Susana woke up in bed with Glen spooned up to her from behind, a cat's oblique, golden eyes staring into hers.
She smiled. "Good morning, Poe," she said as she reached out to pet him. He rubbed his forehead against her hand, then turned away and jumped from the bed.
Glen's arm slipped over her waist as he pulled her closer and kissed her shoulder. "Good morning my love," he whispered in her ear. "Sleep well?"
She snuggled back into him, rubbing her ass against his crotch while she took his hand and placed it over her breast. "Like a baby," she said dreamily.
Late that night he had carried her to the bedroom, undressed her, helped her slip into her pajamas, and put her to bed, then slid under the blankets behind her. The bed had grown toasty once they under the covers together and she had quickly drifted off to sleep again.
Now she was awake but not ready to get up just yet. "Baby?"
"Yes my love?"
"Can you read your book to me?"
He chuckled, "If you'd like, we don't have to be anywhere anytime soon. Which one?"
"The first one."
He nodded. "I'll be right back." He left to go to his office, and she watched his ass as he went. Soon he returned with the novel in hand. He moved his pillows to pad the headboard as he sat up on the bed with his back to it, and she pillowed her head on his thigh as he began to read to her.
He wrote dark fantasy and horror, building it around legends from cultures from all over the world. It didn't hold much terror in the bright light of morning, but she enjoyed listening to his voice as he read.
It didn't matter to her at all that she had already read it herself.
- - -
After he'd read a couple of chapters, and they'd made love and showered and had breakfast, they went Christmas shopping.
They started at a mall, simply for the diversity of options offered. It had one story and a winding course, curving this way and that, so shoppers only saw a small number of stores at a time. It was brightly lit but not as noisy as it would have been in its heyday, before online shopping became fashionable. They had been to the mall the previous day when Glen bought her that delicious red lingerie, but they hadn't stayed to explore.
As they strolled along, taking in the sights and sounds and smells, she spotted a store that looked promising for what she had in mind and smiled. "I need to shop by myself for a moment. Can you come back in, um, 10 minutes?"
He nodded. "I have something to pick up myself. Better make it 15 minutes, lines move slowly this time of year." He gave her a kiss and walked on, looking back to smile at her before he moved out of sight.
She went into the store and waited for a salesclerk to become available. The young man grinned pleasantly when she told him what she needed and guided her to a shelf a couple of aisles over.
It was exactly what she wanted. She picked it up and took it to the register, and after another wait checked out, making every effort to be pleasant and polite to the clearly overworked cashier.
When Susana left the shop she didn't see Glen. She shrugged, tried to remember from which direction they'd come to the store, and headed left to retrace her steps, taking her time, not wanting to be too far from where he expected to find her. The further she went the less familiar her surroundings looked, the fewer people there were, and her pace slowed as she realized she had no idea where she was.
She turned slowly, trying to find a point of reference, then decided to go back to the store she'd just left. As she walked everything just seemed more and more...uncanny. The noise of her steps echoed strangely, the light flickered in a way that made her eyes water, the very air seemed to resist being breathed. The mall itself grew somehow alien, the angle of the floor seemed unnatural to her eye, and something about the look of the nearby wall made her not want to touch it. There weren't even people around of whom she could ask directions.
She could feel her panic rising, growing, was finding it difficult to breathe. The light dimmed as she felt herself slipping, falling down a tunnel to some place she somehow knew would be even more unearthly, and was terrified. She drew a deep breath to scream.
"Susanna?"
She felt a touch on her arm and flinched, looking around wildly, her eyes huge, her breathing coming fast and shallow.
"There you are!"
It was Glen, smiling, and a little concerned.
The sights and sounds of the mall flooded back over her. Everything became normal again, though there were fewer people about than she would have expected.
Glen saw her look of puzzlement. "Yeah, most of the stores at this end of the mall have closed, there really isn't much down here anymore. I guess you got a little turned around."
She laughed weakly, still disconcerted from just the memory of a moment ago.
He asked, "Are you OK?"
She smiled. "Just feeling a little faint, hungry I guess."
He grinned and offered her his arm. "I know a place here we can get something good to eat."
She hooked her arm through his, and they walked. She felt a surge of relief bigger than she'd realized possible when they passed the store from which she'd bought his gifts.
They ordered some food from a Japanese restaurant, teriyaki chicken with steamed vegetables and rice, and plenty of it. She did begin to feel better with some food in her stomach, but she still couldn't shake that feeling of falling, sliding away down a long hole into the unknown.
