He growls when the timer goes off again. “Jesus. That was like thirty seconds.”
Shrugging, I pick up the oven mitts again. “Closer to sixty, but yeah.” When I close the oven for another minute, I stay where I am and turn to face Jason. “It’s going to go off in a minute again. But then I’ll know how long to put the next batch in for.” I gesture to the other cookie sheet on the counter next to me that’s ready to go in the oven once the current batch is out.
Narrowing his eyes, he crosses his arms. “How many batches do you have to make?”
Glancing at the bowl, I consider his question. “I dunno. Four, maybe?”
“Four after this? Or counting these?”
“Counting these.”
He hums. “And what happens if we just turn off the oven after this and come back to it later?”
My mouth opens to ask why, but then I catch the heat in his eyes and gulp instead. “Uh …”
The timer goes off.
Whirling around, I pull the cookies out. They look fine. Good enough, anyway. Then I switch the oven off and set the mitts down. When I turn around, Jason’s right there. He swoops me into his arms, carrying me toward the bedroom like a bride—which feels extra fitting—where he deposits me on the bed.
He kisses me, gently and thoroughly. And with each touch, each caress, he sighs like he’s finally able to breathe after holding his breath for too long.
“I missed you,” he murmurs against my skin, nipping and sucking on my neck, my collarbone, then returning to my mouth.
“I missed you too,” I manage to gasp when he moves away from my lips for a moment.
But then words are lost as he strips me down, dispatching my clothes with haste, followed by his own until we’re both naked and lying in a tangle of limbs and skin, and then he’s inside me and,Oh.Yes. This.
Somehow, in the short time he’s been away, I’d forgotten how exquisite this feeling is.With him. Only with him.
And even though it seemed like he was in a hurry to get to the main event—no drawn out foreplay like last time—he takes his time, pausing when I know he’s getting close, pulling out and kissing me, sucking my nipples, strumming my clit, driving me higher and higher until, when he enters me again, I launch into the stratosphere.
He holds me close, chasing his own release as he keeps mine going, and I cling to him like he’s my only anchor in the world.
We stay glued together for long moments after we’ve both finished, and he slowly relaxes to the side, pulling me with him. He sucks in a deep breath and lets it out again in a sigh of deep contentment.
“Welcome home,” I murmur against his shoulder.
He chuckles softly, pressing a kiss to my head. “Thank you.”
Neither of us feels much need to speak for a while, though, happy to remain in this state of blissful satisfaction where time seems to be suspended. At least for a little while.
Eventually, Jason gets up and cleans himself up before returning to bed, pulling a blanket over us as I settle against him once more. I’m not sure what it is about him, but he’s easy to justbe with like this. Not once have I felt an ounce of awkwardness, even though by rights, I really should. Given, well, everything about how we got here.
“How’d the meeting with the event planner go?” he asks after a moment.
“Good. We made a lot of progress. Didn’t you see the pics I sent? That’s what I chose.”
He nods. “Yeah, I got them. I just wanted to make sure you felt okay about everything, though.”
“You said I could go with what I thought was best,” I say slowly.
“And I meant it.” He leans in for a quick kiss. “No second-guessing yourself.”
Chuckling, I nod. “Got it. It was pretty easy, though. She had a few choices for each of the decisions that I needed to make, so it wasn’t too overwhelming. She went out and found her top three options for napkins and cake and menus, and I just had to look at what she offered, sample the food, and pick the one I preferred.” I grin up at him. “Hopefully your taste is similar enough to mine that you won’t hate any of it.”
“If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
Sitting up, I arch an eyebrow. “That’s the most non-answer I’ve ever heard.”
