The kitchen timer had gone off, informing Zevran ten minutes had gone by. Putting his sketchbook and pencil down on the kitchen table, he made his way around the island to get to the stove.

Braised lamb marinated for three days should be ready to be dropped on fresh tortillas. Nyla picked a good partner to cook for her, having such enthusiasm for Mexican cuisine. Picking up his new skillet, he tossed the meat around with a flick of his wrist; his new skillet cooked everything so evenly, if he had known how awesome just having a fancy skillet could be, he would have bought one years ago.

Zevran still couldn't believe he lived in this lovely place with a lot of natural lighting. Nyla left all the decorating to him, agreeing enthusiastically with every choice, encouraging him to stop looking at price tags, and even blowing his mind when she said she had never been to Ikea. They didn't go to Ikea. She gave him a stern talking to, imploring him to get it in his head that he would have the best of everything. He still didn't quite grasp it, but he was getting there.

Picking up the remote for the apartment-wide sound system, he turned on their playlist for her arrival. Cat bolted away, and Zevran cringed, turning the volume down; this seemed to happen every time Nyla was left home alone. He made a mental note to talk to her about leaving it so high when she turned it off. The door alarm beeped, announcing her entry, because being in your huge place alone with your cat and then being suddenly not alone in your huge place with your cat caused gorgeous men to startle, and painting crises.

"You're early, amor!" Zevran called out, wiping his hands clean and heading toward the door to greet her.

"Traffic wasn't so evil today. I woke up late and took the car instead of the train. It didn't end up being that much faster because the nearest garage was full, I had to park in the garage two blocks away. My back, my legs, my feet are just killing me today. Smells amazing in here!" Putting her shoes in her closet by the door, she stood up to face him and smiled. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

This was a moment he had to draw; the way she looked at him as she came home after a long day of work; drinking him in with bright eyes and a smile, so happy to see him, so pretty. Pulling her in for hugs and kisses, he grabbed her ass, lifted her, and her legs wrapped around his waist. "Bath or food first?"

"Bath." She smiled running fingers through his hair as he walked toward her bathroom. "You're going to carry me the whole way there?"

"Mmhm. Then I will come back and plate our food and put the dishes in that plate warmer thing that used to piss me off but now is occurring to me as quite handy."

"I told you!" Nyla chuckled, "All of these overly extravagant things do have a purpose."

"Still overly extravagant." The moment her feet hit the floor, he started her bath. Lots of bubbles, nice and hot, lavender scented salts to soothe her aches. Laying out two plush towels for her, he headed out.

"Come back to me when you're done?" She asked softly, her hand brushing his arm as he walked away.

Turning around for a quick glance at his half-naked woman, her white button up shirt halfway undone, her tie still around her neck resting along her cleavage; did she realize how fucking sexy she looked? He nodded with a smirk. Fifteen minutes later he headed back, expecting to find her laying back with long bare legs reclined on the edge of the tub, surrounded by ample bubbles with bosom floating… but no. She was making a soap-bubble mohawk to match her beard.

Eyebrows raising with a stifled laugh he asked, "Enjoying your bath, woman-child?"

With a grin and a nod, Nyla pretended to shave her beard with the side of an extended index finger. "I want to show you something deeply personal."

"Something other than you dressing up in a sudsy beard and shaving it off?"

"Yes," Nyla laughed, splashing her face with water and then turning down the jets of her tub. "That was planned, so you would laugh as you came in the door. Do you imagine that's what my bathtime habits are really like?"

"I've walked past twice before and peeked in to find you doing this, so yes."

"Fuck."

"I was kidding. Busted." he smiled, sitting on the padded bench next to the tub. "And you can get out the rubber ducks, if you wish, don't mind me."

"You little shit, you know about the ducks," she sighed and rolled her eyes. "I can't have any secrets around you."

"Bullshit!" Zevran laughed, reaching a hand in to splash her. "You don't have ducks."

"Oh my god!" Nyla cackled covering her face with her hands, "They're in that drawer! Quit laughing at me."

Giggling and crawling across the floor, Zevran opened the bottom cabinet drawer, "Fucking Nyla!" After a few moments of lying on his back and clutching his sides in raucous laughter, he reached into the drawer and began tossing them at her. "How many of these fucking things do you have?" He asked, trying to catch his breath as he reached in the drawer and retrieved duck after colorful duck.

"A drawer full of various sizes and colors." She grinned, dodging duck after colorful duck, watching his teary eyes, mouth open in breathless, hysterical laughter; she wished she could draw. "I thought they would be fun so I bought one of each from… everywhere and… lord jesus calm down," she chuckled, catching a duck coming straight toward her face. "This is not the deeply personal stuff I intended to share."

"Fucking ducks!" Taking a deep breath, he pulled out the drawer completely and dumped them all in her bath.

"I usually just grab like five at random but okay," she giggled leaning back to watch them all bob on the water. "This is way better."

"In a normal size bath there would be just enough room to fit them all." Taking his place on the bench by the tub, he wiped his eyes, caught his breath and watched her relax and nudge the ducks around with her toes. He could see the appeal, watching the gentle bob of colors on the water. "That is relaxing."

"Mmm hmm… okay. Inside the bench you're sitting on is a little black journal. Will you get it and open it to the fourth page?"

"Ooh showing me your secrets." He did as she asked, flipping open the bench, finding the journal easily amongst various books, her kindle, and a few more ducks which he threw at her with a chuckle. "Fucking Nyla and her ducks," he smiled and opened the journal to the fourth page.

"It's a poem… or more just… some prose I wrote the night you came to my work." Blushing, she looked up at him. "It's called Muse. Because… I suddenly had so much to say. You can read it."

Muse

Primordial attunement.
I request your nakedness
Bare yourself, my muse, disrobe
Disclose

Bare yourself to me - that in your nakedness, I am unclothed
There has never been a time without breath and beating heart - in your presence the experience unfolds
from conscious incompetence to conscious competence I unfold - I can see the face of another
but not my own

The dance between personal and transpersonal
Where language stops being a structure of sound: primordial attunement
I request your nakedness - that in your nakedness, I am unclothed

"This is lovely," he spoke softly. "You really really wanted to bang."

With an extended pffft followed by a long bout of laughter she laid back, sighed and spoke dreamily, "Yes. I wanted to know you. I craved it. It was frustrating and beautiful."

"Mmm… same. What is this… conscious incompetence to conscious competence?"

"The whole thing is pretty much me reiterating the same concept over and over. Show me more you, so I can see more of me. I learn more of myself, and then, you learn more about yourself, and it's... this cycle. Where we just… unfold, and unfold. Learning, sharing, growing… and then I just feel like I'm going to... fucking explode with feelings."

"But you wrote this after the second time we had ever seen each other."

"I know!" She giggled, stirring her ducks with a foot. "That poem pissed me off with how unreasonable it was, believe me. I think it was a... systematic response to my recognizing potential."

"Ahh… I saw this potential as well. I fought a lot of feelings, drew you over and over as an outlet, and it seemed the feelings got bigger as I tried to let them out. It was kind of… total hell. Anders said I was trying to meet the need of having you near. I considered using your phone number after that, but it all seemed like such over-inflated bullshit, I couldn't."

"Yes! Exactly! That's why I hated the poem so much. It seemed so stupid I would feel that way after seeing someone twice. I figured it was a crush that would go away." Looking up at him she smiled, "It didn't."

"Okay," Zevran spoke pulling his shirt off. "I need to have sex with you in this tub right now."

"Undress faster," she giggled, watching him stumble out of his pants and then into the water, her eyes on his toned belly, and hard cock. With a sweep of her leg, she made a fruitless attempt to move the ducks out of his path.

"I almost regret the ducks," he laughed, swishing them away, crawling toward her to settle between her legs; his mouth on hers, a hand on her breast, the other teasing her with gentle touches along her thighs. It was about time they had sex in her bath. Five rooms down, three to go, not including the roof.

Lots of kisses, touches of varying degrees of intensity, he chuckled happily when she rolled her hips in needy anticipation.

"What do you want, mi amore," he purred against her mouth, his fingers barely brushing along her heat as she gasped, her hips writhing in anticipation of his touch.

"Make me come," her fingers dug into his forearms, his mouth on her neck, kissing and nibbling.

"How do you want it?" He spoke softly, kissing along her jaw, his palm rested on her folds.

Belly tightening at teasing sensations, enough to stimulate, but not quite enough, she pulled his mouth toward hers, and he resisted.

"Want me to kiss you?" She nodded and met his gaze, with cheeks and shoulders flushed, hands wandering his body. "What else?" He purred, moving his hand a little.

Smiling at his lusty stare, she spoke softly, "If I'm going to be vocal, so will you."

"Yes," he replied, his cock throbbed at the sound of her sultry demand. "Tell me how you want it."

"Fuck me," she whispered, pulling him toward her with long legs and hands on his shoulders. "Fuck me until I come for you."

Having a keen appreciation for hearing her talk dirty, she exceeded his expectation. He allowed himself to be pulled, guided into her, and as per their agreement, he let out a lusty groan. "Fuck," he spoke before meeting her lips with his. With generous undulations of his hips, she moaned, legs tight around him. Her hands wandered his damp hair, and then down his back to grab his ass, prompting him to move faster.

"Oh fuck," she gasped, her head tossed back. "Like that, sweetie. Yes, fuck me like that. Oh my god."

"Getting close, amor?" Zevran rested his hands on the tub and slowed, just to tease her a little more.

On the cusp of orgasm, in Nyla's automatic response for more, her feet hit the tub floor, and she lifted her body to meet his. It surprised and thrilled him as he watched her mouth fall open and brow furrow with her building orgasm. "Oh fuck," she gasped again as she moved her body to hit the perfect spots. "Like that."

Zevran moaned, remained still, basking in the way she so brazenly took him. "So good, amor, how you feel around my cock." He groaned again, clenching his jaw as her moans built in intensity.

"Yes!" She spoke several times, feeling the slow build of completion as her body met his with force.

Feeling her grow tight around him, suppressing his own orgasm he pressed his body hard against hers, making her tremble and cry out as he pushed deep into her.

"Mmm… nice. Mi amor comes for me so hard," he purred, kissing her jaw as she caught her breath. After a few minutes of shared affectionate kisses and caresses, he withdrew from her, sitting next to her and letting his head fall back with a satisfied sigh.

Nyla giggled, curling against him, "I really needed that."

"I could tell," he smiled, pressing kisses on her forehead and an arm around her.

"I wasn't expecting you to stop," she kissed his chest, "did you want something else? To fuck my mouth, perhaps?" She smiled, gently nipping him.

"Mmm… no. I want to stay aroused," he groaned as her fist wrapped around his cock. "Waiting for release until I can't fucking stand it anymore is fun for me."

"Really?" Nyla chuckled, letting go of his dick and running her hand along his stomach, wrapping her arm around his waist to cuddle him close. "That would really piss me off."

"I think, perhaps this is a physiology thing. You tend to feel more awake after orgasm, whereas, I often times would favor a nap."

"Yes," she laughed, "I have noticed you do get very sedate, and I feel like hunting wild boar."

"Hunting…" he chuckled, pulling her tight against him. "Cute. Let's go eat, hmm?"

"Amazing, sweetie." Nyla spoke after their meal, leaning back comfortably in her chair at the kitchen table. "So good. I don't know how you get so much flavor in food. It boggles the mind."

"It comes out better when I cook for you, it seems," he let out a long satisfied sigh, staring at her robe slightly open, teasing him with the sight of her perfect cleavage. "Dessert?"

"You spoil me," she smiled, feeling possibly far more loved than seemed reasonable. "Yes, please."

"Good," he stood and went to the fridge. "You said the other day you had a craving for strawberry shortcake. I hope this is still true."

"It absolutely is," she grinned, picking up the remote and turning down the music so she could hear him a little better. "This is the stuff that makes me feel loved."

"Mmm? What do you mean, amor? That I hear what you say?" He glanced back at her curiously for a moment before returning to his task of slicing fresh strawberries.

"That, and you actually want me to have what I want. So much that you would find a way for me to have it, and then provide it. I feel like you want to see me happy, therefore you must really love me."

"Then my intent," he turned around and put two plates on the table, "is coming through loud and clear."

"I also feel loved when you smile at me like that," she bit her lip and grinned.

"Same," he turned to the fridge and grabbed the whipped cream, wondering if other people had the pleasure of being so in love and so utterly romantic about it; his mothers certainly weren't like this. Hoping someone would be of a mind to stop them if they actually tried to get on a tandem bicycle, he handed Nyla the spray can of whipped cream. "I thought I would let you do this part, so you can have as much or as little as you like."

"I love this stuff," she sprayed some along her finger, and put it in her mouth with a breathy moan, her eyes flicking up to meet his as her long finger slid slowly out of her mouth.

"I'm going to draw that," he watched her with a smirk. "With your finger in your mouth, eyes on me, bosom exposed."

Blushing, she bit her lip and leaned toward him, exposing herself more. "Yeah?"

"Also you in a tub full of ducks." Holding out his hand he asked softly, "May I?" Taking the whipped cream, he stood, shaking the can and leaning back against the kitchen counter, letting his robe fall open. Nyla's eyes followed his hand as he drew a line of whipped cream from his navel, all the way down to the tip of his hardening cock.

"Zevran for dessert?" She purred playfully. He nodded with his cocky smirk, and she dropped to her knees and moved toward him, untying her robe, letting it fall open, slide over her shoulders and off of her.

As her tongue flicked along his belly, she looked up at him with big dark eyes, her bosom brushing against his thighs, and Zevran imagined if he could live the rest of his life consistently oversexed by this woman, he would die a happy man.

With broad strokes of her tongue, she licked him clean, twirling the tip of her tongue around his cock and he moaned when she took him into her mouth, gently tugged on his balls; she was running for the finish line.

"Easy," he hissed, his hands landing on the sides of her head. She simply knew his body too well. This was his favorite part of having one lover for so long; the sex just kept getting better. "Stop," he chuckled with a groan, "I want to play some more."

"Mmm!" She pulled her mouth away with lips dragging and held him in her fist. "Yeah?" She licked the base of his cock between words, "What did you have in mind?"

Picking up the can of whipped cream he thought for a few moments. "Lay on your back."

"I don't want food in or near my-"

"Understood, amor," he chuckled, dropping to his knees with her, letting his robe slip off. Kissing her mouth, the sweetness of whipped cream lingered on her tongue, and he guided her to lay back. Mutual giggling ensued, as he sat on his knees between her legs, shaking a can of whipped cream and biting his lip, "Where to begin."

"Here," she smiled, tilting her head back and pointing at a particularly sensitive place on her neck. .

"Straight for the hot-spots as always, amor?" He spoke playfully, pointing the nozzle at the place where her finger once rested. "Shit," he laughed, having held the nozzle with too much pressure, what was meant to be a small dab was a large swirl.

"It's cold!"

"Too much, going to have to distribute," he ran gentle fingers through it, drawing lines down her body, over her breasts, leaving generous amounts on her nipples, around her navel.

"Stay away from my waist I can't-" she squealed and tried to recoil from his touch, "I'm serious, don't-" she squealed again, trying to wiggle away from his mouth on her most ticklish places. "I am withholding love from this point forward!"

"A warning first?" He dragged his tongue along her skin following the thin line to her navel. "You must love me."

"Cocky little shit," she giggled, moaned as his mouth lavished attention on her more sensitive places. "Oh that feels nice." She hummed contentedly, tried to touch him but he grabbed her hands, pinning them on either side of her head.

Suckling on her neck, her hips wiggled, a telltale sign of her building arousal which always stoked his. Saving his favorite place for last, he gently nibbled on her firm nipple with a lusty moan. Getting lost in his task of licking her breasts clean, her hands wandered his back with gentle caresses and satisfied sighs. He basked in her obvious enjoyment, considering this to be one of the best ideas he ever had.

Gentle ministrations evolved to kissing, kissing became enthusiastic making out and two sticky bodies writhing together, trying to dominate each other across the kitchen floor. Zevran's desire was at a fever pitch with unfair orders to not get whipped cream in or around anyone's vagina.

Zevran lifted her up from the floor with a groan, her legs wrapped around him. With frantic sloppy kisses, Zevran carried her through the kitchen, the livingroom, through their bedroom and into their shared standing shower. Both of them reached for and turned on their respective shower heads. Initially blasted with cold water they cursed and shouted with laughter, clinging to each other until the water warmed. They resumed frantic kisses. With one hand beneath Nyla's ass holding her up, the other pawed her breast and wiped her with warm water, cleaning them of sticky, whipped cream residue.

Reaching down, Nyla stroked his cock, and his growl made her skin tingle all over. Nothing had ever been so fun and sexy as a ravenous, desperate Zevran.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Nyla pulled away from kisses to speak and Zevran immediately went for her neck. "You wanna fuck me, honey?" She spoke breathlessly.

He pushed her against the wall and draped her legs over his arms. Several teasing statements came to his mind, but with his skin on fire, his heart beating hard, his cock aching, he could only slam himself into her with a relieved moan.

"Oh shit," she moaned, panting and powerless to do anything but wander his body with her palms as he pounded her against the tile wall. "Oh fuck, right there," she squealed, her fingers digging into his back. The sound of their bodies meeting echoed around them as she came again, and he could feel the telltale warmth of her moisture as she sprayed him in the abdomen; typical, in their history, the more orgasms he gave her, the bigger they became.

"Fuck!" He bit the soft, pink skin of her shoulder and withdrew from her, staving off another orgasm.

"Wow," Nyla panted, her head falling back to thump against the tile. "Holy fuck." He still hadn't come yet, and if he took his game so seriously, so would she. "Dry off and get on the bed, Zevran."

Disoriented with arousal, Zevran toweled off quickly alongside her. Her demand had been spoken in such a way that he wondered what she had in store for him, and his excitement intensified.

"Lay on the bed on your back. I want to play too," Nyla purred, pulling him by the hand, biting her lip and meeting his eyes. "Can I play too?"

I need to draw this… he nodded and smiled, feeling safe in that she would ask and not assume; just as he had done for her in the past. "Love you, amor," he spoke softly as he laid on his back.

"I love you, honey." Nyla stroked his legs from knee to groin over and over. "Want me to suck your cock and not let you come?" She asked gently, and he nodded, his belly twitching as her palm continued its journey up his inner thigh and along his dick.

Nyla had never said no to Zevran, and she wondered what it would be like. Taking him in her mouth, she worked her tongue around him; a move that drove him crazy, but never got him off. His hips writhed, hands pet her head, gripped her shoulders, and his palms hit the headboard when she she wrapped a hand around him, working him with hand and mouth in a slow up and down motion.

"Oh fuck, " he whimpered, back arching when she tugged on his balls. On the cusp of his orgasm, Nyla stilled, squeezing the base of his cock and his dick throbbed and twitched in her hand. He groaned desperately, wanting to ask her where she learned that, but all he could manage was a whispered "Touch me."

Running her hands along his calves and thighs, he writhed, his head tossed back, she straddled him, his erection throbbing and pressed against her heat. She watched in awe as his mouth fell open with a whimpered moan, and she lovingly caressing his arms. "You're so beautiful," she whispered, and his hand met her thigh, his belly fluttered. He liked that, she smiled, licked her lips, her hands wandered up to caress his face and neck. "My beautiful boyfriend. I love you. You make me so happy. You're so sexy."

Overwhelmed by lusty tension, her praise relaxed him and made him feel so safe in his vulnerability, every inch of him became an erogenous zone, her hands gliding along his chest felt sweeter than an orgasm.

"Want me to ride you and stop you from coming?" She spoke sweetly, her hands still wandering, pressing kisses to his neck and jaw.

"No," he managed, her thigh feeling so smooth and soft beneath his palm. "I want to come." Kisses felt so sweet and perfect as their lips met, and she rolled her hips to take him slowly into herself.

Slowly at first, she rolled her hips, kissing and caressing him, hearing so many sounds from him when there were usually so few. "I love you," she whispered against his mouth, and she sat up, bracing herself with palms flat on his chest. "Want me to go faster?" She asked gently, and his eyes finally opened to look at her. She smiled, caressing his cheek, "I love you, sweetness. Tell me what you need."

"Faster," he whispered, his hands on her thighs and hips moving of their own accord. So needy, so vulnerable, his heart full to bursting, he couldn't take anymore, he trusted her so fully to be with him as his game ended, and it intensified his experience, his neediness. "Yes, like that. Don't stop." Zevran gasped, grabbing the smooth wooden spindles of the headboard he chose for them. "Don't stop."

They moaned loud together, Nyla growing tighter around him as she kept moving. His head bumped up against the headboard turning him on to an unreasonable degree. His eyes closed, and she watched him in adoration and lust, his knuckles white from gripping the headboard, brow furrowed and jaw clenched.

"Don't stop." He could feel it happening, tormenting him, he wanted it so badly, she kept moving, every downward thrust of her hips punctuated by his loud moans.

"Zev," she panted, her hands resting on his chest as she rocked her hips, riding him hard toward her own orgasm, "Zev, come with me. I'm coming. Oh fuck," she spoke breathlessly, sitting upright and grabbing her breasts. "Oh fuck!"

So tight around him, when she sat upright it hit the spot and he shouted with her, arching his back, pressing deeper into her.

"Fuck! Nyla!" He shouted, his hips writhing, oversensitivity making him hiss and moan as he kept coming, his cock throbbing deliciously, and even as she collapsed upon him with a sweet whimper, he trembled beneath her for several minutes. She pet him, kissed him, cooed sweetness in her soft, feminine voice until he grew still.

"Are you okay, baby?" She spoke softly, laying beside him, cradling his jaw in her hand. Zevran's hands rested loosely around the spindles of their headboard, panting with his eyes closed, and nodded, waiting for his head to clear. Flexing his stiff fingers, he pulled his arms tight against himself and rolled onto his side, and his love was there to hold him in her arms; exactly what he needed, as he felt like laughing and crying simultaneously.

"Okay, amor," he murmured sleepily, "Just need a moment."

"Everything's fine," she whispered, sweeping his hair back with gentle fingertips, kissing his sweat-dampened forehead. "Just lay here and be perfect in my arms."

"You spoil me in all the ways," he spoke softly, reminiscing on their encounter, and how fully he surrendered to her.

"Same." She kissed him, brushing his hair with her fingers. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go get something." she kissed him again, and his arms wrapped around her.

"Stay." He pulled her close, rested his cheek in her bosom, and drifted off to sleep in her arms.