Bubbles Part 4

Annie woke up confused and alone, but so very comfortable. She stretched feeling every clean soft part of her body moving against the clean soft bed and blankets around her. The room was dark and the clock indicated it was 1:00 am.

"Auggie?" she asked quietly not wanting to startle him.

"In here," he replied from the dark bathroom.

As Annie approached her eyes adjusted to the dark and she saw him standing at the sink, naked. She also heard the scrape, flick and swish of a man shaving.

"Decided to lose the beard?" she asked around a yawn.

"It's scratchy," he wrinkled his nose.

"So it's not because Barber has a beard?" she smiled as she hopped up on the counter to watch.

She had once told Auggie he was mesmerizing, but now that she had the privilege to watch him every day she realized mesmerizing was an understatement.

Auggie just grinned at her comment about Barber and continued his task.

"Did you sleep?" she asked assessing her own state of wakefulness.

"Yeah, really well for 5 hours, guess my body thought that was enough."

"That was my fear, we are going to be messed up for a few days and have to deal with time zones when we get home," she swung her bare legs from the counter.

"And Joan, don't forget Joan, dealing with jetlag will be a walk in the park comparatively," he pointed out unnecessarily.

"I thought we agreed to never talk about Joan when we were naked," she changed the subject and reached a hand out to touch his side.

He nodded dutifully and finished the task at hand.

"I think it is funny that you still look in the mirror to shave," she commented as he rinsed the razor and placed it on the edge of the sink.

"Well it is where the sink is and it was how I learned, habit I guess. How'd I do?" he asked as he ran his hand along his jaw to make sure he didn't miss anything.

Annie grabbed a hand towel and wiped some stray shaving cream away, following behind with her lips to admire the smooth skin he uncovered.

"Nice," she pulled him closer and he moved to stand between her legs.

She kissed a path to his lips and engaged them fully while wrapping both arms and legs around him. He leaned into her scooting her back on the marble counter a little.

"Auggie," she attempted between the onslaught of his mouth and tongue.

"Auggie," a little breathless this time.

"Mmmmm god, Auggie," she forced her mouth away from his.

"Hmmm?" he asked as he just refocused his efforts on her neck.

"This bathroom is awesome and can be used for many many things, but this little activity would be much more fun in the bed," she reasoned despite her desire to not let go of him.

He must have read her mind because he picked her up as she was wrapped around him and between the two of them they made it to the bed without tripping over anything.

"Better?" he asked as he laid her down in the slightly rumpled but still deliciously clean bed.

She pulled him down on top of her so they touched, hips to hips, chest to chest and he angled his back so they were also nose to nose.

"Yes," she whispered, her voice suddenly stolen, taken by the emotion that threatened.

"Yes," she repeated and it would become a mantra over the next half hour.

***555***

Annie awoke the next time to the sound of silver on china and the smell of chocolate.

"You better not have eaten all of that," she rasped her eyes still closed.

"What kind of man would I be if I did that?" he sounded hurt.

"You'd be the kind of man who sleeps on the floor for one thing," she rolled over and saw him sitting up against the headboard grinning at her.

"Want some?" he offered up a forkful of dense dark chocolate cake.

"Yes please," she nodded as she sat up and moved her mouth to the fork.

They had determined it was much safer for him to feed her if she intercepted the fork rather than him guessing where her mouth was.

The cake was perfect, not too sweet but sweet enough, dense but moist and so rich a couple of bites was enough. He handed her his glass of red wine left from earlier and it married the flavors so beautifully in her mouth.

"Wow," she said with the same kind of awe she usually reserved for other activities in bed.

She saw Auggie's jaw twitch and his eyes darken. She handed him back the wine and he took a sip agreeing with her assessment of the cake and wine pairing.

"Wow is right, they go so well together," he tried another bit of cake to confirm.

"Like us," she blushed and squeezed his knee under the sheet.

"Am I the cake or the wine?" he cocked his head to one side as he pondered the idea.

"The wine, definitely the wine," she answered quickly.

"How do you figure?"

"Well they say red wine is good for your heart and you have certainly healed mine," she surmised and leaned forward to kiss him, the taste of chocolate from his last bite still present on his tongue.

"I could say the same about you," he spoke against her neck as she hugged him tightly.

"Well we can't both be the wine," she argued.

"OK, OK, you're the cake, I give up," he laughed not sure what the point of the whole conversation was, but couched in the analogy was the closest thing Annie had said about love.

While Auggie knew they were in love, the words were not used often, there was a risk for people like them to vocalize emotion, it made them vulnerable. Auggie felt at a loss though as he knew his love for her was evident on his face and he couldn't see Annie's in return. He felt it, in the way she clasped his hand or stroked his face, the way she kissed him as if she were taking his breath for her own sustenance. He knew it, but sometimes it was good to hear it too.

The End

Author's Note: I am getting on a 6 hour flight this morning and tomorrow you may have a whole new story or you might not have anything from me. I apologize if it is nothing, but I hope it is the start of something new and kind of nuts.