It was in the early hours of the morning. They had curled up comfortably on Terry’s couch, listening to some old jazz records of hers, and suddenly McKay turned to her, his lips going to hers, his hand tenderly stealing up her body to caress the full swelling mounds of her breasts, and she felt something ripening within her body, something wanting to be taken, and she clung tightly to him. And he peeled away her clothing without a word, she making no attempt to stop him, because she knew that this was what she really wanted, this above all else in the universe.

And when she was naked, he knelt before her, gently kissing the pink tips of her breasts, and she felt the nipples growing stiff and hard, thrusting upward, and she felt a tension in her breasts that only the touch of his hand could relieve. He stroked her body as though she were a princess. And then he was picking her up, sliding one hand lovingly round her shoulders and the other underneath her, and he carried her into the bedroom.

She lay on the bed, watching him undress, eyeing his lean muscular body with pleasure, wondering what it would be like, to have him do away in a moment the virginity she had had so long. She hoped it would not hurt. He was naked, now, smiling, coming toward her, settling down on the bed, caressing her, and she felt his weight on her, but oddly she did not mind the burden.

She spoke only once:

“Be gentle with me, Bob. This is—my first time—my first time ever—”

He was gentle, and there was no pain as their bodies joined, only warmth and the overflowing sensation of fulfillment as he guided her through the motions, until she needed no more guidance, until the shattering wonderful climax. He spent the night with her. She did not feel shame for her action. This was love, she told herself.

The real thing.

All the next day her body tingled from the memory of his caress, and she could not wait until night. But finally night came, and they made love, and slept well into the day, and she cooked for him and then it was time for him to report to the Lafayette for warmups.

That was the way it went, as weeks stretched into months. Her body came to be almost an extension of his; when they came together in bed, it was almost always perfect. There was the understanding that they would marry, “one of these days”—no rush about it, so long as they loved each other.