Page 42 of Romance Is Dead

Tentatively, we stepped into the room.

All the sheets had been ripped off my bed, left in heaping piles on the floor.

My clothes had been torn out of the dresser and strewn about.

The drawers of the nightstands had been pulled out and dumped on the floor, even though nothing had been in them.

Even one of the framed prints on the wall had been knocked askew.

And on the wall, scrawled in red, were the words, “I’m still coming for you.”

I stared around the wreckage, trying to process. So far, the danger had felt near but still separate, something out there but not so close I could smell it. Now it had been here, in my personal space. We could have just missed them. They could still be here.

I should have been terrified. But mostly, I felt angry.

“Let’s go.” Teddy wrapped an arm around my waist, guiding me back toward the door. “I don’t want you in here.”

For once, I didn’t argue. We retreated to Teddy’s room, where he secured both the deadbolt and the security chain.

I slid into the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face in an attempt to bring down my adrenaline.

It didn’t help. My heart was still racing, but now my mascara was smeared.

When I came out, running fingertips under my eyes to remove the smudges, Teddy was pacing.

“Damnit.” He slammed a hand against the wall as he passed. “I should have figured this out by now. You could have been in there when they broke in!”

I walked over to put a calming touch on his shoulder. “It’s ok. I wasn’t in there, so it’s fine.” Even as I said the words, I knew they wouldn’t help.

Teddy shrugged me off. “It’s not fine!” Balling his hands into fists, he continued his pacing. “I should have worked harder. I should have believed you sooner. I shouldn’t have doubted you.” He ran a hand through his hair and down his neck. “I can’t believe I fucked this up.”

I glanced around the room, trying to find a way to distract him.

It was mostly tidy, with the odd pair of joggers lying in a corner.

I spotted a picture frame on the dining table, the one he’d made in his woodworking class, I assumed.

Next to it, I saw a tool I didn’t recognize, a pen with a long needle and power cord attached to a plug into the wall.

“What’s this?”

Teddy’s cheeks reddened. “You’re not supposed to see that yet.”

My curiosity piqued, I moved closer. The frame was small, just large enough to fit a standard eight-by-ten photo.

The wood was expertly cut and polished, and along the perimeter were tiny etchings.

Decorative flowers and leaves, a miniscule portrait of me, my dad in his Puzzle Face costume, and even a little skunk in one corner.

“Is this Daffy?” Amazed at the detail, I ran my finger along the dark lines of the sketches. “Did you do this?”

“That tool is a wood burner.” Teddy came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he rested his chin on my shoulder. “It’s not finished yet. I was hoping to get it done before I leave tomorrow.”

Leave . In the chaos of the accident with the tree and the break-in, I’d completely forgotten he was leaving tomorrow. My chest clenched with an almost unbearable ache and I fought to catch my breath.

“It’s beautiful. I can’t imagine how much time and effort this must have taken.”

“You mean a lot to me, Quinn.”

Heat flooded my body, making me lightheaded. The logical side of my brain was telling me to get out. Danger, red alert: talking about feelings was treacherous territory and I needed to shut this down immediately.

“Don’t do that that,” I protested, my voice barely a breath. “You can’t tell me that when you’re leaving tomorrow.”

“You do.” Teddy’s voice was starting to rasp. He spun me around, his hands smoothing up my back. “I care about you. I crave you when you’re not around. And I don’t want this to end tomorrow.” He ran a hand down my arm, pulling my wrist to his lips and placing his mouth on the tender skin.

I closed my eyes, trying to push away the feelings that were threatening to erupt.

I’d fought so hard to push them away, but I couldn’t anymore.

I didn’t want it to end either. Was that crazy?

People did long-distance relationships all the time.

Not that this was a relationship. Long-distance sex arrangement.

I pushed him back onto the bed and sank onto his lap, wrapping my legs around his waist. I smoothed the hair off his forehead, unable to look him in the eye as I whispered in his ear, “You mean a lot to me, too.”

When his lips pressed against mine, they weren’t rough and urgent like the times before.

They were tender, filled with restraint as they telegraphed that this time was different, this was about something deeper.

Something thrummed deep within me — a desire not just for pleasure, but for connection.

I wanted to get closer, climb inside him, where he could keep me safe and never let me go.

And I definitely couldn’t get close enough with all those pesky clothes on.

I raked my hands under his shirt and up his back, tracing my fingernails along the thick cords of his muscles as I tried to pull it over his head as quickly as possible.

“Hang on,” Teddy rasped, breaking the kiss to reach back with one hand and rip the shirt off his back. Without pausing, he moved on to slipping both hands under my top, unsnapping my bra with ease before pulling both it and my tee over my head.

“That’s better,” I breathed.

His eyes darkened as he took in my bare torso. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”

Teddy dipped his head, pressing his mouth and swirling his tongue first around one nipple and then the next.

I arched my back, desperate for more pressure.

I was a woman possessed. Starving. When he returned his mouth to mine, he rocked his hips against me, the long hardness of him pressing against my center, the friction delicious even through our clothes.

The contact provided relief — but only for a moment. I needed more.

“You have a condom this time, right?” I whispered against his mouth, my lips never completely leaving his.

“Yes.”

“Get it.”

Teddy pulled back to look at me, one hand swiping the hair out of my face. “You sure?”

“God, yes, I’m sure!”

He tutted as he pulled away and moved to the top of the bed, rummaging through the drawer of the nightstand before pulling out a foil-covered square. “So bossy.”

I followed him, lying down next to him and waiting impatiently. “I am not.”

“Oh, you are.” He swung a leg over me until he was straddling me and leaned down, resting his elbows on the pillow so his arms were framing my face. “But you’re gorgeous when you’re bossy.”

Staring up at him, our bodies slotted together so perfectly, I felt a wholeness I’d never experienced before in my life. My chest swelled with it. I wanted to live in it forever.

Then, he leaned down to kiss me again and time blurred.

Our kisses became frantic as we pulled at what remained of our clothes.

He dipped his hand between my legs, moaning against my mouth when he felt how wet I was.

He rubbed me in tight, languid circles, making me cry out when I realized how close I already was to coming.

“Mmm.” Teddy kissed my cheek, his hand stopping. “I’m sorry, I have to.” Then he moved down, his mouth replacing where his hand had been.

I threw my head back, swearing as his tongue flicked like velvet against me in a way that made me see stars. A tongue that magical should be illegal. It was lethal. I writhed on the bed, so close to tipping over the edge that if he did that suction thing again —

Of course, that’s exactly what he did.

I came, violently, gripping his head between my thighs as wave after wave of pleasure racked through my body. When I finally stilled, I was wrung out. In the most delicious, perfect way.

Teddy appeared at the pillow next to me, his face grinning and flushed. “We can be done now. I couldn’t resist.”

“No, no.” I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer. “I’m not done.”

“Are you sure?” He reached for the still-wrapped condom where it had fallen onto the comforter.

“Yes. Fuck yes, please. Please.” I had never begged a man before in my life. But with Teddy? I would beg for this.

Teddy opened the condom and rolled it on with the finesse of an expert before positioning himself between my spread thighs. He dipped one hand between us and then with a single, smooth thrust he was inside.

Oh. Oh my God.

I gasped as he pushed all the way inside, stretching me — the perfect length, perhaps a touch too wide. I angled my hips, helping us fit together.

“Fuck, Quinn.” Teddy tipped his head down until our foreheads met. “You feel so damn good. Fucking perfect.”

I moaned in response, tipping my hips up and urging him on. And he responded, thrusting once, twice, three times — slowly, like he was savoring every second of me.

“Faster.” I nipped at his lip. “Please.”

He obliged, increasing his tempo as we came together faster and faster. It was amazing. Transcendent. I knew sex could be good, but I didn’t know it could be like this.

After a minute, he started to slow.

“You feel too good,” Teddy whispered, his voice rough in my ear. “I’m not going to last.”

Pleasure hummed in my chest. “Good. I want you to come for me.”

He groaned, pressing his hips harder into mine, burying himself as deep as he could go. “You feel so good. We feel so good.”

Then he was moving in me again, his fingers working where our bodies met. It was alarming how quickly my orgasm built again, winding tighter and tighter until I knew I was about to come again.

“Teddy,” I cried, burying my fingers in his hair. “Teddy.” His name ended in a whimper.

He thrusted harder. “Quinn. Come with me.”

I cried out, gripping the broad planes of his shoulders as I came apart for the second time that night.

He followed a minute later, a final few quick thrusts before he collapsed on top of me, breathing hard.

We stayed that way, sweaty and entwined, until we caught our breath.

He rubbed my back, his fingertips drawing circles on shoulder blades.

We were quiet for a long time, catching our breath as his fingertips drew circles on my shoulders and back.

“I should go,” I murmured into his neck, my eyes closed and body boneless. An old feeling was creeping back — that no matter what we had just done with our bodies, actually falling asleep together was too intimate. That this was a place my heart wasn’t willing to go.

“Why?” he whispered back.

“I don’t know.” I knew that staying the night meant all those confessions we had made were real. That we felt about each other in a way that could no longer be ignored. And that no matter how mind-blowing the sex was, it was still scary. But I was too blissed out to formulate the words.

“Your room is trashed, remember?” He pressed his lips, featherlight, to the top of my head. “Probably by a murderer? Did you forget?”

Shit. I had forgotten.

“Mmm, good point.” I replied, relieved I could stop searching for an excuse. His bed was so soft, and he was so comfy, and deep down I didn’t want to leave anyway.

So I didn’t. We didn’t even turn off the light before we both fell asleep.