Page 42 of Camera Chemistry
I don’t knowwhat time it is. I know we haven’t slept, just kind of floated between awake and asleep. I’ll close my eyes for a moment too long, then Maggie will snuggle into me and kiss my shoulder. I’ll be revitalized, snapping back to life. I’m exhausted, but I also feel so alive, like I could run for miles and miles and never grow tired.
I peer down at her, watching the soft breaths she takes. She’s asleep, I think, curled around my waist. Her hair is sleep-mussed and a mess of tangles. Her lips are swollen and hickeys litter her neck. I smile as I drag my thumb over a bruise, appreciating the mark on her skin.
She’s so physically stunning. An absolute knockout of a woman and a goddess walking amongst mortals. The radiance is hard to miss, the first thing you recognize about her. When you dig deeper, when you talk to her, you realize how brilliant she is, too. I’d fall on my knees to worship her beauty. Intellectually, though, she’s my goddamn kryptonite. My Achilles’ heel that would cause me to blunder my deepest secrets and darkest confessions at the snap of a finger.
She’s quick, witty, and hands down the smartest person I’ve talked to in decades. I wish I could sit with her for days, listening to the wonders of her brain and the depths of her knowledge. It’s an alarmingly attractive, substantially important thing. I was a damn fool for thinking I could rid myself of her after only twenty-four hours together, because one night won’t be enough.
Fuck.An entire lifetime probably wouldn’t be enough.
I drop a kiss to the top of her head and hear her sigh. She’s awake now, savoring the final moments of quiet contentment. Morning light trickles through the curtains to the left of the bed we’ve made our oasis. I hate the sight of sunlight. Sunlight means a new day. A day where she leaves, and that’s that. It's a tragic thought, and she must be realizing it, too, because she stiffens against me.
“Morning,” I say softly.
“Hey,” she breathes out. She shifts her position to lie flat on her stomach, and she turns her head to smile at me. Her hand reaches out and she rests her palm against my beard. “Did you get any sleep?”
“No. I wasn’t tired.” I kiss her wrist, my lips pressing over the red left behind from the tie around her hands. “Are you hungry? I could make us pancakes.”
“Not for food,” she murmurs. “Not yet.”
“My girl.” I lift her into my arms and position her so she’s in my lap, straddling my thighs. “My beautiful, beautiful girl.”
Maggie reaches for a condom on the nightstand. Her chest moves close to my face with the stretch, and I capture her breast in my mouth. I suck on her nipple, smiling around the pebbled peak when I hear her moan.
“Aiden.”
God, I’m going to miss her saying my name.
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“We’ve done everything except me on top. But…” She trails off, eyes hesitant as she rests her hand over my heart.
“Tell me, Maggie, and it’s yours.”
“I don’t want any lists or fantasies. I just want it to be you and me.”
If soft and sweet is what she wants, it’s what she’s going to get.
“Okay.” I prop myself up on the pillows. I kiss her and cup her cheek. I stare into her eyes, an infatuated idiot who went and fell for the woman he can’t have. “You and me.”
I rip open the wrapper and roll the condom down my length. Maggie perches herself above me, waiting, and when I give her a nod to let her know I’m ready, she slowly sinks on me for what might be the final time.
Thankfuckwe haven’t done this with her on top yet. If we had, I’d never let her leave my apartment, because she feels so fuckinggood. Tight, but accommodating, and my cock is right at home. I imagine she’s sore, lingering aches from the multiple rounds we’ve gone, so I let her control the pace. She’s in charge, and I’m entirely at her mercy.
She brings herself up my shaft, almost letting my head slip out of her before sliding back down, adjusting to the new angle.
“You feel so good,” Maggie says.
A tear catches in her eyes, and I wipe it away with my thumb before it can fall. I kiss her, and I keep kissing her. It’s quiet this morning. There aren’t any moans or grunts or vulgarities. It truly is just us.
She holds my shoulders, using them for leverage as she rocks her hips. I bite the sensitive part on her chest, right on top of her breast, and I rub her clit in slow, lazy circles.
“I’m going to miss you, sweetheart,” I say into the crook of her neck, finally letting the truth spring free. “Take what you need. Use me. It’s all yours for a little while longer.”
Stay, I want to add.
Don’t leave.
But I can’t, so I don’t. I’m not sure how we’d exist outside these walls. Considering the logistics of a relationship makes my mind hurt. I would never force her into one, either, just because we had a good fuck.So I give in to what I can control. This moment, right here, with a magnificent woman.
