Page 34 of The Life We Left Behind

For a moment we stayed like that, breathing each other in and just feeling that sense of completeness that could come from nothing else.

“Trace,” I whispered. “Why does it feel so much better than before?”

He slowly pulled out before he slid back inside me again, and I sighed. There was something so much bigger about this situation than any other time we’d been together, and I wasn’t entirely talking about Trace.

The difference between the boy I’d known back then and the man I was with now was vast.

I didn’t want it to stop. If I could pause this moment and live in it forever, then I would. Nothing else existed apart from the two of us and the feeling of him moving inside me. The feelings he was building inside me. It was all so perfect, and for a moment, I felt like I could cry. Because how could a perfect moment like this be at the end? And how would I survive if it wasn’t?

“I need more, Trace. I want…more.”

“I know what you need,” he growled through clenched teeth.

I whined in protest as he pulled free of my body, panicking for a moment that he was about to stop.

But then Trace was moving, and suddenly I was being picked up as Trace somehow settled back, kneeling on the bed as he pulled me into his lap and straight back onto his cock.

My arms wrapped around his neck to steady myself, and I took a moment to revel in how much deeper he felt in this position.

“Ride me, baby,” Trace purred, his lips kissing along my neck and clouding my mind as I tried to resist not luxuriating in the feeling of Trace goddamn Farrington blowing my mind yet again.

We became a flurry of desperate motion as Trace gripped my hips and worked me along his length. My head tipped back as I let myself fall into the motion that built a second orgasm roaring to life inside of me.

“Don’t stop,” I panted as I crept closer to the edge.

“Never,” he swore.

I felt his grip tighten as he leaned forward, and his lips closed over one of my nipples. It was all I needed, the last push to send me over the edge I craved, and I came with a shout.

Trace’s grip tightened to an almost bruising level as he pulled me down onto him once last time with a groan as he came deep inside me.

We both froze, panting and clinging to each other, not wanting the moment to end. The world around me felt softer. I could feel the euphoria lingering inside me, Trace drawing it out as he softly kissed along the length of my neck and across my jaw.

“Every time was perfection with you,” he told me. “But this? How can I ever let you go now?”

I didn’t know what to say. This should be the part when I told him I was leaving, that this was it for us. But even as I thought the words, my arms wrapped around him tighter, and I realized that I was completely unprepared to let him go.

All the hurt, all the devastating memories of what had happened between us, were lost to me. Maybe it was just the amazing sex clouding my judgment, and in the harsh light of morning, I’d be back to myself again.

Or maybe this was my body telling me something my mind wasn’t ready to accept.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TRACE

It felt almost too impossible to be true, and as I stared down at Delaney laying against my chest, my heart skipped a beat. But with it came a pang of remorse. This is how life was supposed to be for us. It was always supposed to be this way. I’d lost so much time with her, and I only had myself to blame.

Delaney stirred in her sleep, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before she awoke. If I wanted this. If I wanted a second chance at having her in my life, then I needed to show her that I wasn’t the same person. That I’d grown since the days we’d used to spend at each other’s side.

But how was I supposed to do that? Everything felt like such a mess at the moment. Chelsea was going to be a massive problem. Until I had the restraining order in place, and she’d actually realized that she had to follow it, she was going to make my life a living hell. I couldn’t put that on Delaney’s plate as well. Especially not with everything she was going through with losing her dad right now.

Time with her was limited, though, and if I didn’t take my shot now, it was going to be too late.

Delaney’s face wrinkled in her sleep as she moved, and I gently slipped out from beneath her. I knew this house even better than my parents’ home. I’d spent as much time here as I could as a teenager and more than I was probably supposed to. Delaney became a pro at sneaking me in when I couldn’t take being around my mother any longer. Looking back, I was fairly certain Barrett knew all about it but pretended he didn’t. He was a good man. She’d lost him far too early, and Delaney wouldn’t be the only person to feel his loss. The entire town would.

I carefully opened the bathroom door, knowing that if you pulled on it too hard, the hinges would squeak, and turned on the taps for the bath, dropping the plug into place.

As I sat on the edge, watching the water slowly fill the tub, I tried to think of how to tell Delaney that I wanted another chance.

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