| PART 10 I�m in the kitchen making Michael his birthday breakfast. I couldn�t find anything worthy enough for him, but I do have some things for him. I just hope he likes them. Arms wrap around my waist. I smile and lean against his chest. �What are you doing?� he whispers seductively in my ear. I turn around and push him back into the bedroom. He smiles as I push him onto the bed. �This is more like it.� I smile and climb on top of him. He grabs my hips to pull me closer. I take his hands and restrain them above his head. I lean into him and trail my tongue over his neck. He moans. I gently bite his neck and slowly travel up to his ear. I swerve my tongue around his lobe lightly blowing in his ear. �Lay back and let me do all the work,� I say huskily. I take his lips with mine. I hear him growl as he tries to loosen his hands from mine. I pull away and shake my head. �Don�t even think about,� I say. I see his eyes fill with desire. I climb off of him and he asks, �And where do you think you�re going?� I smile mischievously and say, �To finish breakfast. I�m starving.� He flops back and groans, �You�re killing me.� I shrug my shoulders and reply, �I need my strength to finish what I started.� He�s about to jump out of bed but I stop him by saying, �Don�t. I want you to wait for me just like that.� He lies back down and says, �If you put it that way. Just hurry up.� I smile and shake my head. �I like it when it�s slow.� I hear him groan as I retreat to the kitchen to finish making breakfast. I take two plates full of Michael�s favorites. I place them on a tray and carry it into the bedroom. I place the tray over Michael�s lap and run back to retrieve the missing items. He gives me a look of surprise. �Why did you do this?� I smile and lightly touch my lips to his. I shrug; I don�t want to let on that I knew his birthday was today, at least until I give him his presents. Knowing him he will make it impossible for me to pamper him. �To show you how much I� I�.� He strokes my cheek and says, �I know how you feel about me. I know when you�re ready you�ll tell me.� My eyes tear up and I say, �I�m sorry, I know how I feel. I don�t know why I can�t say it. I just want you to know how special you are to me.� He moves the tray to the night table and pulls me in his lap. �You show me how you feel every day, baby. I know you love me. I also know how much it scares you to express it through words.� I smile and kiss him softly at first and then it turns more intense. I pull away unwillingly and say, �Eat first, kiss later.� He nods and I crawl off his lap as he places the tray over his legs. He furrows his eyebrows as he looks for something. I smile holding up a bottle of Tabasco sauce and say, �Is this what you�re looking for?� He smirks and reaches for it. I tease him by pulling it out of his reach for a while until my stomach growls. He raises his eyebrow and says, �Hungry?� I roll my eyes, open the Tabasco, and pour some on his plate. He smiles, pick up his fork and takes a bite. �Oh my God, Liz. This is so good.� I smile. I�m glad he likes it; I never made crepes before so I was a little nervous. When we finish eating, I take the tray and tell Michael, �You stay because in a minute I�m about to keep my promise.� He nods and I head for the kitchen. I wash and put away the dishes. I take the chicken out of the freezer, season it and place it in the refrigerator so it can marinate. I make my way back to the bedroom. I softly laugh when I see Michael spraying whip cream and shaking Tabasco sauce in his mouth. He glances at me and shows me his mouth full of fluffy red cream. I shake my head and slowly saunter over to him. I grab the can of whipped cream and say, �I have other ideas for this.� His eyes sparkle at my remark. I shake the can and spray some over his chest. I lie beside him and run my tongue over his chest catching the cream before it melts. I spray some more on his stomach as I suck and lick until he�s clean. He growls and pulls me up to him kissing me with such force and love. He lifts my t-shirt over my head and I crash my lips to his. I push his boxers down as far as I can. He rolls us over and I help him push his boxers off the rest of the way with my feet. He takes my breast into his mouth and I lean into him. He slips my underwear off and returns to my mouth. I situate my hips until he is at my entrance. I wrap my legs around him and push him into me. We both groan at the initial contact. We move together slowly. I can feel the love pouring off of him. I wrap my arms around him and kiss him. I never want to lose him. We turn over so that I�m on top. I rotate my hips bringing pleasure to both of us. As I feel myself near the brink, I lean into him holding him close while we still move. As we both tumble over the edge, I whisper, �I love you.� My heart is beating fast. He looks into my eyes and says, �I love you too.� I roll off of him and lean against him. I can�t believe I said it. It feels like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders, but I�m scared at the same time. Michael scoots down and lays his head on my chest. I languidly run my fingers through his hair, every so often kissing the crown of his head. I can feel him sleeping. I have never seen anyone so peaceful. It�s hard to imagine that this is the same person who would wake up screaming from nightmares. I give up on fighting sleep and succumb to it. I wake up to the feeling of nausea. I gently move Michael and sprint to the bathroom. I rinse my mouth out and look at myself in the mirror. I smile. I turn to the bathtub, turn on the hot water, and stroll over to the bed. Michael opens one eye at me and says, �Come back to bed.� �You don�t want to sleep the whole day away now do you?� �Why not? We closed the Crashdown, so what else is there to do?� �If you have to ask that, then my feelings are hurt.� He pulls me to him and says, �You know what I mean.� I lean my head on his shoulder and sigh. �I know. Come on. Let�s take a bath.� He narrows his eyes at me and says, �I�m beginning to think you�re spoiling me.� I kiss him on his nose and say, �Do you have a problem with that?� He chuckles. �No, but I should be the one spoiling you.� I get off the bed and grab his hand. �You do everyday. Today is your day.� I lead him to the bathroom and turn the water off. I test it and say, �Is this temperature good for you?� He sticks his hand in the water and smiles. �Now it is.� I step in and offer my hand to him. He takes it and joins me in the tub. He sits down and I sit behind him. I take a washcloth and pour some soap on it. I sponge him down feeling the intimacy this simply act causes. Michael moans, �What did I do to deserve this kind of treatment?� I smile as I wet his hair and rub shampoo in my heads. I lather it into his hair gently massaging his scalp. I kiss his neck. �Nothing. I just felt you deserved a day just for you.� I rinse the soap off of him and step out of the tub. I grab a towel and wait for him to leave the tub. When he does I wrap the towel around him and slowly dry off every place on him. I dry myself off and take his hand. I lead him back to the room and dig out a pair of boxers for him and one of his t-shirts for me. I escort him into the living room and seat him on the couch. �I want you to watch TV while I cook dinner.� He is about to object but I say, �How many times am I going to have to say that this is your day. Enjoy it.� I walk into the kitchen and prepare dinner. When I finish, I stand in the doorway of the living room and say, �Dinner�s ready.� He looks up at me and smiles. �It smells great.� He stands up and I take his hand to usher him into the kitchen. He gasps and I smile at his reaction. I pull out a chair for him and he sits down. He stares at a blank envelope in front of him. �What is this?� I drag a chair next to him and sit down. �I have a confession to make.� He turns to me giving me a questioning look. �I know today is your birthday.� I place my index finger over his lips to stop him from speaking. �Let me talk first.� After I receive a nod from him I continue with, �I know you don�t celebrate your birthday, but I wanted today to be a special day for you. You made me look forward to my birthday and I want to return the favor. I couldn�t find anything deserving of you so I�� I pick up the envelope for him to open. He looks up at me and back down at the piece of paper. �You�ve brought life back into me and the Crashdown and I thought it would be fitting if you owned half of it. I never asked you how you paid off this place, but I appreciate what you did for me. I want to show you my thanks and how much I trust you. You�ve made me feel again, Michael, and I don�t think I�ll ever be able to repay you.� He pulls me to him and says, �You always seem to make me love you more everyday. Thank you.� I reluctantly disentangle myself from him and set the plates down on the table. I still have one more gift to give him, but I don�t know how he�ll react to it. I sit down close to him and take a bite of food. I wrinkle my nose because it tastes like something is missing. I watch him pour Tabasco over his food and scoop some into his mouth. �Mmmm, this is so good.� I smile and pick at my food. He must have noticed this because he asks, �What�s wrong?� I shrug and say, �I don�t know. It just tastes like something is missing.� I unconsciously poke my fork into Michael�s plate and put a piece of Tabasco soaked chicken in my mouth. I can�t believe how good that tastes. I grab the bottle and shake some on my own plate. I sigh as I finish eating. I notice Michael giving me a strange look and he asks, �Is there something you�re not telling me?� |