Again Adam traces her beautiful body with his hands, first rubbing her feet and then moving along the perfect shape of her claves, bends to kiss the back or her knee, still marvelling at how exquisitely soft it is. He draws back to admire the shape of her thighs and buttocks, letting his hands naturally caress her smooth flesh in a movement so natural and organic, it never changes. She is lying in the soft grass, eyes closed, her long lashes playfully dancing as she daydreams, a slight smile on her lips. He lets himself yearn for those lips instead of kissing them, imagines her moist acceptance of his own lips on hers…later. His hands on her lower back, the slight arch and valleys formed from those feminine hips, back and forth he plays, applying a little pressure to help relax her body, gently massaging her muscles and skin. Again he bends for a kiss, the small of her back, the scent of her womanhood rising to his nostrils, he moves his face closer to the source to better take in the aroma. She looks over her shoulder at him, then returns to her dream. The whiteness of her skin so alive in the sunlight, the sight protrusion of bone under such sweet flesh. Her hair falling to one side showing her beautifully fragile neck. He uses his fingers in her hair, just above the base of her hairline, squeezing the nape of her neck, releasing tension there and now scrunching her hair in his fists. Her ear turns red, hot with blood, he sucks on her lobes a little and runs his hand down her arms. She relaxes them and moves them along with his motions, he can hear her breathe out and he wishes he could take those breathes into him, how sweet and warm they must be! Coming out of this beautiful creature laying there so serene and pure. Event though he does this every day its always the same feelings, or, it gets better and better. He looks at her, admires her, the sun in her hair, the occasional shadows the leaves make moving across her back. She senses him looking, opens her eyes and looks at him, raises herself up on her elbows and kisses his lips, just once, the turns to lie on her back.

“I love you” he says.

“I know” she says.

*                              *                              *

Adam wants to cook her favourite fish for lunch. He crouches by the stream and waits for them to come. One of them will offer themselves up soon, a young salmon. He waits by the shallows, the transparent water passing over the smooth river stones, the music in the trickling makes  a mesmerising tinkle that is perpetually surprising, a crescendo of soft tingling light moving quick and soft, makes the nerves in his fingers twitch and his mind wander from the task, lost in the glistening fireworks of sunlight reflected from the moving surface. The salmon come, hovering and slipping by, their shark grey liquid skin twisting and sparkling in the sun. The warm breeze come to remind him his is not part of the marine world. He hears himself breathe deep, in and out with rich oxygen…a different animal. There it is, swimming in perfect opposite to the current, seeming to look over its shoulder at Adam, patiently waiting. He moves his hand above the fish’s body, wait there (uts not ready yet), a few moments, then it is true that the time is right so he simply plunges his open hand over the small body and grasps the slippery living thing, lifting it out of the water with no struggle. Of course the shock of being in an opposing environment effects the little fish at first, but Adam takes it into his lap and lets it relax there. After a moment of nothing it flicks again, its confused mouth struggling, but he is there, tickling it under the chin, looking it in the eye and holding it close to his body. Soon there is peace, he is sitting there alone again, sun warming his shoulders, a soft silver fish laying still on his crossed legs. That is all, he gets up and takes it away.

*                              *                              *

As Adam moves the fish around in the hot coals, Eve approaches, something is different in her face a new way of walking, something Adam hasn’t seen before. He watches her come, looking into his yes as if nothing else exists, feeling that she wants something, not that she has simply caught the scent of the cooking salmon, something else. She has a ring of vines wrapped around her waist, some larger leaves draped over her shoulders, as if she has taken nature itself and covered herself in it. How strange Adam thinks, unable to take his eyes off hers and feeling the heat from the coals on his thighs and chest. He turns back to the fish, using a forked branch to flip it again, the darkened flesh getting close to eating. He crushes some herbs in his palm and mixes them in with the juice of a lemon, looks back to Eve as she now stands before the fore, looking at the fish and the coals with pained expression, her brow creased.

“Adam” she says in a slow voice, “there’s something wrong”

“What is it?” he asks, moving back from the fire and placing the salmon onto some leaves.

“There’s something e forgot about”

“Forgot? What?”

“That there is…something else. We didn’t know”

“Know what?”

“I don’t want to tell you”

He takes small piece of salmon from the body, blows off the ash and tastes it. It’s good, sweet and salty.

“Have some salmon” he offers.

“Sure” she says.

They sit together, eat the fish, dipping chunks of the flesh into the marinade, he notices her simply eating, a blank look, not smiling like she normally would.
“Something wrong with the fish?”

“No…Adam…you need to eat this”

“An apple?”

“Yes”

“Okay”