The Alias

Twenty Three

"Done!" I sang, slamming my chopsticks onto the table. Matsu had made vegetable fried rice for lunch today and it was actually pretty good. He was getting much better at cooking. I did miss cooking for him, though. I missed taking care of him in general; I liked acting like a housewife. But I would be lying if I said I didn't love the look on his face when I ate an entire plate of his food. Plus, he looked cute when he cooked, like a toddler learning to walk. He'd make such a mess, even getting ingredients on the floor, and often accidentally cut himself. I'd have to bandage it up every time, so now his fingers were nearly completely covered in band-aids.

"Come'ere." Matsu stood up and held out his arms, grabbing at the air like a child that wants to be picked up. I slid my left foot out from under me, unfolded my right leg from my chest, and stood up, throwing myself into his arms. I basked in his familiar scent of fresh linen and kissed his chest. He's so wonderful.

I pressed my body up against his and leaned my weight into him, completely captivated in his embrace. Kissing his chest again, I slid my hands down his back, from his shoulder blades to just above the small of his back. He shuddered and tried stifling a soft groan to no avail. I smirked into his chest and ran my fingers back up his spine, causing him to hug me tighter. God, he's cute.

We spent most of the day spooning on the couch watching daytime television, which had become a regular activity for us. It had been around 47 days since Matsu left work, and I could tell he missed it. Whenever we'd watch detective or crime shows, he'd get completely engrossed in it, always guessing the culprit right early on. I hated seeing him like this.

"Matsu?"

"Hm?" I flipped over and looked up at him.

"Do you think you'll ever go back to work?"

"Why? Are you finally getting bored with me?" he joked. I giggled and put my hand on his cheek.

"I could never get bored with you," I smiled, running my thumb across his cheek, "but I can tell you miss it."

"Yeah... But I'm sure they don't miss me over there," his mouth smiled, but his eyes looked sad. I shifted my body to drape my leg over his, pulling him closer to me. As I did, Matsu's hand accidentally brushed against my butt and he pulled it away sharply. "S-sorry," his cheeks burned a deep burgundy and I felt mine heat up as well. I wanted to look away in embarrassment but I couldn't, and I could tell he was feeling the same. He inched his head closer to mine, his hand lightly cradling the small of my back, and kissed me. His kiss was soft and delicate, like a rose, and he lingered just long enough for me to taste his skin. When he pulled away, I couldn't help but lean forward, trying to keep his lips on mine, but he continued pulling away anyway. He sat back and looked deeply into my eyes, a clump of hair falling over his forehead and touching the tip of his eyebrow. I dropped my hand from his cheek onto his neck and traced my thumb over his freshly shaven jawline, butterflies swirled in my stomach and I blushed harder. His pulse elevated and his breathing became unsteady, I lowered my gaze from his eyes to his lips. The hand on my lower back moved and he shifted his hips away from me while giggling awkwardly and scratching the back of his head. I felt a tingling in my chest and gulped.

Without realizing it, I had snaked my hand down Matsu's chest, across his torso, and pulled his hips back into me by one of his belt loops. We were now face to face with our noses nearly touching, and his hand had fallen onto my shoulder. I slowly released my fingers from his belt loop and slipped my hand up his back, tracing over the ridges of his spine. There was no mistaking it, I wanted him. We laid breathing in each other's air for a few minutes, all the while my heart raced in my chest and my stomach churned. Then, just as I began to think he was going to pull his body away from me again, he pressed his lips onto mine. He kissed me like he had never kissed me before, soft, tender, breathy, as if he were pouring his soul into it. I tangled my fingers in his hair and curled my toes, heat rose in my cheeks as he slipped his hand back down to my lower back. I lost myself in the passion of the moment, enjoying the taste of his breath, the smell of his skin, the feel of his-

"I love you," Matsu breathed, parting from my lips and hovering only millimeters above them. I opened my eyes to find him already looking at me, his cheeks and nose were stained red and he was out of breath.

"I love you," I purred against his lips. Our breaths mingled for a moment before he took my head back in his hand and reconnected our lips. A fire burned in my chest and I felt his tongue press against the crease of my mouth. I let him in and our tongues touched, the fire in my chest spread quickly throughout my body and I tangled my fingers deeper into his hair. His hand glided up my side and settled on my neck as he cocked his head. We kissed slowly, passionately, savoring every moment as if it were our last. Before long Matsu was mostly on top of me, and I was straddling his waist with my right leg, my left pinned under him. Both of my hands were free, and I seized the opportunity by exploring every contour of his back. I felt a timid hand on my thigh and Matsu pushed my leg down, rolling over me and off the couch. I looked up at him and frowned, but he didn't seem to notice. He was focused on my body, and I watched as he nervously slid his hands under me, scooping me up bridal style. I hooked my right arm around his neck and placed my left hand on his chest, fiddling with the unbuttoned section of his button down shirt.

He shuffled us towards the bedroom, his arms trembling with anticipation, and I unbuttoned a few buttons of his shirt. He placed me gently on the side of the bed and I looked up to find him smiling down at me affectionately, his head tilted ever so slightly to his right. Locking my fingers into the polyester fabric of his shirt, I pulled him onto my lips again. His hands found their way onto my back and I continued unbuttoning his shirt, slowly taking it off. I touched my fingertips to his chest, expecting to graze his skin, but was discouraged to find that he was wearing a cotton undershirt. I felt my way down his stomach to the bottom of his shirt and began pulling it off slowly. He lifted his arms above his head and we parted lips as I pulled it completely off. His body was smooth and toned, not muscular or scrawny, but a perfect in between. He nervously watched me look him over and I could feel heat radiating off of my cheeks. I looked up into his eyes and he turned his head away, embarrassed.

Reaching out, I took hold of his hands and placed them at the bottom of my shirt. He looked back over to me, taking the hint, and shakily latched his fingers on the hem. He hesitated for a moment, looking more nervous than ever, and rubbed the fabric between his fingers. I touched his cheek in reassurance before he carefully started pulling my shirt up over my head. My hair fell back over my shoulders and brushed against my bare skin, causing me to shiver. Matsu looked at me wide-eyed, like a deer in headlights, taking in the sight of me. He caressed my cheek in his right hand and for the first time tonight, his hand was completely steady. He leaned down and kissed me again, timidly placing his left hand on my shoulder, obviously avoiding my torso. In an attempt to make him less uncomfortable, I leaned my upper body against him. Scooting myself as far off the bed as I could, I pulled him between my legs by his waist, causing his hand to naturally slip from my shoulder to my back. Satisfied, I slid my hands from his waist up his torso, never losing contact with his skin, and tangled both hands in his hair. He gripped my back in response, and moved his right hand from my cheek to my hips. The moment grew more fiery each passing second, and soon we were completely entangled in each other's embrace.

My mouth opened to his, the intense passion of the moment causing me to whimper softly, and he responded by trailing light kisses down my cheek and neck. He reached for my pants, struggling with the button, while I reached for his, struggling with the belt. I finally unclasped his belt and made quick work of the button and zipper. His pants fell to the floor and I giggled on his lips, he still hadn't managed to undo my button. Kicking his pants off of his feet, Matsu took me in his arms and crawled me further into the bed, laying me gently down on my back without breaking from my lips once. He then crawled off me and I watched him undo my pants. He looked at my undone pants for a few seconds before timidly sliding them off, making sure he didn't take my panties down with them. He then stood back and stared at me in awe, his eyes sparkled like freshly polished diamonds, and his gaze filled with nothing but love and devotion. A light hand touched my right ankle and began sliding up my leg and he bowed his head, trailing kisses up my left leg as he crawled back over me. I curled my toes and bit my lip as he made his way up to my hips, over my panty line, and onto my stomach. He stopped and hesitated under my breasts, running his finger over the underlining of my bra.

"C-can I, er, I-I mean, is this ok," he stuttered, his courage diminishing further as he continued, "a-are you sure this is what you want?" I propped myself up on my elbows and looked down at him. He peeked his head up over my breasts and I smiled at him lovingly.

"I've never wanted anything more in my life."