Epiphany Sunday was my last as an employee of St. Luke’s. Everyone was generous with their praise, both from the pulpit and afterwards, in the courtyard, with a chocolate sheet cake to accompany our usual tea and coffee social time.
After one last check that I’d left everything tidy for my successor, I locked up my office in the parish house and handed over the key to Church Council Grace. Matt the Grace wrapped me in a long hug, and Quiet Grace kissed both Margo and I.
“You want to go to Semaphore?” I asked as we collected Parsley and set off.
Margo shook her head. “How about instead we just go home?”
On New Year’s Day, we’d driven up to Austin to clear the rest of her stuff out of her apartment. She’d sold the furniture Cole didn’t want to the new tenant, and everything else fit in the back of my truck. Once we’d dropped Cole at the airport, we returned to Rockport and transferred her remaining possessions from the hotel and her parents’ house, to mine.
Ours.
Cole teased us about jumping into living together so fast, but since Ignatius’s tour started right after Valentine’s Day, we weren’t going to live in my house much at all. He’d offered tour bus space for me and Parsley, but I’d be back and forth depending on my gig work. I’d reached out to churches in all his tour cities, and already lined up several coinciding dates where I would be stepping in as a sub for vacationing choir directors. On top of that, I was playing in a few festivals, offering a series of handbell clinics, and had adapted my home mixing studio set-up to be road ready. It was enough to pay my mortgage and keep Parsley in kibble as Margo and I figured out how to balance traveling and working together.
I wasn’t worried about it. I hadn’t second-guessed a moment since New Year’s Eve, when I’d paced the beach watching her kayak approach, fearing she’d cast my love out with the tide. Fearing that I was leaping from a discontented safety, not into a terrifyingly new rightness, but into a prickly desolation.
But I’d landed in bliss.
She loved me back.
“What’s that smile for?” Margo asked.
I flashed her a significant look and waggled my eyebrows. She broke into a grin and started to jog the rest of the way home. Parsley bounded after her, and I followed more slowly, enjoying the sight of Margo’s dark hair and Parsley’s bright fur streaming behind them as they approached our home.
I’d unbuttoned my cuffs and pulled off my tie by the time I locked the door, shutting us in. Margo waited for me in the threshold of the office, boots kicked off and long skirt already skimming down her curves.
“Were you planning to seduce me?” I teased.
“No,” she said, sauntering closer and sliding her arms around my neck. “I was just going to let you take me.”
I couldn’t resist a delighted laugh as I swept her into my arms and kissed her deeply. She tasted like tea and sunshine, and I lost myself in the sweetness of her mouth as my hands roamed over her body.
We moved to the futon, shedding clothes along the way. Margo lay back, watching me with half-lidded eyes as I gazed down at her. Her skin was soft and luscious, her hair a dark halo around her head. She looked like a goddess, her body made for me to worship.
We came together slowly, our kisses lazy, luxurious. We had all day. We had weeks, and months. We had years. I kissed her with the weight of our future between us, and she held me to her like it was forever.
Each gentle undulation of her hips into mine built the urgency between us. We had all the time, yes, but I needed her pleasure now. I slid out of her hold and spread her legs.
“Karl,” she gasped as I lowered my head.
I didn’t answer, lost in the perfection of her body. In the slick heat of her desire on my tongue. I teased her clit, tasting and thumbing and thrumming until she shook on the edge of orgasm. Then I backed off, relishing her frustrated protest as evidence that she trusted me with her desire. I needed that desire; it gave my soul wings.
I nipped each trembling thigh, and went back to the center of my joy. Her sheath pulled against my thrusting fingers, and my cock throbbed in anticipation. But that bliss could wait; Margo’s orgasm couldn’t. I licked and sucked until she was coming hard on my tongue, arching into me, her hands tangling in my hair as we found her release.
I nuzzled my way up her body and claimed the kiss she offered me.
“That was,” she breathed, “amazing.”
I grinned and kissed her again. “I aim to please.”
“Speaking of please, would you please fuck me right this instant?”
I didn’t need to be asked twice. I aligned our bodies and pushed forward until we were both gasping for air. Margo’s tight heat surrounded me, and I fought to keep the pounding urgency at bay as we rocked together. The bliss was exquisite, but it wouldn’t last long at this rate.
So I took her hard and fast, giving in to the need that drove us both. Margo’s hands clenched on my back as she cried out in ecstasy, her body bowing beneath me as she found her pleasure again. I followed suit with a hiss of satisfaction, pumping deep into her as my climax tore through me.
We collapsed together, trembling and sweaty and weak with the force of what we’d shared. Neither of us spoke as our heartbeats slowed and our breathing returned to normal. Margo traced patterns on my chest with one finger, and I stroked my hand up and down her spine.
This was peace, and faith.
This was love, and joy.
This was home.