Adoration (takes place after A Wrinkle in Time)

He reached forward to turn the jets off and then stood in the bathtub, watering running off of his sleek body. "This is what is going to happen next: I am going to jump in the shower to wash off this bacteria. You are going to drain the tub and use that little hand-held sprayer to do the same. And then . . ." he leaned forward, braced his hands on the side of the tub, and bent down to whisper in her ear until he heard her gulp.

Then he stood, gave her a wink, and got out of the bathtub.

Her heart racing, she sat on the edge of the bed, her bathrobe knotted tightly around her waist. Amy didn't fully understand why she was so nervous. Part of it was excitement, yes, that part was perfectly understandable. How could she not be excited at what Sheldon had said to her? How did it go again?

"This is what is going to happen next: I am going to jump in the shower to wash this bacteria off. You are going to drain the tub and use that little hand-held sprayer to do the same. And then we're going to meet in the bedroom, and I'm going to give you cunnilingus so lengthy and artfully executed you won't be able to name the lobes of the brain."

Thinking of it made her heartbeat increase even further. It had been awhile. No, it had been too long. But she had let time pass without comment or even without asking for it. There were reasons, of course. One was that parenting took up far more time than she ever previously thought she possessed, so that when she and Sheldon did make love, it was much more likely to be the usual than anything special. She had no complaints with this, really; she loved the usual, and she recognized that it was more important that they were having sex on a regular basis. Also, she had always wondered if Sheldon had seen something he couldn't unsee when Ada was born. He had ended up much closer to the action than either of them had planned, and maybe his memory was scarred in some way.

Lost in the memory herself, she jumped when Sheldon walked into the bedroom, his hair still wet, his body still naked.

"You were deep in thought," he said as he sat down next to her.

"It was nothing." She smiled at him.

He reached for her, untying the knot on her robe, and she met his warm soft lips. She waited for him to make the move, and it wasn't long before he ran his tongue along her upper lip, asking for entrance. She let him in, but he didn't stay long.

"What wrong?" he asked, pulling back but his face still so close to hers, his hands still on her waist.

"You don't have to . . . do this . . . for me. It if bothers you or confuses you or . . . something," she shrugged.

Sheldon wrinkled his brow. "Do you not want it? You can just decline, you know that."

"No, I want it. It's just that . . . it's been so long . . . I thought maybe . . . you didn't want it."

He pulled her in for a hug, and she took a deep breath of his soapy smell. "Oh, Amy, the only thing that confuses me is why you would doubt that that I wouldn't want to love every single part of you in any way that makes you feel good and makes you understand just how much I adore you." He sighed. "I'm sorry it's been so long. I shouldn't have allowed that to happen."

"You don't have to . . . if you saw something . . . you know, when Ada was born," she whispered.

Sheldon pushed her away so that she could look at him. "I'm going to say something very hippy dippy, so listen closely. Do you know what I saw that day? I saw the strongest, most beautiful woman in the world perform a miracle. I saw the woman I love more than I ever thought was possible pass through agony to give me a gift that only doubled that love. Yes, at first I was frightened, but, afterwards, when you were smiling and crying and holding our baby . . ." He took a deep breath. "Well, I can't explain it. But I do know this: that woman is the woman I want to make to love to. In every way possible."

Amy smiled at him. "I love you so much."

He smiled back. "I love you, too." He gave her a gentle kiss. "So, shall I?"

"Oh, please do."

This time, she met his mouth with equal passion, one heated kiss melting into another, giving him all the air he would take. He lowered the robe down her shoulders and off of her arms, letting it fall around her on the bed. Then, he lowered her back and began the slow, wonderful procession down her body. Even when he dropped to his knees by the side of the bed, he took his time, tickling her lightly with his fingertips behind her knees, long, slow, sloppy kisses all the way up her inner thigh. And then he was there, and she gasped and arched away from him for a second before sought her again.

He was loving her slowly, softly, gently. Unlike previous times, when he used at least one hand to touch her elsewhere, he was concentrating all of his attention on that one small piece of her flesh, no where else, the one tiny part that had so much power over her. It built slowly until she was in a state of pendulous desire, the sensations skirting, grazing what she wanted most but never fully grasping it. It was a delicious agony, this suspended animation of pleasure; she both needed it to end and never wanted it to end. Sheldon was killing her softly. Barely able to breathe, barely able to withstand the onslaught of bliss, she managed to open her eyes and look down at him, to see if she could determine what he was doing, what he was thinking, how long he planned to torture her with this delicacy.

Amy met his eyes. He was staring at her. For some reason, she hadn't expected him to be watching her so closely. His eyes were dark and hungry. She brushed against it again, what she wanted, and her back arched. Then, at the same moment Sheldon started to increase his speed, he raised an eyebrow at her. It was the eyebrow even more than the speed she had so longingly desired that sent the hot rush of ecstasy through her. Her eyes shut again, tightly, her head fell back, and her cries almost sounded like weeping.

She came down from her high to seeing him getting up. He sat down on the bed next to her and reached over for the washcloth he had brought to wash his face. She smiled. Well, he was still Sheldon. When he lay down on his side next to her, she rolled over on her own side to face him. He started brushing her arm with his fingertips.

"I hope that was worth the wait," he said, softly.

"You have no idea." She grinned at him. "So . . . what next?"

Sheldon shrugged softly. "This is your night. We can continue to make love, or, if you're too tired -" He gasped as Amy wrapped her hand around him.

"Now, Sheldon," she started to move her hand in long strokes, "why do you think we wouldn't continue to make love?"

He groaned softly and pulled her in closer by her shoulders to kiss her deeply. All the while, Amy kept up her ministrations. Until he said, "Is that what you want?"

"What do you want?" she whispered back, giving a swipe across the tip just to hear him groan.

"No, it's your choice. Although, if you keep that up, you won't have one." He reached down to massage her posterior.

"Mmmm, I like that." But she let go of him, knowing that he was right. "I like this. Lying next to you, looking in your eyes. But I'd love you inside me, too."

Sheldon slid his hand down and gripped the back of her thigh, pulling her leg over his hip. "Well, let's do both."

Amy smiled. "No, that's not what I meant. I know this position is too much work for you."

"It's never too much work. And, between watching you earlier and what you were just doing, I don't think it will be work for very long. Here, help me."

She took him in her hand again, and shifted her legs some more, raising her self up, moving her arms some. They moved awkwardly in some sort of naughty Twister, and the thought made Amy giggle at the effort of it all. Sheldon gave her a sly grin back; but, when she succeeded in getting Sheldon where they wanted him, they both moaned in satisfaction.

"Sorry it's not very deep," he murmured into her hair, and she felt his body moving against her, working sideways to thrust into her.

"It's wonderful," she whispered back. And it was. It was almost like being teased again, every time he pulled back he brushed against her most sensitive spot again. She leaned in closer to him, pressing her breasts firmly against his shifting chest, resting her face in the crook of his neck, listening to him breathe. As much as she was enjoying it, she could hear the labor in his inhalations. "Tell me what you need."

"Just you." And, then, with one final thrust, he groaned and let go.

AN: Thank you in advance for your reviews!