On the Beach Ch. 18

"You look half your age. You're in fantastic shape and you have the heart and soul that are younger than mine. There's nothing, beyond a punch in the face, I can do about other people but I don't want you mocking us."

Muriel's smile is soft as she shakes her head slowly. "Silly man. I'm not mocking us. We'd better learn to laugh at ourselves, appreciate our uniqueness, or this will never work."

"Does that mean you've decide to at least try?"

"Yes. I can't help worrying I'm ruining your life, that your family'll end up hating me, but yes."

Mark squeezes her hands so tightly she suppresses a wince. "I told dad I was staying, that I wasn't going back to Norfolk." He purposely avoids trying to read the expression on Muriel's face. "I can't stay here, though, not that you've invited. I know you probably don't care and I don't care, much, what people say, but I need to know I don't need you to take care of me. The same for a job." He sees the look in her eyes. "Dad told me. Don't be mad at him. He warned me about pride and insecurity." He looks at her closely. "He told me he regrets not taking you up on the offer to help them relocate. I don't. This," he draws a circle above their heads with one finger, "might never had happened if he had. I'm happy to pick your brain. You probably know this place better than anyone. I'm happy to have you point me in a promising direction." He leans forward and peers at her intently. "But, please, don't pull any strings. I'm not trying to hide the fact I've fallen in love with you in the space of four days or is it five, but as far as a job is concerned, I'm just a family friend."

"You're silly about some things but not on this one. I realized that after the first night. I can be your lover or I can be your employer. One day, maybe, we can be partners. I'd love to have you here. I'd love to have you working your fanny off beside me but that will have to wait." She mirrors the intensity of his gaze. "But there a few things that can't wait. One, I think your hair has grown enough for Steph to wax you, if you're interested. Two, and I guess this isn't really pressing, but that cutie, Owen, has got me thinking. You're right I don't give a bald rat's ass what most folks think but I do care what you think. Would I be a walking cliché of an age-inappropriate woman if I got a piercing?"

"What is it with you and rats assess?" Mark asks shaking his head. "Nipple or clitoral hood?"

"I was thinking hood. I do like having my nipples played with though."

"I've been thinking about it as well. What's the one you mentioned? The one that hits the G-spot?"

"Oh, hon. From what I've heard those are the most painful, by far."

Mark shrugs. "But what was it called?" He leans forward and touches his forehead to hers. "I know you oldsters don't keep up with technology but there's a thing call the 'internet' and 'Google' that will give me the answer but I'd have to get up and drag my ass to a computer."

"Smart-ass. There's a reverse PA, comes out the top instead of the bottom. There's one called a dydoe, I think, that pierces the top ridge of the crown of your penis, and there's one that goes vertical through the crown called an apadravya. That one is supposed to be the most painful. It goes in the underside, through the urethra and out the top." She pauses. "And I think I read you can't have sex for up to three months, too painful."

"Three month? Fuck."

"Yup, fuck." She sits up straighter. "That brings up the third thing. I don't want to scare you off. And all I can do is try to convince you that what happens to us in the end doesn't matter. I'm not trying to trap you or anything. It may already be too late but I want to get pregnant. Now."

She braces herself but even so, she's not prepared for Mark's reaction.

He beams. He leans forward to wrap his arms around her. "Me, too. I was thinking the same thing. I'm totally not sure I'm ready to be a dad. I'm totally sure I can't afford, moneywise, to be one, but I totally want you to be a mom. Why are you crying?"

"Why? Don't be an ass." She rests her head against his chest. "Make love to me."

"Well, it's a burden but I'll do it for you." She smacks his shoulder as he lies her back on the rug.

"What about your knees?" She asks.

"What about them, babe?"

"Rug burn, silly. Rug burn."

"I'll risk it."

He kneels between her legs and leans forward to rest on his arms. Muriel grasps his face. When they kiss, it's soft and slow. They savor the taste and feel of each other's tongue. Mark kisses his way down her neck. Her nails drag lightly over his back. He kisses between her breasts, kisses all around her nipples, teasing her, before finally taking one in his mouth. He circles her nipples with the tip of his tongue. He flicks them, tugs at them with his lips, with no less ardor but less vigorously than in the past.

He kisses her belly, sitting back on his legs. His tongue dips into her navel. He kisses the ridge of her hips, kisses the smooth skin where her pubic hair is missing. He kisses the inside of each leg. He kisses his way down her leg, to the top of her top and back up the other leg before he kisses her clit. He nuzzles it, treating it as he's treated her nipples, gently, persistently.

He pulls his tongue up her slit, loving her taste, loving the feel of her fingers in his hair. He moves above her, lowers his head, and offers her her own taste; she gladly accepts. As her mouth pulls at his tongue, he pushes his hips forward. He enters easily, slipping deep into her warmth and essence, feeling that he is home. This is exactly where he belongs.

They move together. He leans forward, rolling her up on her back. He can penetrate her deeper in this position. They don't fuck, not this time. They make love. His slow movements remain steady as a spring rain. Her hands clutch at his shoulders; her legs clench around his waist.

He thrusts deep and cums without a sound. Muriel can feel Mark's cock pulsing insider her. She has a passing regret for all the semen that's been 'wasted', if that's the right word for the joy it has brought her, in her mouth, in her bottom. She comforts herself. Mark is a young man. It's a myth you can 'use up' all your sperm. It feels as if he's ejaculated directly into her womb. She prays.

Above her, face buried in the side of her neck, Mark's prayers join hers.