Rapture's Rendezvous

“Kiss them,” Angelina begged, leaning toward him with eyes closed. “Let me feel your lips… your tongue … on my breasts,” she purred.

“Angelina, my Angelina,” Alberto sighed, and buried his nose between her breasts, then moved his lips to suck on a nipple, until it was hard and erect. His heart was beating with a rapid pounding as his hands began to trace her body, then his

lips searched out her lips and bore down upon them in a demanding, fiery kiss.

When he felt her fingers working on his clothes, trying to remove them, Alberto tensed. What… if… ?

“Please, Alberto,” she begged. “Let's go to bed. Please undress. I want you. Now.”

“Yes, yes,” he said. He watched her stretch across the bed, so seductively, and he couldn't undress fast enough. The pounding in his head had ceased, but the pounding in his manhood was fast taking over. He had to succeed this time. He had to. If not, he knew that he never would. .. .

Fully unclothed, he crept to the bed, and almost shyly even, moved to her side.

“Are you still feeling pain, Alberto?” she asked, touching his brow.

“Yes, darling,” he said. “But of a much sweeter kind.”

He moved atop her and opened her legs with a quick movement of his knee. Still trembling, he sought her soft spot out with his manhood, and once found, quickly moved inside her. If he worked quickly, surely he would succeed. He loved her. He had to be able to make love to her.

“Oh, Alberto,” Angelina sighed, now moving her hips with his. “Why did we wait? My love, why did we wait?”

He crushed her to him, over and over again, his heartbeat consuming him, feeling the pressures inside himself building. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, feeling something he had never experienced before … it was a warmth . . . rising . .. rising . . . making his mind leave him . . . becoming multicolors crashing . .. crashing … then his body seemed to explode in the most marvelous of sensations.

He groaned as his body spasmed, over and over again, realizing that he had done it. He had become a man! Then his breathing ceased momentarily as he experienced Angelina's quiverings.

“Darling?” he whispered, kissing her softly on the cheek.

She clung to him, breathless. “It was so good,” she finally whispered.

Alberto beamed. “Yes. It was. Wasn't it?” He pulled from her and scooted to lie on his back, his head resting in his raised arms. “Damned good,” he shouted.

Angelina began to trace his body with a forefinger, then began giggling.

“What's so damn funny?” Alberto said, tensing. Had he done something wrong? Had he been . . . too . . . clumsy ..'. ?

“You have a birthmark in the strangest “place,” Angelina said, giggling again.

Alberto's face reddened. “Yes, I know,” he said. “Maria . . .” he began, then stopped, knowing his hangups for his sister had finally been put behind him. He laughed merrily. “Yes, Maria also has such a birth-mark.”

“She docs?” Angelina gasped. “In the same place? I've seen the one on her face. She doesn't have two, does she?”

Alberto roared with laughter, suddenly feeling so lighthcarted. “No, my love. Only I have one in such a private spot. Now, wouldn't Maria look funny with one in the exact spot as mine?”

Angelina giggled as she placed her fingers around his manhood, then traced the birthmark. “It looks like a strawberry. It's shaped like one, and it's as red,” she murmured. She eyed Alberto wickedly. “And does it even taste as sweet?”

Alberto's heart thumped wildly. He eyed her ques-tioningly. “There's one way to find out, Angelina,” he said thickly.

“I know,” she whispered …

Maria clung to Michael's arm with one hand and her hat with the other, moving with him toward a stately black carriage. The city of Saint Louis buzzed with excitement. The Saint Louis World's Fair had brought dignitaries from all over the world. They had all come to celebrate the Centennial of the Louisiana Purchase, an event in American history having an importance second only to the Declaration of Independence.

Michael had explained to Maria that the territory acquired from France by the purchase embraced all the land lying between the Mississippi River and the crest of the Rocky Mountains and that its ownership by the United States made possible the extension of the nation's boundaries to the Pacific Ocean.

“I'm so anxious to see the array of flags your company made, Michael,” Maria said as he aided her inside the carriage. “There must be so many if every state and territory of the United States plus scores of foreign countries are represented!”

Michael moved in next to Maria as the coachman closed the door behind them. He reached inside his pocket for a fresh cigar, then lit it, settling back against the plump cushions of gold velvet. He crossed his legs and arms in unison, puffing leisurely on the cigar. “Yep. There will be many flags to see today,” he boasted. “And in all different colors and designs. I'm quite proud of what my company has produced. It has been nice to move into another area besides making shoes.”

“And now that the flags are completed, what will your sewing machines be used for?”