Avery stared at me for a long moment, without moving, and then he was stroking me again, a faster rhythm that had me digging my nails into his back as our skin slapped together. Without breaking his rhythm, he peeled my shirt over my head and tossed it away. He lowered my leg so he could get closer to me, kissing me, and wrapping me in his arms as he kept pushing me higher, and higher, and higher and deeper, and further, and then higher again, until my legs were trembling so hard he had to hold them up for me, and still he kept going.
And I gave it back. As much as I could, I met him stroke for stroke, rolling my hips, clenching around him, whatever I could to let him know that as present as he was, I was there too. Just as good as it was for him, it was for me too. Just as much as he… whatevered me, I whatevered him too. He pushed me away, telling me to lie back on the counter, and I did, because he asked, and suddenly, somehow, he was deeper, and I couldn’t think, or breathe, or tell him I couldn’t think or breathe. Somehow, he knew I needed to be in his arms, so he pulled me up, holding me tight as I just… dissolved. I felt his body go tense with release a few moments later, and we stay there on the counter, connected to each other until we regained the use of our limbs.
I was still holding on to him when he placed a finger under my chin to lift my head so he could kiss me. “Tori… I—”
“Uh-uh.” I shook my head to stop him. “Me too, but don’t…”
He chuckled a little at me, but gave me a slight nod of his head to show me he understood before he carried me into my bedroom, where we rediscovered each other, wordlessly, a few more times.
A while later, as the first rays of sun began peeking through the windows, I untangled myself from his arms so I could turn to face him on the bed. “We’re gonna end up with a baby if we keep at it like this,” I joked, kissing him on the forehead as he pretended to sleep.
With his eyes still closed, he palmed my butt. “Is that what I have to do to keep you from running away from me again? Get you pregnant? Cause if so, I’m cool with a few babies.”
I laughed for a moment, then sobered as I remembered that there were… certain complications to that. “So… I guess I am a home wrecker,” I said aloud, running my fingers along his bicep.
Looks like we both conveniently forgot about that.
He drug an eyelid open to look at me. “What are you talking about?” he mumbled.
“Maya,” I said, dropping my eyes to the sheets as I traced a pattern with my fingers. I don’t think your girlfriend would appreciate this.”
He shrugged, then opened his other eye. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Huh?
I jerked my head up to meet his eyes as he sat up. “What do you mean you don’t have a girlfriend?”
“I mean exactly what I said,” he replied, his abs rippling as he stretched. I wasn’t surprised this time when my nipples hardened in reaction to him. “Maya and I… are no more.”
“What happened?”
“Well it was already heading downhill, but she overheard me and Nick talking about you, and decided to turn it into worst case scenario.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “So she did think you were cheating. Mel and I saw her one day, and she told me she thought you were giving her gifts and things to cover up.”
“I wasn’t. I was just… trying to be good to her. Then when I did do something — kissing you— I found out she was sleeping with one of her employees, and it was … it was done.” He shook his head, then raised his fingers to massage his temples.
My heart pounded so hard in my chest I was certain it was about to burst out. What happened next? What should I do, now that this was actually happening? Even now that my mind was clearer, and the only emotions I was managing were my own, I was still scared. I was still scarred, and that was something I couldn’t rationalize away… but then again, neither was the flame of passion and emotion I’d felt when Avery walked through my door, nor the terror I’d felt when he walked out.
We watched each other, not saying anything, and I wondered if he was feeling the same thing I was — scared and confused, but happy.
“What are you smiling about over there?” he asked, suddenly pushing me onto my back and covering my body with his.
I turned my smile on him, gazing up into his eyes. “This,” I said truthfully. “Whatever it is. I like how I feel when I’m around you.”