“So. How do think we should start?” Leo asked. He leaned forward and squeezed one of her knees. “Saffron?”
She started. Her dormant creativity might have just received an unexpected jump start, but her social skills were going through a serious regression.
“Oh, sorry!” she apologized. “I was…I was wondering if we should introduce ourselves, but then I thought I like being Saffron if you’re okay with being Leo?”
“A little bit of anonymity for the sake of privacy?”
“Yes, and, I don’t know…” She dropped her gaze to the fingertips worrying the seam of her stretchy pants. “I think Saffron might be more willing to be adventurous. When Elaine gave me the workshop for my birthday, I did everything I could to finagle my way out of going.” She smoothed her thigh and looked up at him. “But I went, and here we are.”
“Shall we start with something familiar then?” he asked, opening his copy of Gaia’s book.
She nodded. “I wouldn’t mind the back-to-back breathing.”
They pushed their cushions together. Anna reclaimed hers first, and Leo folded his legs after she settled. They leaned into each other’s backs, the extra layers of clothes buffering the initial sensation of physical intimacy. Leo’s entire body felt more substantial and slightly stiffer than before, and without Gaia’s verbal guidance, Anna was forced to pay more attention to her partner and his signals.
Which meant wading through all her internal commentary. The voice urging her to squeeze his biceps and run her hands up and down the sides of his torso was especially loud and provocative.
Leo gave a quiet cough and took a deep breath. “Before we get started, I just want you to know I’ve never done anything like this with anyone.”
His words vibrated through the wall of his chest and into her back. A flutter of nervous energy zipped up her front and back, and the beating of little wings wasn’t coming only from her flock.
“This is all so new to me too,” she admitted. “Do you want to go first?”
“You start. We worked to my rhythm at the workshop.”
Anna closed her eyes. Sunshine warmed one side of her face and the top of her head. She relaxed her jaw, closed her mouth, and brought attention to her inhale, followed by her exhale, over and over. She struggled with exaggerating each breath, wanting Leo to feel her ribcage expanding and contracting.
When she was able to stop overthinking—and micromanaging—every movement and allowed herself to sink into sensation, their breath and bodies synchronized naturally.
“It was easier for me to focus when Gaia was talking us through what to do.”
Sharing that was a relief. Leo hummed a quiet agreement. The novelty of being alone in her house with a man she was attracted to continued to feel just this side of awkward, but every tandem breath soothed another rough edge. Anna decided she could be happy with this, with sunshine at her front, a man’s warmth cradling her back. She leaned more of her weight against his expansive upper torso and gave a silent wish Leo would talk some more.
“I read something last night, a variation I’d like to try.” His voice, resonant and quiet, wrapped around her upper chest and soothed her fluttery belly.
“What is it?”
“After we breathe in, pause for a second or two then breathe out.”
“Okay.”
They paused, in tandem. Anna concentrated on not lifting her shoulders. It helped if she relaxed her entire arm down to her palm and fingertips.
“Now reverse it,” he said, after half a dozen slow breaths. “And do the holding thing after you breathe out.”
That was nice too. Gave her a sense they were waiting, together, in no rush to get on to the next thing, whatever the next thing might be. Birdsong coming from the tall bushes outside one of the windows added a delicacy to the moment.
Without either of them suggesting they move on to the next exercise, they stopped. Anna’s mind scrolled through what should come next. On the one hand, she knew it was fine to sit in silence. On the other hand, sitting in silence took practice, and no matter how nice it felt to have Leo at her back, he was still a stranger. Mostly.
“I’d like to try that one where we move the breath up and down the spine,” she offered, pleased she’d remembered an exercise she’d practiced a couple of times on her own on the ferry.
“Show me.” Leo peeled away. He shifted, placing one hand to the outside of her right hip so his chest was half turned in her direction. She opened the book and pointed. His breath fanned over her shoulder, warming her earlobe and the side of her neck.
“What do you think about this one?” She traced her finger over a drawing of two people, seated and facing each other, one leg over the other’s thigh. Swirling, colorful lines circled the bodies, illustrating the direction their breath and awareness should circulate throughout the exercise.
Leo reached for the book, the length of his arm brushing against hers. “That looks complicated, but we did something similar in the second workshop, so, yeah, sure.” He placed the open book on the floor next to the two cushions and waited for Anna to pivot and get situated before he bent his right leg in front of him. “Place your right leg like this. Then put your left leg over my right thigh.”
Anna giggled. Her butt was too close to the edge of her cushion, and she almost fell backward. Leo reached behind her, his hand supporting her lower back while she maneuvered her leg over his. She was having the hardest time staying on task. The warmth emanating from Leo’s hands and
