I pulled her shirt over her head and cupped her breasts, lowering my mouth to take one taut nipple between my lips. Her sweetness was nectar from the gods she painted so skillfully. Her moan shot straight through me.
“God, I’ve missed you,” she whispered, fingers threading through my hair, pressing my face closer.
“I’ve missed you more,” I growled, and meant it with every fiber of my being. She had no idea how much.
I unfastened her jeans and had them off along with her underwear in seconds, my hands shaking with urgency.
“That’s not fair,” she protested, reaching for my shirt buttons.
She fumbled with them, cursing under her breath, and I wanted to help but couldn’t seem to make my hands cooperate. When she finally got the shirt open and touched my bare chest, I nearly lost control right there. Her fingers traced the scratches Robin had left earlier, when we were both on my bike and he’d held on for dear life. The tenderness of her touch contrasted sharply with the fire burning between us.
We worked together on my jeans, fingers tangling clumsily in our haste. The moment her hand wrapped around my length, stroking firmly, I had to press my forehead against hers and just breathe.
“You need to slow down if you want this to last,” I managed to say, though my body was screaming the opposite.
I lifted her easily onto the kitchen counter and positioned myself between her legs. God, I loved how perfectly she fit in my arms. My hand went automatically to my jeans for a condom, but she stopped me, pulling me closer, wrapping her bare legs around my waist.
“We don’t need that. I told you I’m on the pill.”
I paused, searching her eyes, needing to be absolutely certain. This felt monumental somehow, another level of trust and intimacy. “You’re sure about this?”
She nodded, her gaze steady on mine. “I trust you.”
Those three words nearly broke me. After everything, after the fight, the misunderstanding, and the days of silence, she still trusted me.
She was damp, creamy, and ready for me. I sank into her with one long thrust, and her teeth on my shoulder were the only thing keeping me grounded. She cried out when I pushed deep a second time, and I gripped her firmly, pulling her against me for maximum penetration. I moved harder than I ever had before, more possessively, more desperately. Missing her had awakened something primal in me—a need to claim her, to make sure she knew she was mine and I was hers, and nothing would come between us again.
Each thrust was a declaration, a promise, a plea—Don’t leave me again. I can’t survive without you.
My hand slid between us, thumb finding that sensitive bundle of nerves and working it in the rhythm she liked. She was panting, clinging to me, her face flushed, her eyes unfocused. She was the most perfect thing I’d ever seen. When she came apart with a sharp cry, surrendering completely to me, I followed immediately, burying myself as deep as I could go.
I pressed my face into the hollow of her neck, both of us shaking, holding on desperately as if letting go might make this moment disappear.
As the intensity faded into something softer, I felt her body go completely limp against me. She rested her head on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arms around her, just holding her, breathing her in.
“God, I missed you.” Her breath was warm against my chest.
“I missed you too.” I kissed her forehead softly, gently, trying to convey everything I was feeling. “More than you know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
“Let’s never do that again, okay?”
“Okay.” I understood exactly what she meant—no more fights like that, no more secrets, no more days without each other.
Her sudden laugh surprised me. I reluctantly pulled back to look at her face.
“What is it?”
She pointed past me at Robin, whose kitten face was completely smeared with food. “I thought cats were supposed to groom themselves. That one definitely needs a bath. And so do we.”
I chuckled, the sound feeling rusty after days of barely smiling. I shrugged off my shirt that was still clinging to one arm. “Us first. Shower or bath?”
“Shower. It’s way too hot for a bath.”
“I’ll grab some clean towels.” I leaned in for a soft kiss, so different from the desperate ones earlier. “I love you, Jesse.”
