I feel like I can’t breathe and I hear the hoarse sounds I am making as I come back down to earth again.

I let go of her throat and wrap my arm around her shoulders. I stroke my hand softly down the length of her body, wishing that I could give her what she truly wants. I wish I could say that I loved her. I wish I felt that way with every fiber of my being.

I feel enraged at my damaged psyche for a moment as I trace the familiar and glorious curves of her body with my hands.

“I never meant to leave you,” I say to her. My voice is hoarse like I’ve been shouting for hours.

“I believe you,” she says quietly, lying still in my arms.

I start to pull away from her, but she grabs my thigh to hold me in place. “No,” she says, her tone firm. “This time, you don’t just yank away from me and tell me to get in the shower.”

I feel a moment of guilt at her words. It had never occurred to me that she might have enjoyed this kind of prolonged intimacy.

I always felt bad about hurting her, despite her obvious enjoyment of my rough treatment. I never allowed myself to linger like this when we were through. Some part of me had assumed that she felt dirty after we had sex the way that I sometimes did.

I had been wrong about so many things.

“You’re going to have bruises,” I say gently, kissing the back of her neck.

“Yes,” she agrees, and there is something fierce and possessive in her tone. “Lots of them.”

“Did you miss me?” I dare to ask her.

She sighs, pressing back against me. I feel my erection already coming back to life. “Every moment of every day,” she admits, grinding her ass against me.

“We have lots of time to make up for, then,” I say to her as I line my dick up with her opening and meet her thrusts with my own.

She nods, trying to increase the tempo of this second round of lovemaking, but I resist her insistence.

“For once, let’s not be in such a rush,” I say to her, stroking her with soft fingers.

She whimpers and tries to evade my hand, but I drop soft kisses all over her shoulders and reach down to massage her clit with the hand she shook off.

“Oh, God, Elio,” she says on a moan, and the sound is like music to my ears. Even if I cannot tell her that I love her, I think I can learn to worship her body in ways that I was too impatient for as a young man.

We move together slowly, learning this new cadence for our intimacy. I slip from her wet pussy, evoking a sharp sound of protest from her.

“Patience,” I whisper to her. “Do you trust me?” I ask.

She nods slowly, languorously.

I lift her legs slightly with my palms and press my cock—still wet from her cunt—against the tight little pucker between her ass cheeks. Her caramel eyes flash open, turning her head to meet mine.

I wait for a moment to see if she will tell me to stop, but she closes her eyes again and presses against my rock-hard dick in invitation.

I move slowly, gradually stretching her open, inch by inch, getting her used to the feel of me in this forbidden new spot.

I was never patient enough to get to enjoy this kind of intimacy with her when we were younger, and I realize now how foolish I was.

I’ve never felt so close to anyone as I do now exploring new territory for us both.

“Yes, Elio, fuck me there” she pants as I move slowly in and out of her. She reaches up a hand to play with herself, arching in pleasure.

I carefully drive myself into her fully. Feeling a pressure on my cock like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

“You're my naughty girl, Kate,” I growl as I increase the tempo. I dip my fingers into her wet pussy. She cries out and immediately comes apart, clenching around my fingers and my dick at the same time.

The sensation is so erotic that my release washes over me almost immediately, and I shake and tremble as it rolls through me and I explode into her ass.