We get up to bathe… eventually. And I find I am a little sore, but otherwise feel no consequences for our hours of lovemaking. There had been no bleeding, no pain. Just enjoying Cosima. Cosima and her love.

"Get in the bath with me?" Cosima asks. And I nod, we strip the comforter off of the bed and hand it over the couch - to dry it out I presume. I wasn't expecting quite as much mess as we ended up with.

"Yes." I climb into the bath with Cosima and we wash. Tiny bottles of fragrant smelling bath products. Cosima smiles and pours some into her hands and washes me, I grin letting her. I hum happily, and we rest against each other in the warm water. I let my eyes take her in, trying to memorize everything. The way her skin feels underneath my hands. The curve of her smile. What her naked body looks like in the water. What she feels like pressed against me.

"How are you feeling?" Cosima asks me resting her head against me. She curls into my body, pressing her face into my neck as her hands gently graze my skin starting from my hips upwards.

"Good. A little sore." I admit. Though wasn't that to be expected?

"Yeah I probably should have eased up on you a little… the third round I was a little aggressive." Cosima admits wincing.

"Non. I enjoyed it. I just… I need a break." It brings the memory back quickly, Cosima moving over me, moving in to me in quick motions. Her little noises may have been my favourite part. Every sound she made increased my arousal. I sigh and bite my lip, finding the recent memory very arousing.

"OK." Cosima smiles with a laugh. "Are you…?"

"I'm hungry." I admit. It seems almost inappropriate to suggest we get dressed and go outside.

"We could get dressed, try to find some food." Cosima offers. "I don't think it's that late." And Cosima's right. We dress, kissing tenderly and Cosima leads me by the hand out into the Venetian night. We find another gelateria and eat, this time we share a large cup of gelato and feed each other. People largely leave us alone.

"I am so happy." I mumble, leaning into Cosima. I feel a contentment, a completeness in Cosima's arms. More than I thought I would.

"Me too." Cosima leans in, letting me nuzzle her and we stand to leave. "We… shouldn't do this in public. I don't know enough about attitudes in Venice." Cosima tells me apologetically.

I nod, understanding. "Je t'aime…" I know then I'll learn to be careful, to assess a situation or environment to keep us safe. I must learn, and quickly.

We walk, hand in hand back to the hotel. We climb the stairs back to our room and shut the door. I look at the bed differently now, it's the same construction, the same dark wood headboard mounted to the wall. The same sheets. But it means something different to me now. It's where I had Cosima.

"Do you want to make love again?" Cosima asks me softly. She looks at me, dark eyes hopeful.

"Again?" I cannot help but laugh. Surely, we'd done plenty of that for one night. And yet, I don't think I can deny her.

"Yeah. We can keep going." Cosima tells me. "Or not if you're sore. Or I can just touch you or… taste you."

"Do you...always do that?" I ask, unable to keep myself from wrinkling my nose. It's a memorable experience, if a different one.

"Do what?" Cosima laughs.

"Tu… m'a fait un cunni." I say softly, cautiously choosing my words to not be too vulgar. "Cunnilingus." I repeat when Cosima looks at me puzzled. I suppose I should have used less slang. How could I expect Cosima to know that?

"Yeah I did." Cosima grins delightedly. "I love it… But I don't do that to girls I just met. Usually." Cosima admits tilting her head.

"So not always."

"No. Not always, just a lot." Cosima concedes. "And I really wanted to with you."

"Why?" I don't understand the fixation. My brother scoffs at doing such a thing, and unfortunately the walls of our apartment were only so thick that I had heard him refusing on more than one occasion.

"Because you smell really good." Cosima laughs looking back at me like it should be obvious. "You saw me in the Sexmusuem. You know I like this stuff…" Cosima leans slightly towards me, poking out her tongue playfully.

"I wish we had another night in Venice." I sigh. I don't want to go home. I don't want to go back to my real life. I want to stay here, with Cosima.

"Yeah. We'll have to take the train back. But we can explore all day." Cosima promises me. "The city or each other… whatever you want. But check out is at 10 am. So then it's definitely the city and we're on the train before 5 pm."

"I want to do both." I tell her very seriously.

Cosima cocks one eyebrow at me playfully. "There's always the train."

I laugh at the thought now, of passing the hours en route back to Paris making love with Cosima. That should be enough. As luxurious as this room is, there will be time later. Months in fact. I don't have to do everything tonight.

"Do you still want to go to Murano? See them blowing glass?" I suggest one of the ideas for our trip, it sounds like a good distraction.

"Yes!" Cosima responds instantly. "We can go tomorrow morning and come back for a late lunch."

"I want to do that." I decide. I want to experience as much of this as I can with Cosima. Soak it all in and hope to remember it clearly. Forever.

"Kiss me?" Cosima asks quietly, and I move to indulge her. To hold and kiss Cosima. To smooth my hands over her soft skin. It's irresistible. A delight to hold Cosima, to marvel at her body with mine.

We make love again, very gently. All soft hands moving over me, rubbing gently against my tender sex. I draw Cosima to my mouth and kiss her breathless and feel... Satisfied.


We arrive home in Paris exhausted sometime after breakfast Sunday morning. The train station is as busy as ever and everything I see around me looks exactly the same. Cosima, too, is the same. She leads me from the train station to the metro and we sit close, her hand stroking my face. We are lovers now, I smile to myself at the thought. That is different.

"I wish we had more time alone." Cosima murmurs to me. We'd spent Saturday enjoying Venice until we boarded the train. We'd made love in our sleeper car until we were exhausted, trying desperately not to make too much noise. I thought I'd be satisfied. I thought that somehow we'd satiate our desire, that things would slow and lull now. But if anything - a kiss from Cosima, a touch of her hand to my hip, a word… seemed to rouse me again even more strongly than before.

"Moi aussi." I sigh at her. Mon amoureuse . I wrap one arm around Cosima, not caring what the other people on the metro might think. As if our love were any of their concern.

We're most of the way to the courtyard gate when Cosima stops me with her hand.

"One more kiss." Cosima looks at me with a soft smile, she pushes up on her toes and I lean down to indulge her.

"En français, Cosima…" I tease her, inches away from her lips.

"Embrasse-moi." Cosima tells me without hesitation, eyes gleaming. And I do, I kiss her softly. After all, if I am going to be with Cosima I cannot care what anyone may think. We break the kiss reluctantly, and I open the gate.

"Here goes." Cosima sighs, following me home. "I totally need a shower. And then… do you want to go anywhere this afternoon? I'd invite you to nap… but I don't think we're capable of that right now."

"I want to do more. I don't want… I don't want to go home alone." I tell Cosima softly. I don't really want to nap either. The temporary nature of our...relationship hits me. We have a little over two months and then Cosima will leave. Then we will be an ocean apart. I cannot afford to waste time.

"Let me drop my stuff off at the Lalonde's and I can come right up." Cosima promises me. She gives me a soft kiss, a gentle pressing of lips, and I melt in response.

I am giddy as I climb up into my family's apartment. Happier still, when I discover it is empty. My parents are out doing...something. Good, I think instantly. I don't have to deal with that complication right now. I honestly doubt my father would notice, as self-consumed as he can be. Neither would Sebastien, he never paid enough attention to anyone's life but his own… but my mother… she, she would notice. Especially if she were to find Cosima in my bed.

"Delphine? Are you alone?" Cosima's voice calls out into the large apartment. "I locked the door behind me."

"Join me!" I call, and am delighted when Cosima does, drawing back the shower curtain and climbing in with me.

"Delphine…" Cosima moans at me, and draws me into a kiss again. Her hands roaming over my bare skin. We bathe, for a while, but soon give up washing for kissing and touching. I cannot get enough. I need more. I need more of Cosima. I need everything.

I drop to my knees in front of her, and press my face to her belly. I kiss the soft skin I find there enthusiastically. I love her smell. I inhale deeply and moan. Pheromones? Arousal? The mix of the two had my head spinning madly, my nose pressed to wet skin. I draw one hand down, and begin to tease her, first toying with her pubic hair and then going to stimulate her better with my fingers.

"Holy shit." Cosima looks down at me in the spray and begins to giggle madly.

"T'es belle." I sigh. "So good..." I have no intention of moving, there's no reason I cannot have Cosima just like this.

Cosima laughs at me again. "You're...you're like pussy-drunk!"

I scowl in response. "I just... I love the way you smell." Maybe I am a bit intoxicated by Cosima, but the word seems wrong.

"And the straight girl is hooked." Cosima teases, pushing my head down. "Care for a taste?"

I stop, pulling myself back up to my feet, to cup Cosima's jaw in my hand. I lean in to kiss her deeply, letting my tongue probe at her. "If that is what you want, yes. But let's move to my bed." It is safer that way, behind a closed and locked door. And that is what we'll do.

We towel off as quickly as we can, and make a break for my bedroom. The apartment is still empty we settle in my small bed and shut the door.

"Lay down." I demand, trying to exert some kind of control on the situation. I am nervous, but I try not to show it. I want to be better than that for Cosima. And I have pleased her before. This… this doesn't have to be different.

"Alright." Cosima only smiles again laying back.

I start at her jaw, kissing down. I stop at her breasts and play with them for a while, then I find myself fixated on each inch of skin that comes into view. Her ribs, easily palpated through her skin. Her navel. The jut of a perfect hip bone, the curve of her hip.

"Tu es belle, Cosima." I promise her and find her looking down at me, biting her lip with a delighted anticipation. She's craving this, and it increases my desire to give it to her.

"Taste me." Cosima demands softly. "If you want to… just taste me."

I shouldn't be nervous but I am. But it's just a new way to please my Cosima…and that I must do. I slowly manoeuvre my body lower on the bed, almost crouching at the bottom of my bed.

Cosima is splayed before me, her sex swollen and ready for my attentions. I sigh and breathe in, lowering my face. She certainly smells good. And that, I decide, is enough. I lean in for a first tentative lick.

Cosima moans, and I repeat the motion. I can learn this too, I think. Learn to please Cosima anyway she wants. I find I enjoy it, even as I readjust trying to figure this out.

"Like this?" I break contact to ask Cosima. I try to learn how to stagger my breathing, how best to stimulate her with lips and tongue. I nuzzle the wiry curls and breathe in her scent, so strong now it's everywhere. It's perfect. Submerging myself in Cosima, in my lover.

"Yes please…." Cosima's voice is little more than a whine.

She is soft, silky wet under my lips and tongue. I lick her again, gathering the heady taste of her arousal on my tongue. I groan openly, unsure of why anyone wouldn't want to do this.

I pleasure her, eventually bringing my hand to join my mouth. Intent on giving Cosima as much enjoyment as possible.

"Delphine! Delphine!" Cosima moaning and crying out for me and I'm the one enthralled.

Cosima's orgasm is beautiful, I look up over the plane of her body, mouth pressed to intimate flesh.

I crawl up her body, kissing as I go. Feeling like I have totally immersed myself in my lover. Perhaps I am becoming an addict. I cannot get enough of her. Her skin against mine. The taste of her arousal, of her body. Her sounds.

I rub myself against her, gliding wetly. My own enjoyment obvious and Cosima moans at this too.

"You're so wet!" Cosima delights in it, in my body. In my reactions. "You got so wet eating me out…"

"Tu es délicieuse…" I promise Cosima. "J'ai envie de toi."

Cosima looks at me and hauls me in to her. "I want more." She kisses me deeply, wanting to taste herself and I want her again, immediately.

I shudder and let Cosima return the favour, trying desperately not to make too much noise. An afternoon of lovemaking is the perfect thing. I decide. I will show Cosima my inexperience isn't a deficit. I will love her any way she'll have me.


We redress, kissing tenderly. It's just after noon now, and I find I am hungry again. As if my body confuses the taste of Cosima with my craving for sustenance. I cannot get enough of her. Je suis accro. Toxicomane. And I find I don't care.

"I am so happy." Cosima tells me. "I... I am sorry I was such a jerk about the virgin thing when we met."

"Are you?" I wonder as I redress. I toss a clean dress of mine to Cosima. "You can wear this if you like."

"Yeah." Cosima agrees, putting on the loose dress. It's a little big on her but I find the effect compelling and I must kiss her again. "I really would have missed out." Cosima leans in to kiss me again.

We emerge from my room to find my mother drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette on the small balcony. I feign nonchalance and begin preparing a simple lunch for Cosima and I. Surely this is no different than Sebastien and his girls.

Cosima seems mildly nervous but is projecting an air of being unperturbed. I take the block of cheese from the fridge and being slicing it.

"Do you like croque monsieur?" I ask Cosima, opting to ignore my mother as she approaches slowly. Apparently she doesn't know what to say either. I begin fixing our sandwiches and am about to pop them into the oven when my mother finally speaks.

"Delphine, Cosima." My mother greets us tensely.

"How… how long have you been home?" I need to know. I need to know how much she heard. I am aware enough to know I had no idea what else was going on when I was wrapped up in Cosima. And why would I? It was too wonderful to think of anything else.

"Long enough." My mother rolls her eyes, sighing. "I know what you've been doing. Even your papa knows now."

"Hey…" Cosima waves awkwardly. "Like, should I go for this conversation? Do you… do you need to be alone?" She looks between my mother and I. I wonder briefly where my father has gone if he had overheard us but decide it is unimportant.

"You should go, Cosima." My mother tells her directly. But I won't have it.

"Non!" I exclaim over my mother. "We are going to have lunch. Would you like one, maman?"

My mother shakes her head and sits down, looking at us. And I don't even know what to say.