Page 28

We walked in silence, the only sound around us were the birds and the crunching of leaves under our feet. My stomach roared with those familiar butterflies as his fingers tightened around mine.

The woods opened up to a small clearing by a stream. It looked almost the same as it had when I was a kid. Yuri stopped, slipping the bag off his arm and letting it drop to the ground.

Letting go my hand, our fingertips swept over each other, the touch filled with a sensation of not wanting to let go. Our hands fit perfectly together, they always had.

Bending over, he unzipped the bag and pulled out a blanket. Flipping it open, he knelt on top and started pulling stuff out of the bag; a bottle of wine, two sandwiches, a bag of chips, and some cherries.

“Sit,” he said, patting the blanket.

Sitting down, I curled my legs up, watching him put the food onto paper plates.

“I have turkey sandwiches with mustard and lettuce, the mustard is between the layers of meat, just like you like it, it's not touching the bread.”

“You remember that too?”

“This might surprise you, Gwen, but I remember everything about you.” Sitting next to me, he filled two wine glasses and handed me one. “I remember how you eat your sandwich in a circle, saving the center for last, I still remember that you hate tomatoes and that your favorite food is macaroni and cheese. I remember how much roller coasters scare you and how you bite your nails when you get nervous.” Laughing, he flicked his eyes between my hands and my face. “Just like you're doing now.”

Pulling my finger out of my mouth, I giggled. “I guess you do remember everything.”

Watching Yuri unwrap the sandwiches, I couldn't get over how much he hadn't changed, despite going to prison.

I guess I thought he'd come out and be angry, maybe even evil. I pictured him with a teardrop tattoo under his eye and horrible art decorating his body because his skin was stained with prison ink.

In my imagination I saw him as this vile excuse for a man, someone who would only know how to take and not know how to give anymore.

But that wasn't what I was seeing.

He might be sweet right now, but you know what he did. He isn't all good.

Yuri kept his eyes on mine, his lips pulling up into a seductive grin. “I have you alone again, just like that first time.”

Instantly my sex began to pulse, the soft throb a match to my heartbeat. “It looks like you do.” Crawling across the blanket, he loomed over me, causing my throat to swell, making it hard to swallow. “What are you doing?” I asked, my voice cautious and playful.

“I'm taking what's mine.” His body lowered, pinning me to the blanket. Using two fingers, he brushed loose strands of hair out of my face.

“I never said I was yours.” Smirking, my belly went wild as I watched the animal inside him claw its way out.

I used to love when he would take control, when he would take me the way he wanted to. It was sexy, it made me feel sexy, it was pure bliss to watch him get aroused when he looked at my body.

“You don't need to say it, I can see it in your eyes.” His hands moved dangerously slow down my ribs, softly tracing the outside of my breasts. “I still remember how you would melt when I kissed you're neck and how you would moan when I pinched your nipples at the same time.”

Moving his face, he lowered his lips to my neck and kissed the tender skin. Slipping his hand up my shirt, he pinched my nipple, turning it stiff. The moan fell out with ease, built on nothing but air.

“There it is,” he said, smiling as he spoke. “Don't hold it in, you don't need to. No one can hear us out here.” His hand moved over my chest, pinching my other nipple as he nibbled my throat. “And I want to hear you, I need to hear you. It's been too long since I've gotten to hear you scream my name.”

“Mm, Yuri.” Closing my eyes, I let him work my body.

Fingers touched and groped, lips kissed and suckled. Tongues danced and hips rocked. And as we got lost in each other, as the battle with this sexual hunger slowly dissolved, a ravenous greed took hold.

I needed him inside me, I needed to feel him again. He was my past being reintroduced to my present. He was power in the form of pleasure.

Strong fingers tugged my pants down my thighs, peeling away my panties with them. The cool air blew over my exposed skin, creating waves of goosebumps. Yuri kept kissing my neck and face as he pulled out another blanket and pulled it over us.

“I'll keep you warm, I'll always keep you warm.”

The heat between us was enough to start a fire. Taking my shirt off, he threw it to the side. Yuri tugged his shirt off his head, baring his muscular chest and abs cut from marble. The cold outside the blanket had vanished as we laid skin to skin.

His hard cock nudged against my entrance, making my pussy clench the air, eager to feel him inside. Resting his forearms up by my head, he looked down on me, his eyes yearning to feel my heat.