He made love to her with his tongue and teeth and lips.
She arched her back, clutched the sheets with both hands, thrashed ecstatically.
As she raised herself, he slipped his hands under her, grabbed her rump, held her to him.
'Oh, Tony! Yes, yes!'
She was breathing deeply, rapidly. She tried to pull away from him when the pleasure became too intense, but then a moment later she thrust herself at him, begging for more. Eventually, she began to quiver all over, and those shallow tremors swiftly grew into wonderful wrenching shudders of pure delight. She gasped for breath and tossed her head and cried out deliriously, rode the wave within her, came and came again, lithe muscles contracting, relaxing, contracting, relaxing, until finally she was exhausted. She collapsed, and sighed.
He raised his head, kissed her fluttering belly, then moved up to tease her nipples with his tongue.
She reached down between them and gripped the iron hardness of him. Suddenly, as she anticipated this final joining, this complete union, she was filled with a new erotic tension.
He opened her with his fingers, and she released him from her hand, and he guided himself into her.
'Yes, yes, yes,' she said as he filled her up. 'My lovely Tony. Lovely, lovely, lovely Tony.'
'You're beautiful.'
It had never been sweeter for him. He braced himself above her on his fully-extended arms, looked down at her exquisite face. Their eyes locked, and after a moment it seemed that he was no longer merely staring at her, but into her, through her eyes, into the essence of Hilary Thomas, into her soul. She closed her eyes, and a moment later he closed his, and he discovered that the extraordinary bond was not destroyed when the gaze was broken.
Tony had made love to other women, but he had never been as close to any of them as he was to Hilary Thomas. Because this coupling was so special, he wanted to make it last a long time, wanted to bring her to the edge with him, wanted to take the plunge together. But this time he did not have the kind of control that usually marked his love-making. He was rushing toward the brink and could do nothing to stop himself. It was not just that she was tighter and slicker and hotter than other women he had known; it was not merely some trick of well- trained vaginal muscles; it was not that her perfect breasts drove him wild or that her silken skin was far silkier than that of any other women in his experience. All of those things were true, but it was the fact that she was special to him, extraordinarily special in a way that he had not yet even fully defined, that made being with her unbearably exciting.
She sensed his onrushing orgasm, and she put her hands on his back, pulled him down. He didn't want to burden her with his full weight, but she seemed unaware of it. Her breasts squashed against his chest as he settled onto her. She lifted her hips and ground her pelvis against him, and he thrust harder and faster. Incredibly, she started to come again just as he began to spurt uncontrollably. She held him close, held him tight, repeatedly whispering his name as he erupted and erupted within her, thickly and forcefully and endlessly within her, in the deepest and darkest reaches of her. As he emptied himself, a tremendous tide of tenderness and affection and aching need swept through him, and he knew that he would never be able to let her go.
***
Afterwards, they lay side by side on the bed, holding hands, heartbeats gradually easing.
Hilary was physically and emotionally wrung out by the experience. The number and startling power of her climaxes had shaken her. She'd never felt anything quite like it. Each orgasm had been a bolt of lightning, striking to the core of her, jolting through every fiber, an indescribably thrilling current. But Tony had given her a great deal more than sexual pleasure, she had felt something else, something new to her, something splendid and powerful that was beyond words.
She was aware that some people would say the word 'love' perfectly described her feelings, but she wasn't ready to accept that disturbing definition. For a long, long time, since her childhood, the words 'love' and 'pain' had been inextricably linked in Hilary's mind. She couldn't believe that she was in love with Tony Clemenza (or he with her), dared not believe it, for if she were to do so, she would make herself vulnerable, leave herself defenseless.
On the other hand, she had difficulty believing that Tony would knowingly hurt her. He wasn't like Earl, her father. He wasn't like anyone she had ever known before. There was a tenderness about him, a quality of mercy, that made her feel that she would be perfectly safe in his hands. Perhaps she ought to take a chance with him. Maybe he was the one man who was worth the risk.
But then she realized how she would feel if their luck together went sour after she had put everything on the line for him. That would be a hard blow. She didn't know if she would bounce back from that one.
A problem.
No easy solution.
She didn't want to think about it right now. She just wanted to lay beside him, basking in the glow that they had created together.
She began to remember their lovemaking, the erotic sensations that had left her weak, some of which still lingered warmly in her flesh.
Tony rolled onto his side and faced her. He kissed her throat, her cheek. 'A penny for your thoughts.'
'They're worth more than that,' she said.
'A dollar.'
'More than that.'
'A hundred dollars?'
'Maybe a hundred thousand.'
'Expensive thoughts.'
'Not thoughts, really. Memories.'
'Hundred-thousand-dollar memories?'
