“What? I’m used to having to eat in less than ten minutes,” she said.
“Meals should be a marathon. Not a sprint.” He finished his last bites and collected their plates.
“Thank you,” Kaylin said. “That was delicious.” She couldn’t remember the last time someone had cooked for her. She came by her own lack of culinary skills naturally; both her parents worked long days, and she grew up on takeout and frozen tater tots. Her parents had talked often about the dishes their own mothers had made, but her grandparents died when she was little, and never wrote down or shared any recipes. Even at Thanksgiving, her parents ordered all their dishes from supermarket deli counters. Her face warmed at the depth of Rusty’s gesture—cooking for her—overwhelmed her.
Rusty ran water into the sink when he heard Kaylin whimper. He spun around as she started to cry. “What’s the matter?” He pulled a chair to face her, sat in it, and took her hands. “It’s okay,” he said. “The police are after this guy. He can’t hide for long.”
“I wish this wasn’t happening to me.”
“It will pass. You just…” he searched for comforting words. “Soldier on,” he said. “You’ve done everything right. You took action to protect yourself. You got help. The best help.” He smiled at her. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He wiped a tear off her cheek with the edge of his finger.
“Promise?”
“Promise.” He squeezed her hands, willing himself to let go. He couldn’t. Her bottom lip trembled, and desire swelled in his chest. He couldn’t stop himself, there was no point. He leaned forward and kissed her, sucking her trembling lip into his mouth. She pressed her lips against his. He stood, drawing her body up with his. He held her firmly at the waist, wanting to pull her scrub pants down to her feet and kick them across the room. His fingers dug into the elastic.
“No need to cry,” he said, kissing the corners of her eyes. “You’re safe.”
Kaylin shook her head. “I know.” She sniffled in between his kisses. He wrapped his arms all the way around her waist.
“Then, what is it?” He pulled the neck of her shirt down her shoulder to kiss her exposed skin.
“When this is over,” she said, her head tilting back as his lips traced the cartilage of her throat. “You’ll be gone.”
“Not happening,” he said.
“You can’t possibly know that.” She rolled her head to the side as his mouth moved toward her ear.
He pressed his lips into her hair, whispering. “You don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“You,” he said. He hoisted her legs around his waist. “You have this strange effect on me…”
“What effect?” Kaylin asked. She had an inkling what it was, though. She felt it herself.
“My heart longs for you every time we’re apart.” He kissed her mouth. “I can’t be separated from you, not now, not ever.” He pulled away, searching her face for reciprocation.
Kaylin smiled and fought the urge to cry again, this time for different reasons. “I feel the same way.” She knit her fingers into his hair and kissed him hard.
He carried her into his bedroom and threw her onto his bed and into his pillows. She sat up on her elbows as he crawled on top of her on his hands and knees. She liked how his muscular body covered hers like a blanket. She arched her back, meeting his hips with hers.
Rusty rolled her shirt up, exposing her stomach. He kissed her belly button, working his way up to the underwire of her bra.
Kaylin pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor. Rusty kissed between her breasts and tugged her scrub pants down her hips. They slid off easily, and she scooted out of them, kicking them to the foot of the bed. She pulled his shirt over his head and pressed her fingers deep into his sculpted back. He lifted onto his knees to undo his belt buckle and jeans, then reached behind her and unhooked her bra. As her breasts slipped out, he sucked her nipple into his mouth and pulled her panties down her legs.
“Lay back,” he said. “Put your arms over your head.”
Kaylin complied, gripping the slats in the headboard as he scooted down between her legs. Kaylin moaned as his tongue entered her body. She arched her back as he prodded the most sensitive parts of her, bringing her to near climax with his tongue. He stopped before sending her over the edge, drew himself over her, then pressed the bulk of himself inside her. She gasped. Kaylin spread her legs wider, wrapping her feet around him as he filled her. She dug her fingers into his hair and burrowed her face against his neck, feeling shielded by him from every bad thing that existed in the world. She lifted her hips as high as she could, urging him as deep inside as her body allowed. She pressed her back against the pillows, angling herself higher to meet him faster. He sat back on his knees, taking her in with his eyes as he continued to fill her. He ran his hands down the curvature of her figure, each of his fingertips electrified by the feel of her skin. He wanted to be inside her forever, to never let it end, but her tightness and warmth were too much for him to hold out any longer.
He pumped into her as hard as he could and she cried out in ecstasy, her moans filling the ambience of the room.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, suddenly worried.
She shook her head fast and pressed him deep back inside her as he throbbed. She was glad he hadn’t let her finish before; now, she could feel the fireworks rising both inside and out of her body, and she squeezed her eyes tight as the world went black and nothing existed except the pulse of their bodies in sync with each other.
Rusty kissed her softly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Kaylin pressed her forehead to his. “Promise?”
