TREY

“I can’t believe they hatched already,” Arella says, smiling at the baby birds sleeping in their nest.

“The incubation period for small birds is only ten to fourteen days.”

“You seem to know a lot about everything. How are you so smart?”

“Google,” I say simply, and it makes her laugh.

We stand in the tree, watching the beauty of Mother Nature do its thing for a while. Eventually, the mama bird returns and sits on her babies to keep them warm, and Arella and I take that as our cue to leave them alone.

When our feet return to the ground, we immediately go back to the position we were in before I suggested seeing the nest. I lie first, then Arella nuzzles into my side with her head in the crook of my shoulder and her hand over my stomach.

We started off week nine like this. Within a minute of her coming out of the woods, she had her blanket over the grass and asked if we could cuddle. I didn’t hesitate to pat my shoulder and gesture for her to come to me.

I put my arm that’s not wrapped around her back behind my head like a pillow.

Then I close my eyes and bask in the euphoria that comes from feeling her body against mine.

It’s a high that no amount of drugs has ever given me.

This high also lasts longer than jaderro.

After my Sunday nights with Arella, I’ve found myself feeling light and full for at least three days.

By the fourth day, I’m still in a good mood but I’m definitely ready for my next dose of Arella.

“Trey?”

“Hmm?”

She traces a figure eight over my abs, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it. “Do you think we’re soul mates?”

I know we are. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I’ve been doing some research on it. Did you know that soul mates can feel a connection to each other that’s stronger than any other force in the world?”

“Yep.”

“Did you know that my body felt it when you got into that motorcycle accident?”

“Yeah, I know.” When I decided to live in New York, there was a part of me that didn’t want to, in case I ever felt the glimmer again. How was I supposed to protect her from all the way across the country?

“I also read online that if soul mates are torn apart, it feels like losing a part of yourself. Do you think that’s true?”

“Yes.” That’s how I feel whenever I’m apart from you.

“Did you know that just because you’re soul mates, it doesn’t mean you end up together?”

“Yep.” My dad spent more years trapped in darkness than he spent freely in the light with my mother.

“Did you know that whenever your soul mate misses you, they appear in your dreams?”

“That, I didn’t know.”

“Well, it’s on the Internet, so it must be true.”

That gets a chuckle out of me. “If that’s true, then you must dream about me a lot.”

“I do.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.” She tilts her head back to meet my eyes. “Multiple times a week.”

“For real?”

“Yeah. For the past two and a half years.”

My body freezes as I gape down at her. How can she say that so nonchalantly? “Wait. Wh—what do you dream about?”

“Sometimes we’re just doing mundane things like cuddling in bed or driving in a car. Other times, I’ve dreamt of us hanging out with your band or hanging out here at this tree.”

“What was the last dream you had of me?”

“I dreamt that you beat up Nathan so badly, he left my apartment with a bloody nose and a limp.”

My eyes go wide. Did it happen the same way in her dream as it did in real life? “What else have you dreamt about?”

“A few days ago, I dreamt that we were in a dark basement with an older Chinese couple, looking through a photo album.”

My breath gets caught in my throat as I try to understand what the hell is going on. Are her memories returning to her in her dreams?

Arella continues, “Sometimes, I see the same dream over and over. One that has recurred a few times is the one where I’m in a kitchen with you, baking cookies, when all of a sudden, we’re throwing flour at each other.”

“What kind of cookies were they?”

“Snickerdoodles.”

I let out a sharp gasp. Has she dreamt about everything that’s happened between us? If she has, what does that mean for us? If she hasn’t , what does that mean for us?

She keeps her eyes trained on me. “They aren’t just dreams, are they?”

I clear my throat as I try to pull myself together. “If you have to ask, then you already know the answer.”

“I think I’ve known for a while.”

I put my hand over hers on my stomach as I let this sink in. “Why didn’t you tell me about your dreams sooner?”

“I was afraid it would ruin what we have.”

I totally understand. That’s the same reason why I don’t say half the shit I want to say to her either. “Why are you telling me now?”

“Because you actually talked to me about losing our baby instead of keeping up this charade that we don’t have a past together. I understand why, because I do it too, but I felt like you should know about my dreams.”

“I’m glad you told me.” Even though I have no idea what to do with this information. At the end of the day, this changes nothing.

She pushes herself up and sits with her legs to the side. “Can you tell me what happened to my memories?”

I sit up too, then cross my legs. “I can’t.”

“Because you’ll be taken to prison by the government from the future?”

I let out a laugh. “You think I’m from the future?”

“It’s a possibility.”

This reminds me of the time she asked if I was a superhero or an alien. Is that moment something she’s dreamt about too?

“You’ve been watching all the Disney canon movies with Liz, right?” she asks me.

“We finished that already.” Like six months ago.

“You saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarves , then?”

“It wasn’t a favorite, but yes.”

“Do you remember how Prince Charming broke the spell that was cast on Snow White?”

Where is she going with this? “Yep. True love’s kiss.”

“What if that’s what can bring back all my memories?”

I sigh a little. “It won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re not under a magic spell. Plus, that would be too easy, and I’ve had twenty-nine years to learn that nothing in my life ever comes easy.”

She rubs the ends of her hair between her fingers. “Don’t you think we should at least try?”

Try what? To break a magic spell she’s not under? One that doesn’t even exi— Wait... “Are you saying you want me to kiss you?”

She nods and whispers, “Desperately.”

That’s all the permission I need. I seize her face and crash my lips against hers. She clutches my shirt and pulls me into her as our lips dance with each other like they’ve been waiting to for their entire existence.

I claw at her to come closer, and she does. She climbs into my lap, straddling me as she plunges her tongue into my mouth. My need for her has never been so strong.

My hand slides up her back, then I yank her closer to me, desperate to feel her breasts against my chest. Her fingernails scratch up the back of my head, then she pulls my hair at the top.

I groan as my cock hardens in my jeans. “Arella...”

“The spell isn’t broken yet,” she says breathlessly against my mouth. “Let’s keep trying.”

I don’t need to be asked twice.

With my lips attacking hers, I gently lower her back to the ground until I’m on top of her. Then I straddle her and kiss her like a starving beast as she moans beneath me.

My lips travel down her neck, and she arches her head back to give me more access. I nip and suck on her skin as she lets out breathy groans and claws at my back. I want to feel her skin against mine, and I hate that all this fabric is in the way.

As if reading my mind, she reaches under my shirt and slides her palms up my bare chest. That does it for me. I do a push-up over her, then hold myself up with one arm as I tear my shirt over my head. It goes flying somewhere behind me.

I’m about to go back to kissing her neck when she drags her shirt over her head too. Then she throws it in the general direction I threw mine. Two perfectly plump breasts peek out at me from behind a purple lace bra. My hands itch to grab her tits, but I don’t. What if that’s too far for her?

She must see my hesitation, because she makes the decision for me. Within seconds, she unhooks her bra and flings it to the side. “It’s not like you’ve never seen them before.”

She’s right. It’s not like I’ve never sucked on them before either. She lets out a gasp as I drop my mouth over her nipple and suck it in. My other hand cups her other breast, then I roll her nipple between my fingers.

If someone would have told the man I was two and a half years ago that this is what I’d be doing right now, it might have been easier for me to get sober.

This moment is worth all the agony I felt as I forced myself to stay away from her.

I never thought she’d ever be so willing to let me touch her like this again.

“Is the spell broken yet?” I ask as I switch to tasting her other nipple.

She clutches the back of my head and presses me to her chest harder. “No. Just keep going.”

I can’t disobey her, so I suck her nipple into my mouth even harder. She tastes as good as I remember—maybe even sweeter because I waited so long for this.

My hips grind against her body before I even realize they’re doing it.

As I go back to kissing her lips, she fights with the button of my jeans, wins, then yanks my zipper down.

After I kick my shoes off, she shoves the denim down my legs.

Then I yank my socks off and climb back on top of her in only my boxers.

I return to nipping at her neck as she slips out of her shorts. They thump onto the ground behind her head. I pepper kisses down her chest and stomach, then gasp. I didn’t realize she took her panties off too. I didn’t even get to see what color they are.

I’m about to ask for permission to lick her when she grips the back of my head and slams my face into her clit. So. Fucking. Hot. I suck her clit into my mouth as she moans my name.

“Trey. Oh, god. That feels so good.”

I stick two fingers into her only to find she’s already wet. God, this woman. She’s going to be the end of me. I pound my fingers into her, making her writhe beneath me.

“Yes,” she says all breathily. “Don’t stop.”

“I won’t, baby. Not unless you beg me to.”

I stare at her with utter admiration as my fingers slam in and out of her. She keeps her eyes closed and her head back as she accepts all the pleasure I’m giving her. I want to keep giving it to her. I want to see her satisfied and hear her scream my name.

“You like that, baby?”

She nods and slides her thumbs between the elastic of my boxers. I stop fingering her so she can wrench my boxers off. My thick cock bounces up, the tip already wet. She’s about to grab it when I seize her wrist and slam it above her head.

My voice comes out husky. “If you touch me, I’m?—”

“Own me, Trey.”

Those are the same words she said to me the first time we ever made love to each other. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” A flame of desire spreads within her eyes. “I want you, Trey. I’ve wanted you for a long time.”

“I’ve wanted you for even longer.” I pull her legs up and place my tip at her damp opening, sliding it up and down. “Once we do this, there’s no going back.”

“I know.”

I don’t think she knows what I mean. If we do this, there won’t be any more Sunday evenings here where I talk to her and only pretend she’s mine. Once we do this, I’m going to make her mine. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes, Trey. I’m sure.”

I lean down to kiss her lips until it turns into a frenzied act of desperate need again.

I want this woman with every fiber of my being, and I’ll never feel complete until I have her back.

I need her to be a part of me, not apart from me.

I need her to be my rock, my savior, my sun to shine bright on all my darkest days.

In return, I’ll be hers, and I’ll never falter from the duties that come with that. Never.

She pulls away from my lips and pants. “Trey?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Don’t be gentle with me.”

That’s all I need to hear to stop hesitating. I plunge my cock into her, making her scream out. She wraps around me, all tight and wet. I gasp as the pleasure ripples through me, and my climax threatens to explode out of me.

“Oh, fuck. You feel amazing.”

Her fingernails dig into my back as I pull back and thrust into her again. I take deep breaths to hold back my release. I can’t come this soon. I’ve barely had her.

She moans my name, and it brings me to the brink.

Fuuuck. “I don’t think I can last long, babe. It’s been so long for me.”

“That’s okay. We’ll just have to do it again.”

“You’re going to let me have you twice?” I can’t believe my ears.

“Yes, Trey. I want you twice.”

I’m gonna need to find out what I did to deserve this, because whatever it is, I need to keep doing it. I take her waist into my hands and hold her still, then I pound into her over and over. She screams as her body takes every inch of me slamming into her.

The orgasm builds inside me, and I try to hold it back, but I can’t anymore. I need to get one out. After that, I’ll be able to focus on her pleasure instead of mine.

I’m almost there. “Babe, where do you want me to come?”

“Inside me.”

“But what if?—”

“Trey, just come inside. Please.”

Hearing her beg is what does it for me. I continue thrusting until the pleasure becomes too much and I groan as my orgasm consumes me. I know she can feel me pulsing, because she moans and clutches my arms the way she used to. I pour every drop of my load into her, then I collapse on top of her.

Our heavy breaths sync together as I spiral down from my orgasm.

She holds my head against her chest as if she’s not ready for me to go anywhere yet.

I wouldn’t, even if I could. I can barely feel my arms right now.

I’m too high from being inside her to feel anything except her beating heart against the side of my face.

Once we catch our breaths, she asks, “Were you going to say, ‘What if you get pregnant?’”

“Yeah.” Word for word.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not ovulating.”

I’m not worried about getting her pregnant. I’m more worried that I won’t be able to again. Either way, that’s not something I want to think about right now. I kiss her, then grin. “Does that mean I can come inside you again?”

Her face lights up with an eager smile. “Yes, please.”