Chapter 19: Eggs and Taxes
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I woke at the crack of dawn. Of course, I usually wake at the crack of dawn. In fact, as far as the clock said, I'm usually on my morning run by now. There was no reason to get up. My plane didn't leave 'til 2 PM. The room was cold, so I snuggled down into the blankets.
It was a strange room and I had never really gotten a chance to look at it. It was dark, so I pulled the shade up on the window next to the bed. What I saw so totally captivated me that I completely forgot about looking at the room. The window looked out on the river side of the house. The pines on the opposite shore were smothered in snow and bathed in the golden light of dawn. The river itself was the light gray of winter with little white caps and glints of sunshine. The sky was blue, blue, blue, the exact winter sky after a spring snow storm.
A door opened behind me.
"Good morning slug!" A freshly showered Sasha entered, clad in tan chinos and an unbuttoned Oxford. "You're never going to get to be a gold medalist lying abed. I've been out running already. I'm going to make breakfast now, how do you like your eggs?"
"I'm usually out running now too, as for eggs," I sang out "I like mine with a kiss!"
"Is that an invitation?"
"Come over and find out."
He came over to the bed and bent at the waist, giving me the most chaste of kisses. I twined my hands around his neck, pulling him downward, rolling him over on the bed so that I lying on top of him in an impossible tangle of bedclothes.
"Up or Down, I'll never frown, as long as I get my kiss." I quipped. "Now kiss me like you mean it."
"I'm not the one in control here."
"Does that bother you?"
"If it did, I wouldn't have surrendered so easily. I could be up and you could be down without much effort."
"I'd like to see you try."
For several breathless minutes we struggled. He turned me, but could not manage to pin me. He was awful strong and a good 50 lb heavier than I am, but I'm slippery. I had almost given up when I had a brainstorm. I tickled him. I'm not ticklish. Alexandre Klukov just happens to be. It went from an unfair fight to an unfair fight, except this time I was winning. He did finally manage to imprison both of my hands. He pulled them up over my head, grasping both wrists together.
"That was not fair." He stated. "Tickling me."
"You're the one who's bigger, stronger and heavier. I just used all the weapons at my disposal."
"Well, I win. So what do I get?"
"I guess you get to do the kissing."
"Damn!" he said in mock consternation. In a trice, he had rolled both of us back over so that I was lying on top of him. "I think I'd like it, if you did the kissing."
I had never thought about what I might kiss like if I was leading instead of following. I didn't quite know the steps. But I did know that his shirt was opened and his skin looked inviting. I just had to touch him. I traced the contours of his musculature with my index finger. I stared at his face. He looked back at me for a bit and then closed his eyes and just felt. I ran my finger up the line of his neck and across his jaw. He had pale skin and two bright pink spots in his cheeks. I caressed him, over the cheekbones, across his forehead and right down the bridge of his nose. I drew my finger lightly over his lips, a perfect rosebud at rest.
I got close to him. I knew that he could feel my breath on his cheek because he caught his in anticipation. Ever so slowly, I parted my lips and gently, softly, as slight as a errant breeze, I kissed him. He tried to harden the kiss but I leaned mightily on my hands to hold him down. Brushing my lips across his, I kissed his cheek, the point of his jaw, I dusted kisses along the line of his neck to the hollow of his throat. I nuzzled the hollow beneath his collarbone and then... I bit him on the shoulder.
"Ow! You bit me!"
"just trying to get your attention."
"You had my attention."
"Did you say something about eggs?" I misdirected, changing the subject. "I never did get supper last night."
"Sure, follow me."
"Um, you've got to let go of me first, so I can get dressed?"
"Oh."
"Are you leaving?"
"No, I thought I'd watch."
"You are getting much to big for your britches."
"Why thank you" he said looking down pointedly.
"Git! No, get your hands off me and get out of this room!"
"Can I listen?"
"No!"
It was odd eating breakfast opposite Sasha instead of opposite Mama. Of course, it was even odder to have to fetch my own egg right out from under the chicken! Yes, Olympic gold medalist Sasha Klukov keeps chickens! I was ravenous. I actually ate the whole egg, a piece of toast and a whole glass of juice. He cooks good eggs, but the kisses are 'to die for.'
We dropped my car off at Mama's house. I almost didn't think of it as my house. Where Sasha was, was home enough to me. We headed to the town hall in the 959. He paid the whole tax bill. As we walked out, I tried to give him the money order he had sent from Russia.
"No, keep it." he said. 'You'll have expenses in Chicago."
"I didn't ask you to pay for my trip to Chicago."
"You didn't have to. How many times do I have to tell you, I want to."
"I can't keep this much money."
"Okay, if I give you a smaller cheque will you please take it?"
"I'm indebted to you, Sasha."
"No, you are not." He had stopped walking. "There is absolutely no debt, I love you. I'm not trying to buy your love, I'm just looking out for you. Money is something I happen to have. I only want you to be with me because you love me, not because you feel indebted."
I took his hand.
"I want to be with you, with all my heart."
"Good, now let's get you on that plane!"
"You sound happy that I'm leaving?" I teased.
"It's very easy to keep my hands off of every other woman I know. It is nearly impossible to keep them off of you."
"Well, I'll be back in two weeks."
"Will you be going back to your mother's house?"
"I don't know, Sasha. I don't know."
Text Copyright © 1998-2003 Mary E. Tyler
