Our Hearts' Desire (The Monkees Family Vol. 2)

Chapter 41

When they got to the suite, there was an enormous bouquet of flowers sitting on the table in the sitting area.  It contained the most beautiful spring flowers – hydrangeas, lilacs, daffodils, tulips, peonies, plus large branches of cherry blossom trees in full bloom.  Dotted around the rest of the room were pots of orchids of all types.  On the dresser, there was a box of chocolates and a card.  Gabby opened it and it was in Micky's handwriting:

To my old lady,

May this be the first night of the rest of our lives together

May it be memorable

May it fulfill your fantasies

May it surpass all reality

May it sustain us and carry us forward

You are my everything, (hopefully) my Gabriella

Love, your Micky

Gabby clasped the card to her heart, turned and mouthed the words 'thank you' to Micky, who beamed back at her.  She started to wander around the room, inspecting all the personalized touches and fancified amenities.  Poking her head into the bathroom, she saw that there was a magnificent, huge bathtub, with a basket of rose petals sitting on a small bench next to it. 

Micky called out to her "Hey, Gabby, check this out!"  She moved in the direction of his voice and saw that he had ventured out to the patio, which had a small seating area and a Jacuzzi.  The patio was surrounded with sweet smelling flowering shrubs and mature trees, so it was entirely secluded.  He turned to her and asked "Want to start out here with one of your mythical Ayurvedic hydrotherapy sessions?"  He was making another inside joke referring to the time when they were in Palm Springs and she had lost a bet at backgammon and the wager had called for them to have sex in the pool.  That was her cheeky euphemism for what they got up to that night. 

Gabby closed her eyes and summoned up the memory, smiling to herself at the mischief and novelty of it, but remembering also that it wasn't entirely satisfying on her part.  "I'll tell you what.  We can have some fun in there, but let's save something for later.  I found that treatment fairly one-sided, if you know what I mean, and I'd like things to be even-Steven tonight.  I want to get as good as I give."

Micky nodded with comprehension.  "It's a deal."  He extended his hand to her, and she took it.  He kissed her hand, then unbuttoned the cuff on her blouse and began to kiss his way up her arm, planting small, warm kisses on her flesh as he rolled the fabric up, stopping at the crook of her arm to lick the sensitive juncture there.  When he had the first sleeve up as far as it could go, he switched sides and did the same to the other one.  He stepped closer to her and began to unbutton the front of her blouse slowly, listening to her breathing increase rapidly and monitoring for signs of panic, but all he heard was hunger and want and desire.  He left her blouse on once it was undone and just began to kiss the flesh that was more accessible now that it was open – her neck, her shoulders, her throat, her sternum.  He left her most sensitive places alone.  He let his hand run across her belly, which was still flat and babyless, and he felt a flicker of emotion that was complicated but mostly one of relief that he had the chance to start a clean slate with her with no baggage from the past and repercussions from their past misjudgment in trying to start a family.

He whispered into her ear "Wanna even-Steven up the situation and unbutton my shirt?"

She nodded and suited words to deed.  She fumbled a bit at first, but not for lack confidence or conviction, merely practice.  It had been more than a year since she had been intimate with Micky, and aside from that one night with Davy, she had been celibate.  She was just unaccustomed to performing these actions and was having to re-learn them.