The disheveled bed was empty beside her. She distantly remembered his whisper in her ear that he would return by midday, his last caresses, his tender kisses more a dream than conscious memory, she'd been sleeping so soundly. Still with her eyes closed, she brought her fingers to her lips, by touching them able to conjure his presence as if his mouth were warm and insistent upon hers. It made her draw in her breath, the wonder of the night they'd spent together rushing back to fill her completely. She belonged to him. Utterly. She felt her face begin to burn at the fierceness of their lovemaking, only the last time so gentle as he'd rolled her, dazed and near satiated, onto her side, his fingers bringing her to aching fulfillment while he took her slowly, oh, so slowly. Even now she shuddered just as they both had shuddered together and then finally fallen asleep, their bodies still joined. Maire drifted open her eyes, the hazy sunlight streaming through the narrow windows doing little to dispel the sense of possession that clung to her.
