A whispered check-in.
A hand guided gently.
My sharp inhale when she discovered what made me stop joking.
Her pleased smile when I pulled her closer.
There was no rush.
No choreography.
Nothing polished.
Only Ellie’s mouth on my skin, my hands learning her, and the quiet certainty of being wanted exactly where I was.
When she moved lower, I caught her hand.
She looked up immediately.
“Stop?”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“Just come here for a second.”
She came back without question.
I kissed her slowly.
“Hi,” she murmured.
“Hi.”
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You keep checking.”
“I like knowing.”
“So do I.”
Her thumb moved along my cheek.
“I’m here.”
Three simple words.
They should not have mattered as much as they did.
I kissed her again.
After that, the room narrowed to breath, skin, and Ellie saying my name in a voice nobody else had ever used.
Later, we lay beneath the sheet with the ceiling fan turning lazily overhead.
