Dani and I strolled through the central city of Granada. No plans. No agenda. Just ambling about together, peering in store windows and people-watching. Granada had plenty of opportunities for people-watching, with crowds everywhere we went, not to mention the well-manicured sights of fountains brimming with fresh water, planters full of flowers, and grocers displaying their best produce.

While I still went high alert in public places, now that I was getting to know the city, I didn’t flinch as much at every little thing. Progress.

But I still had nightmares every night. I had a scheduled Skype call with a therapist over the weekend. For now, Dani just held me while I shook from the memories of the roadside bomb.

I wished I could hold her hand now, but the chances of a student seeing us together were too great, especially this close to the school. We chanced just going for a walk, though. No harm in that.

As we walked by the historic cathedral, I asked, “Have you ever been inside?” I’d passed by it so many times a day headed to school or her apartment, but never stepped foot in it.

“Lots of times. You haven’t?”

I shook my head.

“Let’s go in. The doors are open, and everyone is invited.”

I paused. “I thought you weren’t into tradition.”

“This is more than tradition, Trent. This is historic. So many people are buried here. So many things have happened here. It’s just a great place. Check it out.”

A woman stood at the door and smiled as we stepped in. Cool air from the gray building instantly chilled us from the heat of the day.

How many hundreds of years had people worshiped in here?

Many.

I checked out the sylph by my side.

How long had I wanted to worship her?

Always.

A hush fell over us when we walked in, because a ceremony was taking place. Dressed-up people sat in rows in the front, taking up about a third of the large, soaring space. A young couple held a baby wearing a white lace gown near the altar.

“Oh, it’s a baptism,” Dani breathed. We quietly took seats in the farthest back corner and watched the ceremony begin. A rite of new life.

Exactly what I’d been doing in Spain with her—starting over. She helped me to shed my past and let a new life take me over. I’d become refreshed and renewed, transitioning from soldier to lover. And I had an altar upon which to devote myself—her body and soul.

Her glossy hair shone in the dim light of the church, her eyes focused on the activity in front of us. I barely understood the ancient incantations in Spanish, but I knew what they moved me to do. I needed to make sure Dani knew how much I adored her, since she was an angel on earth here to help me live.

The censer swung past us as a man in robes walked up to the front of the cathedral. The smoky scent of incense reminded me of Dani’s apartment.

Dani’s apartment reminded me of her.

And not just her, in general. Specifically, it reminded me of her spread out below me this morning, going over the parts of the body. Teaching me the parts of her body.

I never knew Spanish lessons could be so…interesting. I never knew that I could learn about someone else so thoroughly. I put my arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled in with a contented sigh. That messy Tinkerbell hair felt so delicate twirled around my fingertips.

Sitting in church, next to this heavenly creature, I found that I just couldn’t leave her alone. She’d been so out of reach for so long. The fact that I had permission to touch her seemed so…decadent. I never wanted to miss an opportunity to offer myself to her. To exalt her. Pulling her hand to my lips, I kissed her palm. In response, I received a radiant Dani smile. A benediction.

My eyes followed up her crossed legs to the chambray blue tunic she wore. Like a dress, belted at the waist, it was really an oversized man’s shirt that slipped off her shoulder. The edge of the skirt rode high on her thigh, teasing me. My hand crept over to her knee to her soft skin. Her breath hitched in her chest as my rough fingers grazed her upper thigh. That lovely, silky thigh. She watched my fingers, fascinated.

I glanced around. No one saw us in the back since the center of attention was at the front where the service continued in Spanish, but I couldn’t follow what was happening up there. I knew what was happening between us, though. She was becoming as integral to me as breathing.

As I always knew she would.

Footsteps sounded behind us, and immediately my hand flew back to my lap. The stained glass of the cathedral dropped colored lights on the floor.

“You turn me on, Trent Milner,” she whispered.

“Yeah?”

She wiggled in her seat and nodded, biting her finger. “What do you think all these people buried here would think of that?”

I dropped my voice as quietly as it would go. “If they were alive, they’d want an orgasm. That’s part of the joy of having a physical body.”

With a hand over her lips, she stifled a grin.

I wrapped her close to me, giving her a squeeze.

The ceremony continued up front. I contented myself with the perfume of her hair, the sensation of the graceful curves of her body against mine.

“I think we can sneak off,” she said. “If you want to.”

An involuntary smile spread across my face. “What are you saying?” My dick perked up.

“I’m saying I don’t think I can wait until we get back to my place.”

Yeah. I couldn’t either.

Trying not to move my head too much, I checked to see if the coast was clear. I’d scanned the room when we entered and knew there was a restroom off to the side. Holding my hand, looking around conspiratorially, she followed me in there.

I locked the door of the tiny, old-fashioned white lavatory, and in a flash, she was on her knees, unbuckling my belt, unzipping my jeans.

“Holy shit, sweetheart,” I whispered. “This isn’t what I expected.”

Her eyes went up to mine, offering herself to me. Her hot, sweet mouth rounded over my cock, over and over and over again. Up and down, working me with her hand, nuzzling my balls. Tongue swirling around my dick, suction making my eyes cross, hand getting me off.

I leaned back against the wall in awe.

But.

I pulled back and stroked myself, brushing my belt buckle with my wrist so it clinked. “You need to see what you do to me,” I whispered. “Turn around. Hold onto the sink.”

She licked her lips and gripped the white porcelain with both hands, her eyes staring in the mirror at mine.

A connection yet again transcending anything physical.

Hope that we could be together.

A dream that she was mine and always would be mine.

I flipped up the skirt of her dress to undress her.

“You minx, you didn’t wear panties.”

“I often don’t. I like to be naked.”

My eyes rolled up to the ceiling as I got that image in my head. “Oh, sweetheart, you’re too much.”

That bare ass bent out needed to be caressed. I took my time, feeling her soft skin. My fingers slipped between her legs, finding her wet. And I started rubbing. Eyes locked on hers, making her body shake, praying that I could be enough for her. Praying that she knew how much I revered her.

Then, watching the way her mouth parted and her breath came faster, almost bursting out. “I’m coming Trent,” she wailed quietly, and I felt her tremble on my fingers.

With my dick still wet from her lips and her satisfied body under me, I entered her, watching her in the mirror.

The way her eyes widened as I touched that sweet spot inside.

The way her lips parted, breathing faster and faster as I connected with her.

The way her neck leaned back, seeking me.

My thrusts accelerated. I found a faster gear. Slicker, smoother, more pleasurable and more under me, which triggered my orgasm. I spilled into her, ramming her so hard I was scared I hurt her, but losing all restraint with her. Knowing I needed her at all times. Not just her body.

Her beautiful self.

Clean from the release, my legs buckled and then I regained my balance. She breathed hard, her arms still braced against the sink.

I gathered her in my arms, my pants still undone, and kissed her gently.

I wanted to tell her what I’d experienced. That she was at the same time someone I honored and someone I couldn’t believe I got to touch. I sighed. Not yet.

After we cleaned up, I squeezed her tight from behind, while looking at her in the mirror.

I’d completely lost control. I just had sex in a cathedral, so overcome by needing to touch this woman that I didn’t even know what I was doing. The disciplined part of my brain turned off with her, and I turned into something ancient and primal, driven by passion and lust, not thought.

Or rather, when I did think of her, all I thought was how much she meant to me. How much I adored her and wanted her to be mine. How giving into this emotion felt so right. Even in the wrong place.

That it meant I was offering myself to her. For always.

I wanted to tell her. But she already was so tentative, so likely to skedaddle. Too risky.

One more kiss. Then time to go.

As we opened the door, a line of three nuns was outside waiting in the hallway to go to the bathroom.

Great.

I’d thought that I was going to hell before. Now I knew I was.

Once again, she was onto something. She didn’t have much use for institutions, like the military, formal funerals, the church. And once again, following her nonconformist ways meant that I was really living, not just existing.

We left the cathedral holding hands.

* * *

“I want a sandwich,” Didi translated slowly, reading from a copied page in Spanish.

“Good.” Dani consulted her notes. “Next.”

If I thought it was difficult sitting in Dani’s class before, now it was downright impossible. With every swish of her skirt, I thought about her legs. With every word she spoke, I thought about the way her mouth felt on my cock. While we tried not to make eye contact too much, the fact that we weren’t making contact was probably obvious to anyone paying attention.

I should just quit the class. She didn’t need me as a distraction.

But it was two hours, three days a week that I got to spend with her. Hard to quit that. And my GI Bill wouldn’t like it if I quit, although I had money to stay.

At the end of class after everyone had filed out, I lingered in the back. She swished down the aisle, glanced around quickly, and planted a quick kiss on my lips, leaning over the desk. “You packed for the weekend?”

“Absolutely. Can’t wait.”

A dark haired man knocked on the doorjamb, and Dani straightened up quickly, arranging her face to appear more professorial. He started talking to her in Spanish. He must have been a teacher or administrator.

Had he seen that kiss?