I press my forehead to hers as the last few spasms come over me, my breathing ragged, my body completely satisfied as I kiss her softly on the lips. I try to think of the perfect thing to say, but my brain isn’t functioning at the moment so all I manage is to say, “Wow.”
“Yeah, wow. That was…” She trails off, then kisses me again, nipping my bottom lip with her teeth. “Incredible.”
Giving her a half grin, I say, “Told you.”
“You did.” She smiles up at me, her legs still wrapped around my back, holding me here. “You definitely didn’t over-promise and under-deliver.”
“I’m glad,” I tell her, nuzzling her neck. Lifting my face so I can look at her again, I say, “So, do you believe me?”
“About what?” she asks, her words floating into the night air.
“That you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen?”
Giving me a mischievous smile, she says, “I don’t know about that. I may require more proof.”
We laugh and collapse into a heap of satisfaction. “More proof?”
“Yes, all experiments must be replicated in order to be proved.”
I chuckle some more and wrap the sleeping bag around us. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be sure to replicate the results.”
“Mmm, perfect.”
“I’m glad you had fun.”
“So much fun, I don’t care if we ever get rescued. We can stay right here and become those Swiss people with the coconut inventions.”
I smile and kiss her forehead, my heart tugging at the fact that we will, indeed, get rescued, and this moment will be lost to us forever. As much as I know it’s how it has to be, the thought of it is … not something I can deal with right now. Right now, I need to be here with her, connected like this, wrapped up in each other, feeling nothing but pleasure and satisfaction.
She lets out a contented sigh.
“Are you happy?” I ask.
“Are you kidding?” Gwen says. “I could make a thousand batches of cookies right now.”
I chuckle and kiss her again. “If only we had a kitchen.”
After proving my theory twice more, we make our way into the tent, both of us physically spent. We cuddle up together in the sleeping bag, still naked. I’m on my back and she’s laying with her head on my chest, lazily running her fingertips up and down my body, leaving a happy trail wherever she touches me.
“I wish we could stay here,” I tell her. “This is by far the most relaxed I think I’ve ever been.”
“Me too,” she says, snuggling closer. “Somehow—and this makes no sense whatsoever because it should be the exact opposite—it feels … easy with you.”
“It really does, doesn’t it?” I ask, marveling at that fact.
“It’s probably because we barely know each other.”
It’s because it just feels right. “Probably. No baggage, not like with family or people you’ve known your entire life.”
“They know too much,” she says in an ominous tone.
I chuckle a little, then kiss her on her forehead. “I think it’s because humans are capable of hurting the ones who love them the most.”
“That’s sort of a dark way of looking at it.”
“Is it?” I ask. “Take your family, for example. You obviously love them. Otherwise, you wouldn’t put yourself through the constant rejection. And instead of accepting you the way you are and encouraging you, they make you feel stupid. I’m not sure why you put up with it, to be honest.”
Her hand stills and she doesn’t respond for a moment, long enough to make me worry I’ve said too much. But then she says, “They’re my family.”