Child Brides of India

By C. Stanton Leman

Chapter 20: Looking ahead (Mg, rom, cons, oral, anal, ws)

Things for the next week were good for Priya, Sarah and Haseeba, and outwardly for me too. Priya’s studies were back on track and Sarah had been bringing home Haseeba’s homework and helping her catch up with Priya occasionally pitching in. I was going to the office every day now and getting into a routine.

Dad was really force-feeding me details he wanted me to know so that he could return to the States. Mom was going to stay on for a while and teach Priya how to run the house, the staff and how to plan functions as the need arose.

I sometimes felt like I was walking around in a fog, my thoughts clouded by the perverse fantasy I’d played out using Priya as a surrogate for my lust. Wracked with guilt and remorse, I sometimes just sat in my office or a bathroom stall and cried. I wondered if I could ever look at Priya again and see her — and not some hideous illusion. Would I again be able to love my wife as my wife? Could I ever hope to find relief from my torment and be content with one child like Mohammad? Aisha was his one, true love and in death, his only regret was leaving her behind.

I pondered these things in grief and clung to the one shred of sanity I had left: my love for my little chocolate colored bride. “Oh how I love you, my Beloved!” I would pine, “Help me, my darling. Save me from myself lest I lose you too.”

Priya was beginning to notice and become fearful; fearful that I was losing my faith and love for her because of her demon. I would play the pissing games for her demon’s need and pleasure and I was happy, in a crazy sort of way, that I could at least make her happy and feel accepted. If only she could accept and help me with mine…

Whenever she would shudder in climax or delight at having sated her beast, I knew the feeling of satiating the beast and the blissful peace of being left alone until the next time he came calling.

Her love was my beacon through the fog and I sailed my crippled ship toward its beckoning beacon. My only hope was that I didn’t break apart on the reef so close to the comforting port of her heart.

I drew strength from the memory of the first time I looked into Priya’s dark, obsidian black eyes and the enveloping warmth and love I so longed to wrap myself with - that was my hope. Without hope, there is only a mindless existence like a ship listlessly battered through an endless typhoon. “I need you so much, but I dare not reveal the blackness that hides within me,” I would cry.

And then, I thought of the words of the Imam. “… Deep in her heart you will find your bride, search it out.” I thought good thoughts to bolster my strength. Her ‘chocolate blushes’, her beautiful smile and the love she gave so freely of herself. She’d done the right thing and shared her demon with me knowing it was bigger that herself: why couldn’t I?

Haseeba had been home at Adib’s with Sarah for a week, and it was now time for her to return to school. She was very apprehensive and didn’t want to go back and face everyone, but Priya reassured her that she wouldn’t have to face things alone.

That Monday, Priya and I picked up Sarah and Haseeba and headed for school. When we arrived, Haseeba didn’t want to leave the car, but Priya said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Sarah and I will not leave your side. If anyone tries to taunt you, we’ll be there to defend you.”

Haseeba’s eyes were about to overflow when she said, “Do you promise you won’t leave me to the wolves?”

Priya smiled and said to her, “We’ve brought you this far, haven’t we? You can depend on us. Just have some faith and trust in us, okay?”

“Okay.”

With that, I opened the car door and they began to exit. Once outside the car, Sarah and Priya flanked Haseeba arm-in-arm and started for the school door. People were gathered in clusters and watched wide-eyed with mouths agape as all three approached them.

One of the girls, looking at Haseeba with disgust, started to say something to her when Priya looked her dead in the eyes and said, “Not a word. Haseeba’s my friend and no one is going to abuse her.” With that, they walked through the doors and into school.

I had a deep sense of pride in my wife. She’d shown me in a very short time that she was so much stronger than me and I was slowly destroying myself inside and fighting a losing battle. The self-loathing was only reinforced by the fact that I now knew the depth of my own depravity. I couldn’t get that descriptive phrase out of my mind and I was continually haunted by it every time I heard the beast taunt me, whispering ‘Child fucker.’

He’d always emphasized the word “Fucker” like someone twisting a knife in your gut.

I sat in the car, pleading my prayer of supplication to Allah for my release from bondage. The walls of my mind were slowly collapsing in around me. I prayed for a sign, any kind of sign that would end my torment.

Surprisingly, by the time I got to the office, I felt better and even began to get things done. I ate a light lunch in my office and kept working. The activity seemed to keep my mind off of my troubles.

After work, I waited outside school for about five minutes for the girls to come out. All three exited as they had gone in: arm-in-arm with Priya and Sarah flanking a more relaxed Haseeba.

When they got in the car, Haseeba told her friends, “Thank you so much! I’ve never known what it’s like to have true friends who would help me face my fears. Looking back, it was worth the pain I endured to have found such friendship in my life.”

Her words pierced my heart. Everyone around me was coping with their demons by sharing their presence with someone of trust. When am I going to grow up and do the same?

Ramadan was upon us and Priya and I devoted ourselves to a month of fervent prayer. Priya’s was marked with open, joyous praise for having followed her heart and saving a soul. Mine was fraught with silent pleading for relief that left me mentally and emotionally exhausted.

All of this didn’t go unnoticed. At dinner one night, Mom asked me, “Are you alright, Sean? You’ve been looking like you’re struggling with something.”

Priya and Dad looked at me and I replied, “Yes, Mom, I’m fine. I guess I’m a little overwhelmed by having to force feed myself with so much in such a short time. I’m getting over it slowly. I’ll be fine.”

With a worried look, Dad asked me, “Do you want me to delay leaving for the States for while? I will if you want?”

“No, Dad,” I replied. “I’ll be fine. Keep to your schedule and leave next week as planned.” Trying to deflect their worry, I added, “Besides, I’ve got the 152 brainiac here to keep me straight.” Priya giggled along with Mom and Dad and with that, it seemed to close the subject.

Things went pretty smoothly for the week. Haseeba was back in the groove at school with Sarah and Priya’s help, and I was getting more done at the office. Mom and Priya went over Priya’s new duties as the woman of the house and she was slowly learning to manage the household along with her studies.

It was a tearful day at the airport when we saw Dad off, especially for him. He held Priya in his arms and tearfully said to her, “I am going to miss you dearly, child. You know I love you as my own daughter, don’t you?”

Looking up over his chest, she sweetly replied, “Don’t cry, Father, I’m a chip off the ‘ole block, right? Besides, you’ll get to welcome me back in the U.S. when I get my visa, right?”

Dad hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head and said, “Give your father a big kiss goodbye.”

Priya jumped up and flung her arms around his neck and as he held her up, she kissed him full on the lips. He set her down with tears in his eyes and turned to my mom. He held her tenderly and said, “I love you now more than at any other time in my life! Take good care of them and I’ll see you soon.” He then kissed her passionately.

Dad looked at me and said, “Take good care of the women in our family, I’m counting on you.”

I told him, “You can count on it, Dad.” We hugged, he kissed me on the cheek and we shook hands goodbye. He then picked up his bag, turned and walked to the gate.

Mom and Priya cried most of the way home from the airport. When we got home, we somberly lounged at the dining room table and talked.

Mom said to Priya, “I look at you and I can’t help but be so very proud of how much you’ve grown and matured these past two months!”

Priya gave a nice chocolate blush and said, “I couldn’t have done it without Allah’s help and the love of my husband and you and Father. In some ways, I love you more than my own mother.”

Mom started to cry as she smiled and replied, “You are the daughter I could never have. I’ve never told anyone this, but after Sean was born, I developed cysts on my ovaries and couldn’t have any more children. I so wanted a girl and there was always an empty spot in my heart for a girl.”

Looking at me, she continued, “I love you, Sean with every breath I take, but my heart pined for a girl.”

Looking back at Priya, she placed her hand on hers and said, “And now God has given you to me.”

Priya rose and went to her, hugging Mom to her breast. Mom hugged her tightly as Priya comforted her. We all cried at this tender moment.

My spirit was uplifted in knowing that Allah had indeed ordained my marriage to this remarkable chocolate colored pixie and that many unanswered prayers were finally heard that one night back in June.

Over the next several months, Priya not only kept to her academic timetable, she learned to take command of our home under the watchful and caring eye of my mother. She also helped Haseeba with her studies occasionally and began, at the persistent pestering of her impish cousin, to spend several nights a week at her uncle’s teaching little Aleeya English.

Allah had answered my plea for help and I was given a reprieve from my inner beast. I was now totally immersed in the running of our plant and I began to institute some fair labor practices into your operation. At first, Dad was worried about the cost, but as productivity began to rise he admitted it was the right thing to do.

It was now mid December and at dinner one night, Mom softly said, “Sean, Priya, now that it seems Priya has total control of your home, I think it’s time for me to return to my husband.”

I looked down in sadness. Priya dropped her fork and with her hands over her face began to cry.

Leaning over, Mom started rubbing her back and said, “There, there now, don’t cry. I’m sure you can understand what it must feel like if you were separated from Sean. I miss John and he needs me. Remember what I told you about men needing nose wipes and cuddles?”

Priya gave a halted chuckle and resumed crying while Mom continued, “Well, Father is in dire need of some nose wipes and cuddles… and I miss him so.”

Priya cried out, “Oh Mom, I feel my heart breaking. Another door is closing in my life, and I love you so! On one hand, I feel proud that you’ve taught me to be a good wife and how to take care of my husband, but also I will miss your gentle loving guidance and support.”

Leaning over and taking her hand began to stroke it saying, “Priya, look at me.” She waited for Priya to obey. When Priya was looking at her with tearful eyes, Mom continued, “Do you remember what I told you the morning after your wedding day that I would always be there for you, no matter what?”

Priya sniffled and nodded.

“I will!” Mom said. “Just because I’m not here to tell you what you know how to do, I am only a phone call away. Day or night: it doesn’t matter when. I’ll always be there for you.

“You have flowered into a beautiful woman! You may only be eleven, but you are a good and faithful wife. You put your husband and marriage above all else. You manage your home with love. You have goals and have your priorities straight. Don’t you realize that many women two or three times your age haven’t yet learned how to do what comes naturally to you? What more can I teach you?

“Always remember, Sweetheart, when you become a mother, your job will be to teach your children to leave you. I know that may seem cruel, but to truly love your children, you have to give them the skills to leave and start their own lives, just as your parents have done with you. Don’t you realize that your love and marriage to Sean has already given birth to a new life? Look at Haseeba. You have given birth to a new life for her and you’re teaching her to go away and find her own happiness.

“You cannot lock someone you love in a cage - no matter whether it’s gilded with gold or not. You have to do the most painful thing in your life and let them go. If you’ve done right, they will return to you: not out of bondage or obligation, but out of the love you’ve given them.

“You are a woman of faith. Haven’t you learned that God never closes any doors in your life? He closes a window, casting the room in darkness. He’s telling you to open the door to the next step in your life and walk into the sunlight. You can choose to remain in the dark, stuck in your life floundering, or you can open the door and move on to what new blessings God has in store for you.

“I have a confession to make. When you left here that first night, I lay in bed and wondered what would happen in my life having a dark skinned daughter-in-law: could I accept that? Could I be as brave as you’ve been to deal with the prejudices and hurt? But over the months, I prayed and watched you flower from a precocious little girl into a beautiful woman.

“I was reading the Bible one night and read the passage that when we are conceived, God wondrously fashions us with His own hands. No one else the world is exactly like you: you are that special in His eyes. God gave you your dark skin to make you strong. Strong enough to be ready for the gift of love He placed in your heart for Sean. God then opened my eyes to your true beauty. And I said, ‘Damn the world and what they think. You are God’s gift to me, and I cherish you.’

“I would never leave you if I felt in my heart that you weren’t ready to go on and live your new life with your husband. I want to see your twelfth birthday, so I’ll stay until then. We still have a few weeks together, so don’t fret, my child. I’m here for a little while longer, but my job here is done and I have to get on with my life with my husband.”

Chuckling, Mom added, “You know Father; he can throw such temper tantrums when he’s left to his own devices for too long.”

Priya managed a sniffled giggle and she looked at Mom with pure love in her eyes. She jumped from her chair into my mother’s arms hugging her and said sweetly to her, “I love you, Mommy!”

Crying, Mom softly said to her, “And I love you too.”

We tried to finish dinner, but Priya would take a few bites and then begin crying again. Mom finally patted her hand and said, “Eat your veggies, Sweetie. They’ll make your boobies grow!”

Priya sniffled again and giggling replied, “But Sean likes my little boobies, don’t you?”

Smiling back at her I said, “I sure do! More than a mouthful is a waste.”

Mom, being her usual stinker self put in as she hefted her boobs, “Well, I guess that means your father sure has a big mouth!” Leave it to Mom to end things with a joke.

After dinner, none of us were in any mood for TV or a movie, so we all said goodnight and went to each of our bedrooms. Priya and I silently undressed and got in bed. Priya laid herself in her favorite position, half draped over my side with her leg across my thigh.

She looked up at me and said, “I’m sure gonna miss Mom, but I’ll always have you, right?”

“Always,” I said. “I could never leave you. You are my salvation.”

“Salvation from what?”

“From whatever comes along. You know you’re stronger than I.”

“Whatever you need saving from, you’ll never have to face anything in life alone - ever.”

I rolled her on her back and kissed her with tender passion. I cupped her left breast and started to massage her nipple. She moaned a soft “Mmmmm. I can feel it tingle in my toes.” I slowly let my hand wander over her body, just taking in her softness, her dainty features.

Time waits for no one and so it is with puberty. As I moved my hand down to her mons, I could feel more hairs growing there. I said to her, “You’re growing more hair.”

She untwined herself from my arms and looked down and nodded. She cupped her hands under her tiny breasts and said, “But I won’t change much up here. My breasts are like my mother’s. She has these funny looking protruding nipples.”

I told her, “They’re called ‘puffy’ nipples. Most girls lose them when they mature.”

She looked at her breasts and then back up to me and replied, “Well, Mom’s are a little bigger than mine, but our nipples are the same shape. Sarah is the only one in our family with big boobs.”

Still rubbing her mons, I said, “I wish you didn’t grow hair though, I love the feel of your bare pubes: it feels as soft as cashmere.”

She looked up at me and asked softly, “You like me as a child, don’t you.”

It was a statement, not a question. Did she have an inkling? Did she suspect all along?

I smiled and softly said, “Yes, yes I do.”

She turned on her side, and propped her head in her arm and asked, “Do you want me to get rid of all my hair for you… forever?”

“Would you?”

“Yes, I would.”

“Forever?” I asked to be certain.

“I’ll have it removed forever if that’s what you want.”

“It is. You are so beautiful to me the way you are now, I’d hate to see you change.”

Priya looked down between us silent for a moment and asked, “Sean?”

“Yes?”

“Do you love me more than anything else in the world?”

I quickened and looked at her for a moment and replied, “More than anything or anyone.”

“Are we bonded together forever?”

“Priya, why do you ask? Neither God nor the devil can separate us. Your love is my life’s blood. Not tomorrow or the day after, never. Even death cannot separate us.”

‘From the first moment our eyes met, I knew this was ordained by Allah. Please, Sean, make love to me.”

With that, she lay back down on her back and took me in her arms pulling me with her. I kissed her deeply and began to rub her shoulder. I caressed her neck and down to her sternum and back up to her upper chest, and her skin began to get goose bumps. I continued my light touches and moved my hand to her armpit and under her left breast, coming to a stop when I cupped her breast tenderly in my hand.

With the pads of my fingers, I traced circles around her bulbous bud and coaxed her nipple to become erect. She moaned a pleasured sigh in my mouth and sought out my member with her hand. She enfolded it gently and with a light touch began to stroke me up and down. She’d tickle the head with the pads of her fingers and go back to pumping me.

I latched onto her left breast, holding just her bulbous protrusion in my mouth while I swirled my tongue around her areola and end each swirl by flicking my tongue over the top of her hardened nipple. I finished by sucking in her entire breast. I relished its softness, the fact that all of it would fit in my mouth. I could feel the end of her nipple tickling the back of my mouth.

It’s funny how the mind plays tricks on the brain, because each time I suckled at her breasts, there was a sweetness, almost as if I could taste her milk. Her soft, light and intoxicating taste is divine.

I released her breast to administer to her right the lavish attention I had given her left. She arched her back slightly, feeding me her budding gift and softly moaned out, “Oh God, Sean, I love you so much!”

As I feasted at her breasts, my hand made its way to her center. Priya was copiously wet and began to immediately rotate her hips, matching the rhythm of my touches. My middle finger slipped easily into her folds and I picked up her juices with my finger, dragging her lubrication up to her exposed clitty. As I traced circles around her tiny bud, she would quiver and occasionally whisper “Oh, God!”

Not wanting to bring her off just yet, I left her tingle button and traced a line through her crease, then slowly down her perineum to her back door. I traced her little star with my finger and she responded by thrusting her hips upward, trying to coax my finger in. After teasing her for a few moments, I applied gentle pressure to her anus and pushed inside about two inches. She shuddered and in a lustful groan said, “I’m such a nasty girl, I love you in my ass!”

I simply held my finger in her nether hole while she fucked herself on it. I left her right breast and while still keeping my finger impaled in her ass, crawled down and began to lick her vulva. I lapped up her flowing nectar and headed north to her clit. I stopped at her urethra and sucked the little hole into my mouth hard. I took her by surprise because she gave a deep guttural “Uuuhhh” and came suddenly and hard. She jerked her pelvis up, impaling another inch of my finger in her rectum, painfully squeezing my finger and squealed as she spasmed twice before falling back to the bed. My dick was so hard it was throbbing in pain!

Priya was heavily panting through her nose when she opened her eyes, and she had a look of pure lust. She looked at me as if possessed and said like a tigress hunting her prey, “Fuck me! Fuck my little girl pussy. Fuck me, Sean.”

I arose over top of her and plunged into her in a single thrust. Her pussy was scalding! She was so hot she was on fire. She locked her legs behind my back, wrapped her arms around me pulling herself up to embrace me and biting my shoulder, growled a guttural “Mmmmpphh.”

I couldn’t move; she’d contracted her vaginal muscles so tight she locked me in place. The sudden impaling must have triggered another orgasm because with me still locked in her velvety tube, she just flexed her cervix over the head of my cock in jerking flinches that lasted about ten seconds.

When she relaxed, I began slow, deep thrusts, of about five or six inches, and each time I’d bump her cervix, shed grunt out a “Uuuhh.”

Priya was now looking directly into my eyes with the look of a hungry animal, and saying, “You like my baby pussy?”

“Yes! I love it!”

“Do you like fucking your little girl wife?”

Slapping my balls against her ass, I cried out, “Yes, I love it. So wet, so soft, so hot and tight, yes I love you!”

She was gripping me so tight on the withdrawal it was starting to rub my dick raw, but I couldn’t stop! I looked into her eyes with a lustful glare and said, “I want to crawl inside you!”

Her eyes softened and she relaxed her gripping, but continued to match my strokes and said, “Forever bonded. I love you, Sean.”

At that moment, I again felt our spirits were as one. I felt my nuts draw up in my stomach and my legs began to tighten. I threw my head back and with one final piercing plunge, began to shoot off inside her as I screamed out “Oh God, I can’t live without you!” Once, twice, three times: I just kept pulsing my load into her with jerking thrusts.

Priya had hugged herself to me with her head in the nape of my neck. I could feel her tears on my shoulder as she came with me and hissed out “Yesss!” Fill me! Give me the burning fire of your love.”

I collapsed on top of her and began crying. Her tiny frame was completely buried under me. I held her tight and rolled on my back, with us stilled joined together. Priya brought her knees up alongside my chest, and began rocking her pelvis slowly and she stroked my face saying, “You’re home, you’re deep inside me where you belong.”

I cried out, “My very breath depends on your love!”

“I know, my love. I’ve known from the start. You are my blonde haired, blue eyed big baby, and I’ll always take care of you.”

“I wouldl die without you.”

“Me too, don’t you know that?”

“No matter what happens, you are my soul mate.”

We’re not soul mates, silly, we’re one soul.”

“I like that. I take real comfort in that.”

“It’s ordained, and our vows shall never be broken. I need you, Sean, I so desperately need you. I need what only you can give me.”

“I’ll always give you what you need — always.”

The whole time we were talking, Priya was rocking her hips and now, I was rock hard again. She felt it, smiled and said in a devilish voice, “I have another hole you can fill.”

With that, she reached between her legs and picked up some of our combined discharge and began to apply it to her little star. She slowly rose, and grabbed my coated member and placed it at her nether hole.

Bearing down, she grunted and the head slipped inside her rectum. With her hands on my chest, she began to slowly pump her impaled ass up and down until her butt cheeks rested on my thighs. She repositioned her legs under her and squatted, fully impaled.

Priya moved her hands to her knees and began to ride my cock bareback in her ass. She looked at me with a devilish grin as she pumped and said, “I’m such a nasty girl. I love you in my ass, I love to feel you so deep in my bowels, I can feel you in my throat. God, I love it! Do you like being nasty with me?”

“Yesss! I love your hot ass!”

“Every time we do this, it feels like you’re splitting me open, so naughty, so gooood!” she growled out

Priya flung her head back and shook her blue-black mane like a tigress exclaiming victory over a fresh kill as she humped her ass on my cock with a guttural “Uuuhhhh” every time her butt cheeks touched my thighs.

As she rose up and down, squatting with her hands on her knees, she looked at me with lust and barked, “Burn my insides, come for me. Come for me, Sean.”

With each stroke her eyes never left mine and in unison with her movements, she’d glare at me and say, “Cum… Cum… Cum…”

My eyes went from hers to her asshole and back. I could see her anal ring pull out as she rose and back inward as she sank down. With each fall, I’d thrust up into her with quick sharp jabs. She was so hot I could feel it in my groin as her body came in contact with mine.

With her mane hanging down over her chest, it touched my pubic area every time she hit bottom. She kept her lustful glare and repeated “Cum for me. Burn my insides! Cum for me, damn it, cum!”

My nuts pulled up and I started to swell. Priya slammed her ass down hard and locked her sphincter. It ached from trying to force my ejaculate past the restriction, but the release on the other side was explosive! I grunted and thrust up with force four times and firing a salvo each time off into her with a roar. She shuddered and she clasped me saying, “Oh God! I’m cumming so fucking hard! So hot!”

I looked up at the ceiling, and the room was spinning, and I was panting hard trying to catch my breath. When I looked at Priya, still impaled with all seven inches of me inside her, she sat in a squat with her hands around her calves with her head down between her knees. She just kept clenching and releasing in a low barely audible whine.

When she’d recovered her breath, she looked at me and said, “You don’t know what you do to me!” She then put her head back down and continued clenching me with her sphincter.

Looking at her with a nasty smile, I asked her, “Are you ready to receive your gift?”

She slowly looked up, confused at first, then got an evil smile on her face and whispered, “Do it! Pee for me!”

With her eyes locked on mine, and that same evil grin, I slowly released my bladder and began to fill her colon. Her eyes rolled back in her head. As soon as she felt the heat of my discharge, her legs immediately began to quiver in time with her anal ring and she went into a continuous orgasm, with a soft wavering cry. She put her hands under her belly and I started to see it swell slightly. She looked down to see herself swelling, and then back at me. She had the look of the demon in her eyes, and in a voice I’d never heard before, she glared at me saying, “Mmmmfff, I Love it! Oh God how I love it! It feels like my whole insides are scalding. I’m about to burst and it hurts, but don’t stop! So nasty! So, so nasty! I’m such a nasty girl. I’m your nasty little girl aren’t I, Sean?”

“Yes, you’re my nasty little girl, my beloved.”

When I slowed and finally stopped, her anal ring was still quivering and her legs began to shake trying to retain me, and everything I’d deposited in her.

I guess the internal pressure and the fear of losing control kept her in a continuous orgasm, because she just glared at me with the look of the beast and said, “I have dreamed about doing this for a long time. I’m so very depraved!”

Finally sated, she locked her anal ring painfully around me and carefully and slowly moved her legs down along my sides and laid herself down on my chest. I felt her heaving slightly and wetness on my chest. She was quietly crying. I stroked her hair as she lay there on top of me still quivering.

I told her, “Keep yourself closed tightly,” and I rolled her onto her back. I then said to her, “Lock your legs around my back,” and she did.

I scooted us down to the edge of the bed and picked her up, still impaled with my dick still inside her and carried her to the shower. I stepped in, and started to pull myself out of her when she said, “Wait. It still feels scalding hot and the pain of being so full I’m still having mini orgasms. This is the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced.”

She had her eyes closed and was licking her lips when she quivered and said in the voice of the demon, “I can taste you on my lips. Oh, Sean, I love it so much!”

Softly, I replied, “I know. I know you do, Baby.”

I somehow sensed her beast was quelled, so I slowly pulled out of her and she immediately began to evacuate like a fire hose. When she’d stop flowing, followed by several heaves followed by wet farts, she was finished. I turned on the shower and tried to set her on her feet, but her legs were like jelly. I held her under her arms and with the other hand, removed the handheld shower and began to clean us off.

She leaned against me silent and after a few minutes, stood on her own. With childlike imploring, she looked at me and softly asked, “Do you still love me?”

I touched her cheek and replied, “Always and forever,”

She closed her eyes and silently smiled. Priya was wasted. She couldn’t even help clean herself or me, so I washed her and leaned her against the shower wall and bathed myself.

I dried her off, took her to bed and laid her down. I toweled off, and got into bed and pulled her to me and simply held her as she quickly fell asleep.

I felt a little guilty that I’d expanded Priya’s horizons concerning her ‘need,’ but I gloried in the fact that I had made love to my wife, and not a figment of my imagination and I too fell off to a tired, sated sleep.