She parted her lips, inviting me to penetrate her with my tongue.
“God how I love you Sue,” I said softly, my fingers searching and finding her nipple. “But no more prick teasing or excuses. I mean it. A minute ago I was so worked up I could have raped you.”
“I know, I can still feel the tension in your body. And I want to feel you inside me.”
Eventually we broke from the embrace.
“Give me your hand,” she said, “let’s go to bed and make love, that is if you still fancy me?”
We both picked up a carrier bag and hand in hand we went upstairs to her bedroom.
“What’s in the shopping bags?” I asked as I put mine onto the bed. “Can I take a look?”
“Let’s sit down on the bed for a minute my darling,” she said. “Don’t worry I’m not playing for time!”
“There’s a simple question I need to ask you, and you have to answer me truthfully.”
She was still holding my hand and she lifted it to her lips and kissed it.
“I think you know how much I love you Jack,” she said, her eyes searching mine.
“And I think you feel the same about me?”
I nodded.
“I want to live the rest of my life with you, grow old together as man and wife,” she said kissing my hand.
“We can never have children, that would be too risky for the child. But I want you to share my bed, every night.”
Sue was looking very grave now and I didn’t know where she was going with this conversation.
“I love you too Sue,” was all I could say.
“I need you to think very carefully before answering the question I’m going to ask you, do you understand? Even if you say ‘no’ we are still going to make love tonight.”
Again I nodded.
“Jack,” she said, “Will you marry me and be my husband. Forever. Until death us do part?”
Her question hit me like a hammer. I hadn’t seen that one coming.
“Marry you? But how can we marry? How can I be your husband? I don’t understand you Sue.” I said.
“It would be a secret marriage, known only by the two of us. But it would be a solemn promise to stay together. I don’t think I could bear to live without you my beautiful son!”
I mulled over the idea of living the rest of my life with Sue, trying hard to picture us together forty years hence.
Marriage. To my mother? Live as her secret husband. Go through life together?
As I was thinking Sue reached under her pillow and produced two rings. One I recognised as the one Dad hand left behind. The other was new. A simple gold band.
“I’ll understand if you’re unsure or say now. But I have no reservations. You are the man I want to spend my life with you Jack. I think we could be a winning team.”
I looked down at the rings and realised the awesome implications of my decision.
“There is a third way,” Sue added, again reaching under her pillow. This time she produced a small ring with a single stone.
“We could get engaged until you are sure?”
I sat quietly, looking first at the rings, then at her beautiful face.
“What if I don’t want either?” I asked.
“Then we go to bed and make love just the same. But for me it would feel we were doing something unnatural, something wicked. But if we pledge our love to each other, and agree to marry it would feel right.”