This story is intended for mature readers who are not offended by sexually explicit content.

I walked along Main Street and every so often glanced at my reflection in the shop windows. Even I could see the bit of bounce I had as I walked. I was feeling full of energy and knew it was from the wonderful morning I had spent with Marcus.

He had woken me up with a tug on my left breast. His fingers tweaking the nipple just enough to make me squirm. I loved it when he woke me up like this, all horny and needy. There is something sexy about the smell of sleep on your lover, his body all warm and smooth. Free from any tensions beginning to show, when the stress of the day wears on.

I started to talk and he whispered, "Shh, don't say anything, just feel," and I did. His hand splayed across my belly and his nimble fingers began to massage. Ever so slightly whisking closer to my line of pubic hair running straight across from groin to groin

His lips barely touched the skin of my neck, and his hot breath burned the blood beneath, like a flame igniting a furnace. His fingers continued to slip downwards, and I let them, encouraged them in fact, by opening my legs further.

I love the feeling you get when you open your legs for the first time, how it causes your labia to open slightly, and the air rushes in cooling the heat of you.

That's exactly how it was earlier with Marcus. I don't know if I ever told him how much I liked that feeling, but he has a way of knowing what I like without me having to voice it directly. Sometimes, though, it's fun to say it aloud just to see his shocked reaction.

This morning, as his fingers delved deeper, I didn't speak, just as he had asked. You hear occasionally someone say how time seems to stand still for one reason or another. It didn't feel like time stopped, but it certainly felt like things were happening in slow motion. I noticed every little movement. How his middle finger did most of the swirling, and the way he used the pads of his fingers instead of the tips. I was aware of his day's growth of beard against my neck and how it prickled. I could hear his easy breaths turn to deeper ones as he worked.

I could feel the tiny hairs on his arm brushing against the inner part of my thigh, and I could feel his penis twitching and reaching out against my outer leg.

Everything was slow and gentle. We had lots of lovemaking bouts that were fast and physical, ending in sweaty, tired muscles. This time it was simple touching.

I was going to just lie and let him continue, but I needed to have something in my hand, and his penis was right there. It was natural for me to grab onto it and begin to match him touch for touch. It's amazing how soft the tip is. Small droplets of semen had bubbled out, and with the pad of my middle finger I rubbed it around.

His finger pressed inside the folds of me and dipped into my vagina. There were little noises of swishing moisture. As he did, I wrapped my hand completely around his shaft. His pulse beat beneath. We lay there together, side by side and masturbated the other in rhythm. It was personal and beautiful and it was love.

And now eight hours later I was still feeling the exuberance of it. What a beautiful day. Marcus had called and asked me to meet him for dinner. He hinted he had a serious question to ask me. I didn't want to assume anything, and yet I got the feeling he was going to ask me to marry him.

Marcus had never been married. I had been once for a brief, very ugly time. Marcus and I had been seeing each other for over a year and a half. I was ready to take the plunge again. My relationship with him was nothing like the first disaster.

So as I walked I gained confidence that by the end of the evening I was going to be engaged. It made me smile, and several people I passed actually smiled back. The day still seemed to be running in slow motion, and my awareness remained heightened. The sun was extraordinarily bright and reflected off the cars parked along side the walkway.

A woman passed and the breeze grabbed hold of her perfumed scent and tossed it in front of me. The sounds of a busy city street were all around, and yet I could hear two children giggling across the road.

I stepped inside the restaurant and half expected some dark room full of ambiance for a marriage proposal. Instead it was light. In fact, the sun shone through the windows so brightly that it was difficult to see Marcus sitting at a small booth.

He called my name and stood up. "Hiya, baby," he said. I loved it when he called me baby, and he knew it.

He kissed me on the cheek and nodded towards the seat for me to sit. He held my hands, both of them in his, and I noticed his hands were a little moist. Sweaty palms, Marcus was nervous. And I smiled.

"You know Baby, there's something I need to ask you."

The waitress came over, and Marcus let out a huge sigh. And I grinned. We ordered drinks and put off ordering food just yet. He grabbed my hands again and instead of continuing his little speech, he just looked at me.

Marcus had a dreamy look to his eyes most of the time, something about the color of blue they were, or maybe it was the absence of lines around them. He looked at me now like he was trying to hypnotize me. I didn't dare speak. His fingers began to make tiny little circles in my palms, and I was reminded of the morning.

I don't mind saying that I wanted to scream at him to just ask me. For one thing, he was turning me on and my panties were getting damp. And secondly, the waitress was going to be back, and we would have to deal with menus.

Finally, he spoke again. "Baby, I want to ask you something, and I want you to think about it before you answer me. Promise me you won't say a word until you've thought about it?" I giggled and then agreed.

"OK, here goes ..." I supposed he wasn't going to get on his knees.

"I've been wondering for a very long time ..." his grip tightened on my hands and I could feel our pulses beating as one.

"If ..." He licked his lips. And I opened mine.

"Can we, um, well, can we ..." He let out his breath and I held mine.

"Can we get a dog?" He smiled, and my mouth dropped open.

Suddenly the energy I had been feeling all day dwindled. Did he really ask me to get a dog? I laughed hysterically. Marcus was a little confused, but I refused to tell him what I had been thinking.

We ordered our food, agreed on a dog, and the meal zipped past. Marcus had to hurry back to work and told me he would see me at home. He brushed the hair back from my eyes and held his face to mine briefly and was gone.

I left the restaurant. Clouds had moved in. Two people were arguing over a parking space. I poked along the sidewalk. A man bumped in to me and growled.

I reached my car and saw a pink slip on the windshield. Just perfect, I thought, a parking ticket to boot. I grabbed the slip and glanced at it. In bold black letters were the words: "DON"T WE HAVE TO BE MARRIED TO HAVE A DOG?"

What a beautiful day!