Page 121 of Forever Flames: Padraig & Stevie
By the time his hips meet mine, there’s no space left between us. He’s so deep I feel him in every breath. Every beat of my heart. We’re locked together as though this is where we were always meant to end up.
We lie there, side to side, faces close enough for our cheeks to touch. His arm curls around me, his other hand cradles the back of my head. His hips move in the smallest, laziest rolls, more to keep us connected than to chase any ending.
“This,” he whispers. “Is where I need to live.”
The steady throb of his cock syncs with my heartbeat. My body answers without thought, clenching around him to keep him in place. Our tongues tangle until it’s impossible to know where one of us ends.
Time blurs, each breath melting into the next. There’s nowhere to be, nothing pulling us apart, only the heat of his body sealing to mine, the slow rhythm of him deep inside me keeping us fused in every way that matters.
Out there we’ll move carefully, tread lightly. In here, there’s no need. This is where we belong. Sleep claims us like this, connected and satiated.
When my eyes open, the room is washed in the pale light of dawn. He’s by the bed, pulling on his jeans, hair mussed,eyes finding mine the moment he senses I’m awake. He leans down, brushing his lips over mine in a kiss more promise than goodbye.
“Call me later,” he whispers.
“I will.”
“I love you.”
I comb my fingers through his hair. “I love you too.”
Then he’s gone.
The echo of him lingers long after the door closes.
thirty-five
Padraig
A Few Days Later
Iwassupposedtobe there.
Had my jacket on, keys in hand. Then Rafferty started coughing. The wheezy sound wasn’t normal. Mara didn’t even have to ask me to stay, we took him straight in to urgent care.
Luckily, it was nothing. By the time we got back to the townhouse, I was two hours late.
I pulled up to the venue expecting a long line, lights, chaos. Instead, The Mission was dark. Not a soul in sight except a security guy who wouldn’t tell me a thing.
I texted Connor.
Show’s cancelled.
No explanation.
A couple days later, he’s in my living room, looking like someone’s taken a chisel to him and knocked pieces away. Liam’s on the laptop screen between us, waiting as patiently as he’s able, which isn’t much. We’ve all seen the coverage. Salacious headlines, “unforeseen circumstances,” the kind of wording indicating everything burned down without showing the charred remains.
“It’s over.” Connor shocks us. “LTZ is officially done. I can’t get into the details, but we’re clearing up our obligations through the rest of the year.” His eyes flick between us. “I spoke to management this morning. They’re going to offer Fireball every single one of our festival slots in Europe. All of them. Yours if you want them. Some of them at prime times.”
Liam leans back like it’s Christmas morning. “Holy fuck. Those are the biggest stages—”
“I know.” I keep my voice even, but the knot’s already forming. We can’t turn this kind of offer down, not when a new album’s ready to drop.
Connor watches me like he can already read the hesitation in my face. “You’ve earned this. Don’t waste the opportunity.”
I nod, but my heart’s not in it. All I can picture is how much my son’s face will change if I’m gone for months. Right now he needs me and his mother more than anyone else in the world.
Connor and Liam dive into dates, routing, production crew availability. Logistics, which should command my attention, but it all slides past in a blur. Rafferty’s not the only thing I have on my mind. I think of Stevie. The feel her of her skin under myhands. The buzz in my body hasn’t faded since I left her bed. Every nerve alive at the idea of our reconnection.
