She nods slowly, walking back toward me until her hands rest lightly on my chest. “Then stay. Just… stay with me tonight.” She says it so quietly. No hesitation. No walls. Just Ava. And me. And the promise I made the moment I first saw her again:I’m not going anywhere.
And that’s all it takes.
I nod, gently brushing her cheek with the back of my hand. “I’m right here, baby girl. Not going anywhere.”
We move through her place like it’s muscle memory. She sets her phone on the table, I shrug off my jacket. The silencebetween us isn’t awkward—it’s full, warm, something I want to live inside forever.
When she curls into me on the couch, her fingers absently tracing patterns over my arm, I feel the shift. The air gets heavier, charged, but not rushed. Never rushed. She lifts her head, searching my eyes.
“Elijah…” She says my name like it means something, like I mean something.
I cup her face, kissing her slowly, like it’s the first time all over again. She melts into me, her hands fisting my shirt, her breath catching as I deepen the kiss. But when I feel her tense just slightly, I pull back, resting my forehead to hers.
“We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for,” I whisper. “I’d wait another four years just to kiss you like that again.”
She lets out a shaky laugh, but there’s a shimmer of tears in her eyes. “I want you, Eli… I’m just nervous”
I kiss her forehead, then her cheeks, her jaw, her lips. “Then let me take care of you. No pressure. No expectations. Just you… feeling good. Feeling safe. If you’re uncomfortable, you tell me and we stop”
She nods her voice nearly a breath. “Okay.” So I take my time.
She looks up at me, eyes wide. “If we do this…” she says, voice barely above a whisper, “you need to know, I’m not perfect. I don’t look like the women you’re probably used to. I’m soft. And awkward. And… ”
I close the space between us and frame her face in my hands.
“Ava.” I say her name like a promise. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Her breath hitches when I lean in, slow, deliberate, and kiss her. Not a brush. Not a tease. A real kiss. Deep. Hungry. Anchored in all the moments we didn’t let ourselves feel.
She melts into it, hands sliding up my chest, curling into my shirt. Her legs part just slightly, instinctive, inviting me closer. Ifit between them like I was made for this exact place, this exact woman. Because we were meant to be.
I guide her gently to the bedroom, never breaking eye contact. Every kiss is reverent, every touch slow. I undress her slowly—deliberately—watching her the whole time. Not letting her hide. Her body is a wonderland of curves and softness that makes my chest ache and my cock rock hard. I don’t rush it. I take my time. Let her see how I look at her.
When her shirt drops to the floor and she starts to cover herself, I gently pull her hands away.
“No,” I say. “Don’t hide. You’re stunning.”
She’s blushing, but she lets me see her. All of her. Her chest rising and falling fast, lips parted, pupils blown wide.
She does the same for me, fingertips grazing like fire over every place she touches.
When I finally lay her back on the bed, I kiss a slow path from her collarbone to the curve of her stomach, memorizing every inch of her silky skin. She shivers under my mouth.
“Say my name,” I demand softly.
“Elijah…” she breathes, like it’s a prayer.
I kiss her again, harder this time, my hands sliding down her body—tracing the curve of her waist, the swell of her hips. Her body arches into mine like she’s starving for my touch, like she’s been waiting years for someone to want her like this.
“You’re so damn beautiful,” I murmur against her skin as I kiss down her neck, tasting her pulse. “Do you even know what you do to me?”
She gasps when my hands grip her thighs and pull her closer to me. “I don’t—” she starts to say, but I cut her off with a look.
“Let me worship you.”
She exhales shakily, then nods.
I take my time. I learn her body like a map I never want to stop tracing, where she sighs, where she moans, where hervoice catches and her thighs tremble. I taste every inch of her delectable body.
