Jenkins groaned loudly and shuddered slightly as he stopped thrusting. He hovered over his wife's body as he lost himself in the feel of his manhood throbbing and pulsating sharply within Cassandra, the immortal dizzied momentarily with euphoria. After a few seconds of recovery, he lowered his head and kissed Cassandra slowly, then lightly nuzzled her flushed cheek with his as he began sprinkling tiny, soft all over her face.
As their panting became quieter and slower, he finally fell over heavily onto his side. Jenkins immediately took her up in his arms and pulled her close. Cassandra wriggled onto her side facing away from him, and quickly conformed her body to his as they spooned together. Jenkins buried his nose into her long red hair and kissed her scalp, and Cassandra sighed with content as she relaxed into her husband's strong arms.
Neither said anything for a long time. Cassandra listened as her man's breathing began to even and become regular again, then slower still as he began to drift off to sleep. But Cassandra wasn't ready for sleep yet. She'd been pondering on something troubling for several weeks now, and she was ready to talk about it. The young woman took a quiet breath and slightly turned her face toward him.
"Jenkins? Can I ask you something?" she asked tentatively, her voice low. Jenkins smiled drowsily against her head.
"Of course, my love." She hesitated for a moment, gathering her courage.
"What's going to happen when I get too old for all of this?" she whispered.
"Too old for all of what?" he asked dreamily. Cassandra bit her bottom lip in the darkness.
"When I get too old for all of this. You know—for...sex." The immortal opened his eyes, all feelings of sleepiness evaporating. He leaned back from her a little and frowned.
"Why on earth are you worrying about that?" he asked, puzzled. "We have many years yet before we come to that bridge—if, indeed, we ever come to it." He let go of her and propped himself up on one elbow. Cassandra rolled over onto her other side to face him.
"I just...wonder about that sometimes. What things will be like between us when I get too old for stuff," she said a little sadly. "I just worry sometimes that I'm going to end up being a huge burden on you, and I don't want that..."
"You will never be a burden on me, Cassandra! Don't ever think that!" he interrupted her sharply. "I don't want you to even think such things!"
"But," she persisted. "You have such a strong sex drive—what'll you do when I'm just too old to...you know...accommodate you?" Jenkins sat up and stared down at her, completely befuddled now.
"Cassandra, what are you talking about?" he asked plaintively. She sat up, pulling up the bedsheet to cover herself as she did.
"I just... I mean... What will you do when you want to have sex, but I'm just too old or too sick to do it?" she said in a mournful tone. To his discomfiture, Jenkins saw her eyes begin to well with tears in the dim light of their bedroom. A tight feeling came to his chest; he didn't like where this conversation was going.
"I don't want you to have to just suffer or be frustrated all of the time—that wouldn't be fair to you!" she continued, and now he could hear emotion quavering in her voice. He cocked his head.
"Something tells me that you've already worked out a solution to that so-called problem," he replied warily. "What are you thinking?" Cassandra dropped her eyes before answering.
"Well," she said, nervously playing with the edge of the bedsheet. "I…I was thinking that maybe...if you wanted to...you could...you know...hire an escort or something and..."
"What!?" Jenkins yelped, unable to believe what he'd just heard.
"I—I wouldn't mind, not at all!" Cassandra rushed to say, looking earnestly into his eyes, but her voice rang hollow and he could clearly see the sadness on her face, though she tried to hide it. "I mean, I would totally understand! I wouldn't hold it against you at all!" Jenkins turned around and snapped on the small lamp at his bedside, then turned back to stare at his wife, his mouth hanging open in astonishment.
"Cassandra, I would mind!" he said at last. "I would never do that to you!"
"But it wouldn't be the same as cheating, not if you have my permission…right?" she asked weakly. Jenkins was dumbstruck.
"Cassandra..." he started to say, then paused and shook his head in wonder. "Cassandra, you're my wife, not my concubine! I didn't become involved with you or marry you just to...satisfy my baser instincts! And I'm hurt that you think I would even entertain such an idea!"
"Really?" she asked in a small voice. Jenkins knew that Cassandra would never make such an offer if she wasn't fully prepared to see it through, but his heart ached at the hope he could hear in her voice that he wouldn't accept such a sacrifice from her.
"Really," he said firmly. The Librarian reached out and grabbed his hand.
"Oh, Jenkins, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, trying to hide her relief. "I didn't mean to hurt you, or make you angry! I just...don't want you to miss out on anything because of me, that's all!" She dropped her eyes to their joined hands and continued more quietly. "I don't want you to resent me someday for anything, that's all." Jenkins took a second to silently calm himself before trying to speak again. He loved his wife dearly, but sometimes she came up with the most maddening ideas! How long had she been torturing herself with this one?
"Look at me, Cassandra," he said more gently. When she looked up at him again, Jenkins squeezed her hand.
"I appreciate the fact that you're thinking about me and my well-being," he said sincerely. "Put yourself in my place for a moment, though: How would you feel if something happened that prevented me from being intimate with you, and I proposed hiring a...a...gigolo to provide for your...needs. How would you react to that?" Cassandra looked down and thought for a moment, then raised her head and looked at him shyly.
"I guess it would depend on how cute the gigolo is?" she said. As soon as she saw the look of horror and dismay that came to Jenkins's face, she let go of his hand and scrambled to her knees as she leaned forward to take his head between her hands, paying no heed to the bedsheet as it fell away and left her completely exposed.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart!" she cried. "I was only teasing, I didn't mean it! I was just trying to lighten the mood a little! I'm so sorry! I'd never want to sleep with some stranger, never!" Jenkins visibly relaxed as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he opened his eyes and looked at her steadily. He reached up to take her small hands from his face and to kiss both of her palms.
"I don't know what's brought this on or why you're so concerned about it now, but let me tell you something, Cassandra." He paused for a moment to organize his thoughts.
"There are many other ways for us to be intimate with each other, sex is only one of those ways," he began. "It's an important part of our relationship, yes; but's it's only one piece of the whole." He paused again, and it was clear to Cassandra that he was having difficulty putting into words what he was feeling.
"For me, personally, it's a way to show you how much I love you and to strengthen our emotional bond," he said self-consciously, but his voice became surer as he continued. "But it's no less intimate for me to simply hold you in my arms before we fall asleep, or to share with each other the secrets that are in our hearts, or even just to share a pot of tea as we work in the lab." He raised one hand and laid it on her face, softly stroking the apple of her cheek with his thumb.
"If there ever comes a day when we aren't able to share sexual intimacy anymore—especially if you become 'too old or sick', as you put it—I don't want you to be afraid that I'll stop loving you, or come to resent you in any way, Cassandra, because that will never happen." He lowered his hand and placed it beneath her chin so that she couldn't turn away as he looked into her eyes.
"I made a vow to you on our wedding day that I would never forsake you, especially when things become difficult," he said determinedly, then smiled at her. "And as you well know, a knight can never break his oath."
"Oh, Jenkins!" whispered Cassandra softly as she blinked back tears. She threw herself into his arms and held him tightly. "I'm so sorry! You must think I'm just a little idiot sometimes!" He chuckled quietly as he slid his arms around her tiny body and pressed it close to his.
"Not at all, my dear," he replied, stroking her messy hair. "But perhaps the next time you have any disquieting thoughts about my ability to live celibately, just remember: I've gone through some very long...um...'dry spells' in my life; rest assured that even without sex, as long as I have you in my life I'll get along just fine."
"How?" she asked curiously, pulling away to see his face. "I mean, I can't imagine going without sex for weeks or months at a time, let alone, what? Decades?"
"Centuries, actually."
"Centuries!" she squeaked in amazement. "But...how...?"
"Oh, that's not really important," Jenkins rumbled dismissively and waving a hand. "Besides, I think it's perfectly fine for individuals in a relationship to keep a few small secrets from their partners. An intriguing air of mystery keeps things interesting, don't you think?" Cassandra gawked at her husband.
"Omigod!" she said, appalled. "Please don't tell me that you have some kind of weird...magical...sex...contraption...thingy hidden around here someplace!"
"HA!" he snorted derisively and wrinkled his nose in disgust. He lay down again, patting the mattress beside him as he scooched underneath the covers. "Come now, my love, it's late and we have an early day tomorrow; we need to get a good night's sleep." The young woman slid down beneath the blankets and snuggled up to her husband reluctantly.
"You didn't answer my question," she reminded him petulantly. "And you're immortal, you don't really need sleep!"
"But I enjoy it," he said breezily, cuddling her to himself. "And you do need it, especially after we've shared especially robust 'activities', like we did a little while ago?" Cassandra lay quietly for a few moments, but try as she might, she couldn't get the image of Jenkins cavorting with some arcane, steampunk-looking sex-machine out of her head.
"Are you going to answer my question or not?" she finally burst out. Jenkins responded with a loud snore, clearly faked. Cassandra reached over him and slapped his butt. "You're so mean!"
"Ouch!" he growled lustily, and suddenly rolled over to straddle the squealing, giggling woman. "You seem to have an awful lot of spunk left in you tonight, my dear! Do I need to do something about that?" Cassandra rolled over onto her back and grinned mischievously up at him.
"Not until you answer my question!" she said, pretending to pout. At the same time, she slid one hand down his chest and belly until she reached his manhood. She lightly grasped it and gave him a slow squeeze. "In fact, no more sexy time for you until I get an answer!" Jenkins grimaced in mock pain, but she could see the familiar fire begin to smolder in his dark eyes.
"Oh!" he cried out despairingly. "You treacherous little vixen! Is that any way for a proper Tree-wife to behave towards her poor, wretched husband?" Cassandra gave him a slightly harder squeeze; Jenkins sucked in his breath and closed his eyes. He dropped his head to nibble on the soft skin of her neck and shoulder, his member growing firmer by the second as she deftly massaged him.
"I'll tell you anything you want to know!" he breathed huskily into her ear. "Just please don't stop what you're doing!"
"No weird sex toys waiting anywhere to take my place?" she sighed as he began nibbling his way down her chest. She felt him shake his head.
"Promise?" she gasped loudly as his browsing lips finally found a breast and latched onto its nipple. He nodded his head vigorously as his tongue eagerly teased her. Cassandra let go of him and entwined her fingers into his hair, parting her legs at the same time.
"You may proceed, then!" she said, doing her best imitation of his voice. He laughed softly and set to work pleasuring her in earnest. Cassandra closed her eyes and moaned at the exquisite sensations.
So much a good night's sleep! she thought giddily, smiling.