“All over me.”

He closes his eyes, groaning, his face a picture of contented satisfaction as he comes over my breasts, hot spurts of liquid settling on me. That’s more than I can take, and I fall from a great height into realms of star-filled joy. My orgasm continues to build, though, becoming almost too much, my body struggling against wave after wave of pleasure, which threaten to overpower me.

“Seth… Help me. I can’t… Please, stop it.”

He pulls the vibrator away from me, switching it off and removing his fingers at the same time. I feel the instant release, letting out a sigh of relief, although my body is still shuddering through the dying moments of my climax.

“Are you okay?” he says, lying beside me.

I nod my head, looking up into his concerned eyes… his beautiful face, and I reach up, caressing his cheek.

“I love you,” I whisper, my heart bursting as he smiles down at me.

“You mean that?”

“Of course.”

“Then thank you,” he says, letting out a long sigh. “Thank you for saying it.”

“It’s taken me too long.”

He shakes his head. “I knew you had to wait until it felt right.”

“It does,” I say. “It feels absolutely right.”

“I love you so much,” he whispers, leaning in to kiss me, his lips brushing over mine before he pulls back. “And while we’re thanking each other, I owe you an enormous debt of gratitude for the demonstration.”

I shake my head. “I should be the one thanking you… for rescuing me from that orgasm.”

“It seemed like a good idea. You were about to spontaneously combust.”

I giggle. “You’re not kidding.”

“The intensity of that hasn’t put you off, has it?”

“No.”

“So you’d do it again?”

“As long as you promise to rescue me, if I need you.”

“I’ll always rescue you,” he says, kissing me again, just briefly before he gets up and wanders to the end of the bed, opening the box and pulling out a towel, which he brings back with him, kneeling beside me, and cleaning me up.

Once he’s done, he lies beside me again, tracing circles around my nipples with his fingertips. I think that’s his way of making it clear we’re not done yet, and I don’t mind in the slightest. There’s something very relaxing about this… about taking our time, and I gaze up at him and whisper, “I love you,”relishing the sound of the words, and the smile that touches his lips.

“I love you too.”

“No. I mean, I love you.”

He frowns, just slightly, like he’s confused… confused enough that his fingers still, which is a shame… although I think we both need to concentrate for a moment. “I know,” he says.

“Do you? Do you understand that loving you means I don’t want you to move into a rented place? I want you to live here, with us.” He smiles and opens his mouth to say something, but I reach out and place my fingertips over his lips, stopping him. “I—I was gonna ask you to move in here before you left,” I say, smiling as his eyes widen.

He pulls my hand away. “You were?”

“Yeah, but then you went.”

“I’m back now,” he says.