Diamond-Bright, Diamond-Hard

Nathan has invited me over to his new apartment for a romantic dinner. It's the first time he's had me over since he's moved into his new place. While I like his former roommate, I'm really glad my boyfriend is now living on his own.

He's made one of my favorite dishes -- a Moroccan chicken recipe -- and lit some candles for ambiance. Oddly enough, Nathan isn't eating. He's picking at his food. When he sips his wine, his hands are shaking.

"Is everything okay?" I ask between bites.

My boyfriend takes a deep breath. "I have something to ask you."

I take his hands in mine. "Did you have another fantasy you wanted to share? Tell me. I love hearing them."

One of the bedrocks of a successful, healthy relationship is clear communication, which is why I encourage Nathan to share his fantasies with me. Also, every single fantasy he's shared has made my temperature spike.

He takes another deep breath. "No, it's not that." Nathan pauses before speaking. "Before I met you, I struggled with certain parts of myself. The submissive part. The part that gets turned on by hypnosis. And you...you love all of me. You make me feel free. You make me feel safe. And you're kind, and caring, and ethical, and... I could go on for hours." He pauses again. "What I wanted to ask you is if you'd give me the honor and enormous pleasure of being your husband."

While I'm processing that last part, Nathan stands up and walks over to my chair. He pulls out a small black velvet box from his pocket and sinks to one knee.

My heart stops beating for a moment. When it resumes, it's pounding uncontrollably. My breath is coming in gasps. Hot tears are obscuring my vision, so I can barely make out the diamond ring in that black velvet box.

I fly out of my chair and throw my arms around him. I'm sobbing as I say, "Yes! Yes!"

Nathan's strong arms envelop me. "I love you, Ro," he murmurs.

"I love you, too," I sob. I pull away and wipe my face. "I got your shirt wet. Sorry."

He grins. "It's okay. I can take it off."

I burst out laughing, and he starts laughing, too.

"Here, let me put this on," Nathan says as he slides the ring on my finger.

Now that I'm not sobbing, I can see the ring more clearly. It's a large rectangular solitaire -- simple, elegant.

I stand up and hold the ring up to the candlelight. "It's beautiful. It fits perfectly, too."

Nathan stands behind me and slides his arms around my waist. "My grandmother has slender fingers, just like you do. I figured it would fit. And I got it cleaned. I wanted it to sparkle..." His voice trails off.

I crane my neck to look up at him. His blue eyes have gone vacant. His strong jaw has slackened. I gently remove his arm from around my waist and turn to face him.

He blinks, then groans. "Oh, did I seriously just go into a trance from staring at your ring? Of all the cliches... how many stories have we read about someone who gets hypnotized from staring at a piece of jewelry? And it's my grandmother's ring. Shouldn't that be weird that I'm going into a trance staring at my grandmother's ring?" He furrows his brow.

I consider what he's just said before responding. "Well, maybe your subconscious knows that it's my ring now. And your subconscious loves going into a trance for me."

"It does." Nathan's answer comes out as a moan.

I take his hands in mine. "I have an idea. Why don't we put away dinner? I don't think either of us are in the mood to eat right now. Let's bring some of those candles into your bedroom, and you can look at my gorgeous new ring some more."

"There are already candles in the bedroom." Nathan smiles shyly. "I was hoping you'd say yes when I asked you to marry me, and I figured if you did, we could celebrate. And I thought if I were looking at candles, I'd probably go into a trance."

My mind conjures an image of him sitting on the bed, staring at the flames, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier as I tell him to relax. It is suddenly very warm in here.

"Why are all of your ideas so hot?" I ask him as I pull him closer for a kiss.

We quickly put away dinner, and my fiancé (I love that word!) grabs the matches. I lead him into his bedroom. He's grinning the entire way.

While he lights the candles, I get undressed. His eyes widen when he turns around.

"Well, this is a nice surprise." His voice is husky. "I have a beautiful naked woman in my bed."

"I'm not completely naked, darling." I hold out my left hand. "I'm wearing this. Why don't you come closer and take a better look?"

As he walks toward the bed, Nathan unbuttons his shirt. His chiseled chest is coming into view. I allow myself a small grin.

He takes my left hand in his and brings it closer to his face when he sits on the bed.

"It's very sparkly, isn't it?" I say softly. I move my hand slightly, so the diamond catches the light.

"Yeah," Nathan sighs. His eyes are going vacant again.

"You can't look away from the sparkly diamond, can you?" I ask.

"No." The word comes out as a moan.

I wonder if I can unbuckle his belt with one hand. My right hand is currently caressing his chest, one of my favorite activities. I decide that I need both of my hands for what I'm going to do next.

"Your eyelids feel heavy, don't they?" It's not a question -- it's a suggestion.

My fiancé's eyelids flutter. My clitoris throbs in response. I tell my libido to wait another few minutes.

"You can close them," I tell Nathan. "You'll still see the sparkling diamond. You'll still see the way it reflects the light. You'll still see the dazzling colors."

His eyes close, and he sighs happily.

"What color are you?" I ask as I remove my hand from his.

"Green," he drawls.

"Oh, good." My smile grows wider as I remove his belt.

I guide him onto his pillow. With Nathan lying down, I can do a number of things: spend more time kissing, licking, and running my hands over his chest, taking off his pants, and sliding his boxers down his narrow hips. Every so often, I check in. He's consistently green.

At this point, my libido is losing patience with my internal ethics board. It points out the fantastic erection waiting for me. My internal ethics board adjourns for the time being.

I decide to torture both of us a bit further, so I lean over Nathan's body and begin kissing down his chest, down his abs, ever so slowly, until I reach what I'm looking for. A few slow, leisurely licks that draw out moans, and then I'm on top of him. I bring one limp hand to my breast and the other between my legs.

As I move up and down, with exquisite slowness, I think about what Nathan said when he proposed. He's right -- I love the parts of him that he struggled with for years. I also love that he lets me be me. It took me ages to come to grips with the fact that I'm dominant. I want to call the shots in a relationship. Especially in bed. But I want to do it in a way that's gentle, ethical, and guarantees pleasure for both of us.

That's what I'm doing right now, and it feels amazing. It's not just that I'm on the receiving end of three forms of stimulation simultaneously (although that's definitely a contributing factor to the orgasm that's building up). Knowing that I'm in control, on my terms, is causing tongues of white heat to lick at my body.

I can only be in control for so long, though. The pressure that's been building up between my legs explodes. I moan softly as waves of pleasure wash over me.

"Come!" I say softly. Underneath me, Nathan lets out his own soft moan and shudders slightly.

My skin is still tingling as I lean forward and rest my head on my fiancé's chest. "When I count down from five, you'll come out of your trance," I tell him. "Five, the trance lightens. Four, you're beginning to wake up. Three, your eyes open. Two, feeling more alert. One, you're awake completely."

I look up at Nathan as he blinks. After months of being together, I still can't decide which is the hottest part: watching him go into a trance, seeing him in a trance, or him waking up from a trance. My heart swells, and my clitoris throbs, at the thought of having a lifetime together to find out.

"That was a great way to celebrate our engagement." His voice is still husky, from sleep, from sexual satisfaction.

Before I can answer, I hear his phone ring. Then, my phone rings.

"That's probably my parents," Nathan says, blinking again. "And yours. I told my parents I was going to propose to you this evening. And when we were at your parents for Shabbat, I asked them for their blessing to marry you."

I hug him. Suddenly, it makes sense why my mom was teary-eyed over the weekend.

"They can wait," he says, kissing me on the forehead. "I should probably wash my hands before touching my phone."

After we've cleaned up and eaten, we call our respective families. I overhear Nathan on the phone with his parents.

"Yeah, she said yes." He smiles. His smile fades as he rolls his eyes. "Mom, we can figure all that stuff out later. We only got engaged a few hours ago." Nathan sighs. "Yes, we can talk about the date. Listen, I'm really tired. I'll call you tomorrow. I love you, too." He clicks a button to disconnect the call.

"Are you actually tired?" I raise an eyebrow. "Or were you just trying to get your mom off the phone?"

"I think I'm getting kind of sleepy." He grins.

"How do you feel about staring at flickering candles before you fall asleep?" I ask, batting my eyelashes.

"Very excited." His grin grows wider. "Lead the way."

"Always, darling," I say as I take his hand.