The Coupon Book

He watched her reach up onto a shelf to grab a book of coupons.
In the last pocket of the pouch were items of different sizes and shapes that he had created.
He watched her place one in her pocket, smile, put the coupons back and walk away.
He knew what could be written on them, they had been collected over the years from his greeting cards, fun events, or birthdays.

One recent evening when the kids spent the night elsewhere, she had come home to a candle lit house with an obvious trail of flowers and envelopes wrapped in ribbon heading upstairs.
The dozen or so coupons said, lotion foot rubs, massages, or an escalating level of generous acts of affection and touch.
He waited in an ambiance laden bath, knowing he would smell like a girl after the odd clear gelatin balls dissolved in his fingers.
The bubbles shined, and had that circulating psychedelic film of color on them.
He had waited to climb in the water until her car was visible, as he didn't want prune fingers to greet her with their rough texture. She soon walked in the subtly lit room, holding a small stack of papers.
She placed most of them down and held two up with a curious look on her smiling face.
She could not choose between two of her favorite acts of play.
The difficult choice was one called, "the do not touch game."
They would be very close, but could not touch.
The penalties had a vast range for the one who gave in to lust and started to act out in a manner not usual for a household full of younger people.
Ten minutes or so would pass, with each sweetheart drawing invisible lines with a finger, daring the other to cross.
This evenings retribution was a meal of choice, and two free hours of household quiet.
When one gave in, the giggles began, the music silenced them, and they conducted themselves like a newlywed couple with few distractions.

After this evenings fifteen minutes, her smile turned from meek to embarrassed.
She faced the other way and slowly cut out the coupon.
She placed it with a bottle of lotion on his chest.
Thirty minutes later, she was warm, softly covered in lotion, the music was soft, and the quiet was relished. They held hands, drifted off, and both smiled in their slumber.