No Matter What

No Matter What (Part 2)

"What are you doing?" Maya whined, still half asleep.

Josh looked up at her from the bottom of the bed, Maya's foot in his hands. He continued rubbing his strong fingers across her delicate foot eliciting a soft moan from her lips.

"Joshhhh,"

Josh smiled to himself.

Maya wanted to pull her foot back under the covers, but Josh's hands were mesmerizing, and her eyes closed as she relaxed into his touch.

"No, no no, don't go back to sleep,"

"But I'm tired," Maya pouted, pushing her bottom lip out, her eyes still closed.

Josh's hands stopped their ministrations on Maya's feet as he crawled up the bed, his body perfectly over Maya's "Maya," he whispered.

Maya smiled, feeling his new proximity, but kept her eyes closed.

"Maya," Josh repeated leaning down gently kissing her neck.

"Mm-mm," Maya turned her head to the side.

"Maaaayaaaa," Josh whispered even quieter, his mouth centimeters from her ear. He gently took Maya's earlobe into his mouth, biting it softly. He could feel Maya's stiff body relax and he knew he had her.

Maya finally opened her eyes, peering up at Josh, trying to keep the smile from creeping completely across her face.

"Good morning," Josh smiled dropping his hips, gently resting them on Maya's.

Maya subtly shook her head and wrapped her arms around Josh's neck bringing him closer to her. Their lips finally colliding in a kiss Maya felt all the way down to her toes.

Josh's body immediately responded to Maya's touch and her tongue gently finding its way into his mouth. He ran his hand through her tousled hair. As he opened his eyes, pulling away from Maya's lips momentarily, his heart nearly stopped. "How..." He whispered in awe of his girlfriend.

Maya's cheeks flushed.

Josh didn't have to finish his thought; he immediately closed the gap between him and Maya, continuing to wake her up in his favorite way.

"What do you want to do today?" Josh asked standing in front of Maya across the bar in the kitchen. It was the middle of summer and too hot to stay stuck in the apartment all day.

Maya looked up from her bowl of cereal, her hair disheveled and Josh's t-shirt hanging off her bare shoulder. With her spoon still in hand, her mouth slightly full of sugary breakfast cereal, she motioned to her camera sitting across the counter. "I need to work on some pictures."

Josh walked over and picked up the old camera, twirling it around in his hands.

"Be careful!" Maya's eyes were wide with concern. Shawn had given her that camera shortly after he and Maya's mom got married. Shawn had planted roots, and when he did, he knew this camera was too special to sit around collecting dust. While Maya preferred drawing and painting, she was working on expanding her skills, and on days like today, the high summer sun practically begged her to go capture the way it highlighted the city and the people within it.

Josh placed Maya's camera in front of her being overly careful.

"Thank you," Maya flashed a smile up at him. "What do you want to do today?" She asked, glancing back down at her cereal, taking another bite.

Josh rested his elbows on the counter, leaning closer to Maya. "Let's go take pictures,"

Maya looked up at her boyfriend, a single eyebrow raised at his response.