There's something about the strength of the male form, admiring the ways muscles slide over bone as they move, the way skin stretches over hardened limbs, the way expressions match effort, the way colors blend to make each one different, each one special in its own right. The way the light hits them softly, without ever leaving a mark.
Like Schuyler's pale sleepy grin this morning as I poked my head up out of the covers, lost somewhere between the two of them, the unfamiliar temperature of their skin waking me early, abruptly.
Daniel, like Ben, didn't move when I woke.
It's time to send you back. Schuyler laughs softly. I think I'm too old for this.
He isn't. I touch Daniel's face, watching him sleep. If someone touches me while I'm asleep that's it. I'm alert and I'm finished sleeping until the earth makes it all of the way around the sun again. His beard is so soft, the brown caramelized into lighter honey, his fine chiseled features giving him an aristocratic profile in his dreams. It's as if someone took Ben and said make him a little bit less fierce.
But only a little.
I turn and lie back down on my back beside him. He sleeps cool, and though he's far more cuddly in his sleep, I don't feel as if I'm lying on stone. Schuyler frowns and gets up, waking naked across the room to the ensuite. God help me. Bridget-
I know. I'll be gone when you come out. But the disappoint in my voice is audible. I don't know where it came from. I hate leaving them. I hate not being constantly surrounded by positive free love, by unapologetic touch. My house is tense. My house is where the fight for every single touch rages unchecked. More. Most. We keep score.
But I had an extra day here and it will count too.
He comes back and tilts his head to look at me as tears squeeze out the sides of my eyes and down my temples into my ears. Tell me it's not me making you cry.
I shake my head and wipe the sides of my face, dragging my hands down until he takes them and kisses my fingers, crouching next to the bed. Talk, Bridget.
You can't hear my confessions when you're naked. This is too amazing.
Then stay put and when I come out and get dressed we'll make some coffee and have a talk.
I nod and Schuyler kisses my forehead and then my mouth before rising to head back to the bathroom.
While he was showering I left.
Like Schuyler's pale sleepy grin this morning as I poked my head up out of the covers, lost somewhere between the two of them, the unfamiliar temperature of their skin waking me early, abruptly.
Daniel, like Ben, didn't move when I woke.
It's time to send you back. Schuyler laughs softly. I think I'm too old for this.
He isn't. I touch Daniel's face, watching him sleep. If someone touches me while I'm asleep that's it. I'm alert and I'm finished sleeping until the earth makes it all of the way around the sun again. His beard is so soft, the brown caramelized into lighter honey, his fine chiseled features giving him an aristocratic profile in his dreams. It's as if someone took Ben and said make him a little bit less fierce.
But only a little.
I turn and lie back down on my back beside him. He sleeps cool, and though he's far more cuddly in his sleep, I don't feel as if I'm lying on stone. Schuyler frowns and gets up, waking naked across the room to the ensuite. God help me. Bridget-
I know. I'll be gone when you come out. But the disappoint in my voice is audible. I don't know where it came from. I hate leaving them. I hate not being constantly surrounded by positive free love, by unapologetic touch. My house is tense. My house is where the fight for every single touch rages unchecked. More. Most. We keep score.
But I had an extra day here and it will count too.
He comes back and tilts his head to look at me as tears squeeze out the sides of my eyes and down my temples into my ears. Tell me it's not me making you cry.
I shake my head and wipe the sides of my face, dragging my hands down until he takes them and kisses my fingers, crouching next to the bed. Talk, Bridget.
You can't hear my confessions when you're naked. This is too amazing.
Then stay put and when I come out and get dressed we'll make some coffee and have a talk.
I nod and Schuyler kisses my forehead and then my mouth before rising to head back to the bathroom.
While he was showering I left.