Page 58

They’ve eaten their fill of muffins that didn’t turn out half bad before taking separate and surprisingly shy baths out in the creek.

He’s not so dense that he isn’t keenly aware of why they’re washing up before relaxing.

Sure, they need it. But the implication of getting naked together has been loud and clear all day, and they both prefer smelling nice when that happens.

These in-between moments have him confused and uneasy.

They sneak up when he’s certain they’re gone for good and he’s got no idea how to handle it.

In all the daydreams where he allowed himself to imagine what their first time might be like, he always pictured it as rushed and frantic, like a dam finally breaking and sweeping them away in its path.

The truth of it is that they’re both so different now that the only way forward is to take it slow and careful or risk the fallout.

It might be a good time to warn her that this may not be satisfying for her the first time. She’s probably figured it out already, but just to be safe, he should explain in explicit detail just how unprepared he is and how fucking jittery he feels at the possibility of disappointing her.

She has had an image of him in her mind for so long, and he’s about to shatter it.

Instead of heading for the bedroom after those muffins like any normal couple might do, they’ve taken up the sofa to watch a movie off an unnamed DVD.

“I wonder what it is,” she asks excitedly, tapping the remote. “Kinda feels like a date.”

“Can be.”

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely. Who needs a drive-in when we got….whatever this is on the big screen?”

Good. Okay. She actually wants to watch this movie. That’s encouraging because it means he was right not to rush things, and disappointing because the only thing he wants to watch is her.

The Jurassic Park theme song erupts from the TV, and she scoots closer. “I like this one.”

“Me too.” He kicks his feet up on the coffee table, only grateful it’s not porn.

“Used to wonder why they didn’t all just leave sooner, but then our own apocalypse happened and it turns out people don’t take those very seriously after all.”

“Least not until it’s too late. We would have gotten off that island way sooner. We ain’t idiots.”

“We wouldn’t be on that island in the first place. Anything that’s got a T. Rex roaming its woods isn’t anywhere I wanna be.”

They’re doing that thing again, making small talk just to fill the void.

Silence was always comfortable with them, except all of a sudden, it’s not anymore.

He wonders if she’s just as nervous as he is, only better at hiding it.

She told him once that she’s never liked anyone touching her, never wanted that in a relationship after what happened in that basement when they were teenagers.

Maybe he isn’t the only one hesitating for reasons that are difficult to talk about.

Expectation lights up the air between them like an electric current with nowhere to go until she slings her legs over his lap and snuggles right up like they do this all the time, effectively saving him from agonizing over how to get her closer.

“Is this okay?” she whispers.

“Always.”

She goes silent while the movie begins to play. They lapse into comfortable territory again while his hand roams across her back, drawing absent shapes with his fingertips until she shivers.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s good. Makes my head and the back of my neck tingle. I like it.”

“Never felt that before,” he admits.

Kara lifts her head to watch him. “You’re missing out. Some say it’s better than an orgasm, but I’m not so sure about that.”

Fuck, she is going to kill him. He swallows hard as she turns that sudden statement into an invitation with the slow stroke of her hand across his shoulder and down his stomach, pausing just before his belt.

“Wade, I need you to know that we don’t have to do anything until you’re ready. But, when you are…I will be too.”

His heart squeezes while the comforting tone of her voice wraps him up in the best hug.

Of course, she would be patient with him.

Of course, he’s safe with her.

He swallows hard with a nod as the rise and fall of her chest moves heavily in his periphery. It becomes clear that she’s waiting on his move now. She’s led him here, and it’s his turn to take them another step forward in this gradual exchange of give and take.

They’ve gotten closer and closer until her exhales puff softly against his mouth. When he can’t wait any longer, he finally presses his lips to hers, slow and steady, rewarded with a curl of her hand around his neck to draw him in.

He never expected she’d be this responsive, but every tease of his tongue shyly darting in has her trembling, and when he weaves a hand into her hair, she crawls fully into his lap.

She guides his hand to the curve of her breast, giving him permission to touch.

He’s nearly frozen in anticipation, all his nerves singing and sizzling, begging him to be brave.

She’s so much softer than he ever imagined when he dips under her shirt and ghosts a tender touch across a hardened peak.

Her teeth nip at him, shocking him with her ferocity as her whole body rises up to meet him along with her kiss.

He wants to go further, but this is the safe zone now.

He knows what to do and how to behave, knows what she likes because she tells him with every delicate sound.

So they linger here, indulging in each other painfully slow until their lips go slack for long moments at a time, barely touching at all before adding more pressure and starting anew.

How hard his shaft throbs is a harsh reminder that he needs to warn her fast before he misses his chance for a disclaimer.

“I haven’t.” He’s already out of breath and slightly dizzy, pulling back enough to see her face and finding her completely wrecked.

Dark hair hangs mussed, a few strands framing her beautiful face, and those perfect lips blushed pink with their efforts. A red mark forms on her neck where he suckled there, thinking he was being gentle.

“Haven’t what?” She’s so open and accepting that he can hardly handle it.

“Done this in a really long time,” he continues, shaking his head at how that sounds. “I mean, obviously not since we last saw each other, but even before that, it had been a while.”

Her face softens, and she relaxes her weight onto his thighs.

“I haven’t either. I already told you that it’s not something I wanted after what happened in that house…

after you saved me from him. I only tried once a few years later, thinking I needed to get it over with.

That maybe it would be easier, but it wasn’t. It never was.”

His brows furrow. “You and Paradise Falls guy never—”

“No. I didn’t let it get that far. I couldn’t.”

“Are you sure you want to now?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

He’s trying to warn her that he won’t last long, and she’s trying to warn him that he’s probably going to hurt her even if he’s gentle. He wants to laugh at how everything between them is always layered with more difficulty than they deserve.

He absolutely does not laugh, though, because not an ounce of this is funny. He’s never wanted anything more than he wants to experience this with her, and she’s saying she wants the same.

Things move fast after that. This is a moment decades in the making, one he never truly believed he’d be lucky enough to get.

Now that it’s here, they’re in a rush to reach the finish line.

If they slow down, some otherworldly thing might stop them.

A phantom kitchen timer could go off, cannibals could blow through the door, a rotter could pop up in the window to scare the shit out of them in a final cockblock for all he knows.

They aren’t taking any chances. What follows is clumsy and disorienting as they face the hassle of removing what keeps them apart. He’s finally getting to open a present under the tree after staring at it for years, and he wants to rip the paper right off and fling it across the room.

Kara seems to be on the same page, struggling with her shirt before tossing it to the ground.

He’s mesmerized by the perfect breasts revealed to him while she finishes the last three buttons on his shirt.

She stalls, leaving it hanging open and reaching for his belt.

He takes over then, giving her a chance to work on her own pants, but they only partially succeed here, too.

Her jeans are left dangling from one leg while he shoves his pants just far enough over his ass to gain access, then they come together in a rush, desperate for contact where they need it most.

She’s in his lap, so fucking wet he slides easily against her, slicking himself where she’s warm and soft. He could come just like this, watching her pupils blow wide while they’re caught in an intimate caress, her skin like salt and sugar on his tongue when he licks a trail across her neck.

“Wade?” She rolls her hips, trying to catch the tip and pull him in.

He doesn’t push up into her yet, though, too afraid he’ll come instantly the moment he does.

Didn’t plan on this happening here. They should be in a soft bed fitting of a first time, but the sofa is wide and comfortable, and even the faint roar of half-muted dinosaurs in the background can’t wreck the mood.

Gently, he wraps her up in his arms and tilts them in a swift move until she is beneath him instead of straddling his lap.

She goes easily, opening her thighs for him to settle between.

There has never been a more beautiful sight than Kara looking up at him, trusting and vulnerable, ready to let him claim her body after they’ve already claimed each other’s hearts.

“Can I?” She curls a careful hand around the base of him, her pupils blown wide.

He nods, twitching at first, a shiver running through his frame and the memory of someone else touching him threatening to ruin this.

“It’s only me,” she whispers, her palm still with only her thumb waving softly over the tender skin of his shaft.

It is almost more comforting than sexual. He melts into her, burying his face into her neck to breathe her in, tears springing at the corner of his eyes as his heart swells for her.

She lets go of him, running both hands over his ass and his hips, up his sides to ghost his ribs and back down again, over and over, in firm strokes that lengthen his muscles and chase away his tension.

The tip of his cock rests against her opening, applying the smallest hint of pressure only to meet resistance.

He lifts his head from the shelter of her neck, finding her eyes to judge her reaction.

There’s a crease in her brow but only naked desire in her expression.

He moves forward again in a slow, firm thrust until she opens around him, admitting the first inch.

He’s thick, and she’s already told him it’s been a long time, so he tries to let her adjust, having to squeeze his eyes shut a moment to focus or risk coming with only the swollen tip inside her.

Her hips tilt, and she hikes a leg high along his ribs.

Then he’s sinking in so easily and so quickly it rips the air from his lungs and a hard gasp from hers.

She takes all of him like he was always meant to be here, exhaling a shuddering breath paired with the hard bite of her nails on his bicep. It’s a tight fit, so instead of pulling back, he stays where he is. She’s squeezing him so hard that if he thrusts, it might be over.

He just got here. He wants to stay.

At first, he fears that he’s hurt her, and maybe he has, but there’s nothing but love in her eyes and the slightest hint of a smile at the corners of her lips before he leans down to capture them with his own.

He thought he couldn’t love her any more than he already did, or know her any better. He was wrong on both counts.

She whispers something that sounds a lot like oh god but he can’t be sure because his release is already building and he’s barely moved at all. He tries to hold out, but it’s a perfect storm destined to overcome him.

“You feel so good,” she whispers into the shell of his ear.

It is her voice paired with the wet heat of her engulfing his entire length that is his undoing. He gives in, covering her completely because she is his and muffles a groan against her neck, feeling his cock swell and jerk, spilling into her erratically.

Her legs lock around his waist, holding him in place, her lips finding his pulse and her hips rocking gently to shift him inside of her.

It takes him a second to go from utter bliss to the harsh reality of his lackluster performance.

He came with a single thrust, so overwhelmed by the fact that they’re finally here, that he couldn’t keep it together.

The slow stroke of her hand across the peaks and valleys of his scarred back soothes the sting, and her kiss to his temple, then his waiting lips, does the rest.

“Two thousand, one hundred and twenty-seven days. That’s how long I dreamed of you. I used to think I’d never see you again.” His voice begins to tremble. “And now here you are.”

“And now here we are,” she whispers.

He doesn’t know who’s crying. The wet nuzzle of her cheek proves at least one of them is.

Could go either way, he thinks, finding her skin flushed as crimson as his must be when he pulls back to find her face.

Does he look as satisfied and mindblown as she does, fanned out beneath him?

There’s no chance he’s not twice as wrecked.

She lifts one leg and raises a brow at the jeans still hanging off her ankle. When they laugh, the movement highlights where he’s still buried deep, oversensitive.

His only regret now is that she didn’t come, too.

“Let’s do that again,” she says, her smile crinkling her nose in that way he loves so much.

He snorts, briefly wondering if he could just keep going and get hard all over again if they don’t stop. He might have a better chance at pleasing her, though, if she’s the only focus for a while.

“The night’s still young,” she continues, hopefully. “And I think we’re both wearing too many clothes.”

He gulps, giving her an obedient nod before peppering a kiss to her lips, her neck and then sucking a hardened nipple into his mouth, nudging his hips into hers in a quick jerk even though he’s already softening.

Why did they wait so long? Nothing came crashing down around them. This friendship he covets with every ounce of his soul hasn’t been ruined. It’s only better now because they can appreciate all of each other.

The night’s still young, she said, and he’s got plans to make sure she enjoys it as much as he is.