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As we move faster and harder, the room fills with the sound of our bodies slapping together, our ragged breathing, and our desperate moans.
My nails dig into his back, urging him on as the intensity builds within me.
“I’m close,” I gasp, writhing beneath him.
Andrew groans, his pace becoming more frantic as my body tightens around him. “Me too,” he says, his voice ragged with desire. “I need to you to come with me.”
The words send me over the edge, and I cry out as pleasure washes over me.
“Fuck!” Andrew roars, his body tensing above me.
We collapse together after we've finished, our bodies still intertwined. I rest my head on Andrew's chest, listening to the rhythm of his heart as it slows.
He strokes my hair gently, his fingers massaging my scalp. The room is filled with a contented silence as we catch our breath.
Finally, Andrew pulls back slightly to look into my eyes.
“I don't think I've ever felt this way before. It feels like I've found a missing part of myself in you.”
I swallow hard at the emotions in his voice. I want to say the same thing back. I feel it. But I’m holding back. There are things that he doesn’t know about me. I can’t keep it from him any longer, but this is not the time. Our love is still too fragile.
I feel like a fraud, except my feelings for him are real. More real than anything I’ve ever experienced before.
“I know what you mean,” I say, cupping his face in my hands. “Being with you feels like coming home after a long journey. Like finding the missing piece of a puzzle that I didn't even realize was missing.”
He smiles, gently brushing my hair away from my face. “That's a beautiful way to put it.”
Chapter 29: Andrew
“How is it that a beautiful, perfect woman like you was single?” I ask Emily as we lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling.
There’s nowhere else I’d rather be at this moment than lying here, naked, with my wife. Gratitude overcomes me, that she’s mine. That I found her before someone else did.
She laughs in response. “Relationships have not been a priority for a while.”
“When was the last time you were in a relationship?” I ask her, a weird burning sensation settling in my chest.
“About a year and a half ago,” Emily says. “His name was Jaime.”
“Did you love him?” I ask. A possessive surge runs through me as I picture some other guy in Emily’s life. I know it’s the past, but the thought of Emily with someone else just doesn’t sit right.
“Did you love him?” I ask, my chest tightening in anticipation of her answer.
Emily sighs, staring up at the ceiling. “Honestly? I thought I did. But looking back, I realize we were just two people trying to fit into a life that didn’t really suit either of us.”
“What do you mean?” I prop myself up on one elbow, studying her face.
“He wanted a very traditional setup,” she says. “A wife who’d stay home, cook, manage the house, and be there for him and the kids. He thought I’d fit into that mold eventually.”
I raise an eyebrow, unable to picture Emily in any sort of “meek” role. “Clearly, he didn’t know you well. I can’t imagine you staying home all day, waiting for someone else to make things happen.”
She laughs. “Right? The thought alone gave me nightmares. I couldn’t picture myself giving up the work I love, the independence.” She shrugs. “I mean, it works for some people, but I knew it wasn’t for me. We broke up after that. He just couldn’t see things my way.”
I nod, feeling oddly relieved. “Sounds like it was for the best.”
“What about you?” she asks, turning to me. “Any serious relationships before us?”
I let out a breath. “Nothing all that serious. There was Chloe. We were seeing each other just before I went on tour, but I broke it off.”