Carnal Insights 2.0

Carnal Insights 2.0

Graduating.

A note from the author:

This story is a work of fiction. All people, events, and specific places exist only in my mind and on these pages. Events portrayed are between consenting adults over the age of eighteen. This is the second installment of this series. To familiarize yourself with the characters and events, please read Carnal Insights 1.0, Movie Night, first. I hope that you enjoy reading this story as much as I did writing it. As always, comments are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Chapter one.

I confidently walked into the office of my boss, Harry West. He greeted me with a professional smile, and I waited patiently as he wrapped up a phone call. I held a printed letter in my slightly sweaty hands, which I kept casually behind my back.

It was the Thursday after my first night with Holly, and though we hadn't seen each other in the days since, I had spent many hours texting with her, and many more in deep thought. We were both voracious in our desire to get to know each other better. It was exciting to learn about her and to be brought back to when I was her age, experiencing the joy of sharing and discovery for the first time with someone I loved.

Harry ended his call and stood to shake my hand. His hair had long ago gone gray, and he had all the usual features you might expect in a slightly overweight seventy-year-old businessman. I made a mental note to uphold the vow I had already made to myself to prioritize my health and physical fitness. When I was Harry's age, Holly would be forty-three, and still in the prime of her life. If things worked between us, and I wholeheartedly believed that they would, I had to make sure that I was virile and healthy for as long as I could.

Harry released the handshake and motioned to a leather chair. "Please, have a seat. What can I do for you, Watkins?"

"Harry, we've known each other for twenty years. When are you going to start calling me Alec?" I sat and made myself comfortable.

"I'll call you by your first name on the day you no longer work for me." He grinned with mirth.

On any of the thousands of other times we've had a similar exchange, I would have laughed. Instead, I hesitated, then offered him the letter. "About that.."

"What's this?" All humor fled his liver-spotted face as he took the letter.

"This is a proposal on certain changes I'd like to make. As you recall, we let some people go several years ago, and I have since shouldered their workload and responsibilities. I would like to hire additional staff and reorganize my workload so that I can work remotely most of the time. I have decided that I need a better work-life balance. Simply put, I need to not be here as much or as often."

His eyebrows raised, and he quickly read through the letter. "I'm not going to try and beg or coerce you to change your mind. Of course, I have relied on your hard work to keep the company operating smoothly. I have always taken great pride in the way I treat my valuable employees, and greater pride in seeing them perform with excellence. If I didn't trust the judgment of the people I employ, they wouldn't be employed here. I'm not going to fire you for wanting to take a step back, if that's what you're worried about."

I smiled with no small amount of relief that he was taking it so well.

Harry set the letter on his shiny oak desk and squared it to the edge as his thoughts drifted elsewhere for a moment. "This looks an awfully lot like a prelude to an early retirement."

"It is," I said bluntly. "I'm sorry."

He wagged a stubby finger at me. "Don't be sorry. You've made your decision, and it's a good one."

"I think Steven would be a good choice if we were to promote from within to take up the slack. He's not the most senior of the guys under me, but he's very sharp and adapts quickly. I can also work with HR to get a few more people on board."

Four other people worked in my department. I proposed bringing that number up to at least six. We managed every piece of technology used by the company and its nearly 1,000 employees. We did everything from cybersecurity and server maintenance to laptop replacement and email issues. Steven had been with the company only a few years, but had proven himself to be competent and reliable. When I eventually did retire, I had confidence that he would be the one to take my place.

"Good." Harry nodded and tapped the letter on his desk. "You have my official approval to implement your plan."

We both stood, and he stepped around his desk to shake my hand. "I envy you, Watkins. I've spent fifty years of my life building this company. I love it like I love my children and my wife. Moreso, if you ask her." He was distant for another moment, then his eyes focused on me.

Leaning in, he put a hand on my shoulder and spoke earnestly. "Life is short. You can work your ass off, thinking that someday you'll get to enjoy it. Then one day you wake up as an old man and realize that it's too late; you'll never be able to do those things you dreamed about. Go and make the best of it while you still can."

Chapter two.

The next day, Friday, I asked Dan to join me for drinks at the small Irish pub we liked to visit in Saint Paul. We were seated in a booth, and though the place was reasonably busy, the booth had thick wood dividing walls that were great for keeping conversations private. I ordered two glasses and a bottle of Powers twelve-year whiskey.

"You've been hush-hush about what you wanted to go out for. It must be something pretty significant to order a whole bottle. That's really not like you. What's up, man?"

"I've made some big decisions lately, and I want to celebrate with my best friend."

The waitress came back with the bottle, opened it in front of us, and poured us our first drink.

I raised my glass towards Dan in a toast. "I decided that I need to start enjoying life, and not just plod through until someday. They are hiring a few more guys to carry some weight in the office, and I'm going to start working from home."

"Holy shit, man! Congrats!" Dan clinked his glass against mine, and we drank. "I knew you were doing well and being smart with your money, but I didn't expect you to call it this soon."

"Oh, I'm not retiring yet! I just want some more time to do things other than work. What's the point of it all if you can't enjoy life a little bit? Maybe I'll pick up a hobby or two that I've always wanted to do."

"That's awesome, man. I'm really happy for you."

We discussed finances for a while. Dan manages a branch location for a major bank, and so was familiar with the kinds of questions to ask someone about whether they are ready for retirement or not. I didn't lie to him about my money. In truth, I was in a comfortable place, and even if I were to retire now instead of ten years from now, I could probably manage a modest lifestyle.

I was building up the courage to talk with Dan about Holly, a conversation that I dreaded but knew had to happen, and I didn't want to give him the impression that I was after Holly's inheritance. Truthfully, I would feel the same way about her even if she were penniless.

We both had a few drinks in us when I decided to bite the bullet and get to the big issue. I refilled our glasses. "Before you drink that, there's something else I need to tell you, and you're not going to like it."

Dan and I had been best friends our whole lives. We've been through bad times and good, divorces and marriages, and all the shit that life throws at you in-between. I feared that what I was about to say would put an end to all of it.

"Holly and I are in a relationship."

Dan looked confused. This wasn't at all what he was expecting. How could it be?

"Holly Kemp? Jenna's Holly? What kind of relationship?"

I tried not to wince as Dan's expression turned from confusion to anger. "We love each other."

"Jesus Christ!" Dan exclaimed angrily. He held his reddening face in his hands, collecting his thoughts. When he spoke again, his voice was steadier, but still laced with anger and betrayal. "You fucked her when you stayed overnight last week, didn't you?"

"That's when it started, yeah."

"What the fuck, man? Of all the women in the world, you had to pick that one. She's not even half your age!"

Dan dug in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it, revealing an engagement ring.

"Jenna and I are taking a trip to Scotland in a few weeks, and I'm going to propose to her. How the fuck am I going to explain that my best friend is banging her daughter? God dammit, Alec, how are you going to explain to me why you're fucking my step-daughter?"

Dan didn't interrupt as I explained what had transpired between Holly and me. I left out the intimate details, but I didn't shy away from the fact that we had made love in the guest bedroom of Jenna's house, and the details of our conversations that led up to it.

"Jenna is going to murder you, and if I hadn't known since we were twelve that you are a decent and honorable person, I'd help her. Hell, I still might kick your ass on general principle."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen, but now that it has, I'm glad it did."

"Jenna and I are going to build a life together, and Holly is part of the package deal. You had better be damn sure that this isn't just a midlife crisis thing, because it looks a lot like you're taking advantage of an impressionable little girl. If that's the case, best friend or not, we are going to have a reckoning."

"She's little, and she's a girl, but she's not a 'little girl'."

"She's Jenna's little girl, and always will be," Dan said hotly, then sighed heavily. "Level with me, man. Is this real between you?"

"Dan, I've never been so sure about anything as I am that Holly and I love each other. I'm not a poet. I don't have the words to explain how I know that it's real, but every bit of me knows that it's true."

Dan was silent for a while as he stared at his drink. "I knew halfway through my first date with Jenna that I was going to marry her, so I get what you're saying. It's uncomfortable and inconvenient, but I get it."

"I have to talk to Jenna. It has to be just her and me, one-on-one, and I need to tell her everything. The longer I put it off, the worse it's going to be."

Dan nodded. "Agreed, but she's not going to be nearly as understanding as I am. You need to get your thoughts and feelings in order, and make damn sure that Holly feels the same way." Dan looked at me intently. "If you have any doubt about the way she feels about you, you break it off. If Jenna tells you to stay away from her daughter, I don't care if it's a storybook case of true love; you break up with Holly immediately. If Jenna calls the cops and charges you with harassment and gets a restraining order, you take the fucking consequences. Understand?"

I swallowed hard and nodded. "I understand."

"Good. As fucked up as this is, you're still my brother. I want you to be happy, so if you and Holly love each other as much as you say, then you have my blessing, as much as it's worth."

Dan picked up his glass and held it out to me. I clinked mine against it.

"To you and Holly."

Chapter three.

This week had been Holly's last days of high school, and Sunday was her graduation party. It was another perfect early June day in Minnesota, with clear skies and a light wind. I walked up Jenna's driveway from where I had parked my Tacoma on the street, and was greeted by Dan with the customary ice-cold Grain Belt. Though there was a different look in his eye, he didn't mention anything about the conversation we had about Holly.

After a silence that, even for us, seemed awkwardly long, he said. "Yup."

"Yup," I responded, and we both took a drink.

Dan led the way into the house to the kitchen, where the counters and table were full of food and drinks. "There are burgers, brats, beans, and like ten different salads. Help yourself. I'm going to go throw some more hot dogs on. Plenty of beer in the fridge, or soda in the coolers. Help yourself." He headed for the grill out on the deck.

As I filled a plate, I chatted with some people, all of whom were either friends with Holly or friends with Jenna. Holly's family tree was sparse. Her grandparents were all gone, and most of her extended family lived far away and weren't very friendly with Jenna and Holly after the two of them had received the entirety of the inheritance from Jenna's parents. Holly had given me all the details, and it seemed pretty petty to me.

Then she was there. Like a sunbeam moving across the countryside on a cloudy day, she strode buoyantly towards me. My heart skipped a beat as I beheld her. Her fiery hair bounced playfully, and the fabric of her pink and white thigh-length sun dress flowed provocatively around her hips as she walked.

"Alec! I'm so glad you could make it." I bent over so she could give me a 'friendly' hug; arms around shoulders, not too close, no unnecessary contact.

"My pleasure," I replied. "Congratulations!"

I wanted to pick her up into my arms and hold her tight against me. I wanted to kiss her delicious pink lips. I wanted much more than that. I reluctantly let go of the polite hug and took a socially acceptable step back.

"Thanks!" She said, grinning widely. There was a gleam in her eye that told me that she wanted exactly what I wanted. She reached into a cooler and got a bottle of water. "I have to bring this to Mom. We're under the trees on the side of the house. Come out and say hi."

The other people who were in the kitchen had wandered off, leaving us temporarily alone. She paused as she walked past me, stretching up on her tip toes to whisper near my ear. "I've been doing some research, and I'm ready for my... oral exam."

I felt an immediate flush of arousal, and watched hungrily at the swaying of her firm little butt as she walked away. I stood close to the kitchen island to hide the uncomfortable bulge in my pants. I glanced out the big windows in the living room to where Dan was tending the grill on the deck. His back was towards the house.

I ate the food I had chosen and gave my heart enough time to settle down, then went outside. I found Holly sitting with Jenna and a dozen other people in the shade of a pair of enormous oak trees on the west side of the house. Someone was asking Holly a question when I arrived, so I smiled and offered a polite greeting to Jenna and Holly, then sat down in an empty chair across the circle from Holly.

"... in Madison? What are you going to be studying there?"

"Business and finance," Holly replied. "It's not glamorous, but it's a solid foundation for success."

Holly and I had spoken about her plans. She didn't have to do anything to live a comfortable life. Her grandparents had seen to that. Holly wasn't satisfied with that, though. The prospect of not having to work a day in her life, or do anything but follow her dreams, was great, but Holly wanted to ensure that her children and grandchildren had the same opportunity. She wanted to take what she was given and build upon it, and needed an education in business and finance to do it.

Another person chimed in. "With your grades and financial backing, surely you could have been accepted into Harvard or Stanford. Why a state university?"

Holly glanced at her mother. I knew that Holly was uncomfortable talking about the enormous wealth that had been left to her and Jenna, and that it wasn't common knowledge. Jenna gave her the slightest of nods.

"I got accepted at Harvard and a few other Ivy League schools. But I wanted something closer to home, and a little less stuffy. I don't think I would fit in with the kinds of people who go there. They're either way smarter, or way richer than me."

"Going to a school like Harvard opens a lot of doors, though." The questioner continued.

"True," Holly retorted. "But every open door has a price. I want a normal, quiet life where I can be who I want to be."

The guy asking Holly these questions was getting slightly offended. Either he or someone he knew must have gone to Harvard. I gave him a quick look. His gaudy Rolex and thousand-dollar shirt put him firmly under 'corporate management' in my book. I already didn't like the guy.

Jenna saved us all by changing the subject. "We should get the cornhole boards set up. Holly, can you go get them out of the basement?"

Holly stood, thankful to be rescued. "Yeah, that sounds like fun." Then, as an afterthought. "Alec, can you give me a hand? I don't want to make two trips."

"Sure," I said, setting my beer in the lawn chair's cup holder.

I followed Holly to the back of the house, under the deck, and through the sliding glass doors to the walk-in basement. She led me to a storage room near the stairs that led up to the kitchen. Once we were both entirely out of view from the outside, she turned and leapt into my arms.

Our mouths met and we kissed furiously. Holly moaned into our kiss as I squeezed her butt and held her close. With a gasp, she broke off the kiss, and we caught our breath.

"God, I want you so bad right now." She whispered.

I kissed her again, savoring the taste of her mouth, and the smoothness of her lips and tongue.

Just then, I heard the click of a door opening and footsteps on the stairs. We quickly separated and wiped our mouths dry.

"Here, you take the other one and the bucket," Holly said loudly, as she picked up a cornhole board.

I had the other board in one hand and was bending to pick up the bucket of bean bags when Dan came around the corner. Holly knew that I had told Dan about us, and an awkward silence passed as the three of us looked at each other.

Finally, Dan spoke to both of us. "Though it kills me to keep a secret this big from the woman I love, I haven't said a word. With you two making googly eyes at each other all day and sneaking away to suck faces, I won't have to for much longer because Jenna is already going to know."

"I'm sorry," Holly said, flushed with embarrassment.

"It's okay," Dan said, with a visible effort to calm down. "Just- Be more careful." Then, to me, he said more forcefully. "And you need to have that conversation with Jenna. Soon."

"I know."

Dan sighed and looked at us in turn. I could see that he really cared about both of us, but we had put him in an awkward position. "Take a minute to compose yourselves. You two look like you were just caught making out."

He took a last look at us, then left to go back upstairs.

"I'm pouring myself a drink, do you want one?" Dan asked from on the stairs.

"A double," I replied.

We spent the next couple of hours in the afternoon sun, talking, laughing, and playing cornhole. It was Dan and I versus Jenna and Holly. Dan and Jenna stood at one board, while Holly and I stood near the other. It was difficult to avoid watching Holly, with the way her airy dress moved over her body as she threw the bean bags, or the occasional glimpse of white panties as she bent to pick the bags up. As we played, I began to notice that Dan had started distracting Jenna's attention when Holly was throwing or collecting the bags. No doubt to keep Jenna from noticing how I was unable to take my eyes off of Holly. Dan always had my back.

"So with working from home now, I'm going to have more free time. I was thinking about taking up a hobby." I said, after throwing my bags.

"What, like stamp collecting?" Jenna laughed as she picked up her team's bags.

I laughed. "Naw, I think I want to build something. Like one of those Factory Five kit cars."

"A Cobra replica?" Dan asked.

"Those are cool, but I like the hard top car better. You know, the one that looks like a '65 Daytona?"

"I'd go for the Cobra, personally," Dan said, getting ready to throw his first bag this turn.

"You know how to do that? Like, build a car?" Holly asked me.

I replied to Holly as Dan's bag hit the board and slid off the edge. "I've always been handy with a wrench. Dan and I used to do a lot of work building cars, off-road trucks, and stuff. The kit cars come with most of the parts you need, and an instruction book an inch thick. It's all engineered to be assembled without requiring many modifications. I'm pretty sure I could figure it out."

"Careful, Alec," Jenna said. "If you get her talking about cars, she'll never stop."

"Really?" I asked Holly, surprised. We had spent countless hours texting in the last week, but the topic of cars had never come up.

"What? Girls can like cars too. Half the posters on my wall are cars."

Jenna's last throw went cleanly through the hole. "Yes! Fifteen to six." She exclaimed.

Holly and I collected our bags, and I tossed my first for the turn.

"What cars do you have posters of?" I asked her.

"I've got an SLS AMG, a bunch of Mustangs, and a 250 GTO."

I paused before my next throw. "The Ferrari?"

"Yeah, the old GTOs are the sexiest cars Ferrari ever made. The newer 599 is close, but the old ones have more soul."

"I told you!" Jenna called, laughing. "Now she'll never shut up."

I grinned as I made my throw. I did a quick Google search while Holly made her last throw of the turn. I showed her my phone, which had an image of a Factory Five Type 65 Coupe R, in red with white racing stripes.

"If you like the 250 GTO, you're going to love this."

"You want to build one of those? That is so cool!"

I barely noticed as Jenna scored, and Dan's throw went wide.

"That's my dream car. I've wanted one since they first started making the kits."

"You should totally do it," Holly said seriously.

Jenna whooped as her last throw went through the hole, winning the game for Team Kemp.

"Maybe I should."

Jenna and Dan were approaching from the other side. Jenna had her arm around Dan's waist and was looking smug.

"That's eight games to one. You guys suck at this."

I laughed. "Maybe I'll pick this up as a hobby, so we can mop the floor with you two next time."

"Dream on. I wasn't even trying!"

Dan whispered something in her ear, which made her giggle and playfully slap his chest. Jenna was a real lightweight when it came to drinking, and I had seen her drink three White Claws since lunch.

Dan picked up his empty glass from a plastic table. "I need a refill. You want another?"

I glanced at my watch, seeing that it was a quarter to four. "I should probably get going. I still need to set up a few things to get my home office up and running."

Jenna gave me a quick, friendly hug. "Thanks so much for coming. Maybe you should practice so it can be more of a challenge next time."

She turned to Dan and said in a stage whisper. "I have to pee so bad!"

Dan shook my hand as Jenna made her way to the house. "Later, brother. See you soon."

He put an extra emphasis on the last word, knowing that I would receive the reminder that I needed to speak with Jenna about Holly and me as soon as possible.

He followed Jenna to the house, leaving Holly and me alone. We hugged, and though it wasn't quite the warm embrace that we both needed, the physical contact felt good.

"I got you a card." I pulled an envelope from my pocket.

I smiled as she opened it. I had thought for a long time about what I could give her as a graduation present. She didn't need money, so I decided to give her something that had some meaning.

Holly pulled the card from the envelope. As she opened it, a key slid out into her palm.

"That's a key to my house. The address is on the envelope. You can come and go at any time, even if I'm not there. The code for the alarm is really easy. 31, 64, 97. It's the right side and left side, for each of the three rows on the keypad."

Holly looked up at me with a smile. "Thank you."

I looked at the house, making sure no one was watching, then gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"See you, Holly."

I paused after turning to go and looked back at her.

"Anytime you want."

Chapter four.

I stood in front of the open refrigerator door, trying to decide what I wanted to make for dinner. I was hungry, and there were plenty of options before me, but my thoughts were distracted, scattered. Do I want to cook something, or just grab something out of the freezer? How do I even start the conversation that I needed to have with Jenna? How do I convince her that I'm not just taking advantage of her daughter? Steak and potatoes? How am I not taking advantage of her? Spaghetti and meatballs? How do I let Holly grow as a person? Is being with me healthy for her at all?

A faint sound broke my jumbled thoughts. I listened intently and heard a familiar noise. I smiled as my front door made its characteristic squeak as it swung open. I closed the refrigerator and rushed out of the kitchen. I turned the corner into the entryway to see Holly facing me as she pushed the door shut with a click.

I rushed to her and swooped her up into my arms. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and we kissed with a week's worth of pent-up passion. I pushed her back against the wall to help hold her up and used my free hands to caress her face and neck as we kissed. She ground her mouth against mine and moaned needfully. For long minutes, we kissed, frantic and messy. When we finally pulled away, we gasped for air as saliva dripped down our chins.

Holly loosened the grip of her legs, and I let her down. Moving around me, she gently pushed me against the wall. She slid her hands from my chest down to my waist. Without a word, she lowered herself to her knees and unbuckled my belt. She clumsily undid the button on my pants and pulled them down, taking my boxers with them.

Holly smiled hungrily as my painfully erect cock sprung up in front of her face. She wrapped her tiny, warm hands around it, and I gasped with the pleasure of the contact and the anticipation of what was to come. She leaned in and gave a small lick on the underside of my glans. She looked up at me, making eye contact as she lifted my cock and licked slowly from my balls up to the tip. She did this several more times, her hot tongue pressed wide against me. She started lightly caressing the head with her lips, teasing at the oral penetration to come. She worked her wet lips all around, not quite taking me in.

I made needy gasps as she teased me. Finally, she gave the tip a little kiss and smiled up at me. Her eyes blazed with desire as she watched and felt my reaction when she slowly took me inside her mouth. As I've said before, my cock is slightly larger than average, but it looked huge as her petite mouth stretched around it. She took me in as far as she could, only a bit more than halfway, before I felt her start to gag, and she pulled me out again. She gripped me firmly with her left hand, and pumped up and down in time as she began working her mouth on my cock in earnest. Every time she pulled my head out to her lips, her cheeks pulled in as she sucked hard.

I couldn't believe how much pleasure she was able to give me. My ex-wife, Donna, hadn't minded giving me blow jobs, though she also never swallowed, but not once in the years that we were married did she make it feel this good. Something else occurred to me: Donna had never made eye contact while she was doing it. Holly's eyes were locked with mine, entrancing me with her lustful desire. I couldn't look away if I wanted to.

Helpless against her machinations, my body betrayed its pleasure with twitches, flexes, and involuntary gasps and moans. Holly saw and felt it all, and she learned. Oh God, how she learned. The changes in her technique were subtle, but amazingly effective. She was bobbing her head on me quickly now. My cock glistened with her saliva, and every time my head passed back within her hot mouth, she made a slurping noise as her lips passed over the crown of my head.

My breathing was fast and heavy. I didn't want it to end, but I knew I would be coming very soon, and so did Holly. I felt her needy moan vibrate through my cock. She needed to make me come, to feel the satisfaction of making me feel so much pleasure, and to feel the empowerment of the control she had over me. I brushed her wavy orange hair out of her face and held her head lightly in my hands. I was so close now!

Right before I came, she pulled me out of her mouth with a wet pop of suction, and held my cock over her face as she furiously jacked me off. I grunted as I came, and saw Holly's look of utter satisfaction as three thick ropes of hot cum splashed onto her. One landed across her forehead, one over her nose and onto her left cheek, and one over her lips and chin. She opened her mouth and stroked me slowly, milking the last few drops directly onto her tongue.

Holly sat back on her heels and grinned up at me. The image of her pleased face covered in my hot cum burned itself into my mind. She licked the cum from her lips, and used her fingers to scoop it off her chin and into her mouth. She giggled and tried to see the cum on her own face. This was the first time in the whole experience that she broke eye contact with me. It felt like I had just had a religious experience. I had never been all that excited about receiving fellatio, and was always happy to go down on my partner, then get right to the old in-out-in-out. But what Holly just did to me, with a desire not to simply do a duty but to make me feel as much pleasure as possible? I could get very used to that.

Holly scooped my cum off her nose and cheek, and played with the sticky mess on her fingers for a moment before licking them clean. I helped out by wiping it off her forehead. Holly took my cum-covered fingers into her mouth one by one, sucking on them, and swirling her tongue around them until they were all clean.

I helped Holly to her feet and gave her a warm hug, bending down and nuzzling my face against her neck.

"That was amazing," I whispered.

"Really?"

I pulled back enough to look her in the eyes. "Really. The best I've ever had." I gave her a small kiss and returned her pleased smile.

Holly bit her lip in slight apprehension. "Did you like doing it on my face?"

I nodded. "That was hot."

"I wasn't planning on doing that. I had planned on making you cum in my mouth, but... I don't know, I just wanted to see what it felt like."

"Did you like it?"

Holly giggled. "Yeah. It felt so hot on my face." Her smile turned thoughtful. "It was such a complete switch. I was in complete control, then in an instant, I felt almost submissive, letting it go on my face like that."

"Did that feel okay?"

"I liked it a lot."

We kissed, slowly and passionately. I savored the taste of Holly's mouth, still distinct despite the lingering taste of my seed.

She ended the kiss and licked a bit of saliva from my chin. "Maybe we could play with role reversal some more sometime. We could have a night where I control everything, and a night where you do."

"I'd like that," I said. "Speaking of role reversals, how about I cook you dinner? If you're not already full..."

Her smile turned devious. "I'll never be full of that. Try me and see."

Chapter five.

I ended up making spaghetti and meatballs. Holly 'helped' by being tied to my hip the whole time, demanding to be in constant close contact. I loved every minute of it; the arms wrapped around my waist from behind, the delicate hands massaging my shoulders, and the occasional quick kiss.

We sat across from each other at my kitchen table and ate. At one point Holly made a show of noisily sucking a long piece of spaghetti into her mouth and licking the sauce off of her lips, and we both laughed.

With dinner done, I left the dishes in the sink for later and took a half bottle of Eagle Rare and two glasses out of my liquor cabinet. Holly watched as I poured a generous amount into one glass and a small bit into the other. I handed her the second glass.

"It's not for getting drunk. Take small sips, just enough to taste it."

We took our glasses out onto my deck. It wasn't as nice or as large as the one on Jenna's house, but it had a good view of the western sky, with the Mississippi River down the wooded hillside far below, and downtown Saint Paul in the distance. We sat and talked as the sun moved ever lower, and the sky became awash in orange and red.

"Can we talk about something serious?" I asked Holly.

"Of course."

I took a moment to arrange the words in my head, then asked her. "What do you want out of our relationship?"

"What do you mean?" Holly asked, looking a little concerned.

"I mean, do you want us to be together permanently, or do you see this as being more of a fleeting thing? There are no wrong answers. Take your time, I want you to be entirely honest with me and yourself."

Holly sipped at her whiskey, just enough to wet her lips, and stared at the sunset as she thought. Eventually, she said. "Of course, I have some doubt that this will work, but I really want it to. You make me happy, and I want to make you happy in return." She looked at me quizzically. "What's the term for when things build on each other like that?"

"A feedback loop?"

"Yeah, it's like a feedback loop. The more you make me happy, the more I want to make you happy."

"It's the same for me." I nodded in agreement.

"Every girl wants their 'happily ever after,' and I really do believe that we can have that together."

"Does it bother you that I am so much older?"

"Does it bother you that I am so much younger?" Holly retorted.

"Honestly, it does a little. You're at the age where you're just figuring out how the world works and what your place in it is. What you experience now will shape who you are for the rest of your life. I'm concerned that being with me now may not be beneficial for your personal development. I love you, Holly, and I want you to have the most beautiful and happy life possible, even if that means that I'm not a part of it."

"I want you to be a part of my life," Holly said, her voice hinting at a rising temper. "Who else has the right to determine what is best for me other than me? I love you, too, Alec, and I want you in my life forever. Yes, I know that it's not normal for someone my age to be with someone so much older, and yes, it does bother me a little, too, but this is what I want. I want you."

Holly came over and sat sideways on my lap, draping her arms around me and resting her head on my shoulder. I held her lovingly.

"I meant it when I said that I love you," Holly said quietly.

I realized that this was the first time we had spoken those words to each other.

"So did I." I kissed the top of her head. "I have to tell your mom about us, and it's not going to be an easy conversation. I'm sorry for bringing this up, but I had to be completely sure about what we want from each other; that it's not just a sexual fling."

"What do you want out of this?" Holly asked.

"I want to spend the rest of my life making you the happiest woman on Earth. I've got so much love to give, and haven't been with anyone serious for a long time. I want you to give my life a purpose."

Holly hugged me a little tighter. "I feel so lucky to have found you."

"I also think it's great that you're going out of state for college." Holly tilted her head up to look at me. "Don't get me wrong, I will miss you, but I think that it's something that young people need to do. You'll go to Madison and live in a dorm. Maybe you'll work a shitty part-time job. You'll learn a world of new things and make mistakes. You'll make new friends and enemies, and maybe meet some guys."

She pulled back and looked me square in the eyes. "What do you mean, meet some guys?"

"I mean, you should be open to going on dates if someone asks you."

Holly looked slightly hurt by this. "But I don't want anyone else."

"I'm not telling you to sleep around," I said soothingly. "You're so young and inexperienced with relationships. I want you to make the most informed decision about your life that you can. If the opportunity arises, go on some dates, just to see what other people are like."

Seeing that I only wanted what was best for her, the hurt left her face, but was replaced with concern. "But what if I meet someone and fall in love?"

"Then you love them with your whole heart, and be happy together. All I want is what's best for you, even if it's not me."

"I'm not going to go looking for someone else. I want you, and I know that it's more than just a schoolgirl crush." Holly said, putting a hand on my cheek. "But I promise that if I do meet someone, I'll follow my heart. You are such a good man, though, no one will have any hope of stealing me away from you." She kissed me sweetly on the lips. "No more talk about that. We are barely getting started, and have the whole summer ahead of us before I go to college."

We cuddled together watching the sky until the sun had sunk below the horizon, and just the faintest of red glows remained. The air had become chilly, and Holly, still in her white and pink dress, shivered slightly with a soft breeze. I rubbed her arms vigorously, chasing away goosebumps with the warmth of my hands.

"We can go in if you're cold."

"We could," She said, scanning my small backyard and the trees that surrounded it.

None of my close neighbors had a view into my backyard. It was one of the main reasons I had bought the place when Donna and I were married. We liked being close enough to everything in the Twin Cities, but we had also wanted privacy and a quiet place to relax.

"Or," She said seductively. "We could find a way to stay warm."

Holly spun in my lap, lifting a leg over and kneeling over me. As she kissed me, slow and with passion, my hands began to roam around her body. I squeezed her small, firm breasts. She moaned into my mouth, and her kissing became more needy.

Her hands moved from my face, down my neck, and to my chest, where they paused for a moment to give my nipples a little pinch before moving lower.

She unbuckled my belt with surprising ease and quickly had my pants undone too. I lifted my hips and she pulled them down far enough for my rock hard cock to spring free.

My hands had slipped under her dress, and my fingers found the waistline of her panties. I gave them a gentle tug, telling her without words that I wanted them gone.

With a fantastic feat of flexibility, Holly put her hands on the chair's wide wooden armrests, leaned back, and lifted her legs up. I quickly pulled her panties off and flung them carelessly aside.

She lowered her legs and moved close, kissing me urgently. I felt her hand grip my cock and guide me as she impaled herself on my throbbing, hard member.

Her pussy was unbelievably tight, but she was also very wet. Free of her panties, I could smell her arousal, sweet and Intoxicating. Holly sank down onto me with one steady motion. When she bottomed out, I pushed towards her and pulled down on her hips to get that little extra bit deeper.

Holly let out a long, shuddering exclamation. It had almost sounded like she was in pain, and my heart skipped a beat in fear.

"Yes!" She hissed, drawing the word out. "I've needed you inside me so bad!"

Our mouths met, and she caressed my face as our tongues danced.

My hands massaged her back, holding her firmly down on me, but also relieving the tension from her muscles.

She moaned with pleasure and nuzzled her face against my neck. I kneaded her back with my fingers, working up to her shoulders and the back of her neck, and then down, eventually reaching her firm little butt cheeks. I played with them for a while, rubbing, squeezing.

Holly leaned back with her hands on the armrests and began rocking her hips forward and back. She began undulating her whole body gracefully, pulling herself off of me and sinking back down in a continuous fluid motion that was glorious to behold.

I watched in awe as this fiery young woman fucked me. She kept a slow pace and closed her eyes, lost in sexual rapture.

A chilly evening breeze fluttered through her dress, raising goose bumps on her already sweat-damp, flawless skin.

The sensation of being inside her pussy was pure bliss. Hot and silky, and tight as a vice, it was every man's dream of the perfect sexual repository to plant his seed into.

A small voice in the back of my head exclaimed in panic that I wasn't wearing a condom, that we weren't prepared for the possible consequences, but the lustful part of me was in control now and that small voice of reason was drowned away by primal urges pounding through my mind like a war drum.

I grabbed Holly's hips, urging her to go faster, and she complied eagerly. Gone was the fluid undulation, replaced with a mechanical need for fast and deep penetration.

Holly's head rolled back, and she moaned loudly to the stars as my hands guided her hips to slam down onto me ever faster. With each impact, our bodies met with a wet smack. Her delicious juices flowed, soaking me and dripping off my balls.

I didn't want it to end. I wanted to stay in this perfect moment of sexual nirvana with this amazing woman forever. At the same time, I wanted to come inside her. I wanted her to feel my seed squirt out of my cock, and feel it coat her insides.

With no warning, I lost the doomed battle of delayed orgasm. I held her tight to me, pushing as deep inside as I could. I grunted loudly as I came, letting loose a torrent of cum inside her.

Holly cried out in ecstasy. Her back arched and her pussy clamped hard around me as orgasmic waves wracked her petite body.

"Oh!" She turned the word into a loud exhalation as she struggled to catch her breath. "Oh, my God..."

I grabbed her and pulled her towards me. Her arms wrapped around my neck like they were made for that specific task. Despite our mutual lack of breath, we kissed frantically, still wholly lost in our primal need for each other.

Holly's body twitched with aftershocks of her climax, and I moaned into her mouth as her shuddering squeezed my cock, milking the last of my cum out of me.

We were giddy in the afterglow of our glorious simultaneous climax, and grinned at each other. Holly giggled and caressed my cheeks as we stared lovingly into each other's eyes.

"I felt it! I felt you come inside me!"

"It was wonderful, but I should have been wearing protection." That little voice I ignored had come back, screaming of the consequences.

"I'm not in my cycle, and I've been on the pill since I was fifteen, so don't worry about getting me pregnant." Holly gave me a quick kiss. "I'll keep track of it. I don't want to have kids yet."

As serious as this little conversation was, we couldn't stop grinning at each other.

"Feeling you inside me without a condom was amazing. It felt so much better, and feeling you cum inside me was unbelievably good. Is it different for you?"

I nodded. "Very different. Having a condom on is like wearing a latex glove on your hand. You can still feel everything, but without it, the sensations are much more vivid."

"Does cumming feel different too?"

"Yeah, but with that, it's more psychological. Knowing that I'm putting my seed into you excites some primal need for procreation. It makes the orgasm feel more intimate."

"I think it's the same for me. When you came, and I felt it against my insides, I had this intense feeling of unity. Like our intimacy had suddenly peaked at a whole new level."

"It did," I said.

Holly's giggle turned into a shiver as another gust of wind blew across us.

"What happens with the cum? My body will absorb it, right?"

"Yes, some of it. Most will leak out of you, I think."

"Well, that won't do. It's mine, and I want all of it."

Holly raised herself up, and as my still semi-erect penis slipped out of her, she cupped a hand over her vagina. I could see her belly tense as she pushed. He hand came back up covered in thick white cum. She brought it to her mouth and joyfully licked it up.

She stood on wobbly legs and pulled her dress back into position. Then she knelt before me and lowered her face to my groin. She licked me clean, starting with my balls and working her way up. Before she was halfway done, I was as hard as an iron bar again.

When she finished, she licked her lips and grinned up at me. She moved back and got to her feet as I got up out of the chair. I buttoned my pants, not bothering with the zipper or belt.

I picked up my mostly empty glass of whiskey and tilted it back. Holly did the same with hers, which was barely a mouthful. She swallowed it with an involuntary shiver.

"It still tastes like fire." Holly giggled. "But I could get used to it."

I took both of the empty glasses in one hand, and one of Holly's dainty hands in the other. I led her inside.

I left the glasses in the sink to clean later.

Holly said. "I have to go out to the car and get my bag."

"Speaking of which, whose car did you drive here?"

"Mom's Explorer. She was pretty tipsy and said that she needed some 'alone time' with Dan. So I said that I could stay at Ashley's overnight if she let me borrow her car." Holly laughed. "She practically threw the keys at me!"

"Sounds like everyone is getting lucky tonight. Get your bag, and set the alarm when you come back in. You remember the code?"

Holly nodded.

"I'm going to go take a shower before bed."

Holly bit her lip and asked. "Wait for me?"

A grin split my face. "Okay."

Holly grinned widely, gave me a quick kiss, and rushed outside.

Chapter six.

She found me in the master bath, sitting on the closed toilet in my boxers as I took off my socks.

She stopped in the doorway and watched me for a moment.

"You are a sexy man, Alec." A small smile graced her perfect pink lips as she eyed me hungrily.

I blushed from the unexpected compliment. I knew I wasn't ugly, but I never thought of myself as particularly handsome, much less sexy. I had one of those nondescript Germanic faces: dark hair, which was still thick and not receding, dark brows, and a square jaw. I was an inch shy of the Tinder standard of six feet tall, and though my body wasn't flabby, I was anything but muscular. My honest opinion of myself was that I excelled in nothing but being average, physically.

"If I'm sexy, then I don't even know the words for how gorgeous you are, Holly."

She was stunningly attractive, standing there in her wrinkled sundress, her hair disheveled, and her skin still glistening from the heat of passion. She seemed to radiate an aura of beauty, like a goddess of pure sexual desire.

I stood and let my boxers fall to the floor. I stepped out of them towards Holly. She set her backpack on the floor, turned, and raised her hair so I could undo the clasps on the back of her dress. She raised her arms, and I lifted the dress off her. I deftly unhooked her plain white bra with one hand. Holly looked over her shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow.

I smiled at her. "Being able to quickly remove a bra is a useful skill for a guy to have."

She turned, still smiling, and I gave her a sweet, closed-mouth kiss.

I moved to the shower, opening the glass door and turning on the water. Holly retrieved a few bottles from her bag and joined me.

She melted into my arms and sighed as the hot water cascaded over us.

"I never thought I'd shower with someone else. But with you, it seems so natural." Holly said, running her fingers through my chest hair.

"Intimacy goes both ways, getting dirty and getting clean. We don't need to hide anything from each other."

Holly nodded her agreement. "We've seen every inch of each other." She giggled. "We've tasted every inch, too!" She giggled louder and picked up the bottle of her body wash. "I'm going to make you smell like me."

She squirted a generous amount on my chest and began washing me. I closed my eyes in contentment as she scrubbed every bit of my body with her hands. The scent of strawberries filled the steamy air of the shower. While her attentions to my groin weren't deliberately sexual, they had the effect of arousing me back to rock-hard status.

She finished and handed the bottle to me. "My turn." She said, her anticipation plain to see.

I took my time, turning the task of making Holly clean into a sensual full-body massage. Her sighs and moans of pleasure kept my cock at attention, and it warmed my heart that I could make her feel so good.

She handed me her bottle of shampoo and turned her back to me. I squirted some onto my palm and began massaging her scalp with my foamy fingertips.

"Mmmm," Holly said quietly. "That feels good. It's like going to the expensive salon." She giggled softly. "Only there, I don't get the added bonus of a penis poking into my back."

I chuckled, and playfully pushed my hard cock against her a little harder.

I rinsed her hair clean, and she turned, giving my cock a quick squeeze before picking up her shampoo. She washed my hair with the same care that I had done to her.

There is something deeply sensual about having someone else wash you, and to wash another person. It was an Intimacy different than sex, but just as powerful. It was yet another avenue where two people can become closer by sharing their love for each other.

When we were both clean and rinsed off, Holly shut off the water, and we stepped out. I had brought a few extra towels from the closet, and we dried ourselves off, grinning at each other the whole time.

Dry but still buck naked, we brushed our teeth, then I sat, watching Holly as she brushed her long hair. Our eyes met in the mirror. The way she was looking at me made my heart leap and my cock twitch. This little woman had an inexhaustible sexual appetite. I found, to no great surprise, that as much as she wanted me, I wanted her. I stood and went to her, drawn like a bar of steel to a powerful magnet.

Holly closed her eyes with a sigh as I wrapped my arms around her from behind. I bent my knees slightly to get my body next to hers. My cock slid into the gap at the top of her thighs, and she pressed her butt against me.

She set down her hairbrush and leaned over the countertop, standing on her tip toes and arching her back to bring her butt up towards me.

I slid my cock through her thigh gap, rubbing the length of it against her already dripping hole. I bent my knees farther and guided myself into her. I began slow, steady thrusts, and every time I bottomed out, Holly made a sharp exhalation of pleasure.

"Yes!" She cried out.

Her eyes stayed locked with mine in the mirror, showing me her desire, her pleasure, and her love.

"Faster." She gasped.

Following her urging, I quickened my tempo.

"Harder."

My thrusting became more forceful, as did Holly's gasps of pleasure.

"Harder!" She cried out again.

I began slamming into her, making her tight ass quiver and her whole body lurch forward with every deep thrust. I was concerned about hurting her, but her continued gasped words spurred me on.

My legs were burning with the effort of keeping myself low enough to enter her, so I pulled out of her, lifted her up, and sat her down on the edge of the counter.

Now at a more comfortable height, I guided my slick cock back into her and continued pounding away. Her legs wrapped around me, and she clung onto my shoulders. We maintained our eye contact, faces close, but not kissing.

Her breathing became heavier and more ragged. This position allowed the deepest penetration, and with every thrust, the area above my cock slammed against her clit.

I felt her whole body quiver and tense up. She exclaimed loudly as she came, her abdomen and legs spasming uncontrollably.

Her eyes burned with lustful exaltation, but I didn't stop. Her body continued to spasm as the lingering effects of one orgasm built and flowed into the next.

I made her cum three times there on my bathroom counter, with the slapping of wet flesh and our grunts and gasps echoing loudly.

After her third climax, I slowed my pace, and we finally broke eye contact as we kissed. Her mouth was more hungry and needy than ever, and she kissed me hard enough that it began to hurt.

I broke off the kiss and moved her wet hair away from her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find the words, so she just kissed me, softer this time.

Without pulling my cock out of her, I lifted her up. She clung to me tightly as I carried her out of the bathroom.

I brought her to my bed, a queen-sized four-poster. Made of oak with wrought iron cross bars at the top, the bed was a remnant of my ex-wife Donna's interior decorating. She had taken a lot of the furniture with her, but I kept the bed. I liked its sturdy old-fashioned style.

Cock still deep within Holly, I laid her on the bed and schooched her towards the middle.

We kissed, slow and passionate, and I began to move within her again. Like the kissing, I moved slowly, rocking my hips when I bottomed out so that I ground against her clit when our bodies made contact.

Holly moaned into my mouth almost continuously, and I could feel her body begin to build tension once again. I kissed and licked her neck, swirling my tongue on her two erogenous zones there.

I pulled my body up and knelt, continuing my slow, measured thrusts. I grabbed her legs and moved them to my shoulders, and Holly gasped from the change in vaginal sensations.

I took one of her perfect little feet in my hands, massaging it, then her ankle, calf, and thigh.

I did the same to the other one, all the while, my cock slowly slid in and out of her. Her climax was slowly building, and I controlled my pace, keeping her on the edge of the precipice.

I brought one of her feet to my mouth and began licking her toes. Holly let out a loud sigh of pleasure, so I continued. I took her toes into my mouth, one by one, sucking on them, tickling them with my tongue. Holly seemed to enjoy this immensely, so I kept at it, with one foot then the other.

I have always had kind of a thing for women's feet. Not a fetish or anything, I just really appreciated when women had beautiful feet. I loved Holly's. They were small, as everything of hers was, but perfect. Sucking on her toes, with their perfect little nails, painted pink, had got me worked up enough that I could feel my third orgasm of the night coming soon.

I held her legs tight to my chest, and began to increase the pace with which I was fucking her.

The urgency of her long-building orgasm hit her, and she writhed with ever-increasing pleasure.

I was pounding into her again, hard and fast, our bodies slapping together wetly.

Holly's hands roamed her own body, and she squeezed her own breasts, pinching her erect pink nipples between thumb and finger.

We were both very close now, so I leaned forward, keeping her legs on my shoulders, bending her in half. She grabbed her own legs, pulling them as close to her as she could and spreading them wide.

I put my hands on the backs of her thighs to steady myself as I pounded into her. We bounced on the mattress with every hard wet smacking impact of my cock burying itself into her.

Her gasped words like, faster, harder, and oh my God, became incoherent as she lost herself to the ecstasy of the moment. With a low growl, I thrust even faster, pushing myself over the edge.

We cried out in unison as we came, bodies twitching uncontrollably. She let go of her legs, and they wrapped around me. Her hands reached for my neck, and she pulled my mouth to hers. We kissed for a long time, until all of our spasming had subsided.

We nuzzled our faces together, cheek to cheek, craving as much skin-on-skin contact as possible.

When our breathing had stabilized and our hearts were beating at a less frenetic pace, I whispered in her ear.

"I love you."

"I love you." She whispered back.

We stayed together like that for a long time, basking in the glow of our shared passion and watching the love in each other's eyes.

Holly made a disappointed noise when my soft cock slipped out of her. I moved to the side and pulled the sheets back. We crawled under the covers, and I wrapped her up in my arms, spooning her with as much physical contact as I could manage.

Chapter seven.

I awoke to the persistent beeping of the alarm on my phone, still in my pants pocket on the bathroom floor. Holly was snoring softly, still deeply asleep. I extricated myself from bed carefully, managing to do so without waking her.

I shut the bathroom door quietly and turned off the alarm. I relieved myself and brushed my teeth. I put off shaving, fearing that my electric razor might make enough noise to wake Holly.

I snuck back into my bedroom and got dressed. I put on comfortable khaki pants and a white button-up shirt. I took a long, last look at Holly. Her perfect lips showed a small smile as she slept. I couldn't believe how much I loved this wonderful little woman, after such a short amount of time. As I left the bedroom, I had the thought that if I had the good fortune to wake up next to Holly every day for the rest of my life, there was nothing else I needed to be happy.

Hours later, I was in my makeshift office. The sun had come up and was shining brightly through the windows. I had set up a table in my guest room with a pair of large monitors. I heard the faint sound of a toilet flushing, and a few minutes later, Holly appeared in the doorway to my office. I held a finger to my lips for her to be quiet and pointed at one of my monitors, where I had a text file open. I typed out the words 'conference call'.

Holly silently approached and read what I had typed. She was wearing the light blue button-down shirt that I wore yesterday, but apart from that, she was completely naked. My shirt looked comically oversized on her and hung down nearly to her knees. She leaned over me to type a response, and I took the opportunity to slide my hand up under the shirt and give her ass a squeeze.

She typed out the words. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea, me?"

As much as I wanted to point at 'me', I ended up pointing at 'coffee'. Holly picked up my empty mug, gave me a kiss on the top of my head, and silently left. A minute later, she returned with a steaming mug poured from the pot in the kitchen. I typed out the words 'Sweetheart' and 'Won't be much longer' in the text file. She gave my shoulders a squeeze and left as silently as a shadow.

I watched Holly saunter out of the room, mesmerized by how her tiny, firm ass swayed under my wrinkled shirt. I was so distracted by her that a voice in my headset had to repeat the question it had asked me.

"Yes, sorry. I'm asking for two entry-level positions. Primary duties will include..."

A half hour later, I tossed my headset onto my desk, stood up, and stretched. I found Holly in the kitchen, busy doing the dishes. I snuck up behind her and wrapped her in a hug.

"You don't have to do that. Those are my dishes."

Holly turned her head and smiled at me. "You cooked me dinner, it's only fair that I help clean up." She resumed scrubbing a saucepan. "What time did you get up? I didn't notice when you left the bed."

"Six. That's when I usually get up for work. Not having to drive in gave me the time to finish getting my computer set up right." I kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad I didn't wake you. You were sleeping so peacefully."

Holly giggled. "You really wore me out. I slept like a stone, but I'm still a little sore."

My breath caught with a pang of horror. I had been so worried about hurting her and had let myself get carried away. I had been too rough with her in our last bout of lovemaking, and my heart ached with regret.

"I'm so sorry."

Holly turned on me with a scowl and pointed a soapy finger at my face. "No! Don't you dare feel bad about what we did last night. I loved every second of it!"

"I shouldn't have been so rough..."

"No!" Holly cut me off. "God, I didn't know it was possible to cum that hard, or that many times! If being sore the next day is the price to pay for what we did together," She put extra emphasis on 'together'. "Then I will gladly pay it again and again!"

She dried her hands on the towel hanging in front of the sink, and hugged me, laying the side of her head on my chest and sighing loudly.

"It's not bad, it just feels kind of like a bruise, like a dull throbbing ache that goes deep inside. Menstrual cramps were far, far worse. Like, a thousand times worse. I don't get them anymore because of the birth control pills, but I remember how much they sucked."

"I don't ever want to hurt you, even if it feels good while I'm doing it." I softly touched her cheek.

"It's okay, really. I'd want it again in a heartbeat. Maybe not every time, but definitely some of the time. I've been feeling it all morning, and it reminds me of what we did. When I close my eyes, I can see you above me as we make love, see the lust for me burning in your eyes." Holly smiled up at me. "It feels really good to be wanted like that."

"Yes, it does." I agreed. "But I want you for more reasons than you being a sexual goddess."

"What reasons are those?" Holly's smirk failed to hide her pleasure at being called a sexual goddess.

"Getting me coffee while I'm on a call, doing the dishes, and any of a million little things that I want us to do for and share with each other. I said that I want you in my life, not just my bed."

My words had a noticeable impact on her. Holly's face beamed up at me, and she hugged me tighter. I meant the words with every fiber of my being. I wanted to share my life with her, fully.

I could still remember how it felt to fall in love with my ex-wife, Donna, and how I wanted our two lives to become one. I remember when we recited our wedding vows to each other, and how I had truly meant every word. I remember how certain I was that everything would work out as we had dreamed. But now, with a quarter century more of life experiences, I looked back at the boy I was, and I didn't know if I should laugh or cry at my naivety. The man I am now would have seen that my marriage with Donna was doomed to failure.

I held Holly in my arms and knew that what we had was different. I was more sure about the way I felt about her than I have been about anything in my life. I would love her with my whole being and devote myself to making her dream life a reality.

"I love you, Holly."

"I love you, Alec."

My thoughts completed what my heart was feeling when I said those simple words.

To have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.

Staring into Holly's sparkling green and gray eyes, I knew that she was thinking the same thing.

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Holly and Alec's story will continue in Carnal Insights 3.0