She nodded. “I so very much can.”
He swallowed hard. He pressed his lips to hers. Slowly, gently, he moved his hips. The so-very-comfortableness endured. It was more than so-very-comfortable. It was so-very-good. Dani let out a little whimper.
“Terrible?” he asked.
She lifted her hips and pressed into him.“Good,”she said with a sigh.
“Oh, thank God,” he hissed, and he moved into her again, watching her face. She purred, closing her eyes, and met him with another pump.
“Yes,”she whispered.
He responded with a proper thrust. Dani moaned and kissed him, rising up.
Luke made a hissing sound and began to ride her in earnest, thrusting faster, harder. Dani hitched her legs higher, taking him deep, letting out little pants and whimpers and sounds of delight. She called to him, “Bannock...”
“Luke,”he corrected on a pant, and she was confused.
“Say my name?” he huffed.
“Luke,”she whispered on a smile. “Don’t stop, Luke. Please.”
The only thing that stopped was conversation. No questions or lies, no denials, no plans. Dani felt an escalating need, a burn that led to more burning, a demanding, an urgent insistence. Whatever she required, she felt confident that Luke would provide it.
She was not wrong. She could feel him working to satisfy her; every muscle flexed, his face creased with effort, hands gripping, skin slick. And then...shimmers.
His pounding launched her from burn to spiraled flight. She wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck and held on. She felt breathless. But also her lungs filled with air. And also she would never breathe again.
She floated.
“Luke,”she murmured, going taut, going limp, going and going and going.
“I have you,” he rasped, pumping into her, holding her close.
When, at last, her breath returned, she dropped her head onto the pillow. She blinked her eyes open, seeking his face. His expression was strained, a little bit agony, a little bit mindless. He pumped into her once more, twice—and then he lifted off her with a guttural roar and collapsed next to her. He threw an arm over his eyes.
“Oh,” she said, not expecting him to go away.
“There cannot be a baby,” he rasped, “no matter what you say about the rest of it. I’m a selfish blaggard, but even I have my limits.”
Dani felt a wetness between them, and she understood.
“Is it finished, then?” she whispered.
He lifted his arm and opened one eye. “Yes, you little minx. It’s finished.”
“Are you... well?” she asked.
“Oh yes, I’m very well. My mind is shattered. Blank as a February sky. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
“Shattered?”
“Vanquished of all thought,” he said, turning. He gathered her up, and she went to him, relieved at the return to closeness. His arms had never felt so good, heavy and tired but so very strong. She nestled into him. Fatigue settled over her like a light, crisp bedsheet.
“I’m so very tired,” she whispered, against his chest.
“Sleep,” he said.
“Will you sleep?”
