Alan set his glass down next to hers and suddenly caught her around the waist. She looked at him in surprise.

"That's our song. You can't refuse me a dance!" he said. Susan caught the tender melody of "Jealousy." Yes — that really had been one of their favorite songs as children! Her body answered the rhythm and settled against Alan's. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Do you know that all of our company are already married or engaged, Alan? I spoke with Gabby, Rina, and Sylvie. They informed me about the rest. Only Bobby hasn't married yet."

"I know very well. I've been here for about two weeks and that was the first thing I learned!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. My mother filled me in on every scrap of local gossip before I'd got through the door!"

"And you?" Susan raised her head to look at him.

"What exactly are you asking? Whether I'm married or engaged? Or whether I plan to marry soon?" He grinned. She pursed her lips in a charming little frown.

"What happened to my honest, gallant knight?" she said, before she could stop herself. Alan raised his eyebrows.

"Knight! Please — never mention that in front of my friends!"

"You can count on me!" laughed Susan. "Well then — how's life been treating you?"

At the end of the song, he spun her wildly and dipped her backward, holding her in his strong arms.

"Not married, and not spoken for!" he said, close to her lips. Susan blinked as he slowly drew her upright.

"Why not?" she asked, surprised.

"Because my missing rib hasn't turned up yet, apparently! And you, Sue? What's your story? A woman like you can't simply have gone unnoticed!"

She sighed quietly and lowered her head.

"I... I'm still single!" She spread her arms and laughed — so falsely that, had she not been drunk already, she would have shocked herself. "No prince has turned up for me!" At that moment several tipsy cousins descended on them.

"Suzie, Grandpa calls all of us for a photo! Come on, let's go!"

She let herself be dragged towards the center of the garden, where a professional photographer took photos of Grandpa Max with anyone who wanted to take one together. Susan posed with her younger cousins and her grandfather, with assorted relatives, and with one guest she didn't even try to place.

She managed to free herself after forty minutes or so and, dry-mouthed, picked up the first bottle that came to hand. It was beer. Her legs felt less and less steady, and she had a powerful urge to tear off the long dress that had begun to tangle her steps. Susan set the unfinished beer back in the crate and rubbed her forehead. What little reason she had left reminded her that it was time to retreat with dignity, while she still could. She glanced around. Some guests were already leaving; others were dancing; the rest stood talking or drinking. She headed slowly for the path that led to the cottage. She wasn't sleepy — but none of it appealed to her anymore. She stepped carefully around a rose bush and started down the path.

"Hey — you're not leaving me already?" said a voice close by. Susan froze on the spot.

"I'd forgotten your bad habit of frightening me!"

"True! Six years is a long time — and yet here you are, still in Medea!"

He came closer and tucked a blonde lock behind her ear. Susan smiled faintly.

"Wait, let me guess! This has nothing to do with gravity and Ricky Martin, right?"

His face fell almost comically.

"What? Is he still alive?" Susan threw her head back and laughed.

"I wanted to check if you still know how to catch, Alan!"

"Maybe I just failed the test!"

They walked on together toward the cottage. Behind them, the lamplight stretched their shadows longer and longer until they vanished altogether. A nearly full moon lit the pale sand of the path. As they walked, Susan leaned on his arm.

"Do you remember how you jumped over the high fence to come play at our house?" she asked.

"And do you remember pelting me with cherries from up in the tree?" he countered, tilting his head toward her. She laughed at the memory.

"Yes, but I had a reason! You kept stealing my friend Mandy away, and her best friend was dying of boredom!"

"It wasn't like that!" Alan ducked under the pine branches. "You were always first on my list!"

"No!" She didn't believe a word of it.

"Oh, yes!" They had stopped in front of the cottage door, facing each other. Alan wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her body against his. "I had very improper thoughts about you, Sue! And you were strictly off-limits!"

"Well, I secretly suspected you were a bad boy!"

Perhaps Susan never realized what unconscious promises of sensuality hid in the corners of her lips when she smiled — never knew the quiet allure in her every movement, enough to make any man lose his head. Alan could not resist the temptation. He bent down and his lips claimed hers. Susan was too surprised, and it felt too good, to protest. She sighed softly and wound her arms around his neck.

"What do you think you're doing?" she whispered with closed eyes when his lips moved towards her ear.

"Teasing you!" he murmured, before gently catching the soft lobe of her ear between his teeth.

"Is that so? You might have warned me!" Susan said lazily. A burning warmth was spreading through her whole body.

"If I had, it wouldn't be half so interesting, would it?"

Alan drew his head back and looked at her. Susan sighed in disappointment and opened her eyes.

"Alan..." The wavering voice of reason was drowned in a tender, insistent kiss. She squeezed her eyes shut, but sweet, forbidden shivers were already running over her skin — a sensation strange and thrilling, one that had nothing to do with love and everything to do with hunger, with some insatiable wanting. His restless hands roamed over her body. Then Alan swept her up and carried her across the cottage threshold. The moonlight through the window was enough to see by. He set her down beside the made-up bed. She opened her eyes.

"Alan, I..." He laid a finger on her lips.

"I want you, Sue! I want you to let me in, darling. I want to be inside you! Much more of this and I'll go mad with wanting! I have wanted you for so long!" His voice shook with barely contained desire.

When she drew him back to her instead, Alan covered her face and smooth neck with slow, small kisses. Susan stopped thinking altogether. The wicked touch of his tongue on her skin made her shiver; a pleasant new feeling poured through her from her hardened nipples brushing against the fabric of her dress, and she moaned in spite of herself. Alan's hands slid downward, easing away her clothes. His fingers came to rest on her breasts, circling her nipples with gentle strokes.

Susan felt her knees give. A moment later there were cool sheets beneath her, and she sighed. With one quick motion Alan pulled his shirt over his head and stripped off his thin sports shorts. He was gazing at her with such open admiration — her legs, the curve of her hips, her breasts bathed in moonlight — that she could almost hear him thanking God. He reached for her greedily. He brushed her lower lip, grazed the inside of her mouth with his tongue without going deeper; he stroked her breasts gently, kissed them, and took each nipple in turn.

Fingers, tongue, warmth — something clenched strangely, deep inside her. She gripped his back, her legs parting of their own accord to let his insistent hand continue its slow conquest. Her own fingertips explored him lightly, curiously, and drove him toward the heights of passion. Alan groaned, teased her nipples with his tongue, then slid lower.

Susan knew how aroused he was — she could feel it in the heat with which he devoured her — yet he took his time pleasing her. At last Alan found her with his tongue, warming her with his breath before claiming her. The feel of that soft, caressing tongue at the very core of her made her back arch in a bow, her head rolling with pleasure. Her longing to feel him inside her grew unbearable; she all but dragged him on top of her. A cry of relief broke from her lips when he entered her. Alan was a wild yet tender lover — passionate, and careful too.

Feeling him hold back for a moment, Susan sighed and somehow managed to open her eyes. She stared into his dilated pupils. His smile was brief and very taut. Alan went still inside her — then drew back, slowly. She cried out. Just as slowly, he slid all the way home again, and her body shook apart in orgasm. Alan gripped her hips, and his thrusts turned quick and powerful. His eyes flew open, and for an instant she saw in them a raw, unbridled need...

Spent and satisfied, they lay still while their breathing settled.

"My God — I never imagined anything like that existed!" Alan murmured, and pulled her closer.

"I don't know what happened!" she sighed.

"You had an orgasm!"

"Mmm!" She nestled comfortably against him and closed her eyes. He kissed her forehead and sighed deeply.

"How are you?" he asked sleepily, before his own eyes closed.

"Mmph!" came the answer.

"I'll take that as 'fantastic'!"

A minute later, both were fast asleep.