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Between the Devil... / Part 6

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...Continued. R.

Back to Part 5

“Helena.” She heard her name in a low undertone, his voice carrying promises of passion and love in each syllable.

 

She turned quickly to find him just behind her, clad in nothing but a pair of faded jeans, no shirt, barefoot; it was the look she happened to find most sexy on him…other than total nakedness. “John!” Her voice came out in a tremulous breath and she flung herself into his waiting arms.

 

Last night as she waited for sleep to come, Helena had vowed she wouldn’t cry when she could finally touch him again. Perhaps it was because they had no audience for the first time in days – and maybe it was just her hormones kicking in for the hundredth time - but it was a vow quickly broken. Enclosed in John’s strong embrace, the tears of relief which she’d mostly contained for over a week flowed freely against his bare chest and he cradled her to him, murmuring against her ear, stroking her back.

 

Holding her close, John methodically inhaled the heavenly scents of her hair, her skin; scents that were seared into his memory. He thought if he ever went blind, he’d know her still by the delectable flowery scent of her hair. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her to the end of the bed and sat with her in his lap, thanking the universe for bringing him back to this moment, to her.

 

Curling her knees up and around his side, Helena molded her body to his, wishing it was possible to crawl inside his skin and never be further away from him than his next heartbeat. She clung to him, fingers digging into his shoulder blades, her face tucked into the curve of his neck, comforted by his nearness and warmth. She hadn’t realized until this moment just how much tension she’d still been holding inside from the carnival ride of the last weeks. Her breath came in shaky little gulps and it took conscious effort to will it into a normal rhythm.

 

John continued to hold her, whispering his love, waiting for the anxiety to leave her body. Only when he felt her breathing more evenly did he tenderly tilt her face toward his and begin planting honeyed kisses on her forehead, her eyelids, the tip of her nose. Softly their lips met and opened, tongues coming together slowly in loving restraint as they reacquainted themselves with each other’s tastes.

 

After many gentle kisses, he eased her slightly away from him and, smiling into her eyes, slipped a hand between their bodies to cautiously examine her belly. He hadn’t known what to expect but, for John, this was the moment he would remember when fatherhood lost the element of anything academic and became fully factual to him; more real than the sonogram pictures had been was this first opportunity to hold her close and feel his whole family right in his hands. His fingers moved delicately over her abdomen, registering a definite change even through her uniform and every corny thing he’d ever heard uttered about the feelings experienced when the woman you loved was carrying your child rushed through his brain in a flash…and oddly, none of it seemed corny at all.

 

Helena had been worried about his reaction, how he might feel in this instant. Had their circumstances been different, he would have been here all along and the first changes to her figure would have been something he gradually observed, not a sudden alteration thrust upon him. Normally, she’d feel no different to him today than she did yesterday; but in their case, yesterday was almost three weeks ago and he was coming home to her being nine weeks along with twins. He wasn’t returning to the same woman he’d left, or at least not quite the same body. She watched his face with apprehension until she saw tears rise in his eyes as he felt the difference his babies had already caused. She placed her hand over his and leaned her forehead against his, relief flooding through her as she sensed his raw emotional state. Their hands stayed together as their lips rejoined, tongues entwining more sensually now that this nerve-racking chapter had been faced and passed and fully embraced.

 

Slowly, in mutual accord and mutual need, their kiss deepened, tongues beginning to dance together with rising fervor. She moved her mouth from his, kissing her way along his jaw line to his ear, her teeth pulling lightly at the lobe. His blood pounded beneath her lips as her tongue traced down his neck. Her hands ran over his chest, fingers playing through the dark hair, eagerly feeling the heat of his bare skin.

 

John edged her off his lap and onto the bed beside him. Helena smiled as he removed her jacket and dropped it onto the floor. Between bouts of nausea, she had prepared very carefully this morning and now that they were past the part that had worried her, she was looking forward to his next response. His fingers had already moved to the zipper on her tunic and he swiftly tugged it over her head, inhaling sharply at the sight that awaited him underneath. “Oh, honey…”

 

Helena had forgotten she had the coral camisole set with her; like the few other pieces of lingerie she owned, it had been thrown into her luggage for no good reason when she came to Alpha. It had gone unappreciated all this time. A few days ago, when she’d been going through a frenzy of cleaning in her quarters to give her mind something to focus on while awaiting the end of John’s quarantine, she’d unearthed it in the back of a drawer. The color had always been good with her skin tone and when she tried it on for size, she was pleased to see that the boned top came down slightly past her navel and helped camouflage her new tummy bulge just a little. With lacings up the front and sides, she could control the fit without feeling constrained. The fact that her larger breasts were practically spilling out of the already low cut top was, she figured, a bonus; something to assist in distracting him from her more voluptuous curves elsewhere. Watching his eyes now, she felt good about her decision; oh yes, he was distracted alright.

 

To John, she was the most tantalizing confection he’d ever seen. The garment she wore seemed to be constructed of nothing but lace and a bit of ribbon, and looked very much like one deep breath on her part would defeat the lace’s ability to contain her breasts. He brought his hands up to caress them, never before in such wonderfully round abundance. He held them, feeling the increased fullness of them, running his thumbs gently over the tight nipples barely covered by the coral lace. Lowering his head, he kissed first one then the other, his tongue licking at her through the lace covering.

 

She moaned softly and ran her fingers through his hair. “That feels so good, John. They’re so sensitive.”

 

He paused to whisper, “I’m not hurting you, am I?”

 

“No,” she answered quickly, “and don’t talk with your mouth full.”

 

He snickered and reapplied himself to his task, eliciting another moan from her as his thumbs slipped the lacy covering below her nipples. A low growl came from the back of his throat. “Are your…your nipples are darker?”

 

“Increased blood flow,” she explained with amusement.

 

“What else is under here?” he asked, his hands moving impetuously to the hook on her skirt.

 

In a perfect romantic world, her outfit would have had a matching garter belt and seamed silk stockings to go with it; in fact, she remembered it had originally come with both items but who knew where they were now. In the same perfect world, she would have had a pair of  killer stiletto-heeled pumps, not boring beige boots, but as she stood in front of him and he slid her out of her skirt, she knew by John’s expression that the lacy top and matching lace thong were doing all she could have asked of them. Her skirt fell in a circle at her feet and she stepped carefully out of it, pulling him up to stand beside her.

 

Almost mesmerized, his hands moved back to her magnificent breasts, simultaneously claiming her mouth in a deep, sizzling kiss. Her hands strayed up his back, nails grabbing at him. Helena could feel his hard arousal pressed against her groin, clearly desiring to be freed from the impediment of denim. She reached down and unfastened the button on his jeans, then slid her fingers over the firm bulge below making him break their kiss to moan against her neck.

 

“Feels like you missed me, darling,” she whispered.

 

“So much, baby,” he whispered back.

 

He held himself away from her to grasp one end of the ribbon that seemed to hold her top together. Slowly, he untied the bow just below her breasts and watched with satisfaction as indeed the simple act of her breathing popped her right out of the lacy confines. Then, locking his gaze with hers, he slipped a hand down between her legs, fondling her through the tiny bit of fabric that more or less covered her. She leaned against him and moaned into his shoulder; as his fingers felt the thin strip of cloth, completely saturated with her arousal, he moaned, too.

 

“Feels like you missed me, too, honey,” he murmured.

 

With that, Helena was finished with the introductory motions. She unzipped his jeans and pushed them down, discovering in the process he hadn’t bothered donning any underwear. His rock hard erection sprang out at her and she grasped him in her hand, stroking him, grinding against his body, wanting to feel him pressed inside her.

 

The tempo of John’s breathing altered, catching in his throat as her long, cool fingers stroked him and her body communicated her want. Gently, he pushed her back onto the bed and removed his jeans. He paused as he stood before her, wanting just to look at her for a moment. She reclined back, propped up on her elbows. The vision of her pale skin contrasting with the background of icy blue bedspread was enticing as always, but with the addition of the rose petals around her and the outfit she was almost wearing, all set off by the glow of candlelight, she appeared ethereal, some otherworldly apparition waiting just for him. Provocatively, she raised one foot, then the other so he could remove her boots. He leaned over her to once again slide his hand between her legs, making her gasp his name and writhe against his exploring fingers.

 

He peeled the diminutive excuse for panties down and off her legs and climbed onto the bed. Simultaneously, she reached for him with one hand as her legs parted in invitation. Poised above her, he placed the head of his shaft against her and began to slip carefully inside. Rather belatedly, an important thought occurred to him and he stopped. “You’re sure this is alright? You and the babies…”

 

She smiled lovingly, but with frustration, at his caution. “John, you think I’d let us do anything that would hurt our children?” She ran her fingertips over his cheek. “We’re fine, I promise…and I want you…inside me…now.”

 

Her ‘now’ was almost an order and her hand slid behind his head and began pulling him down towards her.

 

He smiled at his own foolishness and required no further persuasion. He sank fully into her in one long, smooth motion, savoring the feeling of her body’s hot juices slicking around and over him, drenching his balls as they pressed against her and easing the ache he’d been feeling for her all morning. Her inner walls quivered in delightful little pulses all along his length as her body accommodated itself to his welcome intrusion.

 

Looking down into her eyes, he was reminded of his crazy dream when he’d realized the universe was telling him she was with child…times two as it turned out. Just like in his dream he was falling helplessly into those emerald pools as his body was surrounded by her; couldn’t have stopped or pulled away if he’d tried and for the first time since he’d been back on Alpha, he felt like he’d truly come home.

 

Helena’s body had been throbbing for him and she loved the way it felt when John entered her, such a pleasant shock to her system. It had been like that since their first time together. She loved the way he filled her and the way her body tingled as her muscles stretched around him. She loved it when he took her hard and fast when they were both desperate to hammer against each other, those times when they couldn’t get enough of each other. Sometimes they didn’t make it to the bed for being so frantic to taste and lick and suck and kiss each other to total bliss. She’d never in her life had sex on the floor as often as she did with John…or in secluded tucked-away corners or even against walls…They’d made love on her desk, in medical exam rooms and on the conference room table after a command meeting, fulfilling a fantasy for both of them…and, oh God, they’d even done it on recon trips with their sleeping bags zipped together and in nearly utter silence because of other crew members sleeping not far away. Sometimes, as they had last night, they made dirty commlock calls to each other just to take the edge off when they couldn’t be together otherwise. All those things, the level of passion and abandon, she’d never experienced with anyone but John. From their conversations, she knew such behavior had been foreign to him, too…before her.

 

She entwined her legs with his and pulled him closer, feeling his chest hair tickle her sensitive breasts. She had expected this first encounter, coming after nearly three weeks apart would have an urgency to it from beginning to end, but now that they were joined, they both wanted to be unhurried, deliberate in their motions; their hunger for each other sated gradually, even spiritually. She knew her pregnancy had much to do with their common mindset, but also, the desire to be reassured that they really were lying together in each other’s arms. As much as she loved being with him when they tossed all caution and attacked each other, she loved it like this even more.

 

 

 

 

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Their sexual union had always been fulfilling. They’d satisfied each other thoroughly that fateful day, now unknown years ago in Earth chronology, when they’d finally given in to all their denied urges and made love for the first time. After months of friendship and longing looks and evocative touches, not to mention trials and tribulations beyond their control, their level of sexual craving had been understandable and easy to categorize…they thought. Privately and separately, before the sex, each had assumed they had been lucky enough to find a nice quiet love affair, something neither of them expected to have in their lives again. Once the initial curiosity and first sexual steam had been let off, after the original infatuation had died down which surely it would, they’d have a simple, comfortable, perfectly ordinary little relationship. Maybe sometimes it would be hard to balance with their duties and responsibilities; hard, too, because of the dangers surrounding their daily lives. But they were mature adults and they could find a way, because they truly loved each other, after all.

 

As it turned out, they were right about loving each other and they were right their relationship would provide comfort. But they grossly underestimated the agonizing fear they sometimes felt for each other’s safety…and nothing else they’d supposed had been remotely true at all. After the first week, they couldn’t be with each other or touch each other enough. After the first month, nothing had changed. After three months, after six, their state of reciprocal yearning only grew worse.

 

They had absurdly believed back then they were being inconspicuous, that their condition was kept between themselves alone. In fact, they were already well on their way to reaching something like legendary status amongst their fellow moon dwellers. There had been at that point no public embrace or kiss, but as Alan and Tony exited a command meeting one day, Alan had succinctly summed things up with, “Holy crap, they’re making everybody horny!”  They hadn’t touched at the meeting, except for the barest brush of fingertips as they passed reports to each other; eye contact had been minimal, but smoldering, as they tried not to call attention to their less than business-like thoughts. Neither of them had lost a beat of professional conduct when presenting their updates…but the heat was coming off them in tangible waves. The temperature at their area of the table was literally higher than anywhere else in the room. As time passed and the love they had for each other couldn’t be denied or hidden from anyone, even those who didn’t much care for one or the other of them as people had to admit the power and intensity of their feelings was inspiring and even profound.

 

What they unlocked in each other’s souls was turbulent and obsessive and mystical; at first, frightening to both of them. The depth of their feelings scared them when they couldn’t bring themselves to stay apart, and scared them more if they tried to put distance between them. Both had gone through traumatic emotional crises where they’d fought the idea of surrendering to this thing, whatever it was, they had unleashed, that was more than either of them had asked for or been prepared to take on.

 

When Helena was a teenage girl, even with her early scientific bent, she still had had shiny, silver fantasies about a man loving her one day the way that John did…but her intellectual side had failed to warn her that to have such a love she would have to willingly drown herself in the dark blue sea of his eyes. When John was an egocentric young man, he’d thought it would be terrific to have a woman want him and love him as Helena did…the left side of his brain had neglected to tell him that to possess such a woman he would have to be possessed himself. Fighting it had ultimately been nothing but a waste of time and energy, had served no purpose. Eventually they’d understood that in order to receive what they wanted they had to give that much in return. Everything important: security, safe haven, happiness, love, even the worth of life itself came to be personified for one by the other. Over time, they’d come to accept that they needed each other like they needed water or air.

 

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As John’s awareness tumbled further into the shining depths of her eyes, he felt as if his body was becoming permeable, as if he could breathe her into him, and if he concentrated hard enough, hold her inside him as she held him. He imagined he could feel her blood pump through her veins and it even felt possible if he listened closely enough, he’d be able to hear his children’s heartbeats echoing somewhere behind her pulse. But now, oh, right now as he moved at a languid pace in and out of her, her body matching his rhythm at every point, kissing oh so slowly, he began to feel a coiling pressure in the pit of his belly signaling the precipice was nearby. Not yet, though, not yet; he could still control it a while longer and he would not go there yet because she wasn’t as close as he was…but he knew what she needed to get there.

 

Helena was floating in the power of his gaze. When above her, his eyes were less like the restless ocean and more like a storm-filled winter night sky, but to her, equally compelling. The dreamy cadence they’d set was allowing her to drift somewhere off the bed and ever closer to him, into his very core, into everything that made him who he was, everything that made him the only man whose children she’d ever wanted to have. She could feel his muscles tensing, feel the heat building where their bodies joined, but she wasn’t able to let go yet.

 

His hand moved down between them and his thumb slid straight to the little knot of skin and nerves that held her release. He flicked at her and massaged her with deft familiarity, knowing what she liked, how she liked it, how much pressure he needed to apply to take her over. She wrapped her long legs around his back, allowing him greater access with his hand and freeing him to thrust even more deeply inside her.

 

Now, oh yes, and now she could feel little tremors beginning to vibrate through her…putting her hands on his lower back, clutching at him to draw him closer and faster….

 

Now, yes, now he was feeling those wonderful little ripples inside her body all along his shaft, and she was very close now, and she wanted him to move faster he could tell, so he obliged her….

 

A hot white string of light was uncurling at the base of her spine and the little tremors were becoming more insistent, becoming shudders, and he was thrusting harder and he felt so good inside her…

 

The pressure he felt earlier was turning into a glow at the base of his spine and it was trying to uncoil and send itself upward and she was shuddering beneath him and she was calling out his name and her inner muscles were contracting all around him and she was there where he wanted to take her where he wanted her to be and

 

She felt him wrap his arms beneath her and clutch her shoulders with his strong hands and he thrust powerfully within her and she was falling and she was flying and it was John and it was always John and it would always be John and

 

Now while she was still falling, flying, floating, soaring, now before she paused or waned or took another breath, now, now, now, Helena, only Helena ever and eternal the only woman he’d ever loved like this, his Helena, this light coming out of him or was it coming out of her and into him and it was shooting up his spine and

 

Coming out of him and into her this light and it was uncurling and shooting up her spine and it was fireworks and fourth of July and pyrotechnics at Disneyland and

 

Would they ever see real fireworks again and it didn’t matter because they could make their own and it was the disco ball in Times Square and the aurora borealis and

 

His eyes his eyes, so blue so blue, shadows on snow, once in a blue moon, so blue, the beginning of all life in the cerulean depths of the ocean, where they were all born where they would all return, cobalt, sapphire, indigo, indigo so hard to define, the unseen color of the rainbow indigo…………….

 

So green, her eyes, like grass, like leaves, like the Amazon jungle, like Ireland, like the sacred color of the fey, the unseen depths of the woods, green, emerald, jade, precious color, life able to create oxygen and make life continue, nurturing life in the primal forest nurturing new life inside her body………………………..

 

“Johhhnnnn!”

 

“Hel-en-nnna!”

 

 

 

 

 

Later when she could speak, she nestled at his side under the covers and looked into his dark blue eyes with wonder. “How did you pull this off, all this…?”

 

He smiled at her. “I wanted us to be able to have some privacy for a change so I asked for a few favors and had my own chat with your colleagues yesterday. They all agreed it would be alright if I got out a little early so I could surprise you.” He paused. “Of course, I don’t think they were being nice; I think they were all more than ready to be rid of me.”

 

She chuckled in agreement. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re all hoping you stay healthy for a good long time so they don’t have to see you again anytime soon.” Her eyes glanced around the bedroom. “But why didn’t you just set everything up in your quarters and have me meet you there?”

 

“Well, about that…” He pulled her closer into his arms and plucked a pink rose petal out of her hair, “I figured it was time we ended the whole ‘your place or mine’ thing. After all, we’re going to be in need of more space, what with there being four of us.” His fingers drifted down to her belly, caressing her.  “So I just thought it would be nice if when we got back together, we were in our place.”

 

“So…what do you…you mean…? We’re home?”

 

“We are if you want it to be,” he confirmed.

 

It was huge compared to what either of them lived with now. Admittedly, nothing about Alpha could be considered an ideal spot to raise children, not if there were any other choice, but considering what their lives entailed, it was perfect. They would have a space that could be made into a home. She hugged him hard and kissed him harder, marveling inwardly at his total acceptance of a situation that had to have come as the surprise of his life just over a week ago.

 

“Do you want to see the nursery?” he asked suddenly.

 

She laughed delightedly. “There’s already a nursery?”

 

He shrugged. “Well, right now it’s an empty room with one piece of furniture, but it will be a nursery when we finish with it.” He crawled out of bed and moved to the closet, tossing a silk robe in her direction. She caught it and looked at him with questions in her eyes. He shrugged again. “I had Sue steal some clothes from your quarters last night while we were having dinner.”

 

Helena shook her head in amazement. “Is there anything you didn’t think of, John?’ She watched him pull on his own robe.

 

He furrowed his brow, then winked and grinned at her, “I guess we’ll find out.”

 

He led her to the other bedroom, pausing outside the doorway to cover her eyes. “Close‘em,”  he commanded.

 

She chuckled. “I have to close my eyes?”

 

“Hmm hmm, I want you to get the full impact of what they did.” He walked her into the room, positioning her behind the rocking chair so the first thing she saw would be Jim and Carl’s inventive artwork. Then he flicked the light and stood behind her, hands on her shoulders. “Okay, open your eyes.” He heard her gasp in surprise.

 

Speechless, Helena knelt down and ran a hand gently over the carved figures as though she was meeting each character individually. When her fingers reached the little princess and dragon, she delicately ran her nails over the creature’s folded wings and, unable to stop herself from the whimsical action, scratched the dragon between his ears. 

 

Watching her fondly, John would have sworn he saw the dragon’s smile get wider when she petted him. He snickered at his own imagination and his mind told him he knew how the dragon felt; he liked it when she rubbed his ears, too.

 

Rising back to her feet, she turned immediately into his arms. There were tears standing in her eyes, but she was feeling playful. “We should call him Astro,” she said simply.

 

He frowned in puzzlement. “Like the Jetson’s dog?” John asked her, and she nodded. “That’s what you want to name one of our kids?” He was lost.

 

Helena giggled, “No, silly. The dragon…look at his face, doesn’t he kind of look like Astro Jetson? Or maybe we should go with Rastro?” She said the last word as the cartoon character had pronounced it. “He can protect the kids.”

 

He laughed out loud at this childlike side of her that so rarely had the opportunity to come out, even with him. “Dammit, I’d been trying to figure out who he looked like. I’d thought it was Alan, but I think you’re right; it’s Astro….And by the way, you’re crazy.”

 

She giggled again, but then happy tears suddenly won over and she tightly hugged her arms around his neck. “It’s beautiful, John. I love it. I love you.”

 

“I love you, too, honey.” He held her close, thinking not for the first time that all these tears were going to take some getting used to. He’d watched her eyes well up during the last week more often than the whole time he’d known her. Intellectually, he knew it was racing hormones; he’d started reading about such things during his quarantine so he could be better prepared. Her staff had all teased him good-naturedly. He remembered Bob’s words now: ‘Reading about it is a nice gesture on your part, Commander. I’m sure Helena will appreciate it. Just remember she’s carrying twins. She’s got even more than the normal rate of pregnancy hormones ricocheting around her body…You can read all you want, but when those mood swings hit, you’re still going to be like a blind man down a mine shaft….But it’s nice that you’re trying.’

 

She sniffled and raised her eyes to his. “Thank you…for all of it.”

 

He kissed her softly. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you like everything because I know I was doing a lot of assuming here. Mostly, I was assuming you’ll want my help in sharing the middle of the night feeding duties and so forth, and I can’t do that unless we’re all together in one spot.”

 

Helena smiled affectionately into his eyes and stroked the side of his face. “Since we’ve been unofficially living together for quite a while it does seem pretty pointless not to make it official now that we’re going to be parents.”

 

John cleared his throat nervously. “Yes…uh…well, about that…I had something a little more official in mind.”

 

She looked at him with vulnerable speculation, wondering if this was going where her heart’s intuition told her it was. Nervousness was not typical for John.

 

He opened his mouth, but closed it again, shaking his head and laughing at his own unease. “I planned out a lot about today, but I didn’t really plan what I wanted to say now. I guess I should have rehearsed.”

 

Helena continued to look at him with silent and uncertain expectation. She wasn’t going to help him with this.

 

Still hesitant, he ran the fingers of his right hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ear. “I want you to know,” he finally began, “I’m sorry I didn’t do this before. I should have, I’ve thought about it often enough. I wanted the circumstances to be perfect…and I don’t like that it might look like the only reason I’m doing it now is because you’re pregnant…which I’ll admit is an important part of it for me but not the only part.” He watched her swallow hard and he smiled, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. ‘Come on already, Koenig, ask her,’ his mind insisted. ‘For crying out loud, you’re just blathering.’

 

Words suddenly flooded out. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone, Helena. I want you in my life forever, for the rest of my life and beyond that if such things are possible. And I am so happy, more than I could ever explain that you are the mother of my children.”

 

She bit her lip, but the tears sprang back to her eyes anyway as she watched him reach into his pocket and then, to her astonishment, go down on one knee in front of her. Her left hand clapped over her mouth to stifle what was threatening to turn into a sob.

 

He smiled up at her and gestured with his head. “I need that hand.”

 

She laughed tearily and reached her hand toward him. It only shook a little as he gently took it and placed a kiss upon it, before sliding the ring onto her finger. “Marry me,” he whispered. He watched as she stared at him and at her hand and at him again and…nodded. He snickered. “Was that a yes?” She nodded harder. He chuckled and rose to his feet, circling her with his arms.

 

She threw her own arms around his neck and finally found her voice. “Yes,” she whispered against his ear. “Yes! I love you so much, yes!”

 

They kissed hard, and John hugged her while she cried…again. Once she pulled herself together…again…she stayed in his arms and examined the ring on her finger behind his head. “John, it’s beautiful!” Set in a yellow gold bezel, a large emerald-cut green stone on a white gold band winked back at her. “How did you do this?”

 

“Dave Reilly made it for you,” he explained. “It’s not what I would have gotten you if we were on Earth, but we did the best we could here. Dave’s a little limited in stone choices. Truthfully, I just went with the one that matched your eyes.”

 

“I love it, John; what is it?”

 

He shrugged. “Dave doesn’t know, but he says it seems similar to something called a peridot…I am instructed to tell you the ancient Romans called peridot ‘the evening emerald’ for its ability to catch almost any light. I am further told it aids in emotional balance and well-being, and that it enhances psychic ability…this is all according to Dave, anyway.” He grinned at her.

 

She giggled. “I think we need to find Dave a girlfriend,” she smiled cheerfully.

 

He snickered. “Well, now, let’s be open minded…Dave knows rocks and we shouldn’t be dismissive of concepts we may not understand. As a matter of fact, I think the psychic part could be right,” John said seriously.

 

“Oh, you do? And why is that?” Helena smiled in agreeable amusement.

 

“Because right now,” he pulled her closer, “I’m getting a definite sense that you’re going to be spending most of the rest of the day naked and making love with me.”

 

She wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck; rising up on her toes, their lips were just centimeters apart, noses touching. “If you needed a rock to tell you that, John,” her voice went to a sexy murmur, “you’re really slipping.”

 

He lifted her off her feet as they began to kiss again, joyfully, tongues flirting in their mouths. He slowly lowered her back to the floor as their kiss began to expand, lips sliding from playful movement to erotic. Placing fairy-light kisses around his neck and across his chest, she whispered, “Take me back to bed.”

 

“My pleasure,” he whispered back.

 

 

 

Go to Part 7

Caitlyn Carpenter / 2008