whatever you give up is gonna be low on potency. And three: we’ve already gotten engaged just a few minutes ago. Unless you’re a real two-timing prick,” and her expression told Mikel that the pun was intended, “I think if you did manage to knock me up, I wouldn’t be too worried about bearing the child of the man I love. Just remember that I get the drugs at the start this time, and get to hold and crush your hand during delivery!”

“Well,” he gasped as she rode him, “I guess you’re right – I’ve done a lot today, and I’ll almost be shooting blanks. And as for your conditions,” he replied, pulling the woman down to kiss her quickly but warmly on the cheek. “a) the thought of you suffering the pain of merely a hangnail fills me with dread, and b) I agree, it’d only be fair…but make it my right hand, love.”

“Glad you consent, man – now let’s get going,” she sighed as she lifted herself and slid down onto him again. He responded by shifting his pants down to his knees, and thrusting his hips up to meet her.

They caressed each other, and moved to meet at the apex of each stroke, starting slowly, and building in tempo as her pleasure increased. Mikel adjusted their positioning so that his shaft brushed her engorged clitoris every time. He was rewarded with Nadine flushing with ecstasy soon after, her hands tweaking her breasts, her voice a soft moan, her body shivering and her cunt clasping him inside her. She collapsed onto him, taking his head in her hands and initiated a long, passionate kiss. He encircled her shoulders, hugging her to him, and kissed her back with equal verve.

They broke off, her nuzzling into the crook of his neck, he kissing his way up her cheek to brush his lips across her temple. “Mmmmm, I have to thank you, honey; you had the right idea with leaving off the condom – it just feels…so…well, better unfettered.”

“I miped id doo,” she mumbled indistinctly into his shoulder.

“So you’re saying it was also an improvement for you?” he asked, stroking her eyebrow with his cheek.

“Ef, I mean ‘yes’,” came the reply as she moved her face to speak clearly. “If I wanted the feel of rubber inside of me, I’d grab my vibrator.” She ran a finger along his collarbone. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything: coming to see me, treating me the way you have, being so kind,”

“…And making you come so often!” he finished, a familiar sly grin returning to his face.

“Yeah, that too,” she admitted, twirling some of his sparse chest hair. “I mean here we are; I’m in the aftermath, and you’re still inside me and hard as wood.”

“Heh, well since you’ve pointed out that I like lists, three things: A) I once heard or read some guy say ‘if it feels so good, why let it end so quickly?’ so I guess I like the feeling too much to rush things. B) I’m not sure, but I think I must have some sort of ‘chivalry’ gene – every time I help someone out or do them a favor or even just make them feel a little happier for just a moment, that makes me feel really good. And I’m talking like a hit of seratonin or something – I get a real high off of altruism.” He ran his hands over her back, enjoying the feel of her body shrouded in her long hair. “Oh, and take it from me I’ve felt better than I have…well ever, ever since I first made you laugh over the phone.”

“Ah-HA, so the real reason comes out why you said my happiness was the most important goal in your life!” Nadine exclaimed, raising herself up to her elbows and smiling evilly at him.

He broke comically into tears, pressing his hands to his face, and hamming it up. “Yes, YES! I confess: I’ve been making you feel good solely for selfish reasons; I was only interested in myself! I admit it, I’m addicted to charitable behavior; I’m hooked on good deeds!” “HELP ME,” he wailed. Slowly his ‘sobbing’ petered out, and peeking one eye through his fingers, asked “So, did ya buy it?” and received a pillow for his troubles.

“No I didn’t buy it, you silly man,” she giggled. “So what’s the third reason?”

“Oh, well. Anyway, C)…” His smile remained, but she noticed that Mikel seemed somewhat more serious. “C is that ever since I grabbed hold of you in the hall, just a few hours and half a lifetime ago, the very feel of your body, your every touch, makes me feel just…so…agh, what’s the word!” A frown took possession of his visage, indicating his struggle to express the feelings he now experienced. “Oh, it’s happiness, and it’s pride, and it’s strength, and so many things I can’t even identify them – if this is what being in love is like, don’t let it EVER stop, I say. I…<sigh>…I just feel so perfect when I’m with you; like something God designed is finally happening the way he wanted…every stupid little saying about love is true – I’m feeling them all the time now; I’m so awash with emotion I’m surprised I can even talk coherently! I LOVE you, Nadine Sanders, and that you’ve consented to marry me makes me feel just so right!”

“Mmmmm; you’re right – I feel just like you do.” Nadine rested on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and riding his lungs as they lifted her…up…and down…and up…and down. “I’ve said that my previous experiences haven’t been quite so good. And now, you’re with me, and you’re so nice, and you treat me like how I feel matters to you.”

“Ah, but it does, darling,” he proclaimed, lightly tapping her nose with a finger. “Everyone who’s treated you badly or stepped on your feelings or just basically been less than civil has been, to put it simply, ignorant. To not notice a lovely, funny, sexy woman, so full of the capacity to cheer others, and to be SO wonderful; it’s just a crime…”

“So you’re gonna jail the asshole who cut me off in the supermarket yesterday?”

“If I have to, yes. Remember it won’t be long before I’m rather wealthy, my wild rose, and with wealth comes influence; maybe the local police need the building renovated, or new cars or maybe a dental plan…pretty soon, that lout is being watched by the cops for the slightest infraction. And since people who cut in lines tend to be equally thoughtless – on the road, for example – it wouldn’t be long before the guy who slighted you winds up with a handful of traffic violations.”

“Mmmmm, you’d do that for me?”

“Well, actually, the cops would do that for me, and I’d arrange it for you – just putting credit where credit is due, love” and he kissed the top of her head.

“Oh no – I’ve created a nit-picking *monster*” Nadine murmured, running her nose across one of her lover’s nipples. His body flinched pleasantly, reminding her of something. “Oh! I can’t believe we’ve been lying here talking all this time, and you’re still in me.”

“Oooohhhh, I never forgot – it’s been fantastic, feeling your every move on my dick.”

“But you got me off, so fair’s fair…” and she shifted her hips and clenched her cunt muscles.

“Oh…all right,” Mikel replied, locking one leg around hers, clasping her to him, and he rolled them onto their side. He kissed her cheek and pushed himself into her, feeling his erection regain strength from the feel of her silky insides.

She planted her hands on his shoulders, getting her entire body moving with their stroke for a while, enjoying the feel of his hardening member brush her clit. Once he was fully erect again, she let him take over, thrusting into her with all the passion and love he mentioned during their pillow-talk.

She ran her fingers down his chest, and circled his tiny, vestigial nipples. ‘Hmmmmmm. Who was it that started talking about the redundancy of men’s nips on the newsgroup – Jane? Heather? Aw, who CARES!’ she thought, as a wave of warm pleasure soaked through her.

She glanced down to see Mikel teasing her tits with his moustache. She brought her arms up around his head and pulled it into her chest. He replied by latch his lips around one of her aroused nubs, rolling gently between his teeth. She gasped as he flicked his tongue around her sensitive flesh, and a trickle of moisture seeped onto his prick as it slid into her with gorgeous repetition. His head eased back and he groaned softly with the pleasure he was surely feeling.

As he gave her other nipple the same treatment, her fingers worked into his hair and massaged his scalp. Another shift in his posture caused multi-coloured stars to appear behind her eyelids as her clit was pressed back into her nether lips. She pulled him up to her face, and sloppily kissed him, hugging him as if she wanted to pull his entire body into her. She felt his hands pull her legs over his hips, and they rolled onto her back. His cock was lower in her vagina as her legs encircled him, but a thumb pressed into her moist cavern attended to her clit.

She pulled at his lower lip with her teeth and moaned, feeling his tongue caress the inside of her upper lip and gums. Nadine giggled as his moustache tickled her nose. A twinkle in her man’s brown eyes showed he was inwardly laughing with her. She released his lip and her tongue pushed his back into its home, stroking the roof of his mouth. Mikel shivered in response and his thrumming of her engorged clit skipped a beat, causing a jolt of ecstasy to course through her veins.

The man above her knitted his eyebrows in concentration, beginning to pant with lust and arousal. He slid slightly higher on her body, and Nadine felt her nexus of so many pleasurable nerves dragged into her pussy. She scratched his back with her fingernails, wordlessly encouraging him to greater and greater activity. His pace increased, blurring the feelings that came from between her legs. She sighed with the feel of his hot breath on the side of her neck.

A few strokes more and she was in the throes of orgasm, her fingers digging into the muscles over his shoulder blades, her thighs squeezing his waist, and her inner labia clenching his swelling prick. A high, quiet keening came from her mouth, accompanied by a roaring sigh from her lover’s. Even in the sensory overload of her climax, she felt his hot seed filling her cunt.

Nadine’s mind cleared, and she found herself lying across the bed with this man’s recumbent body resting over her, limp. She kissed his nose and Mikel sighed, shifting slightly. It took little effort for her to coax him to slide off of her and he curled up, his face smothering itself in her hair and his slick, slowly softening organ pressed into her leg. His arm was still draped over her chest, a bar of warmth on her cooling skin. After a few moments she felt him shiver, and his eyes slowly opened.

“Ngggggg…mmmmmuuu. Wwwwooooooowwwww,” he indistinctly intoned, bringing a smile to her lips. “Are you as chilly as me?”

“Yeah, I’m sort of cold,” she sighed, rolling to face him and stroking his arm with her free hand.

“Is the heat working?”

“It should be…”

“And those windows aren’t open, so…oh, wow – I can feel your heartbeat!”

“So, we’re pressed toget-”

“No, you don’t understand – I can feel it in your *fingertips*!”

She grasped his wrist and draped his hand over her mouth; he was right, she could feel a faint but rhythmic throbbing on her lips.

“Gee, did we heat up that much?”

“I guess so; we’re just so hot together even room temperature seems cold,” Nadine mused as she shifted them to the head of the bed, pushing the suitcase onto the floor. Mikel stopped suddenly, dozy but alert to something she didn’t notice.

“You know something, beautiful? We forgot to finish something.” His arm reached behind him.

She frowned and tried to recall the events on her bed. “Well, I came, we talked, and then both you and I came; I don’t see anything missing with that.”

“Not that – that was perfect, love. I’m talking about before that.”

“Oh gee, that’s a little hazy-”

“Flatterer! Here, maybe this’ll refresh your memory,” and Mikel opened the small jewellery box in his hand a held it in front of her face.

She regarded the small, hazy diamond in her vision, vaguely disappointed, until she realized her eyes were focusing properly – the central stone was nestled in a ring…no a *halo* of tiny diamond chips that stretched down one side of the gold band. She sighed and took the box in her hands.

“It’s a comet – you probably don’t remember that I commented about Hale-Bopp early in our relationship, how we could look up at the sky and see the same thing at the same time despite the distance between us. It’s stuck in my mind ever since. Now that I look back upon it, that errant lump of ice could’ve been a sign that we were meant for each other, and I wanted to remember that lucky coincidence.”

“It’s…c’mere you!” She kissed him and nestled her head under his. Mikel sighed, half from happiness and half from exasperation. “Nadine, darling? We’re still not done with this.”

“What? Oh, right. Here.” She returned the ring to him, and pulled her left arm out from under his body. He had the circle of gold in his fingers, and grasped her hand in his, kissing each knuckle softly. “So, wanna get hitched, missus?” he asked smiling as she laughed at his affected Cockney accent. “Naah, let’s try it like this,” and his voice shifted up several classes. “Dear, dear lady. Would you grant me the endless pleasure of being my soulmate *officially*? To be there both to console me and be consoled by me? To share in my happiness and yours? To love me and be forever loved in return? Will you marry me?”

“Yes. I love you, Mikel, and everything you asked of me I’m only too happy to agree to; I found you, and I don’t ever want to let you go.”

He slipped the ring onto her finger, fighting back tears of joy at her requiting his love. He pulled her to him, and kissed her passionately, a salty wetness running down his nose and crossing onto hers.

“God, you ARE a soft one, aren’t you, man?”

“Well, it’s rather sappily romantic, isn’t it? Getting engaged a few days before your birthday! But yeah, I’m a big marshmallow. <sniff> Just imagine it – a wedding where the GROOM is crying! It’s just I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

“And how did you get the size right?”

“Huh? Oh…I didn’t.”

“Yeah, right!”

He smirked guiltily. “No, you’re right – I can’t lie to you. Do you remember that letter you sent me?”

“Which one?”

“The one where you traced your hand on the page? I got a jeweller to take a guess from that – looks like he was right!” Mikel shivered as their bodies cooled.

“Oooo, let’s get under the covers!”

Her new fiance made no protest, his heavy-lidded eyes gazing possessively over her as she shifted their bodies and pulled the comforter over them. “Thank you, fiancee,” he sighed. And kissing her on the forehead, he nestled into her shoulder and drifted off.

She looked down his back to her left hand, watching the play of light on the symbol of their love. She whispered into his ear, “Thank YOU, husband-to-be, for the best birthday present I could ever get,” closed her eyes and dreamed of their happy future.