Water and Fire by Demelza Carlton

my breasts and belly as he moved. His
next kiss was equally gentle, though considerably lower. "Relax,
Bel."
    I tried, but from the first
swipe of his tongue I was lost to the electrifying sensation as
Aidan set my every nerve alight with the fire of his love. Lust.
Ah, maybe both. And mine.
    I surrendered to his skill.
    "Oh,
Aidan… Aidan…OH!"

40
     
    Day darkened
to night and I made love with Aidan. We felt no hurry, nor desire
to stop. He was a sweet lover, for all his fire. Like mixing his
fiery whiskey with cool water, our time together was enhanced by
our joining. His every caress felt burned into my skin, yet I
burned for more. Oh, Aidan…
    I didn't sleep on the floor by
the fire that night, nor barricaded in the bedroom nearest the
bathroom. I shared Aidan's bed and slept beside him on satin, when
we chose to sleep. And when we didn't…I ached for more.
    That night, I woke in darkness,
thirsty for water. I disentangled my body from Aidan's embrace and
padded to the kitchen. Through the kitchen window, I spied movement
on the edge of the lawn, where trees and bush met grass. I held
still and watched. Keeping low, a large, striped cat, the size and
shape of a greyhound, stalked the edge of the bush. Her ears
pricked at the slightest sound and once her head turned so she
looked right at me. She froze, as did the two tiny cubs at her
paws. With such small young, I knew her den must be close by. As I
met her gaze, I nodded slowly. Her secret was safe with me, as long
as she did not betray any of my secrets. She and her cubs flitted
between two trees and were gone. The Nannup Tiger lived and she was
not alone.
    I quenched my thirst with tap
water, before returning to Aidan's bed. As I slid in beside him, he
stretched an arm across me to stroke my leg.
    "I thought you'd disappeared
and maybe I'd just dreamed you." His hand curved around my thigh,
slowly moving upward. "Would you like to inspire some sweet dreams
to see us through 'til morning?"
    I could take sleep or sex, but
I knew that when morning came, I'd be driving home. The burning
fire our passion kindled tonight would be cold soon enough. Fire
could not burn forever. But it could burn for one more night. And
oh how I burned for him now.
    I stretched and spread out, as
his fingers slid inside. My breath hissed out in response, as a far
hotter snake thrust into a welcome home.
    Sleep could wait.

41
     
    I lay on my side, facing Aidan,
sated and sleepy. My fingers still stroked his chest hair, even as
he started to snore.
    Rain drummed on the roof,
washing away with it my willpower to leave. With every passing
moment, more and more I wanted to lie beside him 'til Monday
morning dawned. Just one more loving encounter and I'd leave, I
told myself, but I lied.
    I loved this man too much.
    The sky started to lighten and
still I stared at him. I leaned over him, holding my breath, and
brushed my lips lightly across his.
    One last kiss. No more.
    I had exams tomorrow and a long
drive home today. Were he awake, he'd tell me to go, to become the
qualified midwife I wanted to be. Did I still want that?
    Of
course, I told myself. All this effort for
a qualification. That was why I was here. Aidan wouldn't ask me to
throw that away. Two weeks, is all. I could return once I finished
my exams.
    And tell him the words I
couldn't say.
    Sticky and smelling of sex, I
should have showered. Instead, I savoured Aidan's smell on my skin.
I dressed and packed up my things. The brown-bagged bottle of
whiskey clinked as I lifted my bag, a reminder.
    I lifted it out, torn between
giving it to Aidan as I'd intended or keeping it for myself, to
remember him.
    I will return
to drink it with him, so I'll leave it here. I folded the bag and slid it like a notecard beneath the
bottle. Taking a pen from the desk, I carefully wrote two
heart-felt words:
     
    Thank you
     
    It seemed like so little when
he'd given me so much, so below it I scrawled three more:
     
    I love you.
     
    With one last