Smile and Remember

It was the sound of her contented sigh that woke me.

Sleepily, I opened my eyes to the first faint rays of the morning sunlight attempting to peek through the still drawn curtains. There was just enough light filtering through the top of the window where the curtains failed to cloak the room into darkness, already chasing away the night with a promise of a new day. But a day I neither wanted to begin, nor end.

She was still lying on her side facing towards me. Her eyes closed, still in sleep, perhaps dreaming, hopefully so.

Only then did I notice my hand was still held within hers as I lay on my side facing towards her. Still firmly, yet comfortably entwined, my hand rested snuggly within hers, both trapped between her legs where the warmth of her femininity reminded me of the sweetness of that last explosive encounter.

We'd known one another for years. But in all that time we had never once spent the entire night together. We had spoken of doing so more often than not. But both circumstance and scheduling had never coordinated together allowing us that one precious moment we had so wanted to share together. Late nights yes. But always followed by regret at having to slip from the still warm bed to dress, hurriedly afterwards going our separate ways, back to our separate lives. It was the only mar on the most beautiful, passionate, sensual moments any two people could even begin to imagine experiencing with one another.

And I hated that.

"God RayAnn... you're beautiful," I thought, as I lay on my side, wide awake now, looking towards her.

The room was still warm, comfortably so. As though the heated passion we'd shared that past night had lingered within the room long afterwards, never dissipating, covering us both like a soft warm blanket. Uncovered by any need of sheet or comforter, her nude form stretched languidly atop the bed, still secure in her sleep, resting there like a perfectly sculpted statue that had been chiseled in place, meant to remain as the art she was, as the perfection she'd become.

"I truly do love you," I actually whispered, as I continued glancing towards her. Her soft alluring eyes still tightly closed, though their expression hidden, still appeared to me in thought as I remembered her looking into mine, our eyes making love just as intensely as had our bodies. I painted her portrait a thousand times as I lay looking towards her. I sketched each and every expression of her face that I had seen, her alluring smile, the laugh she'd given me when I had tickled her, and finally the vulnerable surrender when her face grimaced in explosive ecstasy. Each one separate, yet a part of the other. A mosaic of such magnitude that in my own mind at least, I could rival the beauty of Michael Angelo's masterpiece adorning the high vaulted ceiling of the Cisteen Chapel.

As my senses sharpened, awakening to the same degree, as had my thoughts, I could now smell the fragrance of her hair as I looked at it spread lazily upon the pillow. Jasmine, Violets perhaps, and herbal scents too numerous to mention, each one sharp, crisp, assailing my nostrils just as her womanly scent had assailed me earlier, driving me nearly insane with my lust and desire for her.

Once again I heard her sigh, a reminder that time was passing, far too quickly and I found myself wishing for some magical potion that would freeze the moment, freeze time, keeping her asleep. An apple perhaps, though non-poisonous, just enough to keep her contentedly in place, my own Sleeping Beauty.

Still she slept, though I knew that before long she would wake. I looked forward to her morning smile, dreading however that moment when she must rise and finally leave the sanctuary we'd created, the heaven we'd explored and existed within for a brief moment in time's eternity.

I watched the rise and fall of her breathing. And in doing so, taking pleasure in the gentle heaving of her perfectly formed breasts. Though small, they were firm, perfectly molded like twin fawns of pleasure. Each, capped by two of the loveliest pink tipped nipples I had ever seen. The memory, countless memories in fact, of nuzzling that softness of her flesh, taking the hard taut nubbins into my mouth gently sucking, licking each one in turn. The feel of her hand resting lightly against the back of my neck, holding me close, stroking me as I in turn stroked her with lips and tongue, lightly...ever so lightly, ever so wondrously until her ever growing need beckoned to me.

Looking at her, they were hard now, growing even harder while she slept. Perhaps the mere projection of my thoughts, so in tune with one another had we been, had aroused them in anticipation of my kiss, of my touch. I watched delightedly as they stiffened, bathed in the ever-growing light through the window. Yet another brush stroke, another canvas painted with the shapes and shadows of light as they stole across her chest, highlighting her perfections, accentuating her sensuality, awakening her soul.

I felt the moisture gather at the corner of my eye. I had promised her...no tears. With my free hand, I swiped away the single droplet that had formed, betraying my thoughts, and my promise. Gingerly, I reached out, placing the tiny bit of moisture upon the tip of her breast, kissing it with my finger, watching the pink tip respond ever so slightly as it glistened briefly in the approaching light.

I saw her tremble slightly, quiver as though cold, yet knowing in that subtle twitch of her body that she merely had responded to even that, the lightest, briefest of touches, just as she always had, always would.

Her entire body seemed to be one continuous extension of her sex whenever she was aroused. I had never before met a woman, nor felt like I would ever know another, who was more in tune, more harmonic with her spirit and sensuality as RayAnn was. Every nerve ending seemed to connect to one another. The merest of touches sending out waves of goose flesh that exploded across her body in an apocalyptic display of arousal and need.

I closed my eyes briefly remembering. Remembering the countless times I had lay by her side, her back facing towards me. I remembered the lightest of breaths caressing her skin, remembered the waves of goose pimples as they rose in excited anticipation. I remembered counting them in an abstract sort of way, marveling at even their beauty, naming each, as they stood shivering, the finest of hair downy soft and thin, standing up as prickled stems of electricity. And each tiny bump shared the same name...desire.

And I would spend whatever time she gave me, kissing each one. Content to draw from her the rapture of my lips upon her flesh, devouring and savoring each tiny bump as though it were a feast in and of itself.

And as I partook of her flesh, as I devoured that which was so freely offered me, it gave me strength, gave me the stamina, and gave me the determination to pleasure her for as long as it took before the purity of our combined coupling, combined ecstasy, robbed us of our hunger, satiated the thirst and pacified for the moment the longing of our internal souls.

Though I wanted to remain within the memories of my mind, at least a moment or two longer, I felt her hand clench mine, fearfully opening my eyes, afraid of what I might see. But still she slept, still contentedly holding my hand within hers, against that which I had so frequently found pleasure in, both in giving as well as in the receiving. The silkiness of her mound tickled the back of my hand. I pressed, allowing my knuckles to further sink into the downy softness of her fur. How I had loved running my fingers through it, through her.

I could still hear her gentle laugh echoing through my mind. Her near silent giggle as I toyed with those silky strands of hair as they slipped between my fingers, caressing each as though each finger had become a probing, penetrating penis seeking her depths, longing for the liquid pleasures I would find there.

Never had I felt such loveliness, never had I explored or been a part of such inner warmth as that which she gave me, as that which she produced in answer to my touch, in response to my initial gentle stirrings, preparing the way slowly until unbridled passion and desire consumed us, washing over us in a fulfillment that no other could ever hope to duplicate.

I wished that I were inside her now. Feeling her heat as it consumed me, wrapping me in such unbelievable passion that all thought of anything else vanished beyond the marvel of her femininity.

I could almost feel her. Closing my eyes once again I envisioned how we'd so often made love. Slipping in behind her, as we lay on our sides, gentle, tender at first, my hands, lips, exploring her flesh. The length of her exquisitely shaped legs as my fingers danced along them, playing her like the finest of musical instruments. The firmness of her molded ass pressing back against me, melded into it, a part of it, a part of her as we lay together, hardly moving.

So often we had made love in this position, warm, secure together. Her perfect breasts so beautiful as they filled my hand. The gentle cat-like kneading as I purred contentedly into her back, my lips and tongue savoring the essence of her smell, her taste, while my hands continued to cup those twin fawns, her hard nipples extended awaiting the touch of my finger tips.

"You truly are an incredible woman," I thought; daring to open my eyes again, glad to see that she had hardly stirred from the position she'd been in since my wakening.

And she was. Sensual beyond description, for those few that new her so intimately could ever begin to understand the incredible power she had. Complex, for she could be shy, act shy, yet inwardly resolved to those who truly knew her as I did. Strong, strong willed, intelligent, unafraid of seeking herself, but compassionate to those with whom she shared or gave her friendship.

And I had been given the gift of her vulnerability. She had trusted me, allowed me to explore with her the sensations of heart, body and soul. I had so often drawn from her the climax of her being. I had witnessed and been a part of her pleasures that she gave so readily, so completely, so unashamedly.

"How often," I thought, "had I nestled there between her legs," the thought of which even now stirred my lustfulness for her, wishing I were at that very moment, savoring the sweetness I'd so often found there with my tongue.

Here I had found the heart of her passion, her sensuality as a woman as she allowed me to caress her so intimately with my lips. God how I loved doing that for her, with her...to her.

The first time I had ever made love to her in that way, she had succumbed to it entirely. To me. I was thrilled that she would, that she did. It was one of the greatest gifts she had ever shared of herself. I took my time with her, there was nothing else of importance that I wished to know, wished to experience. Only the sweetness of her inner lips, the heat and aroma of her sex as I came to know her so intimately, so expertly. With my mind I learned what she liked, how she liked it and when to stop or begin again. I knew when to lick, slowly, teasingly drawing the flat of my tongue upwards, and then downwards towards the tiny pearl that I found anxiously awaiting to be caressed. And I learned when to merely kiss, allowing her to calm, collect herself, yet keeping her teetering on the edge of orgasmic bliss.

The soft moans that escaped her lips as my tongue danced upon the surface of her clit filled my head with the most incredible joy, increasing the intensity of my manipulations, hearing the increase of pleasured sighs begin to boil forth as she undulated beneath me in a matching rhythm of her own, as the tempo of the dance increased faster and faster.

When her fingers clawed into my neck, shoulders or head, I knew. When her back arched with a force that often lifted me up along with her, I knew. And I came with her, a thousand times within that fragment of a moment. Seeing her face screwed up with indescribable pleasure was yet another painting, another portrait to be hung within the walls of the museum I had built for her. Something to cherish and remember always. Something to periodically stand before in reflection and admire. As I often did, always would.

So absorbed in this memory, this incredible special memory of thought, I hadn't felt her hand finally releasing mine. Only when I felt the lightest touch of her delicate fingers brushing away a stray strand of hair from my forehead did I know she no longer slept.

"Doc, make love to me," she said.

It was all she said. It was all she needed to say. It was all she would ever need to say to me, and I would be there.

I came to her in the only way I knew how. Giving myself as completely to her as she had so often given herself to me.

Face to face this time, as we joined, our eyes never leaving one another. Kissing her passionately, yet softly. Feeling her lips as I kissed her, gently chewing and sucking each one in turn even as our bodies melded in union together, slowly beginning the dance that would eventually end in a frenzy of explosive ecstasy.

God how I loved kissing her. I'd often wondered if given enough time if I couldn't actually climax simply from doing that. How many times at night I had drifted off to sleep simply recalling the press of her lips against mine. Her taste, the sweetness of her spirit as she gave herself to me in this way. Kissing her was just as intimate, if not more so than the sharing of her body. I could lay there with her forever just touching her lips, touching them with tips of fingers, or running the edge of my tongue around them until fencing with her own.

Unlike before, our coupling was slow, soft and so very, very sweet. There was no sense of urgency, no unsatisfied lust or passion waiting to be quenched. For we'd already done that countless times in fact the night before. No this, this was unhurried, a melding of spirits forever joined. Even our mutual orgasm hadn't been as intense. But it had been complete. We lay for long moments afterwards, simply holding one another, quietly, listening to the sound of one another breathing.

Time was slipping by. Eternity was slipping by.

"I have to go," she finally whispered slipping away from within the confines of my arms.

"I know," I told her.

"He'll be waiting for me," Ry added.

I knew that too. But I didn't answer her. Just looking at her as she stood, painting one last final canvas as quickly as I could sketch it.

"You promised me you'd smile."

I did.

"You promised you'll remember," I told her.

"I always will," she said looking towards me, the tears freely flowing now, for both of us. A promise neither one of us found ourselves able to keep.

And with a final good-bye, she was gone.

I didn't see her again for several years, and even then only in passing. Once when she was unaware that I had. And once, when we actually saw one another and smiled, though the distance too great for either one of us to speak.

RayAnn had gone on with her life, as we both knew one day that she would, one day that she must. And she had. She was happy, content. Her life finally fulfilled as only she could make it be.

#

As I lay within the bed, the last moments of my life drawing near. I found myself smiling, remembering the woman who had shared such an important part of my life with me. Only minutes away now, the difficulty in breathing, the darkness already blurring what had seemed so sharp, so focused only a short time ago.

Then suddenly the touch of a too soft hand upon my forehead. Forcing my eyes to open, I saw standing before me an Angel, an Angel who had come to direct me, help me towards that final place.

"Doc?"

"Ry?" I questioned, certain of my deliriousness for surely I had not as yet crossed over. "I told you I'd return one day," she told me.

And she had.

And for that I would love her forever. In another time, in another place perhaps. But I would truly love her forever.

"Doc...I've always remembered," she told me as her voice grew fainter and fainter, the touch of her hand lighter and lighter upon my face.

The press of her lips on mine one final lingering moment, and as she did, I smiled, felt her smile, and knew for but a minute more that I always would smile, and always would remember.