"I will not spank you," Jo said, shaking her head.
"I don't recall asking," Henry said. He sat up in bed and turned to look at her. His posture and movements reminded her of a bird, a little. "Was I saying that in my sleep?"
"No, you don't talk in your sleep," Jo said. "I was watching you read the paper and you were lingering on that article."
"It wasn't because I was thinking of asking you to spank me, I was interested in reading the quote from Molly," Henry said. "Do you have something against spanking?"
"In general? Not so much. Doing it to my 200 year old boyfriend, absolutely." Jo laid back and stretched, her hands brushing against the wall.
"Not even consensual light spanking?" He smirked. He folded up the paper and let it fall to the floor. As soon as they got out of bed, he would pick it up and put it in the recycling bin, but for now, he let it be.
"Well, when you say it that way," Jo said. "Actually, I'm reconsidering. I would spank you."
"What a relief," Henry said.
"You probably knew the Marquis De Sade," Jo said. She knew he didn't, but she loved to see him rant.
"I did not, I have not met every single figure of historical importance over the last two centuries, I am not Zelig or Forrest Gump," Henry said. "Nor am I Doctor Who, since I exist and none of those three other characters do."
The Doctor Who part of the rant was new since Lucas had discovered Henry's secret. Jo smiled. "I know," she said.
"Do you wish to be spanked? And why do we seem to always end up talking about sex or having sex of late?"
Jo said, "I don't wish to be spanked. And it's not all sex. We went to that Purim celebration with Abe, remember?"
Henry said, "But there is quite a lot of sex as topic of discussion and activity recently."
"Wait, are you complaining? Do you want to have less sex with me?" Jo pouted.
Henry said, "No, not in the slightest. Maybe I just miss the more philosophical discussions we had in our platonic relationship."
"I don't miss the thing where you were covering up this huge part of your life. I don't miss all the time spent explaining your life to me. I think we're finally having our honeymoon period," Jo said. "Now with spanking apparently."
"Apparently," Henry said.
"So you do want to be spanked. Do I need a special paddle? Like some cricket thing?" Jo pushed down the blanket.
"You've created this whole spanking thing in your head, Jo, while there are some things I do enjoy that might fall outside what people would think of traditional sex, and I would like to note that these concepts have shifted with time in ways that would surprise you, I am not looking to be spanked. Though if you want to, I would endure," Henry said.
"No, please, tell me more about how sex in the swinging 19th century," Jo said. "Please?"
"I suspect you're being sarcastic," Henry said. He held her hip and guided Jo so she was laying on her stomach. "Or is all this about how you want to be spanked?"
"Not interested, really," Jo said. "I don't think it's wrong or weird, I just don't enjoy it."
Henry ran his hand down her back and squeezed her butt. Jo sighed happily. Henry said, "Are you speaking from experience?"
"I had a boyfriend in college who wanted to try it, we did, I didn't like it, the end," Jo said.
Henry moved so he was over her, his knees pressing her thighs together. He was now kneading her butt with both hands. Jo said, "But I like what you're doing."
"Did you want to hear some medical facts about the nether regions or would you prefer silence?"
"Silence, silence, silence," Jo said.
Henry laughed quietly. He shifted back, spreading her legs. Then his mouth was on her, between her legs. She really appreciated his age at times like these, the sheer expertise he applied and the passion he brought to making her squirm. And cry out. She heard him opening the condom wrapper. She inhaled sharply as he entered her. He grasped at her ass as he thrust into her again and again. Henry took his promise of silence seriously, only making a small sound as he came. Jo was loud. Embarrassingly loud. She was so thankful Abe had spent the night with one of his ladies.
She looked over as Henry went to the bathroom and stopped to pick up the paper he'd let fall. "I don't want to move," Jo said.
"You will have to eventually," Henry said, pulling on elegant silk pajama bottoms. "I can make you breakfast but you'll need to turn over at least to eat it."
He left the bedroom and went to the kitchen. She forced herself out of bed and into the bathroom. She put on a random pair of Henry's boxers and one of his vests. She liked to see his expression when she wore his clothes.
This time she got a full pause and a whistle. Then Henry turned back to whatever he was making. He said, "Have you thought that perhaps your lack of enjoyment in being spanked was more a factor of the man doing the spanking than the act itself?"
"You want to spank me," Jo said. "Prove me wrong."
"I would hate for you to reject an act that might bring you pleasure because of some oaf," Henry said.
"Because you enjoy it," Jo said. She got up from the table and smacked his ass.
He jumped a little and then looked over his shoulder at her with a smirk. "I enjoyed that," he said.
"Of course you did," Jo said. "For the rest of us, life is short. And I don't need to try things twice when I have so much to still try."
Henry cooked. Then he said, "Once, in the swinging 19th century I had a stroke. It was caused by an injury I'd incurred and it killed me, of course. I have never had that happen to me again."
"I love your stories," Jo said. "Was that supposed to tie in to our previous discussion?"
"No, I just thought of it while looking at these eggs."
"When I look at eggs, I think of Dr. Seuss, and my mother, and then Sean who just didn't like eggs," Jo said. "And now I will think about you dying, so thanks for that."
Henry put down two plates. He'd made scrambled eggs with kale. She was tempted to pick around it, but she did like it when Henry made it. He said, "Spank, spank, spank, eggs."
"What?"
"Now when you see eggs, you'll think of me saying spank spank spank eggs," Henry said, smiling.
"That I will," she said, smiling back.