With every passing day, I realized more and more how much I had needed that alone time with Hannah. We needed that time away after all we had been through to reconnect and relax. While I don’t think I had ever felt out of sync with Hannah, it was like being there was fine tuning our frequencies to match. If our relationship was a garden, this was the time of fertilization. Repairing the damage from the harsh winter, and sewing the ground to ensure it would be a bountiful future.

Bountiful it would be. I looked at her and could see clearly my next five years. It was crystal clear, beautiful, and woven with love.

We only sipped our wine that night, since Hannah was worried about getting another hangover. After eating our dinner and dessert, we showered, readied for bed, and then found our way outside to the hammock for a little lounging time before going to sleep.

The entire time we were outside, not a word was said between the two of us. We just gently rocked and listened to the waves. She laid on my chest, and I combed through her hair.

It was so thrilling to be with her. It a sensation of never wanting a moment to end, but being unable to wait for the next. I was pretty sure it was the purist form of happiness I could ever wrap my head around.

We ended up falling asleep out there. It wasn’t until the sun rose and shined in my eyes that we began to stir.

I was shocked the night hadn’t gotten cold or breezy enough to wake us. I was glad it hadn’t. Waking up over the water with a gorgeous sunrise encasing my view, with my wife on my chest? There was nothing like it.

Hannah’s head popped up with a sleepy smile on her face. It was a look that my heart took a picture of and locked away forever. I brushed through her messy bedhead and mirrored her expression. "Good morning," I greeted, my voice hoarse from sleep.

She leaned up and kissed me deeply on the lips. "Good morning."

Then, she was kissing my neck. My arousal was immediate, and I simply relished in the attention and affection.

Only, the sweet kisses were soon turning wet and nimble. I wasn’t sure what was going through her head, but I didn’t intervene when she worked down my body and shrugged down my boxers. I hadn’t realized I had awoken with morning wood. She must have felt it against her and was lending her eager assistance.

How did I deserve such a tantalizing and giving wife?

My hand gripped the roots of her hair as she took my member into her mouth. I could hardly hold in my moans as she deep-throated me, licked me, and sucked me. I was dizzied from how much it was turning me on. In a matter of minutes, I was ready to come in her mouth. I didn’t want that, though. I wanted her.

"Come here," I whispered to her.

With only enough hesitation to lick her way up my shaft, she crawled over me. I didn’t waste time in discarding her panties. I then helped her maneuver so that she was sitting on my face; we had to scoot down so not to risk tipping the hammock. As I tongued her lower lips, she let out a rather loud, breathy moan. I gripped her hips in a way to remind her to keep it down. We were outside, and workers or other guests could possibly hear. Not that it bothered me, really. But I had caught on to her little gleeful pleasure in a bit of expeditionary sex.

I could hear her struggled breathing as she bit her lip to keep them in. Her hips were already beginning to sway against my face. Soon, she was moving so much from her arousal that she managed to tip us over. Thankfully, it was a short fall to the deck.

We giggled before we were swept away by kissing. Before long, I was turning her over onto her knees. I took her from behind with care and precision.

I liked the fact we were basked in the warm glow of sunrise as we were brought to orgasm. It made it feel like a dream rather than reality. I didn’t think that life could get any better.

When we had both finished, we spent a bit of time kissing and enjoying the sunrise before going inside.

Due to my specifications sent off the night before, there was a breakfast waiting for us. On the kitchen counter was a spread of fruit, cheeses, and breads. We stood about, picking at it, and kissing for a while. I couldn’t seem to keep my hands or my lips off of her. She was eating it up, though. She kissed me back with smiles and giggles every time.

Once we had our fill, it was time to head out for scuba diving. When I brought it up, I saw something shift in her expression, and I frowned. "Are you okay?" I asked, concern bubbling up inside me. I thought she had been excited to hit the reef again.

Hannah opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped short. She then shook her head. "No, no, I’m fine," she muttered. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

I tugged her closer and did my best to meet her eyes; she was avoiding my gaze. "What’s wrong? If you don’t want to go, that’s okay. We can reschedule or cancel."

She moved about uncomfortably and my concern was growing. "Is it going to be in a group again? I think I would prefer for it just to be the two of us."

I frowned. "I can arrange that, but I have to ask why. Did something happen?"

She bit her cheek and shrugged. "I guess, after everything, I’m just not comfortable being around other people like that. Not yet."

I relaxed a little, glad that something hadn’t happened that I completely missed. That made total sense to me. We had been alone in our house for so long, and any time a new person came around, they had been a potential threat. Of course she wasn’t comfortable yet. "That’s understandable. I’ll arrange for a private session. Want to go for a walk around the island while we wait?" I asked her.

She smiled weakly and nodded. I stepped away long enough to call the scuba instructor, offering a wage that would be worth an entire group of divers and then some, and arranged a time for the class. We had a few hours to kill.

We walked away from the resort and headed into town. I didn’t think we had been up that early the entire time we had been there. It was interesting to see the town getting started. We stopped for a coffee before continuing on our journey.

"It’s so peaceful here," she commented as her eyes scanned the little town. "I don’t think our city is ever this quiet, even in the dead of night."

"I think you may be right," I nodded and smirked at her. "Is this your way of asking me to move to the country? I hope you know by now, little miss, that I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth."

"Little miss?" she echoed with a laugh. "What decade are we in? I think I may have blacked out." We shared a laugh before it slowly died out and she shrugged. "I don’t know. Maybe it would be nice to have somewhere away from the city that’s a little more accessible than the Caribbean, you know? Somewhere we can go stay on the weekend to get away, just the two of us, to leave work and everything else behind."

I could already see we wouldn’t be able to go as much as I think she was hoping for, but that did sound nice. I had always heard that, aside from trust and communication, the best way to keep a marriage strong was spending quality time together. "That’s definitely something we can look into," I nodded. "Maybe a little farm house in the countryside."

She rolled her eyes and playfully nudged me with her elbow. "No need to tease me, Roman."

"Who is teasing?" I scoffed. "Are you telling me you don’t want chickens and goats and the like roaming around, being cared for, for you to visit on the weekend?"

She giggled and shook her head. "The point is to spend quiet time with you. Not being awakened at the crack of dawn by roosters."

"Fair enough," I smiled and squeezed her hand. "We can do a little house hunting when we get back. I think a little countryside house sounds wonderful. You’ll get to decorate that from scratch, too."

"Consider it a showroom—no, show house—for my pottery."

We laughed together and continued on our walk. Bliss, bliss was the only thing I could feel and the only thing on my mind.