Page 23 of Kylie

From the moment my brain came back online, I was aware of where I was and who was wrapped around me. I felt stronger this morning, more complete. The exact opposite of every morning since that fateful day.

“You awake?”

I shifted, answering Travis without words.

Warm lips caressed the back of my neck, and my body came alive.

I had missed this. The intimacy, the connection. Sure, we’d been fucking like rabbits for days on end, but it had been a distraction, not a mating. I had used him as an escape, desperately trying to get through one more minute of one more day, to convince myself that my entire world wasn’t shattering because we’d lost the woman we both loved.

I felt different this morning. Not altogether whole because I knew I would never be that way again, but I was definitely on the path to mending. Or moving in the direction of it, at least.

I was aware of Travis moving, rolling away from me, then back. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know what he was doing. We’d spent numerous mornings just like this, coming awake together, seeking pleasure to start the day. Sometimes with Kylie, sometimes when she had taken a turn with the kids in the morning.

“I need to be inside you,” Travis whispered in my ear, his body moving up tight behind me.

I pressed back against the big, warm body that was so familiar, so comforting.

When Travis reached down, I moved higher on the bed, adjusting our positions so he could lift my leg and slide his cock along the crack of my ass. I didn’t have to do more than that because Travis took control, sinking inside me in one slick, controlled move, filling me completely.

I felt the weight of him at my back as he pumped his hips, slow, gentle, bringing us both awake fully, together, as one.

But as was the case whenever we came together like this, our bodies knew what we needed, and slow and gentle ceased to exist as lust and passion took over. With Travis behind me, his hard, hot body, and those desperate grunts, I blanked my mind and let the pleasure consume me. For the first time in weeks, I felt … hope.

I would take it.

If only for a little while.

Many hours later, after we’d kicked the day into high gear, getting the kids moving, feeding them, then cleaning up the mess we’d created during the week, my thoughts drifted to that letter. The one Travis had in the top drawer of his desk. After I'd learned about it, I had pulled it out a couple of times. Never opening it because I hadn’t been ready for that, but today I was.

“You look like you’re lost in thought.”

I turned to see Travis standing in the doorway, shoulder pressed to the doorjamb. I put up the coffee mug I'd just pulled out of the dishwasher.

“You still wanna read the letter?” I asked, not looking at him.

“I do.”

There was so much conviction in his tone that I had to look over at him.

“I asked my parents to come pick up the kids,” Travis continued. “Told ’em we needed some time to ourselves, but we’d be there for dinner.”

Time to ourselves? I had forgotten what that even meant.

“Pop’ll be here in half an hour. We’ll get them off, and then we’ll read it.”

I nodded, reaching back into the dishwasher to pull out another clean cup. “Okay.”

Half an hour.

Funny how thirty minutes could feel like thirty years.

By the time we helped Curtis get the kids loaded up and off down the road, a full hour had gone by. But even additional time hadn’t eased my anxiety a single bit.

“We can do this,” Travis said, his tone once again reassuring, stronger than it had been in a while.

I looked at him, wondering if I was imagining it or if we really had made progress last night.

When Travis took my hand and tugged, I had no choice but to follow. Into the living room, sitting on the couch. My mind blanked as he took a seat beside me. And then there we were, shoulder to shoulder, the sealed envelope in Travis’s hand.