Passion
Faith’s kissfelt as it had in high school, as though no time or bad blood had passed between them. His body erupted in response to hers. He swept her into his arms and lifted her off the couch. Faith didn’t skip a beat, wrapping her arms around his neck as he carried her across the living room. Grant kicked the door to the bedroom open and collapsed onto the bed with her, already unbuttoning her blouse. Faith pushed his hand aside and wiggled the shirt over her head.
He felt the smooth satin of her bra, a small bow sewn between the wire cups, as he kneaded her breast. Faith tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Grant hadn’t forgotten what she liked in bed. He nipped her with his teeth, then slipped his hand inside the cup. Faith’s shoulders relaxed, falling open like a book that’s been set spine-down on a table. Grant kissed Faith up the long, thin bone between her ribs. She’d always liked when he traced her sternum with kisses.
Faith pulled Grant’s shirt over his head, dropping it into a pile on the floor that quickly grew by her pants, his pants, her bra, his boxer briefs. Grant slid Faith’s panties down her legs and over her ankles, and threw them to the floor.
In high school, they’d had to make love in cramped, dark places. The back of his truck under the cover of night down a trail in the woods. The twin bed in her dark bedroom while her parents slept in the room down the hall. Beneath the bleachers, once, little pebbles digging into their skin. Now, in the privacy of the safe house bedroom, Grant could take her all in as the mid afternoon sunlight pierced through the thin curtains, illuminating her body. Her hair fell in a thick sheet across the white pillowcase. He looped his finger around a ringlet. He should have never gone a day without being close enough to twine her hair around his fingers. His body pulsed with want as Faith wrapped her leg around the back of his thigh, pulling him down to hover above her. She stared deep into his eyes, and recognized that hungry look. She knew exactly what he wanted and kissed him, jerking him close to her body. He plunged inside of her.
Faith gasped. Grant bit her shoulder, pressing gently into her skin with his teeth. If he opened his mouth, he didn’t know if he would cry out in pleasure, joy, or pain. He didn’t even realize, even before this moment, that Faith had always been his home, not the states or Lark or any one of the apartments or bunks he’d lived in over the years. He’d been away for too long. This was his homecoming. He pushed as deep inside her as he dared, feeling her exhalation hot on his neck.
Faith gripped his back, her neatly manicured nails sinking sharply into his skin. Grant also knew, in that moment, that Faith had no intention of letting him go. This time, he’d do what he should have done all those years ago: stay and love her like she deserved.
He quickened his pace in step with her breathing. Faith, small as she was compared to his linebacker’s frame, had always liked it a little rough. When they lost their virginity to each other, he’d tried to go gentle and slow, scared he would hurt her. She wouldn’t have it then, and she wouldn’t now, either. She arched her back, inviting him in deeper. Grant pressed her back into the mattress, granting her no egress. She rolled her chin upward and moaned, meeting him with a force that never ceased to surprise him. Faith was a girl who couldn’t open a pickle jar by herself, but in bed with him, strength seemed to swell within her as though she were a nuclear reactor. This, like so much else about her, hadn’t changed at all.
Even on top of Faith, Grant couldn’t get close enough to her. He sat back on his knees, lifting her off the mattress with him. He lay back, supporting himself with one hand and steadying her with the other, letting gravity pull her closer onto him. He liked being able to see her slide up and down his shaft, a smile playing on the edges of her mouth. She inverted her body, pressing her chest against his and kissing him deeply.
Grant flattened his arm around her back, holding her tightly against him. If he got her close enough to him, maybe he could compress all of the years they spent apart into a single second, and flick them away like they never happened. Then they’d be right back where they started, so deeply in love he didn’t think it would be possible for anything to separate them. He closed his eyes as Faith collapsed against his chest.
* * *
“What now?”Faith asked, laying in the crook of his arm. With nothing to do but wait for a lead to come to light, Faith and Grant had made up for lost years several more times as the afternoon faded into evening. She sat up on an elbow. “Have you had enough yet?”
“Of you? Never.” He circled her waist again and swept her on top of him. “I’ve never been happier than I am in this moment. I’ve missed you so much.”
“And I’ve missed you.” Faith’s stomach growled.
“Right on cue,” Grant said. “I see that hasn’t changed.”
Faith blushed and buried her head in his chest.
“Still embarrassed about it?”
“A little.”
“I always liked how you get hungry right after. It made me feel like I did a good job.”
She laughed as she pushed herself back beside him. “I think that’s enough for now,” she said. “We should eat and replenish.”
“I don’t recommend you try that tuna sandwich now,” Grant said. “It’s been sitting outside the door for like… five hours? Anyway, you’re right. That’s enough for now.” He kissed her. “We can start again tonight.”
“As insatiable as ever,” Faith said, propping herself on her elbow. “Remember when you wanted to sneak out of an assembly to do it?”
“The coast was clear,” Grant said. “Everyone was in the gym. Even the janitor.”
“You were always stupidly brave,” Faith said.
“Probably.” Grant smiled. “I think that’s one of my strengths.”
“Just don’t do anything stupid to take down this hitman. Promise me.” Faith’s face turned serious.
Grant wrapped his arm around her. “As long as he doesn’t try anything stupid. Otherwise, no promises.”
“I’m not kidding,” Faith said. Her eyes widened. “Don’t you dare leave me again.”
“I’m not going to,” Grant said. “This is it.”
“What?”
