And it all bloomed inside me. This was him, and this wasus.Emaciated, broken, ripped apart, and in pain, butalive.
“A-Alex, I—”
But I had nothing to truly say. I threw my arms around his neck and spread my legs to drag him closer. He responded without hesitation, drowning me in his body.
Three seconds later, I was already in his arms, my lips attached to his, his legs walking us to the bed.
Yet it was nothing like before. It wasn’t urgent or impatient, no. It was…delicate.
Alex held me in the tightest grip when he slumped back onto the bed, and I fell onto him—
But Iheard it.I heard that muffled sound of pain that he tried to hide so well.
So I sat up and took in the sight of him beneath me—still broad, still big, andmine again.
“I-I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”
“No, no,” Alex shook his head quickly, but kept his eyes closed. “Please…come back.”
Straddling him, I lay down on his chest, but barely. I touched his skin, but gently. I kissed his neck, but…lightly.
“I know how to be gentle,” I whispered into the crook of his neck, noticing another scar. My lips trailed over his jaw just as his hands slid the towel off my body. “We don’t have to rush.”
Alex chuckled darkly, tangling his fingers in my hair.
“I’m fine, baby, really, I—”
But the words died on his tongue when he caught the look in my eyes and remembered that he had said those exact words to me once. His eyes sparkled in the darkness, and he whispered, “I…” he trailed off, searching my gaze. “I just…I was broken, but…”
“But I can keep all the pieces in my hands, Alex.” I completed his broken thought and sighed into his ear, giving him the freedom to grieve without a spectator. “I will hold you,” I promised, all of me covered by goosebumps. “I can—”
But his lips met mine once more, and that was all I could say. His body radiated heat again, slowly twisting me underneath him, like this was a dream.
It was dark and quiet, just like that night when he touched me on this bed. The slight pressure of his fingers on my inner thighs blazed up my insides, but he didn’t stop, knowing exactly what I liked. His tongue made its slow and decadent journey down my neck, overmyprotruding ribs, down, down—
I miss your bouncy ass cheeks, baby. You’re all skin and bones now.A vile voice intruded into the moment, and I squeezed my eyes shut, shooing it away.
Alex loved my bouncy ass cheeks too, so how would he feel now? When I was half the woman I used to be?
“God, you taste so mmfucking good,” Alex mumbled against my skin, his eyes closed and his hands holding my waist. “I fucking missed you so m-much, mmm—” I giggled when his tongue swirled around my belly button, but he moved lower. “Just like this. Just you. You’re so fucking beautiful.”
I listened to every single sound he made. I tuned into his touch—the way his fingers gripped my thighs and he spread my legs. I fell into the moment when helicked—God, I—
“Mine, you taste likemine.” My back arched on the bed, the tender touch shocking me like live electricity. “Mine.”
His.
His.
His.
In the darkness, it was easier to exist. To move slowly. Hesitantly. Easier to be unsure of everything except one thing: we wereusagain.
50
Fake Tears
Alex
