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And I’d run out of hats.

I put the wet one down, then returned to the bed with her. Unfamiliar noises distracted me, and I noticed that an image was moving on her tablet’s screen.

“Is this the movie?” I asked.

No answer. None, that is, except an adorably tiny snort sound.

My beautiful wife was asleep.

I took a moment to simply watch her. To let her beauty wash over me like cool water. To give in to the utter awe that, at least for a moment, she had, in some small way, been mine.

We still have a few days left…

I did not think about when she would leave. Because when I did, it felt like my heart might stop beating.

“Jaya,” I murmured softly. Not to wake her up. Just to say it. “My wife.”

She did not stir. Did this mean that I should leave? She hadn’t covered this part in her explanations of the movie date etiquette.

But she had said that the movie date would not be over until I watched the movie. And she’d also said that the movie-watching had to be done from the bed.

So, really, no one could have blamed me for sliding back in beside her.

Which I then did.

Jaya made a sleepy sound as I settled on my back. In her sleep, she let all distance between us collapse, nudging herself closer and closer until she was snuggled into my side.

She fit there so perfectly. And as if it were the most natural thing in the world – the very thing my body had been created for – I put my arm around her and pulled her closer. She sighed contentedly, her breath warm on my chest. My tail slid out from behind me, seeking contact. It coiled along her leg and gently tugged until her thigh was slung over my hip.

Bliss. Utter, intoxicating bliss.

Having my face between Jaya’s luscious legs had been paradise.

But this was its own type of paradise, too. This quiet respite with her at the end of the day. Steady breathing. Warmth and skin and sleep.

I could not sleep. Not at first. So, for a time, I watched the movie, letting my fingers slowly play against the indents of Jaya’s spine. It was interesting, the film. In some ways, the human cowboys seemed very familiar to me. They rode mounts similar to shuldu, and had hats just like the unfortunate one I’d just ejaculated into. But they were also very different from me or any of the Zabrians I’d met here. They seemed to spend a great deal of time fighting with each other and staring moodily off at the horizon. Also, they used nonsensical words like, “Howdy.”

I never saw the end of the movie. When I next opened my eyes, my body felt ready to rise for the day. I always woke around the same time every morning. Which meant it must have been dawn now, or just before it.

I’d spent the entire night with Jaya.

Thank the blazes. It had not been a dream.

My wife was in my arms.

Perfection was a place.

And it was here.

Perfection had a name.

And it was hers.

“Oaken?” Jaya said, her voice low and rough with sleep. Her large eyes opened. The moment she registered my presence, she smiled.

“It is morning,” I murmured. I knew I should remove my arms from her. Knew I should let her go. But my arms remained around her body. And she did not pull away.

“Good morning,” she sighed. She nuzzled closer, tipping her face up to mine. “So… Last night.”