I had to force myself to pull out of her, sliding my cock out from within her folds. When I stepped away from her, Valentina’s leg swung back down, and she pressed her thighs close with a snap; like she was shutting a trap.
 
 I licked my lips, still reeling from the effects of making love to this woman of my dreams. A woman no other woman could ever come close to surpassing, in beauty and spark.
 
 “Jesus…” she said my name softly, and I started collecting my clothes off the floor. I hadn’t prepared for this part after the sex. I had ridden my bike like crazy, back to this place, with only one thing on my mind - that I needed to possess her one more time.
 
 I met her eyes now, at a loss for words and she parted her lips to speak again.
 
 “I’m sorry about everything I said,” she told me.
 
 xxx
 
 Valentina had made us mugs of steaming coffee, and we were sitting together in Moira’s living room now.
 
 “I haven’t seen Moira since I came to live here. I don’t want to displace her from her own home,” Valentina said, some of her locks fell over her face as she brought her lips close to the mug’s rim. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
 
 She’d found a bathrobe in her room, which she was wearing now and I was aware that she was completely naked underneath. I shrugged my shoulders.
 
 “Moira isn’t the kind of person who goes out of her way to be fake-polite. I’m sure she’s just busy with her things, don’t worry about it,” I told her and took a sip of my coffee. I was sitting in an armchair, facing her, my legs spread wide apart with relaxation.
 
 Valentina shied away from looking at me directly, and I could see that her cheeks were flushed.
 
 “Valentina, have you called your father?” I asked, and she looked up at me with a jerk. There was a moment when I thought she was going to jump to the defensive again, but she didn’t. She had decided against it.
 
 “No, I haven’t,” she said, and I stared at her some more. Putting her on the spot.
 
 “Why not?” I asked, and she took in a deep breath and wrapped her hands tightly around the warm mug.
 
 “I’m not sure, Jesus, maybe I don’t trust him anymore. Maybe I never trusted him. Maybe, somewhere in the back of my mind, I already knew what you told me this morning,” she said, and I could feel my muscles untangling. I watched her eyes dart around the room nervously. I could sense that it was difficult for her to talk about her father, and admit that he might be a horrible human being.
 
 “So, you’re saying that you believe what I said to you?” I continued, and Valentina gulped, then took another small sip of her coffee. Just to buy time. When I saw, her nodding her head, I felt relieved.
 
 “Yes, Jesus,” she said and looked up to meet my eyes. “I don’t trust anyone the way I trust you, and I was wrong when I pushed you away this morning. I shouldn’t have said those things to you. I was just lashing out,” she said, and I got up from the armchair and walked over to her.
 
 Placing my mug on the coffee table, I knelt down in front of her and reached for her hands. I covered her hands with mine, so we were both holding her mug now and finally, Valentina looked up to meet my eyes.
 
 “You don’t need to apologize, baby, I understand,” I said, and her lips quivered when she looked at me.
 
 “You’ve gone through this yourself, the betrayal of a father,” she said, and I nodded. She knew about my father; she knew what he had done to me.
 
 “I just want you to be safe and the only way I can keep you that way is if you keep your distance from Romero and the Muerte Viviente,” I continued, and she nodded her head.
 
 “Yes, I know that. I knew that this morning too. I just lost it when you told me what I already knew. What I didn’t want actually to admit to myself. I should have trusted you from the beginning,” she said, and I reached for her face and pulled her in for a kiss.
 
 “Valentina…my feelings for you haven’t changed,” I said when our lips eventually parted. I knew I was taking a leap of faith, but I was either going to be all in or nothing at all. This was the only second chance I could have with the woman I’d always been in love with.
 
 “I love you, Jesus,” she blurted out and then clamped her mouth shut like a little child.
 
 I smiled and stroked her hair. It was soft and glossy, and I knew I wanted to wake up every morning with that hair and that face and that body. This was the truth I had denied myself for such a long time.
 
 “I want to be with you, Jesus. I want to live with you,” she said, and I nodded my head.
 
 “Very soon. I’m going to take care of all of this, and then we can be together the way we were always supposed to,” I said and straightened myself up.
 
 r />
 
 “Are you leaving?” she asked, and I saw the look of fright in her eyes.
 
 “I’ll check on you tomorrow, baby. Today, I should be with my MC and make sure that everything is under control. Just know that you’re safe here, and I’m going to make sure you stay that way,” I said and stroked her cheek.