Quench Me
      Chapter 38
 

As I lie here, watching my sleeping husband, I can't help but think about the transformation that's taken place in him since we met. Oh, he's still the same Danny… a little rough around the edges, at times a complete smart-ass… but the tough-as-nails exterior has melted away and allowed the kind, gentle man that he really is to shine through. Three months ago, I ended up in his office, very much by accident, and he was totally "rude and thoughtless", as I described it. But even then, I was drawn to him, in a way so strong and so powerful that I can't explain it, and now we lie naked in this bed together, husband and wife, connected in a way that goes beyond all logic and reason. Until now, I never truly appreciated the fact that matters of the heart cannot be described with words. Love is more than a feeling, more than romance… it is the way two people connect in the way they were meant to - heart, soul, body, and mind - and it's more powerful than the majority of the population will ever realize. Danny's love has consumed me, absorbed me, quenched me, and it is the most amazing, marvelous feeling in the entire universe.

The soft navy blue sheet starts at his waist, and covers the length of his legs, except for his left leg, which is exposed from about the knee down. His skin is glistening in the light of the large candle on the night stand which is still burning, and his coffee brown curls lay softly across his pillow, completely unruly from our love-making. He's a breathtakingly beautiful human being, and as I study every line, every inch of him, my head still swims at the notion that he is truly mine… forever.

The clock on the night stand tells me that it's six-thirty in the morning. Danny and I didn't settle in for sleep until sometime after two o'clock, but I decide that I can't lie here and look at him any longer without touching him. No matter how many times we made love last night - and there were quite a few times - I want him as much right now as I ever have. I cannot get enough of him. I'll never get enough of him.

A slight smile grazes my husband's lips, and the look of absolute happiness and contentment on his face nearly knocks the wind out of me. I reach out and trace his lips with my fingers, and his eyes begin to open under my touch.

"Hi sweetheart," I whisper, as his eyes make contact with mine.

"Good morning, Mrs. Santos," he replies in a lazy voice. "What time is it?"

"Six-thirty," I answer.

"Why'd you let me sleep so long?" he asks with a grin, turning onto his side to face me. "There's so much else we could've been doing."

"It was all I could do to not wake you up an hour ago," I answer. "But you looked so peaceful and so happy. I just watched you sleep and listened to you breathing and thanked God for this miracle."

"You're the miracle, Michelle," he says, running his hand from my chin, down my neck, and over my shoulder. His touch sends waves of incredible sensations pummeling through my body, and I gently lift my hand to his face and lovingly caress his cheek.

"No… WE'RE the miracle, Danny," I answer, as I lean in to softly kiss his lips. "THIS is the miracle."

I open my mouth under his, reveling in the warm softness of his lips and his tongue, as he gently pushes me onto my back, leaning his own body over mine. The needy urgency of last night has been replaced by a slow, sweetness, as our bodies synchronize to each other in a dance that we have now memorized, yet is still fresh and new. He slides his hand down the side of my body, letting it come to rest in the curve above my hip. His other arm rests above my head, as his fingers entangle themselves in my hair. I place my hand on the back of his neck, gently kneading the skin and the muscles there. His mouth never leaves mine, and we stay this way for what seems like an hour, kissing and holding each other, not in a hurry to do anything else.

I feel his lips begin to form a smile, and my own quickly do the same. Gentle laughter gives way to unbridled passion as he grabs my body and rolls onto his back, pulling me on top of him. Both of his hands are now immersed in the mass of unkempt curls on my head as he forcefully pulls my mouth to his, crushing my lips with the demands of his own. Wiggling down his body, I feel him fully aroused and ready, and I sit up slightly, and glide myself onto him. Feeling my center envelope him, he sits up as well, arms around my back, holding me tightly to him. Sweat from our chests mingles together, and our skin presses together as if it were made that way. I'm reminded of Ray's words during our wedding, challenging us to let our love be a circle, with no beginning and no end, so much so that we can't tell one of us stops and the other begins. At this moment, as Danny lifts my body up and down, and our lips find their way back to each other, I know precisely what Ray meant. There is but one heart that beats between the two of us now… his and mine, inconceivably melded into one… and there is one body that lives between the two of us… his and mine, fashioned together by the undeniable, unbreakable love that we share.

"It's a funny thing you do to me, Michelle," Danny says to me, as we cuddle together in the afterglow of our love-making. "You fill something in me that I never knew existed. You satisfy me totally and completely, but at the same time, I want more, and I'm never satisfied. Does that make any sense?"

"Yes, it does," I reply, snuggling my face into the crook of his neck. "It makes perfect sense. I know exactly what you mean."

He places a gentle kiss on the top of my head, and whispers, "Yeah, I guess you do."

"I feel the same way," I say. "I'll never get enough of you, and I'm not just talking about making love."

"Making love to you is incredible, Michelle," he says. "It's the most amazing thing I've ever felt. But it's not just the physical feeling. It's what it means that makes it so special, and so perfect. And as amazing as the sex is… and believe me, it IS amazing… it doesn't even begin to show you how much I love you and how much you mean to me."

"Well, you'll just have to keep trying," I joke, as I reach around to tickle him on his side. "And I'll keep trying too."

"You better believe I will," he says, tickling me back. "But right now, I'm thinking we should probably eat breakfast. We skipped dinner last night, and I don't know about you, but I worked up an appetite."

"I can fix us something," I say, jumping out of the bed and grabbing the shirt of Danny's that I wore briefly last night.

"There's nothing in the kitchen to fix," he says, standing up and walking toward the bathroom. "It's not like I did a lot of cooking, living here by myself. Let me take you out. It'll be our first official outing as husband and wife."

"O.K.," I answer. "But I've got to take a shower first."

"I'll join you," he says, following me into the bathroom. "I wouldn't want you to get lonely in there."

We close the door to the bathroom behind us, and prepare ourselves for our first day as a married couple.