Chapter 29

Ryan could not remember sleeping more peacefully in well, about eight and a half years, even though there had not been much sleep. He woke up at to the sun blazing through the light drapes in the motel room and looked down at the beauty lying in front of him. Spooning Marissa was the most comforting feeling he could ever remember having since the first time when he did it by accident on a fateful trip to Tijuana. He propped himself up on one elbow and ran his other hand across her shoulder lightly. He wanted to wake her up so he could make love to her again, but he chuckled as he thought of what he would say to her when she woke.

Marissa stirred and turned around to look up at Ryan. Her eyes sparkled like sapphires reflecting the way she felt. It was like a huge weight had been lifted from her and now she could shine again.

"Hey" she said beaming at him.

"Hey, who are you?" he replied trying to keep a straight face.

"Very funny," she answered raising herself up on her elbows and leaning in for a kiss then added, "Whoever you want me to be" but they burst into fits of giggles before the kiss could be completed.

"Cute, real cute" Ryan said pulling her round to face him. They both lay on their sides facing each other simply gazing into each others eyes. "So what do you want to do today?" he finally asked.

"This" she said kissing him and pulling their naked bodies closer together again.

"Mmm, and I would like nothing more, but we do have some work to do here, don't we?" he rolled her onto her back as he spoke hovering over her, accentuating his large well-toned biceps.

"Uh huh" Marissa giggled. "For a start, you need to do your morning push ups. I'm sure these muscles won't tone themselves" she stroked his arms as he lowered himself kissing her deeply, once again exploring her mouth with his tongue. Marissa pulled him down on top of her as she opened her legs to accommodate his hips.

She felt so comfortable with him, like they had been together forever. She had had a couple of boyfriends that lasted only a few months at a time and several one night stands in college when she was feeling a bit reckless and had expected to feel a little of that same morning after awkwardness. There was no awkwardness, no discomfort with each other's nudity, no regrets, and no doubt that this was right. She felt like a woman…in love. Last night she had made a point to let Ryan know that she could not tell him she loved him and this morning all she wanted to do was shout it from the rooftops. The one thing Marissa was sure of is that she was not the type to profess her love to the latest man to give her an orgasm, and she certainly did not want to give that impression to Ryan by now saying it less than twelve hours after she said she couldn't.

Marissa settled on not thinking about it and just enjoying the feel of him inside and on top of her for the fifth or was it sixth time? She stifled a giggle as she thought about it causing Ryan to stop his rhythmic motions.

"Am I amusing you, Your Highness?" he quipped as he hovered over her.

"Very much so" she countered "but I was wondering if you would be able to keep the pace up. We're averaging about 1 and a half times an hour you know."

"I hadn't actually thought about it" he chuckled, "but I do know now why I made a point to stay in shape all these years." Ryan buried his lips in her neck and gave a particularly hard thrust causing Marissa to moan loudly. "Now, if you have no more mathematical equations to do, may I continue? 'Cos we were kinda in the middle of something here."

Marissa let out a full belly laugh forcing Ryan out of her. He rolled over on his back breathless.

"Ok, way to kill a mood there Cooper" he grinned "AND bring the average down!"

"I'm sorry" she said quietly as she rolled onto her stomach to look at him "maybe we could pick it up again in the shower?" she added coyly.

"When you say 'we' do you mean …?" he asked.

"What else would I mean?" she retorted.

Ryan could feel his previous state of arousal returning quickly, and it did not go unnoticed by Marissa.

"Mood restored?" she asked over her shoulder as she got out of bed.

"Uh huh" panted Ryan as he chased her into the bathroom.

Marissa was the first to emerge from the bathroom after their extra long shower. Ryan remained in the bathroom to shave. When he came out, Marissa was already fully dressed and brushing her hair.

"Hey, so I think the first thing we should do is check you out of your room and move your things in here, probably one more night I'd say. I think we can get everything done that we need to today. I've made a list of the places I wa…" she was speaking a mile a minute.

"Wow, you can go from pleasure to business in a nanosecond, huh? Not ten minutes ago, I nearly made you forget your name in there again, and now you're making a list?" Ryan was laughing easily and walked up to her to kiss her, "but I love you for it, and we'll go wherever you want to or feel you need to."

"Well, I could go back to pleasure" she said starting to release the towel around his waist.

"Ah, no. I think we all need a rest" he grinned opening his towel and looking down. "Can you go to my room and get my clothes now? I have nothing to wear" the last phrase delivered as if he were a spoiled Newpsie who found nothing appealing in her million dollar closet.

Marissa giggled and left to go get his bag from the room next door. When she came back, Ryan was on the phone.

"Hey Sandy. How's things there? Is Nate ok? I still feel bad about deserting him".

"Things are fine here" Sandy calmed. "Nate and Sophie are getting along great and we're about to go out for breakfast. How's things with you? Did you find her?"

"Yeah, yeah I did" Marissa was starting to bite his ear and remove his towel and he was frantically trying to bat her away. "It turns out we both checked into the Mermaid at different times last night, and we ended up bumping into each other."

Marissa held her hand over her mouth to stifle a full blown snort at Ryan's double entendre.

"Is she ok?" Sandy asked with concern.

"She's fine. I probably shouldn't have been so worried, but I'm glad I came down anyway. She's remembering more all the time." Marissa had sat down next to him now, and he placed his free hand on her thigh and gave it a squeeze. "We're going to do a tour of Newport today to see if we can't conjure up some more memories. We will probably come home tomorrow. Speaking of home, did you talk to Julie?"

"Yeah, I did, and so did Kirsten actually. She feels terrible about the way she acted the other night, and she kept apologizing for everything."

"This is Julie Cooper we're talking about?" Ryan asked skeptically. "She never struck me as the apologizing type. The only time she's ever really apologized to me is when she wanted something from me. I'll find out from Marissa how she feels about talking to her again. I should go meet her for breakfast." Ryan winked at Marissa. There was no need to broadcast their newfound togetherness just yet.

"Ok, kid. Good luck with your tour today, and drive safe tomorrow." Sandy signed off.

Ryan closed his phone and leaned over to kiss Marissa.

"Ok, I'm getting dressed and we're going to breakfast. First stop. The diner." He smiled and dropped his towel. "Try and control yourself please" he said in a mock serious tone. We have serious work to do."

Marissa laughed and flopped back on the bed.

"I think I'll have a short stack with lots of syrup" she said licking her lips.

"Good start. That was your usual, and if it was lunchtime you would have…..?" Ryan probed as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Cheeseburger and chili fries. They're my favourite" Marissa's eyes grew wide as she thought about it.

"Yes they are!" Ryan said

"I guess my stomach didn't forget as much as my brain" she quipped.

Ryan finished putting his shoes on and grabbed his jacket. He opened the door and waved his arm to show Marissa she could go out first. As they walked over to the diner, Marissa slipped her hand in Ryan's instinctively. He squeezed her hand tightly and thought to himself that this is how it should have been all along.