Another Chance for Happiness

He pulled her close enough to where his hard, muscular chest pressed against her boobs and his well-defined quads pressed against her plump white thighs. He reached behind her, grabbed her wide butt and pulled her even closer, letting her feel his growing erection. Then, book-ending her face with his hands, he kissed her and said, "You feel so good, Melanie."

She reached down and grabbed his cock. "Oh, my. So do you, big boy." She reached over and pulled down the pink bedspread. "Won't you join me?" She was impressed with the way his abs flexed when he laughed.

"I'd be a damn fool if I didn't," he said, holding his stomach.

"And I'd be a damn fool if I didn't know how lucky I am to have you in my life," she said.

Seth showed her just how lucky she was when they got into bed. 'This is a man who knows how to please a woman,' she thought, loving the way he kissed and held her, the way his lips and tongue roamed over her body, touching her in all the right places, in all the right ways, and then the seamless, gentle way he slipped inside her, as if they had been no strangers to intimacy between them.

"You must have known me in a past life," she said, smiling up at him, grooving on the rhythm of his unique love making.

"Yeah, it kind of feels that way to me also," he said, while bent over, kissing her stomach. "Maybe chemistry isn't just a corny cliché after all."

She couldn't help but agree. She was making love with a man who was still a relative stranger, yet there was a remarkable naturalness to the way they fit and grooved together, a weird, strange familiarity. She never thought she'd get this far with another man so relatively soon after Roger's passing. But neither did she think she'd meet a man like Seth Olsen. "Not a corny cliché at all, at least when it comes to us," she said. After a short pause, she cried, "Ohmygod, Seth, I'm almost there!"

Seth didn't need her to explain the "there" she was referring to. Another cliché, there is no there there, hardly applied here. "I'm going there with you," he said. True to his word, he held off his climax just seconds behind hers.

While snuggled next to him, so many thoughts ran through her mind. First, how wonderful he made her feel and then, beyond that, what sort of future they might have together. Perhaps it was too early to think of such things. And if she were younger, not yet married, let alone twice widowed, she wouldn't be thinking that way. She intended to keep such thoughts to herself until Seth propped his head up on one elbow and said, "You look unusually pensive. Care to share your thoughts?"

She rolled to her side and assumed the same position as he. "Just that I love being with you and look forward..." She lowered her eyes for a few moments. Then she said, "And look forward to being with you for...a while. I just hope you feel the same way."

He kissed her forehead, then ran a hand along her plump thigh. "Melanie, I sense we have something special here. Absolutely I feel the same way. When I sent you that letter just after Roger died, being with you like this was no where near my radar. And here we are, sharing our bodies, communicating on an intimate level. I'm so glad I've helped you through your grief. But I'll confess that it's partly out of selfishness, because you make me feel wonderful also, and I look forward to being with you, doing different things, going places, traveling. I see good times ahead for us."

*****

In the weeks that followed, Melanie began to share Seth's optimism. They took more bike rides, shared romantic dinners and traveled. Yet part of her remained on guard against tragedy. As she told Seth, "A woman who buried two husbands can't help but think that another heart attack is lurking just around the corner."

She appreciated Seth's empathy. Instead of saying something like, 'it will never happen to me,' he said, "I'd be on guard also if I buried two wives or girlfriends."

His birthday was coming up and she wanted to take him out to dinner. "That would be great," he said, "but please don't get me anything. I've got everything I want, you most of all."

'Well, not everything,' she thought. There was one thing that she was damn sure he'd appreciate, and when she placed it on his porch after driving over to pick him up for their dinner date, the way his eyes lit up after opening the door and seeing the Colnago that he had admired for years, confirmed that she'd been right.

"Ohmygod, Melanie, you sure you want to part with this?" He nearly had tears in his eyes as he stared at the still shiny Super-Record Campy drive train, and then ran his hands along the red and white, lugged steel frame and chrome fork, caressing the thing as if it were a fine piece of silk.

"Yes, quite sure," she said.

"But it was Roger's prized bike and--"

"Listen, it was sitting in the basement gathering dust. It will fit you, I'm sure of that, and I also know how well you'll care for it. There's no one else who I'd want to have it or deserves it more. What you've given me, no gift could ever equal, and that's another chance for happiness." She began to tear up. "Now don't argue because I'll cry even more if you do. So happy birthday."

Holding the bike against his body, he said, "Melanie, I'm overwhelmed." Reaching out, he wrapped one arm around her. "A million thank yous for this priceless gift. Like you said, I'll take good care of it."

She squeezed his arm. Then, in a comic faux look of reproach, she said, "I know you will. Just don't love the bike more than me."

"Well, I hope to be riding both you and it for a long time. Separately, of course."

They both laughed. Then she helped Seth take the bike inside before heading out to celebrate his birthday.