Chapter Six

Catherine woke up to find him gone, and daylight streaming in the open door.  She stretched, smiling to herself, and slowly raised herself up to lean on one elbow.  Then she fell back onto the bed to stretch once more, luxuriating in her own well-being.   When she opened her eyes, it was to see a broad-shouldered silhouette in the doorway.  He said, "Good morning!"  She couldn’t see his face, but she knew from his voice that he was smiling.  "Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Come here and kiss me, and then we’ll talk about breakfast."

He came with alacrity, and as she put her face up for his kiss and her arms around him, she found that he was wearing no shirt.  "M-m-m, I like this; no shirt, Vincent?"

"Well, it’s hot."

She couldn’t resist.  "It was hot yesterday, too, but you wore a shirt then."

He kissed her again, lightly.  "Yesterday was different.  Yesterday, everything was different.  Today is a whole new world."  He bent his head again to her mouth.  This time the kiss was longer, warmer.

Catherine pulled away first, laughing.  "Breakfast becomes more unlikely the longer you do that!  We have to eat to keep up our strength, Vincent."

"You’re right.  And I’m hungry.  Let’s eat."  But he lowered his mouth to hers once more.

"M-m-m."  Catherine laughed into his kiss.  "Stop!  If you kiss me once more, there won’t be any breakfast."

He planted a small kiss in the middle of her forehead, and then got up quickly without another word and went out.  Catherine dressed herself in a pair of shorts and a halter, and followed him outside.

Vincent looked at her hopefully.  "Could you take off that whatever-it-is, the thing you’re wearing over your breasts, Catherine?  There’s no one here but me, and I’d like to look at you without it.  All right?"

Without a word she unfastened the halter and dropped it over the back of the nearest chair.  "For the chance to look at you bare to the waist in the sunshine, I’d shed a lot more than that."  She laughed up at him.

"Feel perfectly free to shed as much as you want to.  I assure you, I won’t complain."

"If either one of us sheds any more, breakfast is again in danger."

"Right.  Let’s get this meal over with!"  Vincent began to break eggs into a pan, and motioned with his chin to the toasting forks lying beside him.  "Put some bread on those, and make toast, please."

"Vincent, there’s a perfectly good kitchen about six steps away from us.  How come you hauled all this stuff out here?"

"We’re roughing it this morning.  We cook over the fire."  He made a wide gesture around him.  "How could we go inside even to cook breakfast?  Look at the world.  It’s too beautiful to go inside.  And anyway, I’m a better cook over an open fire.  What do I know about stoves?"  He propped the frying pan expertly over the fire, and sat back.  "The eggs will be done in about three minutes; will the toast be ready?"

Catherine laughed and hurriedly put the bread on the toasting forks.  As she sat holding the bread over the fire, she watched Vincent.  He was obviously elated this morning; she’d never seen him so full of high spirits.  The thought came to her that this must be what he had been like twenty years ago, when he was still a boy.

"You’re going to burn that toast."  Vincent was sitting at his ease, his chores done for the moment, his eyes leisurely studying her breasts.

Catherine started, jerked out of her moment’s reverie about a teen-aged Vincent, and turned the toast over to brown the other side.

Vincent reached over to hand her a plate of eggs, and his hand softly touched her breast for a moment before he drew it back.  He looked at her, smiling, and then his face sobered.  "I love you.  I want you."

Catherine felt a rush of heat in response to his words.  "Oh, Vincent, me too."

"I see that," he said, and reached one clawed finger to touch her nipple, now rigidly erect.  Then he smiled again.  "…After breakfast."

When breakfast was over, Vincent got up.  "Come on, we’re going to move the bed."

"What?"

"I want to make love to you, and I’m not going to go inside to do it."

They didn’t move a bed, but they did bring blankets and pillows out and make a nest in the shade.  Catherine was still intent on the work, straightening the blankets, and fluffing pillows, when Vincent’s arm came around her from behind, and he pulled her down with him onto the makeshift bed.  He turned to lean over her and looked down at her intensely.  "I want you just as much as before.  Is it going to be like this always?"

"I sure hope so."  Catherine grinned at him and began to stroke his bare chest.

"Take this off, I want to see all of your body in the daylight."  He worked at the waistband of her shorts while he spoke.  When he had opened them he pulled them off, then he sat up and just looked at her.  "Catherine, you are so beautiful.  How can it be that I am so fortunate, that you are mine?"

"You undress too.  I need to see your body in the daylight." He stood and peeled off his pants.  "Look at yourself, Vincent.  Look at this magnificent body.  You are the most perfect man I’ve ever seen."

He tumbled down beside her, pulling her against him.  "Perfect?  Perfectly crazy, maybe.  Crazy to feel you under me, mad to make love to you."  He nuzzled into her neck, kissing and tonguing her skin, moving slowly down over her shoulder, to reach her breast.  There he stopped, drawing a nipple deeply into his mouth, biting down just enough that she could feel his teeth, which sent shafts of erotic pleasure streaking down her body.  His hand moved over her, curling around her waist, drawing across her hip, then sliding down to the inside of her thigh.  His breathing began to quicken, as did Catherine’s.  She ran her hands over his body, tracing the contours of his massive biceps, and following the musculature of his back, all the while arching her body into his seeking mouth, still at her breast.

Then he stopped suddenly.  He raised his head, just looking at her.  Her eyes opened slowly; she was still lost in sensation, but as she saw the look on his face, she came to the present.  "What?  What is it, Vincent?"

He kept looking at her wordlessly for a moment.  Then he dropped his eyes and spoke, looking down, away from her.  "Catherine, I…I’m inexperienced at what we’re doing here.  If I do something, anything that is not…what you would desire, you would let me know?  You would stop me if I go…beyond what is…natural?"

When she didn’t answer right away, he looked up anxiously.  She was smiling at him.  "Vincent, I can think of nothing that you could do that I wouldn’t love."  Her hand came up to touch his face, and her smile widened.  "And maybe I can think of a few things you haven’t."

He said, still uncertain, "…I want to kiss you…everywhere."

"Oh, Vincent, I want you to, and I want to do the same for you, my love."

"I want to look at you…here."  And he put his hand lightly on the mound of her pubic curls.  "I want to look at it, and kiss it…and if I could bury myself in it, I would."  He smiled a little.  "I seem to be possessed by this part of your body.  Is that all right?" His hand moved farther down, and his fingers found the opening.  "May I put my fingers…in here?"

"Of course.  You can put your fingers and your mouth, and your penis too, anywhere that you like.  My body is yours, Vincent.  Your pleasure in it is my pleasure."  She drew in a quick breath and lifted her hips to meet him, as he slid two fingers into her.  "Ah, that’s wonderful."

"You like it?  It feels good?"  He was a little bit surprised.

"I love it.  Um-m…yes.  Move your hand a little…oh, yes…"  Her hips moved in concert with his hand.

Vincent watched her developing excitement with fascination.  His hand moved with growing skill as he watched her responses carefully, and after a few minutes he could see that she would come to climax if he continued.  His own excitement was keeping pace with hers, the sight of her gasping and moaning in response to his stimulation was bringing him close to climax also.  Something that he had read came back to him suddenly, and his thumb reached just to touch lightly on her clitoris.  Her response was astonishing to him.  She stiffened and cried out, and her hand came down to cover his, holding him there.  "…Yes, oh yes…again…" she moaned.  As he touched her again and again in that most sensitive place, she went over the edge into an orgasm that convulsed her body.

Vincent held on to his control, but just barely.  He watched her avidly, drinking in every nuance of her body’s response to his lovemaking.  Finally her climactic thrills slowed and stopped, leaving her limp and nearly senseless.  He took her into his arms then, holding her close against him, and kissing her face softly and tenderly.  She opened her eyes after a few moments, and smiled at him.  "Oh Vincent, you are a marvelous lover."

He smiled at her.  "I’ve done some research.  I didn’t spend all my time learning about Egypt."  His smile showed his canines; one might almost say he grinned, if it were anyone but Vincent.

"Hooray for research!  But research isn’t what’s needed for this."  She reached down to take his throbbing erection into her hand.  "What shall we do about this?"

"What do you want to do about it?"

"Can I do anything I want?"

"Of course you can.  I am completely in your hands."

Laughing, she looked down at her hands, now both around his penis.  "As Devin would say, you got that right.  Lie down, Vincent."

Vincent laid back, and Catherine sat up and looked down at his body for a long minute. "You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen."  She laid down beside him, leaning over him, and kissed him softly.  "Um-m-m, I love to kiss you."  Her mouth moved down his chin and she began to kiss his neck.  His head went back to give her more access, and his eyes closed in pleasure as he felt her loving attention.  Her mouth moved over his throat, and onto his chest.  First her fingers, and then her mouth found the nipples there.  Vincent jumped and gasped as he felt her tongue on one small nipple, and in a moment he was moaning.  Catherine’s mouth moved further down his body then, kissing her way to his navel.  As she moved lower she felt him tense.  She looked up.  "Is anything the matter?"

"Are you going to…"

"Yes, I am."

"Do you want to?"

"Do you want to do it to me?"

He looked at her quizzically.  "I’ve told you how much I want to."

She smiled at him.  "And what makes you think it’s any different for me?"

She went back to what she was doing then, with no further comment from Vincent.  When he felt her mouth on him, he jumped and moaned, "Oh, Catherine, I love this, I love you, oh, please…"  His words trailed off into that growl that Catherine loved, and she reached down between his legs and took his scrotum into her hand, stroking it softly.  Vincent’s growl intensified at that, and he began to pant heavily, the growl changing pitch with each indrawn breath, but never disappearing.

With Catherine’s mouth holding him in its warm cavity and her hand cradling his testicles, he was transported out of himself.  He writhed and growled and moaned, and she felt his testicles gather themselves for his orgasm.  When it came he cried out with a growling roar, and arched his body into her mouth, his seed spurting strongly.  It lasted a long time, and as his body finally relaxed slowly from its strained arch, she drew her mouth away from him with equal slowness, a little reluctant to have it be over.

He reached down to her as soon as he came to himself, to draw her up into his arms.  "I adore you.  You are my life, my love …"  His soft whisper into her ear made her thrill.  "I don’t know how to tell you of my love, it is more than I can express.  You are everything, all I could ever want…I…I love you so completely…"   His kiss was as soft and as sweet as love itself.

They lay quietly for a long time, both replete with loving, each content with the other’s nearness.  But at last Vincent stirred.  "Catherine?  Was it all right, what happened here?  I…I should have inquired before it happened.  Should I have stopped before…should I have removed myself before I…?"  He was having a great deal of difficulty in expressing himself, and she took pity on him.

"No, no, I wouldn’t have let you go.  What happened is the only conclusion that would have been satisfactory to either of us.  It’s all right, Vincent.  How could I let you pull free just at that wonderful moment?  I’d have been heartbroken.  It was perfect."

He lay back again, satisfied that she had answered him truthfully.  "Good," he said, "because I don’t know if I could have withdrawn.  It would have required more courage than I believe I have, to give it up at the last moment."

She looked at him slyly.  "Does that mean that my work is satisfactory?"

"You’re fishing again.  You couldn’t miss how I felt about it."

She laughed.  "You’re right, I knew it was pretty good.  I could tell by the way you growled."

He lifted his head to look down at her.  "I have a feeling, just an intimation, mind you, that I may be hearing more about that growl in the future.  Possibly even more than I want to hear."

"That is certainly a possibility."  Her hand came up to stroke his cheek, and she chuckled.

They slept for a while in the afternoon; sleep on the previous night had been less than unbroken.  Vincent woke first, looking down at Catherine’s sleeping face, and a rush of love overwhelmed him. She was so beautiful, and so loving, and so clever, and so funny, and so…  There weren’t enough adjectives in the world to say how much he loved her, how wonderful he thought her, how grateful he was that her love was his.

After a little while she stirred and her eyes opened.  "Hello.  Were you looking at me while I slept?"

"I was.  And I was thinking about how much I love you.  And want you."

"Vincent!  Again?"

He dropped his eyes.  "I’m sorry.  Am I expecting too much?  I just…"

"No!  You’re not!"  She smiled.  "Women are more able at this than men, you know.  As long as you can hold out, I’m right there!"

Vincent shook his head, chuckling.  "Just say what you mean, Catherine.  Don’t hold back."

"Well, it’s true."  She laughed, a little embarrassed.  "I’m quite insatiable where you’re concerned.  You might as well get used to it, I’m going to be a demanding lover."

"I believe I will be able to accustom myself to that with no difficulty."   He turned himself until he was leaning over her on one elbow.  "I want you again.  I can’t believe how much, how often, how impatiently I want you again."

"I’m here, Vincent.  Right here."

His head came down and his mouth touched hers gently, just the lightest touch.  In a moment her hands came up and pulled his head down, bringing his mouth down on hers.  Then he kissed her deeply, slowly, with passionate attention.  When he raised his head at last, it was only to move his mouth across her cheek, to touch her ear for a moment, then to move to that hollow between her ear and her jaw, where his tongue came out to taste of her essence.  He slid down the side of her neck, his tongue still on her, and she felt with a shiver the sharp edge of his canines slide along her skin.

When he reached her breasts he stopped, unable to resist their lure, but only for a minute or two.  Vincent had a goal in mind.  He moved very slowly but steadily down her body, kissing and caressing as he went, until his face rubbed across her pubic hair.  Then he looked up.

"I want…to see.  Catherine, may I look?"  Catherine smiled down at him, saying nothing, but she raised her knees and opened them to let him have his long-held desire at last.

Vincent looked and looked.  At last one hand moved to her hesitantly, and he touched her gently.  He looked up again then.  "All right?"

Catherine’s love was in her smile.  "Of course, my love.  It’s all right; everything, anything is all right."

He touched, and looked, and then his head came down closer, and she felt his breath on her, and then a soft kiss.  "Oh, Vincent…I love this…"

In a few moments she was panting and moaning, as his tongue made long strokes over her most sensitive areas.  Vincent was equally excited; this was a long-wished-for dream.  He could feel her climax approaching, and for the first time he made an effort to prolong the act, for both of their sakes.  He slowed his strokes, and in a moment he pulled back entirely, breathing his warm breath on her and looking again, seeing that the excitement Catherine felt was visible in the flushed and swollen tissue drenched with her body’s natural lubrication.  That excitement was communicated to his own body instantly at the sight.  In a few minutes his head went down again, and he brought her slowly back up to the point of climax.

But this time when he pulled away, her hands came down to hold his head against her.  "No…no…let it come… I want it now…"  He couldn’t deny her.  His mouth returned to her, and his tongue moved to her clitoris, making soft passes across and across it.  She began to make a soft moaning cry that went on and on, and her body arched up into his mouth.  Vincent had been growling low in his throat for some time, now he began to tremble; holding onto control was becoming more difficult with every evidence of her excitement.  Without any conscious thought he slid two fingers inside her body.  She cried out loudly, and her orgasm was upon her.  He could feel the convulsive contractions in her interior, and a surge of warm fluid gushed from her.  It was more than he could stand.  He  stiffened and cried out and joined her in ecstasy.

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