GETTING READY FOR BED, PART I She stands, and undos the button at the waist of her jeans. Then she slowly unzips the zipper. Hooking her thumbs into he sides of her jeans at the hips, she eases them off past her hips. Her hands slowly and gently caress her thighs as she slides the garment down her legs. Then gracefully steps out of them when they finally come to rest on the bedroom floor. Her shirt she lifts ever-so-slowly over her head, and discards it onto the floor next to the jeans. Then she shakes her head, feeling her silky long hair moving across her back. ending over from the hips, she begins putting on the shorts she loves to sleep in. They are a faded red, and are beginning to show signs of wear from the extended use. Reaching behind her back, she unclasps her bra and removes it. Now her hair caresses her bare back, reaching almost to her waist. Then, with a slight hint of regret, she reaches for the beat-up tank top that she wears to bed, and slowly pulls it on over her head, revelling in the feel of the cool material against her bare skin. The top pauses in it's fall towards her stomach as it reaches her breasts and catches on them for a moment. Then gravity releases it, and the top falls into place over her ribcage and stomach, just barely reaching her high waist. Then she sighs, and slips into bed... alone... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GETTING READY FOR BED, PART II She falls asleep, silently drifting down into that warm dark abyss of dreams. Her regret at being alone is soon dissolved by the gentle attentions of her dreams. She opens her eyes, and there he is. Tall, he stands at least six inches taller then herself. He has dark hair, and she reaches out to touch it, feeling its silky softness. He closes his gorgeous brown eyes, and turns his cheek into her hand, nuzzling it gently. When he opens his eyes again, she is caught in their liquid depths. She feels as though she is swimming in a sea of desire, and only he can rescue her. Then he ever so gently reaches out and takes her into his arms, encircling her in their strength. Here is the one place she feels safe. She leans against him, breathing in the fresh clean scent of his skin. She looks into his eyes once again, and her breath catches in her throat. His chest is bare, with a small amount of dark hair. She lightly rubs one hand across it, feeling it's strength. He shivers at her touch. Her hand seems to wander over his torso as though it has a mind of its own, and she watches it, mesmerized. Then she lets it slip around to his strong back, and up to his wide shoulders. He shivers again, and holds her even more tightly and tenderly. Then he looks at her again, and his love for her is plainly evident on his face. His finely sculptured, coral lips part, and he gently places a tender kiss on her smooth forehead. She trembles, like a wild animal, tamed by his touch. He caresses her back, and she trembles again, enjoying the feel of his hand. Then his hand travels upward towards her neck, and gently caresses her long brown hair. He releases it from it's single tie, and lets it fall onto her back. His eyes sparkle as he marvels about her hair. It's silkiness. It's softness. He leans forward again, and places another gentle kiss on her, this time tasting her warm, soft lips. She feels herself becoming lost in the waves of pleasure arising from just that one kiss. Higher and higher the wave seems to swell, and she hold on to him tighter, not wanting to lose her one anchor in this tide of pleasure. But her alarm clock rings, waking her, bringing her out of the abyss, and into the bright light of a new day.... She looks for him, but he is there only in her dreams..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GETTING READY FOR BED, PART III She walks out into the bright light of the afternoon, from the darkness of the school building. Classes were finally over. Would she see him tonight in her dreams? A wind suddenly blew across the lawn, ruffling her hair. She released it from the confining elastic that held it back, and the wind caressed it, reminding her of the dream she had had last night. He was in it, caressing her hair much the way the wind was caressing it now. His touch was so soft... so tender.... She smiled to herself at the memory, and wished it were real. Crossing the street, she headed towards the shuttle bus stop to catch the bus that would take her to the other campus. As she was waiting for it, she saw a fleeting glance of a man, wearing a long, dark blue wool coat. He stood about six inches taller than her, and had dark hair. She couldn't be sure, but she thought his eyes might be brown. His finely boned face was turned just slightly away from looking directly at her and she felt a strange loss at not being the object of his attentions. Then he turned his head and looked right at her, just as the bus pulled up and blocked her view of him... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GETTING READY FOR BED, PART IV Crossing the street, she sees him... He is wearing the same coat, and this time, he is looking right at her... Her heart skips a beat, and all the memories of the dream from the other night come flooding back to her mind. He walked with a certain grace, moving smoothly like a cat. His jaw was lined with a beard, kept neat, and trimmed into a tracer. He is walking right towards her! She feels flustered, wondering what she should do, and all the time trembling with anticipation. He walks up to her and introduces himself to her in a quiet, sensual voice. His eyes are the same shade of brown as her dream-lover's, a realization that makes her blush. He smiles, a gentle knowing smile. She introduces herself to him, her eyes dancing with joy at their meeting... Until this time, she hadn't known what it felt like to dare to dream about someone, until he came to her in her dreams. In his quiet voice, he tells her that he has been waiting for her, and would she care to accompany him to dinner? She nods, speechless from the overwhelming emotions she is feeling. They have dinner, enjoying the intimacy of the meal that he has prepared for her at his apartment. It's neatly kept, and not too cluttered. While they are relaxing afterwards over some wine, he leans forward and gently kisses her lips. She is breathless. The scent of his skin was enticing; clean and spicy. She looks into his eyes, and the dream becomes real for her. He kisses her again, deeply and passionately. With each kiss, she feels tremors of pleasure rush through her. Then he stands, and leads her into the bedroom. The room is large, and well kept. He turns on the stereo, and sweet music softly fills the room. Silently, he looks at her, moving close to her. He looks at her, marvelling at her presence. She is beautiful. Big green eyes. Long brown hair, falling past the middle of her back in waves of soft curls. Her face... He raises his hands to her face, caressing her cheeks. The skin is so soft. Then he gently bends to her, kissing her on her sweet lips. She is lost in pleasure. While he is standing there, caressing her face, she trembles like a wild animal, tamed at his touch. 'The dream... this must be a dream...' she says to herself, hardly daring to believe what was happening. He kisses her, and she leans towards him, seeking his support. His strong body supports her easily, and she puts her arms around him. His long back is finely muscled, with wide shoulders. His hands are travelling down her back as well, sending small tremors of delight through her body. She looks him in the eyes, and he looks back, trapping her gaze. The hunger in his eyes is tangible, and her hunger flares in response. He slowly guides her hands, until they are at her sides. Then he begins to unbutton her blouse, agonizingly slow. She is caught up in the feelings, and is trying to remind herself that this is no longer a dream. He gently eases her blouse off her shoulders, his hands skimming her arms as he guides the garment off her. The small electric shocks thrill through her, and her breathing quickens. Looking up at him, she raises her hands and slowly undos the buttons on his shirt. Then she repeats his actions, easing it off, and marvelling at the muscles of his chest. Her hands skim his chest and arms, and his skin jumps at the light contact. Then, freed from the confines of the shirt, he encircles her in his arms, and kisses ker fiercely, silently communicating his passion to her. She returns the kiss, feeling herself falling into his embrace. 'She's beautiful.' He thought to himself, as his arms tenderly encircle her. On a whim, he lifts her up, and carries her to the bed. Her eyes smolder with a combination of passion, trust, and innocence. Her silky hair falls onto the pillow, surrounding her face. He lowers himself onto the bed, and kisses her again. He smells the perfume of her, a musky, feminine perfume and it only serves to arouse him more. His passion rises with every kiss, and every caress. She turns on her side, and he caresses the soft skin of her back. Gently, so as not to startle her, he lets his hand trail up her back, marvelling at the softness of the skin. Then he slides one of the straps of her bra off her shoulder, and kisses the skin it was so recently covering. She moans softly, so he kisses her again, this time on the neck. Her hands tense, momentarily ceasing their exploration of his chest, arms and back, sending him a silent message of her passion. He captures her sweet mouth again, and kisses her deeply. Then he gently removes her bra. His arms had well defined muscle on them, and she let her hands roam all over, marvelling at the strength in them. When one of her fingers brushed his bare nipple, he gasped. Amazed at his sensitivity, she did it again, with the same result. Then he did the same to her, brushing her breast with his hand, as he eased her bra off. He began to gently massage it, and she felt herself start to float in a sea of warmth. He bent his head to her neck once again, and left a trail of fiery kisses down it to her shoulder, then to her breast. When he reached it, he captured the nipple in his mouth, and gently sucked on it, sending her to a new height of passion. A soft moan escaped her lips. Carefully, he nuzzled at her breast. Her soft moans could be heard in the breaks of the music, encouraging him on. He looks at her, drinking in her beauty in the soft light, and smiles gently. She smiles back, and he thinks to himself, 'I have wanted her here for the longest time. Now, here she is, like a vision out of my wildest dream.' A wave of longing washes over him, and he kisses her again, a deep lasting kiss that he hoped would transmit to her all the longing he has for her, and the love that is blossoming like a rose for her. She smiles at him, feeling a new emotion swell up in her. It's almost as though until today, she was alone and lost, a part of herself missing. But now, she lay in the arms of the man that made her whole. He bent his head to kiss her again, and she could feel her love for this man bloom. And she felt that he returned this love. He broke the kiss off for an agonizing moment, and helped her out of her slacks. His strong hands brushed her thighs, and sent another thrill of electricity through her. She wants him badly, and silently tells him this through her caresses. He looks at her, capturing her gaze, and slowly finishes undressing her. She watched as his eyes greedily roam over her body, as if he were trying to memorize every curve. She sits up, her long hair falling around her shoulders, and brushing against her bare back. She moves her head from side to side, enjoying the cool feel of it against her skin. He reaches over and runs his hands through it, smiling gently. She smiles back, and then helps him out of the remainder of his clothes.He lays her gently back down on the bed, and they begin to explore each others' bodies. Her hands exploring his body awoke new feelings in him that he had never before experienced. His longing grew for her, until he thought he might explode from the intensity. With a lingering kiss, he begins to explore her body as well, and he feels it awakening to his touch. Her gentle touch was leaving trails of ice across him, and he felt his skin raise in goosebumps of pleasure from the feelings. He kissed his way down to her stomach, leaving a trail of fire in the kisses wake. She could feel the wave of pleasure growing in her, threatening to engulf her in it's heat. She let herself float in the feeling, enjoying it. Her hands seem to have a mind of their own, exploring his beautiful body. Then she gasped as his hands brushed the sensitive area at the base of her stomach, and the electric shock that ran through her helped the passion's fire to rise higher and higher. She could feel the burning begin, deep inside her. The longing for him to make her his. She knew he could feel it. The wait was agonizing. He could take it no longer. His body was responding to her like it had never responded to anyone's. He felt that they were linked, somehow, through their passion for each other. Her hands trailed up his back, sending another wave of pleasure through him, and he slowly made her his completely. They sighed together at the pure ecstasy of that moment, holding each other tightly, and just enjoying the feel of each other's bodies, so close together. As close as two lovers could get. She was happy, for here was the man of her dreams, in the flesh, and she knew that her nights need no longer be lonely, empty nights. Their passion rose up like a wave, growing higher and higher. She could feel herself, seemingly to burn up in the heat of her love for him. Then, finally, the wave crested, and they held each other for what seemed an eternity, not daring to let go. Finally, when the two lovers were spent, they lay next to each other. He held her tenderly, and she welcomed his embrace. After a short time, they drifted off to sleep, to awake to a new day in each other's arms.