Page 85 of The Space Between
Before I realize it, I chuckle. “Yeah, that, too. But I meant one who gave a shit.”
She swallows, cheeks flushing pink. “Thank you. I’ve never wanted to be anything other than a teacher.”
“I bet you’re really good at this,” I say. “Really good.”
Her eyes glisten but her smile is full of pride. She nods.
It’s true.
But I’m thinking no one, who should have said it to her, has ever said it before.
We eatWhataburger in the truck on the way back—grease on our fingers, fries between our knees, and her bare toes up on the dash. She tells me stories about her old school, her old apartment, and the different masks she had to wear just to survive each day.
I don’t know if she meant to say it. But she did.
She’s quiet after… like saying it out loud stripped something bare.
Reaching over, I lace my fingers with hers, resting our linked hands on the console between us.
We don’t talk for the rest of the drive home.
We don’t need to.
Back at the cabins,I walk her to her door.
She leans against the frame and looks at me like I’m something she’s still trying to believe is real. “Do you want to stay?” she asks quietly.
“Yes,” I say, no hesitation. It startles me how easy it was to say, but before she can pull me inside, I catch her wrist and tug her back toward me, pressing her back against the wood.
“I want to know what you dreamed about last night,” I murmur, brushing her hair behind her ear and leaning in close, nuzzling the side of her neck.
Her breath hitches. “Why?”
“Because you said my name.” I growl.
Her eyes search mine, vulnerable and raw. “I dreamed you stayed.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I reply before I can think it through. Her fingers curl into my shirt. “Not unless you tell me to,” I add as an afterthought.
“I won’t.” She swallows after she says it.
“Good.” I murmur and kiss her.
We make love slow…not rushed… not wild… not angry. Just skin and breath and the soft slide of lips against both of our scars. She kisses each and every one of the multitudes of them across my body. She takes her time, whispering soft words as I fist the sheets, allowing her to lick them, close her lips over them, and heal them a little at a time with her devotion.
I do the same to her. Every faint mark over her ribs and even the scars that are invisible to the naked eye, but the places I know she felt pain, at the hands of someone who professed to love her.
I’m between her thighs, kissing the insides before pressing a soft kiss on her stomach and trailing my tongue down, over her hips, and pressing a kiss to her mound, where I know that fucker kicked her in rage. She shudders and whispers, “I need you… inside of me. Now, Gruene.”
Sliding up her body, I position myself at her entrance. Her thighs wrap around my hips, her hands delve in my hair, and herwhispers like prayers in the dark when she says, “I feel safe with you,” as I sink into her.
It unravels something in me so deep, I nearly fall apart inside her right then. I move until my balls are against her ass and I pause… just breathing. She breathes in tandem with me until I pull back to the tip and sink in again.
She moans, “Mmmmmm…” Her hips move with mine and she gasps, “Don’t stop.”
“Never,” I promise, and we move together.
I won’t.
