Page 64 of Beauty and the Beard

With a shudder and groan, my orgasm slams into me and Sasha shakes as I grip his hips, holding him there. He kisses my neck, my cheek and lips, and spears his fingers in my hair.

We take a moment to catch our breath and the reality that he’ll be gone in the morning is like a dagger in my heart and against my better judgement I say those words no one wants to hear after sex.

“I love you, Sasha.”

His body tenses and I stroke his back as he buries his face in my neck. I don’t expect him to say it back. I shouldn’t have said it myself, but I know what it’s like to wish you’d had one last chance to say the words in your heart.

In case he doesn’t come back, I want him to know that at least once in his life someone who meant it loved him.

He kisses me, so soft it’s like a breeze from a butterfly, before easing off my cock and lying next to me.

“Care to join me in the shower?”

Sasha floats a finger across my eyebrow and down my nose.

“I’d love to.”

Setting out my fluffiest towels, I make sure the water runs warm before we step inside. We steal kisses and touches as we take turns lathering each other up. Even after our emotionally charged sex, we still kiss and touch, exploring this connection we have. Sasha remains mostly quiet, but his silence is louder than any words he could say. He washes my beard with a reverence that takes my breath away. So much so that it’s almost my undoing.

Instead of words, all I can do is hold him against me and feel his heart beat with mine. Once we’re back under the covers, I know once I fall asleep, it’s the last time I’ll see him.

Call it a feeling, but this was our goodbye.

As expected, I wake up alone.

I should be angry I couldn’t send him off, but I’m glad. Sort of. He did it his way. The silliest thing about it all is I’m just happy I could give him what he came here for. Perhaps even more.

The ache of him leaving will linger, but I’ve been through worse. It’s because of him I know I can. Weird, but when does life ever make any sense?

He left me a note with his phone number and drew a big heart around it. Which I’m probably reading more into than I should.

A knock on my door pulls me from my thoughts and I set the note aside.

“Pete. Hi. Come in.”

“I just wanted to drop by and check on you.”

Nodding, I sigh. “Well, I’m here. And… how was he?”

He runs a hand over his face. “A shadow of himself, Leaf. What the hell happened?”

I motion for Pete to have a seat at the kitchen island and pour him a coffee before settling across from him.

“Everything and nothing, Pete. I may have got too close and scared him, or I got just close enough for him to spread his wings and fly.”

Pete, the straight talking man I’ve always known him to be, nods and sets his mug aside.

“Excuse me, boss, but why aren’t you flying with him?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve watched him the few times I took him to town. How eager he was to visit the shops on the main street. He fell in love with the coffeehouse. And if I’m not wrong, he maybe fell in love with this place, too.” He sips his coffee again, peering over the top of his mug. “Or someone maybe?”

Pete doesn’t miss much. He and Millie and my brother know me the best, but Pete talks to me no-nonsense. Straight up. Not like Perry, who’s always swinging, wanting to take down anything that might cause me pain. Pete has a gentle touch, and he gets the more emotional side of me.

“Maybe. A guy can hope, right? It’s not wrong of me to hope.”

He taps his fingers on the counter before pulling out a small package from his pocket. “He asked me to give this to you.”

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