A Flutter

*Maddox*

The sun is up as I blink my eyes and check the time. I’ve woken just before my alarm is set to go off, so I quietly switch it so that it will not sound. There’s no reason to wake the beautiful woman sleeping next to me.

Rolling back toward her, I take her in. Her eyes are closed tightly, and her long lashes flutter every once in a while. Perhaps she is dreaming. I hope that her dreams are sweet.

I hope that I am in them.

She’s curled up with one hand under her chin, reminding me of a cherub, of a precious angel, and as I listen to the sounds of her soft inhales, I remember how good it felt to finally be inside of her the night before.

We’d made love for the first time, and she had made me feel sensations I hadn’t experienced in years. The countless faceless women I’d been with since my wife passed all faded away as I remembered what it was like to meld into another person, to give and take with them, not just to receive pleasure but to gift it to my partner as well.

All I can