Page 65 of In Flight

Because I wasn’t wrong about what we had. Maybe it can’t last, but it was real.

Itisreal.

It’s thick and warm in the air between us right now.

I wrap my arms around him and open my mouth to his tongue. He’s shuddering with tension and feeling, and it’s filling me too. After a minute he straightens up and swings me up into his arms, carrying me toward the bedroom.

Breathless and still crying a little, I say, “Isaac.”

“Just let me do this, okay?” There’s a tiny smile on the corners of his mouth, although in his eyes is a much deeper, stormier emotion. “You gotta let me have one more moment.”

I giggle. Squeeze his neck and hold on until we’ve reached my bed.

The suitcase is still open on the foot, so Isaac moves to the other side, laying me down and then pulling off his gray sweater and the white T-shirt beneath it in one move.

As he toes off his shoes and undoes his jeans, I work on my own clothes, squirming out of my sweaterdress so I’m left in nothing but my bra, panties, and thigh-high argyle socks.

He’s staring at me hotly as he takes off his underwear. He already has a full erection, and it bounces as he climbs over me in bed. “I love those socks,” he murmurs before he kisses me again.

This kiss lasts longer. It’s deeper and slower with a passionate urgency that’s tinged with aching loss. After a while, he reaches around to unclasp my bra and I shimmy out of my panties, so I’m completely naked except for my socks.

He said he likes them, so I keep them on.

Eventually we manage to do more than kiss. He mouths his way down to my breasts while I clutch at his hair and caress his back and shoulders. My legs are spread wide, my knees bent and my feet flat on the mattress.

Isaac is sprawled between my thighs as he works on a nipple, and it’s undeniable. It’s where he belongs.

He’s trying to take his time and go slow, but he doesn’t have much patience. Neither do I. Soon I’m dragging him farther up my body and reaching down to move his erection into position.

“You ready, baby?” he asks hoarsely, lifting his head to search my face. He’s shaking very slightly.

“I’m ready. Please, Isaac. I need you inside me right now.”

He groans and shifts his hips, moving one hand to join mine on his erection. Together, we guide him into position until he’s edging the hard length of him inside me.

I whimper as my body softens around the penetration. I lift my feet and manage to wrap my legs around his middle on my second try.

He grunts and rocks his hips in a series of helpless jerks. “Fuck, River. You feel so good. You always feel so good.”

“So do you.” I twine my fingers in his thick waves. “I love doing this with you. I... love... this.” I take gasping breaths between every word.

He starts thrusting. Fast. Vigorous. Shaking the bed and my body, my hair, my heart. I’m too full of conflicting emotions to come easily, but I’m definitely responding physically. The deep momentum of an orgasm starts building.

I match his rhythm, and we maintain it for a long time, rocking together and gazing at each other and trying not to let it end too soon. But eventually the stimulation pushes me over the edge. I fall into climax with a loud sobbing sound.

Then I fall apart completely, crying messily as my inner muscles spasm around him and my body shudders through the waves of release.

He lets out a helpless moan as he falls out of rhythm, jerking clumsily as he finds his own release. Then he’s coming in hard spurts, claiming me. Filling me.

Giving me everything.

I’m still crying a little when he collapses on top of me and tucks his head into the crook of my neck. I hold on to him with my arms and my legs as his body softens. I don’t want to let him go.

But I have to. We made a decision, and if it’s this hard to say goodbye right now, what will it feel like a year from now after we’ve muddled through a long-distance relationship until we reach the inevitable end point?

If we were in love. Serious. Committed to a long-term relationship. Maybe then the long-distance would be doable for a limited amount of time.

But we’re just starting. I can’t demand that Isaac declare his eternal devotion so early in a relationship.

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