Page 156 of One Last Encore

He started to move, slow at first, savoring every agonizing drag of her slick heat around him. Every thrust tore a whimper from her lips, every grinding shift of his hips had her gasping, writhing beneath him.

The slick sounds of their bodies slamming together filled the room, along with the broken cries and desperate gasps she couldn't hold back. She clung to him, her legs wrapping around his waist, pulling him deeper, harder.

"More," she sobbed against his mouth. "Please, more."

"Anything," he groaned, thrusting harder, faster, until the world narrowed down to nothing but the slick, wet heat of her around him, the way she cried his name.

He shifted his hips, grinding his pelvis against her clit with every deep thrust, and she shattered with a strangled scream, her pussy clenching around him so hard he saw stars. He fucked her through it, relentless, loving, claiming her with every stroke.

When he felt himself spiraling, helpless, he reached between them, circling her swollen clit.

"Come with me," he gasped against her mouth. "Please, Baby. Come with me."

She sobbed his name as she shattered again, her body locking down on his with brutal, perfect force.

He slammed into her one final time and came with a raw, broken groan, spilling into her in hot, shuddering pulses. He stayed buried deep, grinding against her as aftershocks wracked both their bodies, their hearts hammering in sync.

She reached for him blindly, a broken sob tearing from her lips as she pulled him into a kiss that was fierce and frantic, tasting of tears, of years lost and finally found.

He kissed her back just as fiercely, his hands roaming over her, touching every inch of her, breathing her in like salvation.

For a long, breathless moment, they stayed locked together, tangled in each other like they could fuse their broken pieces back into something whole.

He pressed his forehead to hers, brushing slow kisses across her temple, her cheek, the swollen curve of her lips, like a man worshiping something he had nearly lost forever.

She sighed, a soft, shaky sound that bled into him, and curled even closer, her fingers sketching slow, aimless circles across his chest.

"So..." she whispered after a long beat, her voice still husky. "Now what?"

"Now we argue over what to watch, settle on Law & Order, and you make me the worst cup of coffee I’ve ever had," he said, grinning softly.

She smiled. "Right. We spilled the coffees you brought on the stairs."

He dipped his head and pressed a kiss to her temple, lingering there.

"Exactly how I want every morning to start. Terrible coffee, and you," he murmured against her skin. He kissed her, slower this time. "Always you."

Outside the window, the world stirred awake with the low hush of a morning barely born.

Later, there would be bitter coffee and bickering over shows they’d already seen a dozen times.

There would be laundry piles and grocery lists and all the ordinary pieces of a life built together.

There would be arguments and apologies but no more running, no more slammed doors. Only the stubborn choosing of each other, again and again, and the beautiful, messy work of love lived out everyday.

But now, there was only the slow glide of her fingers through his hair, the breathless sound of her laughter against his skin, and the quiet, aching truth that, somehow, after everything, they had found their way home.

EPILOGUE

INGRID. END OF DECEMBER, OPENING NIGHT. PRESENT

Ingrid,

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Five times for the five years I didn’t say it.

I loved you the moment I laid eyes on you, before I even knew what love could feel like. I’ll love you until the moment this worthless heart stops beating and even then, I think I’d love you still.

---