“Please, Rick,” I whisper into the dark. “I need you.”
And then he slides the sweatpants and my panties down my legs, leaving his thick socks on my feet. He reaches over and slides open the drawer to the nightstand, and I think he’s reaching for a condom, but he doesn’t. The room is dark, so I don’t see what he grabbed, and I don’t have time to worry about it. He shuts the drawer and rolls onto me, covering my body with his.
I feel the blunt tip of him against my center, and I tip my hips up, taking no more than the very tip of him inside me, making Rick groan.
“I need you,” he whispers as he slides in deep.
“I need you too.”
He was right earlier this evening when he said that life was about grabbing onto the little moments when you can. The darkness would consume us if we don’t. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but tonight, I have Rick, and he has me.
I wrap my arms and legs around him as he begins to really move. But it’s not a rough fuck like usual; it’s exactly what he asked for. Rick makes love to me, worshiping my body as he slides in and out. I gasp, the breath sawing in and out of my lungs through this push and pull between us.
I won’t last long like this, but then I think,Neither will Rick.
He gently unwraps my arms from around his shoulders and holds each of my hands in his on either side of my head as he rocks his body into mine. And I watch the tendons in his neck ripple as I gasp, my climax rolling over me gently but completely, and he pushes in deep one last time and follows me over the edge.
Rick lets me take a decent amount of his weight, and I want it. I’ll gladly take it and cherish this moment. I will love him for as long as we have, but we’re in the middle of a crazy plot of outside sources, so who knows what the next day will bring. So if this is all we’ll have, I’ll be happy, but tonight, I decided I will always try for more.
Rick finally lets go of my hands as he sits back on his knees. And all the breath in my lungs seizes when I notice my diamond band on his pinky finger. He slides it off his finger then lifts my left hand and slides it onto mine, and for the second time tonight, he rocks me to my very soul.
“You’re mine, Cara,” he says quietly. “And I think tonight you finally realized you always will be. There were times I wanted to throw them in the river, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. These meant something to me, and in my heart, I knew they meant something to you, and you left them behind for a reason—so I kept them close to me. And every night since you came back into my life, I’ve hoped there would be a time I could give them back to you.”
“Rick,” I whisper as hot tears trail down my face.
“So here’s the first one,” he continues after he places a kiss to his ring back on my finger again. “You’re mine, and everyone should know it. I’ll give you the second one back when you’re ready, when our daughter is under our roof. I’m going to give you the world. I’m going to give you both the family you should have had all along. And if we have more children, that’s great, but if we don’t, then that’s fine with me too, because we will have Rachel. I’m going to give it all to you, if you’ll let me. Will you let me, Cara?”
“Yes,” I answer softly, and it’s the only answer I could give him.
“Thank you.”
Rick lies back down on the bed, pulling me into his arms. I rest my head on his shoulder and just let him hold me while I cry, but this time it’s not heartbreaking sobs but tears of hope and joy. I finally have Rick back, and he is just as determined as I am to find our daughter. And if I just believe in him, maybe we can have it all.
He soothes me quietly for hours and then finally, when I can’t cry anymore, Rick holds me tight while I drift off to sleep and dream beautiful dreams of what could be.
And in the days to come, I would find out I was wrong to hope, because hope is a bitch, and she always gets her pound of flesh.
