Nathaniel reached up and slapped her bottom as she left to go to the bathroom. “Watch it,” he warned in a groggy voice.

He was in this state – he’d yet to name it – when she returned. It was the closest semblance to sleep he had for days. It was in the family of the half sleep, half awake sensation that we all understand, but not quite the same. Did anyone else complain about the effectiveness of their drugs as much as the future president did? 

The way Marlene’s body fit on top of his felt good. He was centered, grounded, yet she provided him the freedom he’d always been hesitant to give himself.  “Only if you beg,” he teased, bringing his neck up an inch or two to meet her lips. 

Nathan was young, something his reminiscing would never endorse his forgetting of. His hands were uncontrollable and he slipped them under the shirt on the sides of her hips. His calloused thumbs traced the variation of texture between her skin and the lace. She smelled like crest blended in with his cologne, a combination he wished to further transfuse with touches and kisses. “Mmm,” he sighed, flicking her front teeth with his tongue as he leaned her back on the mattress.