Young couple man cupping her cheek with light over her face about to kiss

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “V” – Vastness

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Vastness stretches between them
A distance somehow growing larger
With every step they take.
It’s not for lack of love
But for the infinite problems
They are rapidly going to need to face.
She tells him how much she worries now,
Speaks it aloud as they cuddle in her bed,
And her once strong voice sounds meek to her
A breathy, sorrowful thing:
“What if we can’t, my love, what if we won’t, what if…?”
He kisses her cheek before
Lifting up her chin,
Staring at her with love that reaches inside her soul,
Willing her to hear him when
He tells her, “All this worrying is a
Waste of a beautiful mind.”
The words soothe her heart to a calmer, more joyous rhythm,
But when he says again that they’re going to be okay,
She knows there is no certainty in life,
This is becoming more and more clear,
And these words he says are just words,
Things that she treasures
But that he sometimes promises without
Knowing if he actually can.

To read "W" — When He Calls, click here.
Blurred image of a sexy pair kissing in the shower

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “U” – Under The Water

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Under the water he leads her,
A shower to wash away the sweet smell of their love
As much as the tears that have escaped down her cheeks.
He swipes at them, pulls her close,
His heartbeat steady through the wall of his chest and
Communing with the wild pace of hers.
“I know you hurt. I know that’s how you look at things,
But I don’t. Just…”
He shuffles his feet until his hips are tighter to hers
And he stares at her with eyes she wants to drown in as he says,
“Kiss me.”
She loves it when he says this,
Loves the way he can almost make everything okay again
As if nothing else, beyond this moment
Matters when it comes to them.
So she’s quick to press her lips to his,
Letting his kiss sweep her up
His fingers stroking along her back
To draw her nearer, always nearer,
His wet skin on hers feels too good
Too sweet, and as the kiss speeds and deepens
And their breaths grow windy,
Both of them are pining
For one more fuck
One more hold
One more whisper of the love they share.

To read "V" — Vastness, click here.
B/W shadowed image of couple close on the bed looking out the window

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “P” – Perfect

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Perfect is the day he celebrates with her
Both of them silent over the abyss looming ahead
Instead tangled up,
Kissing, fucking, smiling,
Laughing, laughing, oh, how they can laugh together.
He toasts her for her win
Spoils her with affectionate kisses and cheers
And after another round that leaves them panting,
His naked skin on hers is the best prize of all,
His fingers laced with hers the one thing she truly wants.
But he offers dinner
Her favorite dinner
And she’s soaring all over again.
He says he does it because she appreciates it, which she does
Following him through the store,
Nearly skipping as he talks about
Sauces, seasonings, and specialty ingredients
And it battles the ache that’s started to weigh down her heart.
When they return, she kisses the back of his neck and says,
“I love when you cook for me.”
He abandons the groceries covering the counters for a moment,
Showering her in love while she continues,
“I want it often. All the time.”
He kisses her cheek and thumbs her chin
To make her heart pick up speed, because it blossoms
At his new, perfect promise:
“Then you shall have it.”

To read "Q" — Quivering, click here.
Image in B/W of couple in embrace, man behind woman, grazing her back with their eyes closed

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “M” – Mapping Her Heart

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Mapping her heart
Is his skill, because he knows her through
Or so he claims.
Sometimes, he says he gets the depth of her love,
But she is reminded he can’t possibly know
How deep this well runs within her;
It’s been brewing, brimming,
Swirling up from its confinement
Far longer in her than he’s admitted the same to himself.
But she sees it in the simple things he does for her—
The way he cooks her dinner, brings her little gifts, helps her around her house
Or calls her for the tenth time on the same day,
Just to say hello.
It’s as if he doesn’t realize how much it means to her, to them
As if he doesn’t see how closely they’ve entwined themselves together
Despite the obviousness of it pumping their hearts full of rich, sweet joy.
One night, as he cooks, she says to him
“What do you think it would be like if we were normal?”
He stirs again; peeks at her
“What do you mean?”
“I mean if it were always. Every night. Not a day off, or a getaway.”
He ponders a moment, stirs,
Looks at her like he gets it and says,
“I think it would be the same. Don’t you?”
She thinks so
But she doesn't think he grasped what she truly meant—
And tonight she isn’t ready to explain it.

To read "N" — Need, click here.
Couple lounging in bed in underwear and lingerie grazing hands

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “L” – Lucky

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Lucky is how she feels with him
Whenever they banter, or even when they spat
Which is rare.
Seeing him breathes new life
Into what she thought this living thing was about,
What she'd convinced herself was the meaning of it all
“Can I tell you a secret?” she asks him
And as they lay there, she confesses that all this time
Before they knew
Before they shared
She’d been spinning tale after tale
Of what she thought it would be like,
What their love could taste like
Even though she probably wasn’t supposed to.
“I guess I could have known for a while,
If I’d just paid attention,” he says.
Yes, if he’d just paid attention
Like he does now, stroking her cheek,
Slipping up beside her again
And making her feel like the luckiest woman alive.

To read "M" — Mapping Her Heart, click here.
Photo of couple laying on sides kissing passionately

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “K” – Kisses

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Kisses, his kisses
Are her distraction throughout any day,
The sweetest addiction she craves when they are apart.
She imagines how he holds her when he gives them—
The fierce press of his lips,
The way his body is hot against hers
Always comforting, eternally strong.
And then there is the way they play their staring game sometimes,
In the deep kisses they share whenever they fuck;
He likes to dare her to look away—
His beautiful brown eyes seeking so far into her soul—
And it takes her a few rounds of this before she doesn't back away.
Now, she stares too, both of them smiling while
They fuck and kiss, never averting their eyes
I know you, I love you, I have you, always
Is the quiet song she hears behind these stares,
It is etched into their hearts, their very beings
And I see you.
This she knows—that he sees her,
Right down to the core of her,
And she never wants the kisses to stop.

To read "L" — Lucky, click here.
Silhouette of female and male hands together in the dark.

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “J” – Just Let Go

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Just let go.”
He says it over drinks, leaning close,
Both of them breathless at a conversation
Bearing so much possibility.
“Just do it, do this with me,
Don't worry so much, and feel this. Okay?”
She is, she is,
Feeling so much her heart could explode,
And her words spill from her lips like winded sighs
“I love you, I love you…”
And yet—
There's that part inside brewing,
Worrying about the future, worrying that their secret, sacred love
Is going to break,
Because their reality is a cruel, cruel thing.
But he slips his hand across the table,
Lacing his fingers with hers and flashing her that entrancing, magnificent smile
Below eyes she has silently melted into for years.
He says, “Be here, with me.”
And she is right there,
Grounded in him
All over again.

To read "K" — Kisses, click here.
Young couple embracing on a white background of a sunset

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “H” – Her Heart

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Her heart is alive
Full like it's never been before
And though she's known love many times
It's never been like this—
Rich and decadent, with a touch of bittersweet,
Warming her up until she's bursting with joy
Floating to see him, at the memories they're painting between them,
Lovelier than any images she's ever been part of before.
She catches herself singing in the laundry room and laughs—
She's been tattered and broken, rooted up from the earth and ruined,
Her heart ground up into little bits in the past—
And yet with him she is free to soar, free to love, protected, safe
And so fucking happy she glides through the days,
Celebrating this love, his love, and
How glorious it feels that they've come together
After all this yearning and wondering.
She can't picture a future without him in it,
And when she tells him this, he scoops her up, kisses her lips, and says
“Good, because I need you in my life, too.”

To read "I" — I Miss You, click here.
Beautiful sexy couple lying in bed with man teasing her lips

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “G” – Good

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

God, its good, right?”
He is stroking her thigh,
His other arm arched up over their heads on the pillow
So he can tease the tangled strands of her hair.
She nestles into his neck, breathing him in—
She's loved his scent since she met him, years before—
“I think good is an understatement.”
He laughs, agrees;
“You know what, it's true. It's crazy, yeah?”
“It is. I might even give you top five!” she teases.
He is laughing, belly shaking, staring starry eyed at the ceiling above them,
A white wash as pure as their love
And a sharp contrast to the flicker of nervousness
That tries to station itself deep in her gut.
She snuggles closer to avert her eyes
And kisses the edge of his jaw
Because he's always been able to call her bluff.
She doesn't want to think about the future yet
Not yet
And besides, she'd rank him number one.
When he mutters something about needing a cigarette
And loving the way it feels with her
She tells him the obvious answer is that it can only be this good
Because it’s them.

To read "H" — Her Heart, click here.
Slightly fuzzy image of man over woman with focus on hands together overhead

Morning Desire

MORNING DESIRE
by
Jade A. Waters

Desire felt like morning,
Sun caressing the world
Spreading tender waves that
Envelop me, encircle you.
Your hands trace down my back—
Neck to ass, hip to hip
You tug me closer
Ever closer,
Breathe a husky whisper
With lips soft, damp
And hungry,
Like me.

“Good morning.”
The words float between us,
Your body presses to mine
Your cock solid, seeking.
Your hand slips between warm thighs—
Testing and teasing,
Stroking with a sigh.
When I arch for you,
You sink inside
Teeth bared, sharp
On my shoulder;
In need.

Whimpers spill from my lips
Your thrusts remind me
Wake me
Loving and deep.
We shudder and moan—
Trembling, crying out
Surrendering to this morning desire.
The sunlight peeks
Through the blinds
Caressing skin, warming us.
We catch our breaths
Now one.

*