I’m going to need five to seven business days to recover. A whole gallon of electrolytes and an EKG to make sure my heart is okay. I’m afraid it isn’t. She sits up and I pull out of her reluctantly, sure I need a stretcher.
“Fuck.” I collapse over the back of the couch, chest heaving. “I think I’m dead. Hello from the afterlife.”
“You wouldn’t leave me that easily.” Quincy’s hand is on my back, rubbing circles between my shoulder blades while I try to calm down. “And I wouldn’t want you to.”
I look at her over my shoulder, smugness surging through me at the sight of her swollen lips. There are bite marks all over her body and a burn mark on her thigh from the scruff on my jaw, and she’s never been more beautiful.
“No.” I shake my head. “I’d find a way to bother you endlessly.”
“I knew it.” She yawns. “That was …”
“I swear to god if you saygood, we’re going to have a problem.”
“Fine.” She giggles, orgasm drunk and sex fueled. “It was great.”
“Next time I’m going to make sure it’s damn near perfect.”
I muster up all the strength I have and stand, taking off the used condom. I feel bad dropping it in the trash can under her desk, the office obviously her sacred spot, but she doesn’t protest.
She also doesn’t protest when I lift her in my arms. I carry her down the hall until we reach her room.
“What are we doing?” She rests her head on my chest. “Round two?”
“I have exactly zero brain cells left after that. Round two is going to have to wait. I figured a nap sounds good. Is it okay if I stay for a while?” I set her on the mattress, pulling back the covers so she can climb under the sheets and light blue comforter. “Or do you want me to leave?”
“Stay.” She pats the spot next to her, and I don’t need to be told twice. I slip under the sheet, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her tight to my chest. Her breathing evens out, and she spins in my hold so we’re facing each other. “I should shower and clean up, but it sounds like so much work.”
“We’ll rest for a minute then do all that.”
“Do you snore in your sleep?”
“I haven’t been told that I do, but who knows? Doyousnore, Pres?”
“No, but I’ve been known to steal the covers. At least that’s what your sister tells me.” Quincy reaches for my necklace, giving it a tug. “You better prepare yourself, Dunn.”
“Pretty sure I’m significantly stronger than my five-foot-two sibling.” I bury my face in her hair, trying to figure out why all this feels so easy. “Doing okay?”
“You sent me to space and back. I’m doing more than okay, andI hate that telling you that is only going to make your ego even bigger.”
“The truth comes out.” I stretch out my leg, a cramp starting in my calf. “This is the time when you tell me your deepest, darkest secret, Monroe.”
“I don’t have any secrets.” She closes her eyes, burrowing into my embrace. I rub my hand down her arm and she sighs. “I’m pretty boring.”
“No family drama? No ex-husband in Italy?”
“Definitely not. I mean, I don’t talk to my parents very much. They’ve never liked the career path I picked, but I wouldn’t call that drama.”
“Why don’t they like it?” I play with the ends of her hair and brush a few pieces away from her face. For as long as I’ve known her, she’s never offered up this much information about her personal life, and I want to hear more. “Do they think it’s dangerous?”
“More like they don’t think it’s a real job. Every time we talk, they ask when I’m going to do something that has a purpose. They were both professors. Academia is their calling, and making videos about sunrises and high tides isn’t what they would consider being successful.” She stops to laugh. “It’s fine. I don’t need their validation.”
“Have you told them about your award from the American Meteorological Society for that paper you published?”
“You remember that?” Quincy sits up. “That was years ago.”
“Good memory.” I tap my forehead. “It was a big deal.”
“Yeah.” A slow nod. A small smile. “Itwasa big deal. My parents said they’d like to see more of that from me, but I like analyzing data and being out in the field more than writing papers.” She touches my bottom lip with her thumb. I suck it into my mouth and she blushes. “We try to keep our conversations light. Quick check-ins, you know?”
