As always, he has me wait for him by the door while he checks the house, making sure it’s safe for me to be there, that no one else is lying in wait for us to do me harm. Enough harm had been done today, and I don’t complain about waiting for him. I don’t want to see more damage done to another person, only my heart.
“The house is clear,” he says, surprising me. “You can go up and get some rest now.”
“Wait—” I start and regret it instantly. I don’t want him to know how weak I really am.
“What is it?” he asks, and as I look at him, really look at him, I notice how tired he seems. It’s not fair of me to ask him for more—of his time, of his body, of himself—so I just shake my head.
“Never mind,” I reply. “You should get some rest too.”
“Just ask,” he demands.
“No, really. It’s fine.”
“Say it,” he snaps.
“I don’t want to be alone!” I blurt. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything at all.”
“What if I can’t forget?” he asks as he steps closer. “What if I don’t want to?”
I close my eyes against the promise of what he’s dangling in front of me. I want it so badly, but I can’t hope anymore, can I?
“I don’t know.”
“What do you want, Adrienne?”
“I want you.”
“Then you will have me,” he replies as he steps into my space. He scoops me up into his arms like a bride and carries me carefully up the stairs and down the hall to my bedroom. Something is different here; I don’t know if it’s the brush with death or the sadness that seems to cover him like a blanket. All I know is the attraction we share is still there, now more than ever.
He sets me down on my feet and pulls the covers back on the bed. I step out of my sneakers and pull my tank over my head. He undresses while watching me, and then he lays me down on the bed and covers me with his body. Slowly, gently, he brushes his hands all over my body. Before, he would push me to catch fire quickly, but here, now, King unhurriedly builds the passion between us.
When I can barely take it anymore, he knees my legs open and settles between them. I feel the very tip of him at my center, and then he leisurely slides inside. I arch my neck and gasp. King’s mouth hovers over mine, and we breathe each other in.
I draw my legs up along his sides as he begins to move, connecting our bodies in a way as old as time. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and hold on as he glides in and out, driving our desire even higher.
One at a time, he gently pulls down my arms so he can hold my hands in each of his, curling them up on either side of my head. King moves faster and faster. We don’t speak a word as we come together. And with one final thrust, he plants himself deep, and we fall over the edge together.
Afterward, he rolls to his side, taking me with him in his arms so we are face to face, curled up in each other as we drift off to sleep, clinging to one another. My final thoughts before sleep claims me is that it’s a shame he won’t be here when I wake up in the morning.
• • •
I wake with a start, gasping for breath as the last fingers of my nightmare let go of me. The sounds of the explosion still echo in my ears, and the sight of Eric, unconscious and bleeding. But he’s not dead. I know the explosion was not my fault but that of a psychopath.
I feel incredibly cold and turn to find the covers. Maybe if I hide underneath them, the world can’t find me. But instead of the blankets, I find King asleep beside me. I could let this moment go. I could grab the covers from the foot of the bed and go back to sleep, or I could act. I could take what I want and revel in the victory of not only falling asleep beside the man who has come to mean so much to me, but also waking up beside him to make love all over again.
He sleeps flat on his back. His strong legs are spread, and his cock is hard and heavy, resting up against his taut belly. I carefully crawl down the bed between his legs and trace my fingertips up and down his long length before I wrap my hand around him. I dip down toward him and touch my tongue to the tip of him. I take him deep into my mouth and bob up and down, sliding him in and out of my mouth.
His hips shift, and I hear him groan. I look up, and I can’t help but smile around him as he settles back against the pillows with his arms folded behind his head and watches me work him with a smile playing on his full lips.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asks, but I don’t answer. I just lick and kiss and tease him. I let go and sit up between his thighs to watch him. “So you’re done then?”
I just smile and shake my head.
“I didn’t think so,” he says with a smile just before he knifes up and lunges at me.
King takes me in his arms and rolls me to my back, covering me with his body and settling in between my thighs. He presses his mouth to mine, and I open underneath him, welcoming him. And then he plunges deep inside.
He leisurely drives in and out as he makes love to me. The first whisps of early morning light flicker through the curtains as we come together. I will never regret reaching for what I wanted last night and this morning when it was King. This moment is everything I could have hoped for, as last night was everything I needed.
