TheAmbassadorOfRomanceInVenus's blog: "Sex and love -- or should it be the other way around?"

She glanced at the stairs to her bedroom. "Enjoy it while you can, historian. Make love joyously, so that you will have good memories when he is gone back to his Herd. You will be forgotten again." She braided her hair in silence, and patted it into place. Her neat, practical hair belied her naked state. "Now, you will march back up those stairs, and enjoy that fine example of perfection gracing your bed." She shook the brush at her mirror image once more. "Then you shall work until your head hurts to find the answer he seeks!" "My plan exactly." Shadow's voice floated down the stairs, as his long legs came into view. Chantrea prevented herself from sighing with longing at his naked state as he walked nonchalantly in and washed his face at her washbowl. She forced herself to smile cheerfully when she wanted to melt at his feet. "Good morning!" He dried his face on the same linen she'd used, and then sauntered over to kiss her thoroughly. "Good morning to you too, beautiful." Despite her dismissive words of how beauty had no meaning in the Valley, Chantrea's heart swelled. Embarrassed at her silliness, she turned her mind to practical matters. "Do you wish to fortify yourself with a bit of breakfast?" He hummed against her lips. "I have a sweet tooth, as a matter of fact." "For breakfast? Well, all right. I have honey cakes." She'd been thinking more along the lines of some fruit, bread, and cheese. "No, for a certain pink and white confection, creamy and sweet." He scooped her up in his arms. "Oh!" Chantrea wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled. "Well, far be it from me to deny you, since I've a particular craving myself." "Do you now?" He was grinning as if he'd found a whole meadow of clover to himself. "And here I thought the Fair Folk didn't indulge in sausage." "Euw! Don't be disgusting. I could happily live my whole life without tasting greasy pig fat. I was thinking of a great roll we make, filled with a deliciously sweet center. It is served only on special occasions." Laughing, Shadow took the stairs two at a time, carrying her effortlessly. "I remember that dish! At your brother's wedding a few years ago, I made myself sick eating all I could. I accept the analogy as accurate. They were delicious." He put her on the bed, and Chantrea took note of the fact he'd pulled the coverlet up to keep it neat. A small thing, perhaps, but it gratified her. Shadow had a wicked grin on his face as he manifested a tray full of fruit, a honey pot, and two mugs of steaming tea. "You've given me an idea." Shadow picked up a ripe strawberry and held it to Chantrea's lips while he sat next to her on the generous bed. Oblivious to his plans, she bit into the juicy berry. With what remained, Shadow rubbed the juices over her nipple and enjoyed his own morsel the way he wanted, ignoring her gasps. "What a wonderful way to enjoy strawberries," she panted. "You're full of good ideas this morning." "I'm not done." The other nipple got the same sticky treatment, and he happily cleaned it up. Her delighted "Oh" ended on a moan. She closed her eyes and he feasted on her breasts. Shadow reached out with one hand and plucked a few smaller berries from the bowl. He crushed a couple between forefinger and thumb, trailing the juices down her body just ahead of his tongue. The rest he held carefully in his palm, out of sight. At the touch of his hand, she spread her thighs, and grinned while he got up to move to the foot of her bed. Moving aside the living hangings of flowing vines, he peeped through the curtain with a teasing laugh. "Do you trust me?"