Page 23 of The Stuffing Situation

It wasn’t about the climax or urgency.

It was everything they hadn’t said, taking shape through motion.

He filled her inch by inch, his breath stuttering against her neck. Her chest rose to meet his. She wrapped her legs around him, not to pull him deeper.

Tokeephim there.

To anchor him.

They moved as if the world were coming to an end. Like every shift of his hips was a plea to stay. Like every roll of hers was a whisperedI love you, she didn’t know how to say.

Her hands clutched his shoulders; she didnt need to guide him, just tofeel.

To prove he was solid. Real. Stillhers.

Her palms memorized the slope of his back. The warmth of his skin. Her thumbs found the fast stutter of his pulse, real or not.

His forehead pressed to hers, breath mingling. Eyes locked.

They stayed that way, unmoving, for a moment too long.

As if they didn’t want to risk the future from happening.

And when they moved again, it wasn’t sex.

It was grief, given rhythm.

Love on borrowed time.

Every thrust carried the weight of a thousand possibilities already slipping away.

Every kiss was a surrender. A question:

Can I keep you?

She gasped when he hit the deepest part of her. Her body tensed. Her legs shook.

“I don’t want this to be the last,” she whispered, voice cracking under the truth of it.

He kissed her as if itwere.

As if he knew better.

“Then let it be forever,” he murmured into her mouth, a breathless benediction.

And they let the lie wrap around them, a second skin.

Her orgasm came in a sob, silent, shaking. Her whole body clenched around him, as though she could stop time with muscle memory alone.

Tears slid from her eyes, soaking the pillow.

He didn’t speak; he just held her through it.

Then came after, silent, reverent, his face buried in her neck, whispering her name as if it was the only code he’d ever known.

Afterward, they lay tangled, his body curved around hers. The room smelled faintly of old wax and ozone, warmth stilltrapped between the sheets. The world outside moved on, but in here, everything was still.

Her hand rested on his chest, not checking for a heartbeat, just needing a sign he was still here. Beneath her palm, the faint hum that used to sound mechanical now felt deeper, softer, almost human.