"Logan—" Her voice cracked, soft, almost pleading.
"I've got you," he whispered against her temple. "Come with me."
The second orgasm came like a slow, rising tide—cresting gently, then washing through her in long, rolling pulses that made her cling to him, nails pressing into his shoulders as she shuddered around him. He followed moments later, hips pressing deep one final time as he spilled inside her with a low, broken groan—face buried in her neck, body trembling in perfect echo of hers.
They stayed joined a long moment, breathing together, until he eased out gently. He disposed of the condom and came back to her immediately, pulling her into his arms, legs tangling, chests pressed heart-to-heart.
Afterward, Logan collapsed beside her, both of them breathing hard. Mara turned her head to look at him, sweaty and satisfied and grinning like an idiot.
"What?" she asked.
"Just thinking about how this week turned out way better than I expected." He reached over and took her hand, threading their fingers together. "And I had pretty high expectations."
"Same." Mara squeezed his hand. "I don't want you to leave tomorrow."
"I don't want to leave either. But we'll figure it out. Video calls, texts, visits when we can." He rolled onto his side to face her. "This doesn't end just because I'm going back to North Carolina."
"Promise?"
"Promise." He kissed her softly. "Whatever we have to do to make this work, we'll do it."
They eventually dozed off, tangled together more from necessity than romance in the small hotel bed. When Mara woke a few hours later, Logan was still asleep, his arm heavy across her waist. She watched him for a moment, memorizing the way he looked peaceful and unguarded, before carefully extracting herself to use the bathroom.
When she came back, he was awake, checking his phone. "It's almost dawn. We should probably try to get a few more hours of sleep before my flight."
"Probably." But neither of them moved to actually sleep. They lay there talking quietly about nothing important until the sun came up and it was time to face reality.
Saturday morning came too soon. Logan had a flight at noon. They had breakfast at Café Du Monde one last time, both of them quiet but connected in a way that went beyond words. The week had changed them both.
At the airport, Logan pulled her aside before security. "I'll call you tonight. As soon as I land."
"You better."
"And I'll be back. First leave I get, I'm coming back here." He cupped her face. "This week with you, it meant something. You know that, right?"
"I know. It meant something to me too." Mara kissed him, not caring about the people rushing past. "Now go before I do something stupid like ask you to stay."
"Would you?"
"In a heartbeat. But you have to go back. Your team needs you. And I have work to do too."
"Yeah." He kissed her one more time. "This isn't goodbye. It's just see you later."
"See you later, Logan."
She watched him go through security, watched him turn back one last time to wave, watched until he disappeared into the crowd. Then she walked back to her car and sat there for a moment, letting herself feel the loss before she had to put on her game face.
Her phone buzzed. A text from Logan already."Miss you already. Tonight, video call?"
"Wouldn't miss it,"she typed back.
Mara drove back to L'Abri Sûr thinking about everything that had happened in seven days. They'd gone from carefully texting to something she couldn't quite name yet but that felt important. Real. Worth fighting for.
The team was waiting when she got back. Nadia took one look at her face and smiled. "That good?"
"Better. We're doing this. The long-distance thing."
"You're really into him," Winter said. Not a question.
