Page 62 of Never Always
“Do you want to have a family one day? I guess the baby shower today got me thinking, and I realized that I want a baby with you. Eventually. If you do, too.”
“Shut up, Fire.”
“Don’t be so rude,” I spit back.
“Like I said before, I’d put a baby in you right now if that’s what you asked for. Of course, I want babies with you. It’s an awkward time to ask when my dick is hovering the goal line, but everything about you is a little off-kilter. It’s part of your charm. Yes. Babies. Yes. Now sit the fuck down.”
I grin as I sit down, taking him all the way in. “You mixed a compliment in with the offensives, so I’ll take it. Not now. Later, though. With the baby talk.” Throwing my head back, I rest my hands behind me on his thighs and relish the connection, the sensation of being filled by him. When Grange was in the hospital, I doubted I’d never feel his power again, the way he commands my body with his cock, his hands, every part of his body trying to make mine feel good. Grange’s hands hold my hips as he thrusts into me, matching my speed, owning my body.
Time melts and bad memories fade in our bed. He rolls me over when I get close and starts thrusting slow and deep, an assault he knows will bring me to climax over and over as long as he chooses to do it. I scream his name as I come apart, digging my nails in his back and clutching his chest to mine. I’ve become accustomed to the bullet between us, pressing on my chest and on his. There isn’t a ghost in our sheets, there’s a blessing in our hearts. He’s everywhere. He’s nowhere. Grange kisses me when he comes. Every single time. Even when he’s fucking me doggy style, he bends my head back so he can taste my lips when he fills me. He says he’ll always do it, and I love that he gives it to me.
His lips are at my ear as I come, the electric pulse shaking my body, a blissful, leg tingling release. “That’s my girl.” He bites my ear and lets out a low moan as he quickens his pace and comes in several more thrusts, lips on mine, tongue lingering next to mine. He licks the hollow of my neck and slides out of me slowly, his heat leaving mine. “Consummated. Engagement official,” Grange remarks, leaning up rubbing his dick, sighing out a contented sigh.
“I’m cold, though.” I look at his dick. “And you’re still hard. Get under the covers.”
He does, and I get on top of him, sliding his cock home to feel the connection. He moans, and I close my eyes, putting my head next to his on the pillow. It’s like a fort. He and I and our love underneath the covers.
“Hey, fiancé,” I coo.
“Yes, fiancée?”
“You fuck like an animal and I love it.”
He juts his hips and my eyes roll back in my head. “Ugh,” I moan. “Just like that.”
Grange grinds his hips in circles against my clit and I work the same direction and in less than a minute, I’m pulsing around him again, taking an orgasm that wasn’t planned.
“Do we have anything to do tonight?” I ask, panting loudly.
He chuckles, and his chest vibrates against mine. “I had dinner planned. It’s probably burned, but if you want the cock, you get the cock. I could watch you come all night.”
I pick my head up and try to see him under the covers. “Is there something on the stove or in the oven and you didn’t say anything?”
Grange pulls the covers off. “Can you blame me? I have a hot chick grinding on my dick. Sort of a normal dude response, but yeah, let me go check on something really quick.” He laughs, and I roll off him so I can watch his ass disappear from our room. Our room. This is real and it feels like a dream. To think of what we’ve been through together and that we emerged on the other side stronger, is a miracle.
He hollers, “Get dressed. Shit is edible.”
“Oh, that sounds appetizing,” I mutter under my breath, but still, I can’t stop smiling. There’s a drawer he keeps for me here that I’ve stocked with my favorite clothes. I pull out my belovedSave the Whalest-shirt and grab a pair of his boxer briefs from his drawer, and head to where the faint smell of burnt bread is wafting. The canvas catches my eye on the way by, and I know it always will. I remember what I was feeling in that moment, and now I will always recall the feelings. He’s waiting for me with a breadbasket and a stick of butter.
“Meat is well done, but I know you love carbs. A true celebration!” He hands me a slice of buttered baguette and grabs my left hand. “This doesn’t seem real. I knew you were destined for me, but it seems surreal that we made it here. That you’re going to marry me. That I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Destined?” I ask, taking a bite, and chewing carefully while I watch his expression. “You’re engaged to a scientist, fine sir. You’re going to talk about destiny? How do you know? How are you so certain that we’re destined to be together?”
He takes a bite of his piece of bread, and around a mouthful says, “That’s an easy one.” Grange grabs the small hole in the seam of my top and says, “That’s my shirt.”
Epilogue
Grange
THE WAY THEsun slants into the backseat makes the velvet seats feel like an oven. I lean away from the window and ask yet another question. “How do they sleep if they’re always swimming though?”
My mother laughs, a lyrical, purposeful sound. “I imagine they do it while swimming or they’d sink right down to the bottom. Autopilot. Their bodies know what to do. How many more questions can you possibly fit into an hour drive?”
I nod, accepting that has to be the answer. “Thank you for taking me, Mom.”
“Oh, Corrick, I love going to Ocean Adventure with you. Believe it or not, I love the sea as much as you do. It’s the one thing we haven’t fully explored, you know? There are places humans can’t go because it’s either too deep for our machines, too cold, or just unknown. That’s pretty awesome if you think about it.”
It is so awesome. It’s why I’ve been obsessed with anything related to the sea since I was old enough to read. I wonder if it’s because of the books Mom read to me before I could remember.
