ONE

The sun was just beginning to rise when Maya opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Andy sleeping quietly on his side, facing her. She smiled and wiggled closer to him. She reached out and gently ran her fingers through the mix of brown and gray hair on his temple.

Andy didn’t wake up but let out a soft sigh of happiness, which made Maya smile even more. Lying in bed with Andy, feeling his warm body close to hers, made her completely happy and content. In the nine months since she’d met him by complete happenstance at a fundraiser in an art museum, she’d fallen in love for what she realized was the first time in her life.

She moved closer to him and ran her fingers through more of his hair. “Sweet boy.”

Andy, hearing her in his sleep, smiled again.

Maya kissed his forehead and then his lips while caressing his chest with her hands.

When Andy began to stir, Maya took off her T-shirt and moved to him, pressing her breasts against her man.

“Boobies,” Andy said.

Maya laughed. “You’re such a boy.”

Andy reached out and put a hand on her back and began rubbing her soft, smooth skin. “Your boy.”

“Yes,” Maya said.

They began kissing and touching with more energy. Without breaking their kiss, Andy worked Maya’s panties off and began exploring the sweet spot between her thighs, working her clit in a circle, getting her wetter and wetter.

Just has hungrily, Maya pushed his boxers down and off him, letting his hardness out. She took it gently in her hand and began stroking it.

Gripping her around the waist, Andy maneuvered himself on this back, leaving Maya straddling him. That’s all she needed. She lined herself up against the head and slid down its length, filling herself. She let out a long sigh before dropping her face down to Andy’s for more kisses.

She rode Andy slowly and deeply, savoring the sensation and pleasure of having him inside her body.

For both of them, sex had become far more than sex almost immediately. It was now something bigger and better and more special. It was a shared experience between two people completely in love. It wasn’t about trying to get off — though they both always did — it was about saying I’m yours and you’re mine. It was about knowing they were giving each other something they’d never give anyone else.

This expression of love and these moments of raw intimacy were only for them, together.

Maya picked up her pace as Andy gripped her hips. She lifted herself up high enough to nearly let him slip out of her, before dropping herself back down onto him.

“You’re so beautiful,” Andy said to her. She looked down and smiled at him and mouthed the words “I love you.”

Andy began rubbing her clit again as she rode him, and Maya released a long groan of pure pleasure. Seconds later, her orgasm hit. She bit her bottom lip as her body shook. Wetness dripped out of her and onto Andy.

She dropped down and kissed Andy with full passion. “Put me on my back.”

Moving quickly but gently, he held her body and swung her onto her back and immediately re-entered her. Maya put her arms around his back and pulled him down to her. She loved feeling his body weight against her as he moved in and out of her.

She began kissing his neck in the spot she new drove him crazy. It had the intended effect. He groaned and gave one final thrust, filling her as deeply as she could, and released himself into her. She loved the feel of his warm cum inside her.

They cuddled together, catching their breath, relishing the gift of being there together.

“Take a shower with me?” Maya said.

“I don’t know … a shower with my beautiful girlfriend?”

“I’ll wash your hair for you,” she said.

“Deal.”

TWO

In the hot, steaming shower, they again couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Filling has hands with body wash, Andy got on his knees and began soaping Maya’s entire body from the feet up. He didn’t miss a spot.

He worked body wash into her bush and all over her firm, shapely ass. She simply stood there happily taking in every sweet touch.

Once she was rinsed off, Maya filled her own hands with shampoo and began lathering his hair. She knew that few things felt better to him than when she ran her fingers through his hair. Whether in the shower, in the car, at a movie or anywhere else, all Maya had to do was play with his hair and he was putty in her hands.

“When did you know you loved me?” she said.

“The first time I kissed you,” he said. “When did you know you loved me?”

“The jury’s still out,” Maya said.

“Wow, you’re truly the meanest girl in the world,” he said.

She laughed, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down closer to her. “I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone.”

After the shower, they got dressed slowly, continuing to talk and tease each other.

“Alright, mister, I have to go in for a couple of hours,” Maya said. “You’ll wear your suit tonight, right?”

He gave her a pretend-serious look and said, “You know, the first time I came to one of these things ridiculously underdressed I’m pretty sure you were hit with a case of love at first sight.”

Maya wrinkled her nose at him. “Let’s call it infatuation at first sight and love at quickly thereafter.”

He put his hands around her waist and pulled her close. “I’ll have a suit on, Doc.”

THREE

As Maya checked in on patients, she thought about Andy and the formal banquet they’d be at that night.

After making her rounds, Maya was in her office finishing paperwork before she headed back to her apartment to get ready for the night, when she was interrupted by a knock. She looked up and saw Dr. Gerald Edmunds. She wasn’t happy to see him.

Edmunds was 60 and on his third wife. He talked incessantly about golf and sports cars and, especially, himself. He was short, bald, and oozed arrogance.

Maya found him boring most of the time and downright boorish whenever he hit on her and ran his eyes up and down her body during a meeting or conversation.

“Save me a dance tonight?” Edmunds said.

“No,” she said. “I have a date.”

“Did you finally dump the writer or advertising guy or whatever he was?” Edmunds said.

She looked up icily. “Andy, he’s a writer. And no, I haven’t, and I don’t have any plans to.”

Edmunds laughed. “Your parents must be thrilled that their Ivy League doctor daughter is involved with a … artist.”

Now Maya smiled. “They are actually.”

And it was true. Her mother was won over by Andy instantly and her father, always a tougher nut to crack, quickly came around too.

“Interesting,” Edmunds said. “I guess I’ll see you both tonight. Maybe Alex can recite some Shakespeare or something.”

“It’s Andy,” Maya said, “but I think you knew that.”

Edmunds laughed and walked away.

Maya removed Edmunds from her mind and quickly finished her paperwork and headed home.

And hour later, she was standing naked in her bedroom and reaching for a small, elegant giftbag. It was from Andy, and he’d made her promise she wouldn’t open it or even peek until she was getting ready for the banquet.

Now, looking inside, she saw that it was a set of lace cream colored bra and panties. She took them out of the bag and felt their soft, smoothness in her hands. They were expensive and sexy and perfect.

Once she had them on, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. They fit perfectly. She already couldn’t wait for Andy to take them off her when they got home that evening.

Soon, she was heading downstairs in a gorgeous black cocktail dress that showed off her curves, to meet her Uber. Andy was meeting her at the venue with his car.

FOUR

As Maya’s Uber pulled up in front of the building, she saw Andy outside waiting for her. He was wearing the elegant black suit she’d helped him pick out. And while he looked nervous, almost like a boy waiting for his prom date, she was struck by how handsome he was.

He spotted her getting out of the Uber and immediately came over, offering his hand to help her out the car door. She took it eagerly and kissed him as soon as she was out of the car.

“Look at you,” he said. “You’re just … I mean, Maya … wow.”

She giggled and kissed him again. “I like you in a suit, fella.”

Holding hands they headed into the venue.

After a long awards ceremony and speeches, the music started, and people headed for the bar. Ties were loosened and laughter reverberated throughout the expansive ballroom.

Soon, Maya and Andy and Maya’s best friend Abbie and her husband Oliver — who were also doctors — had fallen into their easy routine of spirited conversation, jokes, and warm camaraderie. Maya was again overjoyed that Andy and Oliver had quickly become friends.

As Maya sat taking in Andy and Oliver, she thought back to just a month earlier, when she and Andy had been at Abbie and Oliver’s wedding. The morning of the ceremony, Maya, the Maid of Honor, was helping Abbie with her dress when Abbie said to her, “It won’t be long before you’re wearing a wedding dress.”

Maya stopped what she was doing and looked up at Abbie. “I don’t know about that.”

Abbie rolled her eyes playfully. “It’s a done deal. I see how he looks at you, I know Oliver loves me like crazy — but I’ve never seen someone look at anyone the way he looks at you.”

Maya smiled and went back to her task. “I’d marry him tomorrow.”

Abbie reached down and squeezed her friend’s shoulder. “I know you would. And it’s going to happen.”

“But today’s about you and Oliver,” Maya said. “I love you both so much.”

Maya put the memory away and returned to the here and now. She shifted closer to Andy, her signal that she wanted his arm around her. It was a signal that Andy never missed.

Just as Abbie was in the middle of a story, a very drunk Dr. Gerald Edmunds came over to their table.

“Do I get that dance, Maya?”

She scowled at him. “Asked and answered.”

Edmunds pretended to laugh at Maya’s comeback. “Hello Abbie, hello Oliver.”

“Gerald,” Oliver said.

Edmunds then turned his blurry gaze to Andy. “I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“I’m Alex,” Andy said.

Maya had, of course, told Andy, Abbie, and Oliver what Edmunds had said earlier that day.

“Yes,” Edmunds said, sensing that Andy had just lightly mocked him. “Andy. The writer. That sounds lucrative.”

“It is if you don’t care about golf clubs and sports cars,” Andy said.

Maya looked at Andy, who was speaking in a tone she hadn’t heard from him before. She then looked at Abbie, whose expression told her that she too sensed trouble.

“It must be intimidating for a man like you to be with someone like Maya,” Edmunds said. “A person with so much education and so much talent.”

Andy looked at Edmunds and smiled. “If you’re suggesting that it must bother me that Maya is more intelligent than me, the answer is no.”

Maya straightened and began, “I’m not more intel …”

Andy looked over at her, looked straight into her eyes, and said with complete warmth, “Yes, you are. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

Edmunds burped and giggled. “How sweet. And do your parents like Maya as much as her parents evidently like you?”

Maya, Abbie, and Oliver tensed.

“They died when I was ten,” Andy said.

“Terrible, terrible,” Edmunds said. “They’d probably be impressed that you’re punching above your weight.”

Oliver, who was nearly as serene and good-natured as Andy, had heard enough. “You’re an asshole, Gerald, always have been.”

Edmunds pretended to be offended. “Now, now, Ollie, don’t forget your place in the pecking order. At any rate, I should move along. I need another drink.”

He walked a few steps away and turned back to the table, “Just a little friendly advice Andy. Get ready for your little romance to end. I’ve seen plenty of doctors marry down and you know what? It never works. In the end they always end up with someone who’s their equal.”

The table fell silent for a moment before Maya finally put her hand on Andy’s face, “Honey,” she said.

“I’m going to get some air for minute,” Andy said to her, smiling. But it wasn’t an Andy smile, and Maya saw right through it.

The three friends watched Andy as he walked away.

“Maya,” Abbie said.

Maya turned and looked at her.

“Go,” Abbie said.

FIVE

Maya headed out the door and didn’t see Andy in the lobby. She pushed through the door that led out onto the sidewalk and there he was, leaning against a low concrete wall. She hurried over to him.

“Baby,” she said. “Gerald Edmunds is a prick.”

He looked at her and the sadness in his eyes nearly broke her heart.

“What if he’s right though?”

Confused, Maya said, “Right?”

“I don’t know any card tricks, Maya,” Andy said. “This is who I am. For better or worse.”

“I know that,” Maya said.

“I’m not like those people in there. I’m not a serious person. I like to write stories, and I love to make you laugh. I don’t own any stocks. I don’t even think I know what a stock is.”

Maya smiled. “That’s okay, I do.”

“Someday, we’re going to be sitting on the couch and you’re going to look over at me and you’re going to compare me to what you could have had, maybe with one of the guys in that ballroom. And you’re going to be embarrassed and disappointed.”

Maya looked pained. “No, that’s —"

“I knew right away that you might be unattainable, that you might be too good for me. But I thought if I could make you happy and make you feel like I was all yours, that might be enough.”

Maya took a step toward him. “You need to stop talking now.”

She took another step toward him. “Look at me.”

Andy kept his eyes on the ground.

“Andy, I said look at me.”

He did as she asked.

She moved against him and took his face in her hands.

“That’s the only time you get to say anything like that to me. The only time, ever, do you understand me?”

Andy tried to move his head down, to break Maya’s gaze, but she held his face firmly.

“You’ll never again say that you aren’t good enough for me. Never again, Andy, I mean it. I get to choose who I want and what I want. Not you or anyone else. Me. And I choose you and I choose us.”

Maya pulled his face down to hers so that the tips of their noses touched.

“You’re loving. You’re kind. You’re funny. You support me in every way. You make me feel confident. And you’re a great kisser. All I want is to fall asleep next to you every night, forever.”

Feeling tears in his eyes, Andy tried to look away before Maya could see, but she stopped him.

“Don’t,” she said, gently reaching up and wiping the tears away.

“I’ve known for awhile now that the only thing I want out of the rest of my life is you,” Andy said. “If I have you, I have everything I want.”

“It’s you and me now,” Maya said. “I’m going to love you for a thousand years. Will you love me for a thousand years?”

Andy leaned in to kiss her but before their lips met, he said, “A thousand and one.”

SIX

When they got back to Maya’s apartment, the door was barely closed before Andy had her in his arms. He pressed her against the wall and attacked her neck with his mouth. He ran his hands over her body.

“Unzip me,” Maya said.

Andy unzipped her dress, took it off her, and carefully set it across the back of the couch. He turned back to her and took her in. “You’re wearing the lingerie I bought you.”

She stood confidently, without any inhibitions. “Of course, I love it. Do I look good in it?”

Andy looked right at her and said, “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Maya bit her bottom lip, reached behind her and unhooked her bra, letting it fall to the floor.

Andy was on her instantly. He wrapped his arms around her and took a nipple into his mouth. Maya ran her fingers through his hair. He slid a hand down the back of her panties and squeezed her ass which forced a happy, hungry sigh from her lips.

Still wrapped in each other, they spun and stumbled their way down the hall to Maya’s bed. They threw each other down onto the mattress, kissing and laughing. Andy quickly pulled her panties off and positioned his head between her legs.

Maya reclined on the bed, her head on a pillow, eagerly anticipating what came next.

Andy kissed and licked Maya’s left thigh, which gave her goosebumps. He then positioned his face against her dripping pussy, but rather than licking, he blew his warm breath against it.

Maya groaned loudly.

He then moved onto her right thigh.

“You’re an evil tease,” she said happily.

Andy kissed every centimeter of her delicious thigh before finally returning to her pussy.

He slowly ran his tongue up and down Maya’s slit, which caused her body to stiffen with pleasure. She could feel herself dripping.

After licking her slit, Andy took Maya’s clit between his lips and sucked on it, hard, while simultaneously flicking his tongue over it. At the same time, he slid two fingers into her soaking, eager pussy.

“Oh my God,” Maya said through labored breaths.

For the next several minutes, Andy used his fingers and tongue to bring Maya as much pleasure as he could. She was completely at ease with Andy and with her body. From the first time they’d had sex in that cabin on Lake Superior, Maya understood that this level of intimacy was special.

As Andy continued working her orally, she ran her fingers through his hair, which made him sigh. In that moment, Maya knew how deeply she was loved.

“It’s close,” Maya said.

Now, with even more urgency, Andy worked his tongue up and down her opening while working her clit with his fingers. In mere seconds, Maya exploded with orgasm. She could feel the rush of liquid and excitement as Andy kept his tongue in place, determined to keep pleasuring her until her orgasm completely ended.

When her body began to relax, he crawled up to her and put his head on the pillow. She kissed him long and hard in a way that said exactly how much she loved him.

“I want to take care of you now,” Maya said.

Andy kissed her forehead. “You don’t need to. All I wanted tonight was to make you cum.”

Maya reached down and took his cock in her hand. “I need you inside me before we go to sleep.”

Andy wrapped a hand around one of her firm breasts. “You’re tired, how about you just fall asleep in my arms?”

Maya rolled onto her back. “I want to fall asleep in your arms, but I also want to fall asleep with your cum in me. Please.”

Andy didn’t need to hear more. He positioned himself on top of her and his cock immediately found her opening and filled her. She licked her lips and closed her eyes.

“This is what I needed,” she said.

Depending on the mood, they sometimes made love hard and fast and deep — almost wild. But not tonight.

“I want you nice and slow this time” Maya said.

“Of course,” he said.

For the next several minutes, Andy slowly slid his rock-hard cock in and out of her wet, welcoming pussy. This wasn’t two people simply trying to get off, this was two people expressing something magical to each other.

As Andy filled her, they kissed and caressed and whispered to each other. Maya couldn’t believe how good and how right it felt to have Andy inside her.

“Don’t forget you promised to love me for a thousand years,” she whispered into his ear.

“No, I didn’t,” he whispered back. “I promised to love you for a thousand and one.”

She smiled and wrapped her legs around his lower back. “Give me your neck.”

Andy lowered his neck to her mouth, and she immediately began kissing it with a full, open mouth, letting her soft lips sensually tickle him. His neck was his trigger, so Andy was quickly ready to cum. Because she was so in tune with her love’s body, Maya could feel him building to it.

She bit his ear lobe and whispered, “I want to go to sleep with it inside me.”

Andy smiled and let himself go. Maya could feel his cum spilling into her and let out a contented moan.

He moved out of her, got beside her, and pulled her to him.

Under a warm blanket, her naked body against his, Maya immediately began drifting off to sleep. But before she went completely under, she said, “Baby, do you think we could go back to that cabin next weekend?”

He wrapped his arms around her even more and said, “You got it.”

SEVEN

The next morning, Maya woke up early and got dressed for work. Before she left, she bent down and kissed a half-awake Andy goodbye. “Just a half-day today,” she said. “I can’t wait to come home to you.”

As soon as he was sure she was gone, he grabbed his phone and texted Abbie: “Buy you lunch today? Need your help with something. Nothing bad.”

Almost immediately Abbie replied: “Intriguing. Yes.”

That afternoon Andy met Abbie at Carlo’s, a bistro downtown. While they looked at the menus Abbie said, “Are you okay after last night? Edmunds is a prick.”

Andy said, “I let it bother me more than I should have, but Maya talked to me and everything’s good.”

Abbie closed her menu and said, “That girl’s nuts about you, dummy.”

He smiled, “I hope so … and that’s actually why I asked you to lunch.

Abbie looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

Andy reached into his pocket and took out a ring box.

“Andy, I’m already married,” Abbie said.

“Smartass,” Andy said, opening the box.

“Wow,” Abbie said. “It’s perfect.”

“I looked at a bunch and kept coming back to this one,” he said. “I called my friend, and he got us the cabin we stayed at the first time we –-“

“— had sex,” Abbie said.

“— went away together,” Andy said, laughing. “I thought I’d build a fire and propose on the beach.”

“So, what help do you need from me?” Abbie said.

“I guess just reassurance that she’ll say yes.”

Abbie stared at him, expressing no emotion before picking up her phone and taking a picture of the ring. Her fingers then worked furiously as she typed. “I’m sending a text to Oliver,” she said, “it reads: At lunch with Andy. He bought this for Maya. Is asking me if I think she’ll say yes.”

Oliver responded almost immediately, and Abbie read it to Andy: “He is very stupid.”

“What Oliver means,” Abbie said, “is stop worrying and get engaged already.”

EIGHT

The following Friday afternoon, Andy was behind the wheel of his car with Maya next to him. She held his right hand in her lap with both of her hands. “I’ve been waiting all week for this.”

“Me too,” he said. “I might try and get you into bed, just so you’re aware.”

Maya rolled her eyes. “Too bad I’m not that kind of girl.”

They both laughed.

Once they were checked into the cabin, they dropped their bags and headed on a hike that took them high above Lake Superior. They relished being together in this almost impossibly beautiful place.

After returning to the cabin a few hours later, they changed and headed to the restaurant where Andy’s friend Conor again reserved the best table for them. The meal was even better than last time.

“I’m glad we don’t eat like this all the time,” Maya said. “I don’t think it would be good for us.”

Andy reached for her hand. “Thank you for coming here with me. And thank you again for what you said to me last weekend.”

Her brown eyes danced in the candlelight. “I meant every word. There’s no place I’d rather be than right here, right now, with you.”

He pulled her hands up off the table so he could kiss them. “Can I build you a fire on the beach?”

She smiled and nodded. “I’ve been looking forward to it all day.”

On the beach, Maya stood and watched her Boy Scout build her a fire. Like last time, they had this section of beach to themselves. Andy took out his phone and brought up Spotify.

“One dance with me?”

She smiled and nodded.

He clicked play and Cat Powers’s version of Sea of Love began. It was their song.

Maya immediately fell into his arms and put her head on his chest as they slowly danced around the fire. Neither of them said a word. They just listened to the beautiful song. When it was over Maya sighed happily.

“You’re definitely a romantic,” she said.

“The waves are really going tonight,” Andy said. “I love that sound.”

Maya walked closer to the water. “And the way the moon is shining across the water is so beautiful. I don’t think anything could make this night more perfect.”

Just a few feet behind Maya’s back, Andy had gotten down on one knee. “Hopefully this makes it even better.”

Maya turned and saw him on his knee, arms outstretched, an open ring box in his hands.

She brought her hands to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. She tried to say something, anything, but no words came.

But Andy knew.

“Before I met you, I thought I knew what it meant to be happy. I thought I knew what love was,” he said. “But now I know I really had no idea. You are my happiness, and you are my love.”

Maya began to softly sob but didn’t move. “Oh, Andy.”

He took the ring out of the box and held it up for her. It sparkled in the firelight. “I love you Maya and I want to be your husband. Will you marry me?”

She moved her left hand toward him and said, “You know I will … oh, you know I will.”

He slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly.

Andy tried to get up and kiss her but before he could, Maya knocked him onto the sand and jumped on top of him. She showered him with kisses, which he met happily.

“Can we get married tomorrow?" she said.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to get a cake that soon,” Andy said. “How about May 17?”

She looked at him suspiciously. “That’s very specific.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Well, just in case you said yes, I booked this place for that weekend.”

She grabbed him, hard, and kissed him again. “May 17 it is.”

They spent the next hour lying on a blanket next to the fire. They kissed. They touched. They laughed. They talked about the future.

“Would you like to go inside and have sex with your fiancé?” Maya said.

“You know, I really would,” Andy said.

“Love me for a thousand years?”

“Nope,” Andy said. “A thousand and one.”