CHAPTER 11

Mike cut him off quickly. "Alright, alright, first of all, you are way too young to be talking like that. Secondly, you go around comparing women to each other, none of 'em will ever wanna go out with you. Get my drift?"

"Yeah, guess that's true. Girls, man. They have way too many rules."

Mike chuckled. "Some things never change."

"Anyhow, I'm off. We're about to start a game of Marco Polo."

"Take it easy Tyler. Stay out of trouble!"

As he ran off, Melody came over with their food. "Having fun?"

"You know it," Mike replied. "I'm glad Tyler and Sasha got into their charter school last year. They're both great kids, and now they can actually show it."

"Well Sandra's right, they both adore you. Not hard to see why," she said with a wink.

"So, what'd you and Sandra talk about?"

"Well, I told her how we met, where I moved from, all that stuff," Melody said. "She loved that I have an interest in photography; said there're tons of opportunities for good work around Atlanta." Melody's face turned more serious for a moment. "She really cares for you, you know."

Mike stopped chewing for a moment. "Why do you say that?"

Melody shrugged. "She made a point of asking me what my intentions are with you. She said you've been hurt in the past, mainly due to the fact that, when you decide to love, you love completely. She said you deserve something real, and that I needed to be on board with that."

Mike was dumbfounded. "She said all that? How… how did you respond?"

She smiled sweetly. "I told the truth. I told her that you're the most incredible man I've ever met in my life; that in the short time I've known you, you've brought more joy and fulfillment to my life than I had ever thought possible. I promised her that I would never hurt you, and that anyone who would is either brain-dead or heartless."

Mike didn't know what was more touching, Sandra's dedication to looking out for his best interests, or Melody's harsh rebuke of anyone who would ever hurt him.

Just as he was afraid he might get emotionally overwhelmed, Sasha ran over to tackle him one last time. "Mr. Mike! I have to go to bed soon, so I wanted to come say goodnight!"

"Well goodnight then, cutie! You danced really well today."

"Thanks," she said with an adorable little girl giggle. "I forgot to ask earlier, who's your new friend?" She looked shyly at Melody.

Mike got down on his knees to Sasha's level, motioning for Melody to do the same. "Sasha, this is Melody. She's my girlfriend. Say hi."

"Hi," she said timidly. Turning back to Mike, she whispered, "She's really pretty, isn't she?"

Mike couldn't help but beam. "I think you're right about that."

"So Sasha," Melody said, "I saw you and your mom playing a hand clap game earlier. Do you think you could teach me how to play?"

The little girl's face lit up. "Sure!"

Over the next five minutes, Sasha taught Melody all the finer points of "Miss Mary Mack." All too soon, Melody was handling it like a pro. As he watched them playing, Mike could tell what was happening. He had never expected it to happen this quickly, but he couldn't ignore the facts.

I'm in love with this girl. No holds barred, head over heels, in love.

Only the sound of Sandra calling her daughter for bedtime snapped him back to reality.

"I had so much fun with you today," Melody said. "Let's do it again soon, ok?"

"Ok. Goodnight!" Sasha ran off to her mother.

Discarding their paper plates and cups, Mike asked, "You ready to head back?"

"Sure am," Melody replied.

As they strolled back in the twilight of the early evening, Melody spoke rather hesitantly. "Mike, I have a question."

"Of course. What's up?"

"Well… it's just that, oh god, how do I put this?"

Mike put his arm around her shoulders. "It's ok. I just want to know what's on your mind. Nothing more."

She took a deep breath. "Ok. We both know about my innate nature of being a sexual genie servant. We both also know that, even if I weren't bound to you, I'd willingly choose to be with you in a heartbeat. With all of this, plus our obvious attraction to each other, I guess my question is, why haven't you made any moves to… take things further with me? Please know that I'm not insulted, or worried. Just curious."

Looking directly into her eyes, he took her hands in his and began to explain.

"Melody, in today's modern world, I believe one of the biggest mistakes people make is to have the belief that 'sex creates intimacy.' I believe that giving yourself completely to someone else magnifies what's already there. If the relationship has trust, communication, and genuine love built on commitment, rather than desire, sex can only enhance that bond. However, if the relationship is built on superficial wants and desires, sex will, at best, bring nothing to the table or, at worst, cause the entire relationship to crumble.

"I'm going to be honest with you Melody. While I'm no virgin, I've never slept with any girl that I didn't truly love. If I couldn't envision myself spending the rest of my life with her, even through the worst scenarios imaginable, then I knew it wouldn't be worth it in the end. This whole day has been one big whirlwind, and I've just been trying to keep up. The truth is I didn't know how I felt… that is, until I saw you and Sasha together a few minutes ago.

"My last girlfriend was one of the sweetest people you could meet, but in hindsight, she had one flaw that I completely missed: she was never great with kids. They always made her uncomfortable, no matter the setting. But you, after seeing you and Sasha playing, seeing you connect with her in a really special way, I can't ignore what's staring right at me."

Gently cupping her face in his hands, he drew her close, and whispered the words that he had been hoping he'd be able to say, and mean.

"I love you, Melody."

As tears of joy streamed down her face, he kissed her lips softly, caressing her cheeks and wiping away her tears as he did so. Breathless, it took every ounce of effort Melody had to be able to respond.

"I… I love you too."

Their eyes locked, their breathing synchronized, the pair could feel the electricity around them. Taking her hand, Mike led Melody quickly back to his apartment. As soon as Mike secured the dead bolt, Melody attacked him in a passionate embrace. As she pressed her lips to his, their tongues wrestling with increasing intensity, Mike thought to himself, no way is she taking the lead this time.

He deftly maneuvered her around, pinning her against the door, never once breaking their kiss. She moaned in delight, loving the feeling of her master… no, her lover, and the most incredible man in the universe, telling her in every way possible that she was the most important thing in the world to him. As she began to run her fingers through his short, fine hair, she felt his hands begin to travel southward, his nimble fingers undoing the button of her jean shorts before lowering the zipper. She chuckled seductively and turned to face the door with her back to him, and shook her glorious ass in his face, beckoning him to remove her shorts. Obliging, he slowly slid them down her thighs, revealing a black pair of lacy boy short panties. He could tell that they were perfectly tight, riding up just the right amount into her crack, and accentuating her slightly exposed cheeks beautifully. Caressing them with his hands, he gave a little squeeze before spinning her back around.

She giggled in pleasure, her smile a mile wide. They resumed their heavy make out session, as Mike's hands continued their exploration. Slipping them under her black V-neck shirt, he ran his fingers over her flat tummy before his right hand moved to gently cup her left breast. As he gently squeezed it, he moved his left hand around to the small of her back, steadying her against his body as he began to kiss her exposed neck. As she wrapped her left leg around his right, it was all Melody could do to just hang on to his neck as he continued finding all of her favorite pleasure spots.

Suddenly getting a few excellent ideas, Mike, without halting his caressing, wished to Melody telepathically.

I wish to be strong enough to carry you.

Tingle. Flash. Done.