He exhales as I shimmy out of my constrictive sports bra. I pull one arm through and then the other before gently lifting it over myhead, trying not to yank any of the unruly, damp hair floating around my face.
I toss the fabric on the floor and stretch instinctively, enjoying the freedom of movement, the relief I always feel when I remove my bra, but I stop, my arms raised above my head, as my gaze catches his.
His eyes are dark, something flickering beneath the surface. Something raw that he hasn’t let me see before now.
And I’m fully taking him in now, at this angle, his body splayed out beneath me. He has a lanky build, all sharp angles, but there are places where he’s soft.
My hands go to his chest, whorls of coarse hair abrading my palms as I slide them down his abdomen. His eyes spark as I feel him. A build of firm but undefined muscle that continues as my eyes track all the way down to his thighs.
“Can I?” I ask, my hand tracing over the last piece of fabric between us, and he nods, strain written across his face.
“You’ve been so patient,” I say as I remove it. “So good.”
A beat passes, and he doesn’t respond, so I glance up at him. His mouth is parted. His expression thunderstruck. Wondering. And it makes me melt, warmth spreading through me.
I lower my head, moving to place my lips around him, but his fingers thread through my hair, stopping me.
“Don’t,” he says on a gasp. “I won’t be able to…Ican’t. I need to be inside you.”
The warmth inside me grows into a fire. Everything is hot. Every spot where our skin touches sets me aflame.
He pulls me back up to him, and his lips find mine, his tongue sweeping into my mouth.
I don’t just taste the beer we drank; I taste him. Me. Us. And when he retreats, I chase after him, with my mouth and my body. Ilie flush against him, erasing any distance, my hips meeting his again, setting a new pace, but then he flips us, my back to the sheets, his face hovering over mine.
I’m panting, clutching at him, desperate, and I know it’s reciprocated from the way his hands grip and squeeze my body. From his harsh breaths, quick puffs of air against my temple.
He reaches for something on the nightstand, and I thank our past selves for thinking about this before. For stopping by the front desk to ask for one before we came up.
He quickly tears at the foil packet, and it takes a combined effort, our hands working together, shaking slightly as we roll it onto him.
He waits above me for a moment, holding still, his eyes on mine as he enters me, slowly. I gasp at the feel of him, closing my eyes as he pushes forward.
“Look at me,” he says. “Please.” And my eyes fly open.
The muscles around his neck and shoulders are bunched tight, his expression controlled, restrained, as he continues pushing. Slow. Deep.
“I don’t…I don’t want this to be over too quickly. I want this tolast,” he says through gritted teeth.
And I hear his unsaid words, my heart cracking under the weight of them.
Because after tonight, we’ll never see each other again. We’ll never get to do this again.
I wrap my legs around him, and he lets out a breath, the restraint on his face breaking as he fills me completely. Retreating, then entering again.
“I want this,” I tell him, matching his movements, increasing the pace. “Like this. Just like this. Any way we can have it.”
And it’s like a switch has flipped. He thrusts, tilting his hips at a new angle, sending up sparks of color behind my eyes.
“I—it’s—” He kisses me, his tongue matching the rhythm he’s set. Earnest and quick. “So good.” His voice rumbles. “So, so good.”
My hands anchor themselves on his shoulders, and his mouth returns to mine. When we break away, all I can see is his face. The way he watches me, every flicker of emotion transparent, willingly shared with me.
“Yes,” I say. “It is.”
He shudders, and the trembles echo through my body, growing and spreading as he continues, filling me, taking up space, taking up all of my senses.
When I come apart this time, it’s sudden, surprise and pleasure shooting through me, rattling me. My mouth opens on a soft, unformed sound. An incoherent word. The place where his name would go if I knew it.
