“No.” It came out breathless. “You and me together.” I slid my hand under his boxers and squeezed. My touch inflamed him. His cock surged for more.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he growled, tossing me on my back. “Because now, I have to do this.” He filled me in one hard, powerful thrust. My body protested, but I was so lubed up, so hungry for him, that the pain gave way to a hot, aching fullness.
“There’s been no one here.” He knew. He fucking knew. He picked up the tempo, carrying me with him. “I’ve missed this. I’ve missed you. So fucking much.” His breath was hot and labored.
It started at the base of my spine, electric tendrils reaching out from my pelvis, building, building, to a white-hot explosion that buzzed through me in waves of sharp ecstasy. I clutched Damian as it rolled through me and felt him stiffen as it hit him. Our bodies were momentarily fused, the same current flowing through both of us. I held on as Damian convulsed into me.
We came down slowly. First our hearts, then our breath.
“I don’t want to let go.” Damian stayed inside me, sated but loathe to withdraw.
“Then don’t.” I wrapped my legs around him. “And the answer is yes.”
“What’s the question?”
“You asked if I would marry you. The answer is yes.”
“That was when you had a choice. Try getting away from me now.”
“How am I supposed to do that when your dick is still inside of me?”
“Get used to it. I’m moving in. Next time, I might even stop long enough to remove your top.”
I laughed, but it faded quickly. “What is it?”
He knew every single detail of my face, but he was looking at me as if it was all new. His hand brushed my hair to the side, exposing my neck. “Just making sure this is real.” He dropped a soft kiss before withdrawing and tucking me in the crook of his arm. “You think there’s such a thing as too much happiness?” he asked. “Because right now, I feel like I can’t contain it and the universe is going to step in to restore the balance.”
“The universe is stepping in. To right all the wrongs, Damian. Not the other way round.”
His chest rose and fell with a long exhale. When the world has always taken from you, when it’s constantly tilted and shifted under your feet, it’s hard to attach permanence to the things it gives.
He held on to me like I was the most precious thing in the world. I felt like every cell was saturated with joy, full and swollen. I felt like ice cream and seashells and towering red-soled heels.
I might have fixed the gap between my teeth, MaMaLu, but my true love didn’t need a space to slip his heart in. I’d had it all along.
I hugged him close and smiled, the happiest I’d ever been.
“Where do you think you’re going?” asked Damian, when I swung my legs over the bed a few minutes later.
“I want to check on Sierra.” I searched for my panties and put them back on.
“Hurry back. I miss you.”
I laughed and opened the door. The hallway was dark, but I knew the house like the back of my hand. A nightlight was on in Sierra’s room. She had kicked back the covers and her arm was hanging over the edge. I pulled the comforter over her and nudged her towards the center of the bed. She didn’t move. I tucked her arm back in and was about to leave when I spotted something on the bedside table. I picked it up and frowned.
A syringe.
I was pretty sure it hadn’t been there before. Whatever was inside had been used, but why would Damian leave a syringe lying around? Especially with Sierra—
“Don’t move.” A figure came out of the shadows.
I felt something cold pressing against my temple. A gun. I knew it was a gun because once upon a time, Damian had held one to the back of my head. I had the same sinking feeling now as I did then, except this time it was much, much deeper.
“Call him.” The intruder pulled me towards the door.
“Who?”
“Stop playing games, Skye. Call Esteban or Damian or whatever the fuck he’s calling himself these days.”
I knew that voice.