POP! Teru popped the cork on the champagne at exactly midnight. He filled the flutes and handed one to his girlfriend, Adila.

"Look! Fireworks!" she squealed, gracefully getting to her feet from the floor despite the tight black dress she wore.

Teru observed her in silence as she stood at the window watching the colorful bursts over the river as the New Year was heralded in with style. The corners of his mouth lifted while he studied her beautiful face when she became totally engrossed in the sight of the rainbow of explosions to celebrate the beginning of another year. He loved her. He believed he had from the moment they first argued. Although her ideas sometimes opposed his and he did not agree with her stance on some issues, she had captured his mind and his heart. All he could think about was her. She was the only woman he had ever truly wanted to be his and wanted her to be with him forever.

Getting up from the floor, he walked to her so he could stand beside her. So far they had not consummated their relationship. Tonight would be the perfect night: a New Year, a new beginning, and a new phase of their relationship. He sat his glass down next to hers on the wide window sill so he could touch her.

Adila sighed when he kissed the back of her bare neck. She had dressed up for the occasion although she knew they were just staying home. Her best black dress had come out of the closet but she had skipped the high heel shoes in favor of bare feet. Her hair had been swept up and neatly styled in a plain ballerina bun. At this moment she was exceedingly glad she had opted for the updo as he pressed many stimulating kisses to her exposed neck. Her stomach fluttered nervously as thoughts sped through her brain that tonight could be the night he officially made her his. She had not pressed the issue of sex despite how much she wanted it. This man intrigued her and she wanted to be with him for a long time. In her other relationships, she had always hurried, always pushed too fast in her desperation to get to that next level so she could find her forever love. Forever always turned out to be a hell of a shorter than she imagined and love never had anything to do with it.

Teru slid his arms around her body, relishing the soft velvet of her dress under his fingers. His hands moved upwards to her breasts encased in the tight bodice of the strapless dress. He smiled when he heard her sudden intake of air as his hands covered her breasts and molded to them. Kissing then licking her neck, he pulled a moan from her that excited him greatly.

Adila reached back, her fingers clutching the fabric of his loose jeans to pull him against her. She had bought him the jeans for Christmas and was pleasantly surprised he actually wore them. His hardness pressing against her behind made her feel weak with desire.

"Teru," she breathed, when one of his hands moved down to her thigh. She bit her lower lip when his fingers slid under the short dress and around her inner thigh.

"Oh, my," he murmured in her ear when his fingers did not encounter a barrier of material. He practically purred after his fingers brushed against her womanhood and were covered with wetness.

Adila turned to face him, pressing her mouth to his for a hungry kiss. Sighing into his mouth when his lips touched hers, she melted into the kiss leaning heavily on his body. Pushing herself up on her toes, her tongue boldly entered his mouth to find his. She had been pushed beyond her ability to restrain herself anymore. She lost her composure and all semblance of modesty as she relayed her need for him by pressing her hand against the proof of his craving for her that was long and hard in his pants. Her hands slid under his sweater savoring the feel of his skin and muscle under her fingertips. He was muscular but not in the obvious way with muscles that stood out and were well defined. Her fingers slid over his chest and abdomen feeling the firm, sinewy strands of the muscle fibers running beneath his skin. She smiled when the nerves would make the muscles quiver occasionally from her light touch. Unbuttoning and unzipping his pants while she kissed down his chest and abdomen, she grasped his hardness in her hand to stroke him gently as she made her way down.

"Don't," he barked without intending to be so gruff. He pulled her up to face him, kissing her tenderly. "Don't do that. It's unbecoming of a goddess. I want to make love to you."

"Goddess?" she inquired, confused as to why he would call her that.

"Yes," he murmured, kissing her briefly before gazing into her eyes. "You are the object of my devotion. My one desire. My everything. I will worship you with all of my heart, mind, and body."

Adila cried out when she felt the head of his member at her entrance waiting for the right moment. Her eyes remained focused on his. He had taken away her ability to speak with the stunning romantic confession. Her body was pressed to the wall as he slowly entered her.

"Oh, god," she gasped in his ear, enveloping him with her arms. She closed her eyes and clung to him, emitting sighs of pleasure as he impaled her at a disturbingly slow pace.

Teru wanted this feeling to last as long as possible. It was marvelous how her inner body was caressing him, contracting and releasing, drawing a moan of grateful bliss from his lips.

"Mmmm…my goddess, my love," he whispered to her, moving his hips slightly.

Adila slipped her hands back under his sweater, wanting to luxuriate in the wonder of his body as he tenderly made love to her and took her as his own. She anticipated his kiss, rising to meet him as he claimed her lips again.

Teru watched her as he made love to her, imprinting every sigh of pleasure, every grimace of agonizing ecstasy on her face in his memory. He could feel the climax building, the burning heat in his thighs flowing to an almost painful tightening at the base of his manhood that begged to be released. He stared at her face when she shut her eyes tightly, opening her mouth to emit rhythmic little cries of bliss as she neared her end. His body decided there would be no holding back and he discharged within her after whispering her name as a plea when the pleasure overtook him and nearly made him collapse. However, he could not be weak for her. Holding her tightly as she shuddered through her orgasm, he kissed her lips to muffle their loud expressions of ultimate ecstasy.

Adila opened her eyes when he fell to his knees in front her. Her hand tenderly stroked his head as he looked up at her. She loved him senselessly and completely. In that moment, she wanted to belong to him forever – she had to be his, needed to be his. This feeling was what she had feared the most.

~\..'../~

End of Spring Semester and Adila's first year at To'Oh University – Decision Time

Adila paced in front of the windows of their apartment as she waited for one of her parents to answer the phone. The last few weeks had been stressful and sleepless. She had an important decision to make since the end of her year was coming to a close. She made that decision by using logic and reason to sort through the pros and cons. The fateful call was being made to inform her parents of her conclusion. Her plans included staying to finish her education here, but with one unanticipated addition – Teru Mikami would be her boyfriend. The phone clicked as someone answered, and her mother's silky, calm voice filled her ear.

"Hello? Adila?" her mother called when her daughter did not say anything after the initial hello.

"Mama!" she gushed, her body tensing. She rubbed her temple as the headache began from her neck muscles tightening with stress.

"How are you, darling? I've been looking forward to your call. What have you decided?"

Adila smiled. She was definitely her mother's daughter. They did not like to mince words or dance around a subject. They charged at it head-on and honestly, no matter how painful it might be.

"Mama, is Daddy listening? You both need to hear this," she said, clearing her throat to rid herself of the choking lump formed by her strong emotions.

This would be the first time her parents would be hearing any of this because she had purposely kept their conversations short and shallow, speaking only about her classes and grades and if she was eating well. They did not know anything about Teru but that was about to change.

"Hey, Pumpkin, I sure do miss you," her father's deep baritone came across the speaker of her phone.

"Daddy," she gasped, tears forming in her eyes. Her daddy was the only man she had ever loved completely and deeply until now.

"All right, kiddo. Let us have it," prompted her mother.

"I've decided to stay here and pursue my studies. I still have the same goal of becoming a criminal psychologist and profiler. But…" She swallowed. She could feel the anticipatory tension all the way through the phone.

"But what?" demanded her mother, her voice higher pitched from anxiety. "Baby, tell us."

"I've met a man. I-I love him," she stammered, feeling like a stupid kid in love. That sounded so…so dumb and childish.

"What?" her parents inquired calmly in perfect harmony.

"I met someone and began dating him. I'm living with him. He's studying to be a Prosecuting Attorney. We have a lot of the same classes. That's how we met actually was in my very first class here. We are both striving for our goals. We're not letting our relationship sidetrack us. I –" She knew she was babbling when her father sharply called her name.

"Adila, stop. You're a grown woman. You are capable of making your own decisions. Your life is up to you now. Live it however you see fit," her father told her.

Adila smiled through her tears. Her father was the one who usually stood by while her mother made the decisions arbitrarily as she thought best. Her mother had always been the voice of the household, doling out advice when asked (and sometimes when not asked) and admonitions when necessary. Daddy had always stayed in the background being her hero and her prince charming. He was always there for her when she needed a protector but never as her advisor and definitely not as the disciplinarian.

"But Cam – " her mother hissed to be cut off by him clearing his throat.

"She's not a child anymore, Kalyani. Don't push her away like your parents did you," he warned her.

An uncomfortable silence fraught with tension ensued, but she was thankful her parents did not continue their argument.

"I suppose we will have to plan a vacation to Japan or send you plane tickets so we can see our daughter and her new man, huh?" her father asked cheerfully. It was obvious he was trying to stay positive despite the announcement that his daughter would be staying in a foreign country with another man. She could almost hear the tears in his voice. Men don't cry – especially not in the South.

"Why don't you come in July? That's just a little less than two months away. There will be festivals for us to attend and so many things for us to do. It will be wonderful!" she exclaimed happily. She could not bear the thought of making her father sad.

"All right, sweetheart. We'll start planning now," her father assured her. "I love you, Baby."

"I love you too, Daddy. I love you too, Mama," she said.

"I love you," her mother sighed begrudgingly. Her mother was still trying to get accustomed to the idea that her daughter had officially begun her life and was not afraid to let her know she was not entirely happy with the decision by less than subtle means.

Adila hung up the phone, releasing an ecstatic squeal. The conversation she had dreaded went better than she could have hoped for and it was over. She was excited that she would finally get to see her parents after a whole year. They wanted to meet Teru. She halted her jubilant little dance, sighing loudly. Now to tell her reticent and sometimes stubborn boyfriend. He did not like changes to his daily routine, and he did not like surprises – this would be both.

...

"I called my parents today to let them know about my decision to stay," Adila told Teru at dinner that night. She had cooked his favorite meal in hopes that it would soften the blow of what she was about to say.

"That's good," he responded quietly. "What did they say?"

"They are coming to visit. They want to meet you," Adila blurted nervously, not sure if he would be upset by that. When Teru dropped his chopsticks, she fretfully added, "I thought we could take them to a few of the festivals and they could stay here and –"

"No," he interrupted emphatically.

"What?" she asked, not understanding which part he was objecting to.

"They can't stay here. I don't mind if they visit and we can spend time with them but at night I want you to myself. I want to be able to make love to you without your parents being in the next room," he explained, shoveling food into his mouth.

"But it's only for a week. Can't we just not have sex for a week?" she inquired. She missed her parents terribly and wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Teru calmly wiped his mouth with the linen napkins he had insisted on buying. She had thought it was a ridiculous waste of money when paper napkins would be fine. Adila was slowly becoming accustomed to his unyielding and uptight ways. He had certain ideas about how things should be and it was easier just to go along with it. Standing up from his chair, he walked around the table to her. He took her by the hand to lead her to the bedroom.

"What are you –" Her sentence was interrupted his mouth covering hers in a rough, forceful kiss.

Teru unbuttoned her shirt, pushing it down her arms. His lips dotted her neck with insistent, passionate kisses. He pushed her down on the bed while he stood in front of her unbuttoning his dress shirt as her hands moved over his chest and abdomen. He moaned, pushing his fingers into her hair when she swiftly freed him from his trousers. His fingers gripped her hair, and he forced himself not to pull, especially when he felt the fantastic warm wetness of her tongue circling the head. Unable to hold back, his hips pushed toward her face and the head slipped between her lips.

"Adila," he groaned, holding her head firmly as she slowly slid down his length one delicious inch at a time.

What she was doing to him right now was nothing he had ever felt before and he liked it. He could feel his end nearing when her hand stroked him to match the movements of her lightly sucking mouth. His body tensed and prepared to climax as he thrust at her face uncontrollably. His excitement grew exponentially when she did not remove her mouth as he climaxed.

Teru moved his hands down to her shoulders to steady himself while he tried to catch his breath. He watched her intently while she removed her bra. His eyes hovered over her pert breasts with the dark brown nipples as she stared up to him.

"Touch me," Adila pleaded, grasping his hand and moving it to cover her breast.

Teru allowed his hand to just lie there at first, feeling the nipple grow rigid beneath his palm. He massaged the firm mound of flesh gently. His eyes observed the blissful expression cross her face and she moaned lightly. Wanting to see more and hear more, his other hand went to her other breast.

Adila bit her lower lip and closed her eyes as he teased her nipples by pinching them lightly between his thumb and forefinger. She sighed with pleasure when his hands slid down her body while he dropped to his knees to kneel in front of her. Her body trembled slightly when his fingers curled over the top of her pants to slowly peel them, along with her panties, off of her body. Her hand rested on top his head as he looked up at her. Laying back on the bed, she released another rapturous sigh when his tongue touched the most feminine and sensitive part of her.

"Oh, Teru," she moaned from the pleasure coursing through her body.

Everything about this man seemed to be pure, ecstasy inducing magic. With his hands, his tongue, his lips, and the other thing, he could nearly drive her insane with pleasure. Right now, his mouth was bringing her to the edge of a screaming orgasm. When he enclosed the extra sensitive little nub with his lips and sucked gently he demolished her senses with orgasmic delight that left her squirming and crying beneath his mouth. His lips pressed kisses to her inner thighs, giving her a chance to calm down.

Adila erroneously thought he was done when his mouth moved up to her belly to adorn it with soft little kisses. Her fingers were stroking through his long, silky hair when she felt his fingers slide into her. She cried out and pulled his hair when his mouth moved back down to lick her some more. Before long, she was writhing and yelling out his name from another orgasm.

Afterward, Teru sat back on his heels to stare at her with an evident smirk of self-satisfaction on his handsome face.

"Tell me, my goddess, can you live without sex for a week?" he questioned her before returning his mouth to her body. He did not wait for answer because he already knew it.

Adila howled with pleasure when she felt his tongue impale her teasingly. She would find a very nice hotel and make reservations for her parents.