”Zara gave me an exasperated look as I took the spatula out of her hands, then smiled slyly as she opened her robe and flowed into my arms. “The o...ly thing under it is me, and I’ve told you that you’re free to grope me if you like. I’m actually a bit disappointed that you haven’t taken me up on that yet.”“It’s simple, my dear, I wouldn’t want to stop with just a quick feel,” I told her as my hand slipped down to her ass. “Something this lovely deserves far more than a quick once over. Now go. If it had been down to you, we possibly would have done this nearly a year ago.”I grinned and got up and went and sat in his lap, “But I don’t think any of us would have been really ready. That could well have been the end of us. How about now? Till death do us part?”“Nah, I’ve told you already, I’m protecting you in the afterlife too.”I held his face and kissed him deeply and passionately. A lover’s kiss, but intimate, rather than any sexual overtones. I then stood and took his hand.“Come on. ”His eyes bulged, he bit through his cigar and the scream that came from his mouth was purely primordial. The rage I’d touched off in him would have been impressive if it wasn’t so purely theatrical. He was putting on a show to prove how tough he was and how scary Vietnam was. He wanted to hurt one of us to get our undivided attention. When he sized me up, he knew I wasn’t the least bit intimidated and that made him want to beat some sense into me for everybody’s benefit.“You THINK you can talk. “It appears so, Don Antonio,” I said with a smile.“You are still treating her well, if she greets you like that, Steve,” Don Joseph added.“Yes, Don Joseph, it would appear so!” I said with a big smile. I had no clue what was going on with Joyce, but a kiss from her always put a smile on my face!We finished the game, and I went to find Joyce. She was inside, talking with Larry and Sarah. I saw Connie but purposefully didn’t make eye contact with her. Joyce waved me over to sit next to her on the.