“I’m gonna come,” I pant.“Devin, I’m gonna, ahh, ahhh?—!”
My orgasm crashes through me like a wave, hot and electric.My muscles lock around him, and he loses it.His rhythm breaks, hips jerking as he buries himself to the hilt.
He groans, low and guttural.“Fuck, Enya…Fuck!”
We cling to each other, breathing hard.His body on mine.Heavy.Real.
Eventually, he pulls back, cups my cheek, kisses me again, soft, slow.
I curl into his chest afterward, leg slung over his hip, his hand stroking my back again, slower now.
This is more than sex.This is choosing each other.In the dark.In the aftermath.
The fear may still live in me.Probably always will.
But so does this.
Devin lives in me too now.His steadiness.His protection.His love.
And for the first time in my life, I get to choose which one I listen to.
I choose him.
I choose us.
I choose the future.
And that's enough.
21
TANK
Iwake to morning light filtering through Enya's curtains and the quiet realization that everything's changed.I'm in her bed, in hers and Warren's lives.And I’m here to stay.
The thought should terrify me more than it does, should send me running back to the clubhouse, but it doesn’t.Because Enya's pressed against my side, breathing soft and even.Because down the hall is a five-year-old kid who asked me to read him a bedtime story.Because of this.All of this.It feels right in a way nothing else ever has.
I shift carefully, trying not to wake her.I need to check the flat, to make sure everything's locked.Old habits, because now I'm not just protecting myself.I'm protecting them.
I pull on jeans and a shirt, move quietly through the flat.Checking the locks, the windows, and the door.All secure.
From the sitting room, I hear small sounds, soft crashes and quiet dinosaur roars.I smile.Warren’s awake.
I find him on the floor surrounded by his toys, staging some elaborate battle between a T-Rex and a Triceratops.He looks up when I enter and smiles.
“Morning,” he says softly.
"Morning, mate."I settle on the floor near him, not too close.I’m giving him space to decide if he wants me there.
He pushes a smaller dinosaur toward me."You can be the Pteranodon."
"The what now?”This kid is fucking with me.He must be.I’ve never heard of that.Ever.
"Pteranodon.It's a flying one.See the wings?"
I nod, acting as though I know exactly what he’s talking about.”Right.Got it."
I take the toy, hold it carefully, and let Warren direct the play.
