She sets the kitten on a nearby shelf, arranging it carefully among the spare napkins and backup sugar packets. It curls into a tight ball, tail wrapped around its nose. Closes its eyes like it's been planning to nap there all along.
"Now where were we?" Maris asks, turning back to face me. Her eyes are dark again, that earlier heat returning like it never left.
I show her.
This time there are no interruptions. Just her and me and the desperate need to prove we're both alive and safe and together.
I lift her onto the prep counter. She wraps her legs around me again. Her hands are everywhere. My shirt. My belt. My skin.
"You're sure?" I ask. Need to ask. Need to hear her say it.
"Yes. God, yes. Stop asking and just?—"
I kiss her. Hard and claiming. My hands slide under her shirt. Find warm skin. She arches into my touch.
We're clumsy. Desperate. Tangled in fabric and want. Her jeans are tight and stubborn. My belt buckle catches. We both laugh. Breathless and wild.
When I finally push inside her, she gasps. Her nails dig into my shoulders hard enough to leave marks.
"Okay?" I manage.
"More than okay. Move. Please."
I move.
She feels incredible. Hot and tight and perfect. Her breathing comes in short, sharp bursts. I bury my face in her neck. Breathe in coffee and flour and her.
"Grath." My name is a prayer on her lips.
I want to be gentle. Want to make this last. But the adrenaline and fear and relief are still coursing through my veins. Every thrust is possessive. Claiming.
She meets me movement for movement. Her breathing gets ragged. Her legs tighten around me.
"Yes. Right there. Don't stop."
I don't stop.
The shelf rattles. Something falls. We don’t care.
"Close," she gasps. "I'm so?—"
"Me too."
"Together. Please. I want?—"
I kiss her. Swallow her moans. Feel her tighten around me. She comes with my name on her lips and the sound pushes me over the edge.
We collapse together. Breathing hard. Tangled and sweaty and satisfied.
On the shelf, the kitten yawns. Completely unimpressed.
Maris laughs. The sound is light and free.
"Well," she says. "That happened."
"It did."
"Behind the café."
