Summer Haikus – Chapter 28

Masa opens the door to his quiet and dark apartment and steps aside to let me in first. I reach to my right and flick on the light in the front entryway as he closes the door behind us with a muffled click.

“Take off your shoes,” he says, leaning back against the door.

I squat down to undo the straps across my ankles and he laughs.

“No. Bend over.”

Oh.

So he’s going to start before we’re even all the way into the apartment? I look him in the eyes as I lift my bag from my shoulders and let it fall to the ground next to me. Turning my back to him, I glance over my shoulder and bend way over, releasing the tiny buckles on my shoes, letting my ass waver in the air behind me. My skirt isn’t short, but in this position, he’s getting an excellent view of my black underwear.

“Your legs are unbelievable, Isa. This muscle right here…” He steps closer to me and drags the tip of his index finger up from the back of my knee along the back of my leg to the edge of my underwear. My muscles tighten in response.

“Hamstrings,” I fill in, stepping out of my heels as he lays his hands on my hips from behind.

“I love that ridge there. I don’t see that on many women.”

I press my back against his chest and reach up to run my fingers through his hair, relishing the freedom I now have with him. A week ago I lay in bed next to Masa, dying to touch him, and didn’t feel like I could. It would have been crossing a line. Now the lines have disappeared, washed away by a wave that comes ashore and takes etchings in the sand back out to sea. You never even knew they were there to begin with.

“You have to lift weights to get that. Leg curls and adductors. Though I haven’t been to the gym since we got here.”

Halley goes to a local gym. I wish I went with her.

Masa takes my hand in his and brings it down across my chest so he can kiss my neck. I tilt my head to the side so he has access to all the space between my ear and my clavicle, laying his lips on each inch he comes across. I sigh and giggle at the fluttering kisses tickling me when I’m so turned on. I never laughed with Alex. We didn’t have that kind of relationship.

I reach my hand around to his backside and squeeze his butt, something I’ve always wanted to do. Masa is not an exerciser, by any stretch of the imagination, though I know he does sit-ups. The very idea of the gym gives him hives, but he has a bike he likes to ride, and he walks all over campus when he’s not feeling lazy. The exercise he does get has been good for his body as well.

“Oooh,” he says, jumping at my hand as it comes around to the front of his pants. “Going there so quickly?”

I answer by pushing my backside against him, swaying back and forth to get him going then stepping away and taking his hand.

“Come with me.” I pull his hand as he tries to get out of his shoes. I tug once and he trips forward and laughs when he slams into me. I let go as he’s trying to right himself and run for the bedroom.

Inside the door, I press myself against the wall and grab a handful of his shirt as he runs in after me. I prefer a repeat of kissing against the wall like we did at the ryokan, so I pull his face to mine and kiss him, throwing all the passion I stored up this evening into my lips on his. He responds, hungry and hurried, the week’s worth of time between the izakaya and now piling up like a violent car crash in stormy weather. He fumbles at my shirt, tucked into my skirt, and slows down, relieved once my skin is exposed.

“Be close to me, Isa?”

My heart comes undone, softening into a lump in the center of my chest. We’re in the middle of passionate play, and I forgot how sweet and romantic Masa is deep down inside.

“Always,” I say, answering with a kiss.

The night is a blur of limbs, deep kisses, and, of course, a condom because Masa is always prepared.

I could cry from being so satisfied. With every beat of my heart, my body is happy all the way down to my cells. Masa is everything I’ve looked forward to for months, years. I sigh happily, so complete and perfect, warm and comforting. I’m so glad we finally made it to this moment.

Even though we’ve both finished, he kisses my cheeks and smiles.

“I hope you’ll want to go again,” he says, blowing cool air down my hot and sweaty body. Ooooh, that feels good.

“Hot summer nights with lots of air conditioning, and it’s only midnight,” I say, glancing at the clock. “We have plenty of hours together.”

Lying down, he gathers up the covers and me in them, cradling my back against his chest and kissing the top of my head.

“I hope we have lots more than that.”