Page 75 of Learning at 40

“Please let me in,” he whispers, moving his hand to my shorts and unsnapping the button. Assisting him, I unzip them and push them over my hips. Zack stands back and removes them, admiring my skimpy panties and the tank top I’m wearing.

“You’re so beautiful, angel,” he says, reaching behind his head for the collar of his shirt and tugging it over his head. It’s another dress shirt unbuttoned a few buttons at the collar. This one is crisp and white, and more business attire than his other ones. He’s also wearing suit pants and dress shoes.

“Did you come here from your office?” I question.

“I didn’t stop until I was here.”

“Zack,” I whisper, reaching for his belt. He kicks off his shoes as I work at his pants. Then he’s shoving them down and removing his socks. Pressing me back, he kneels on the bed and balances over me again.

“I need to be inside you, but I understand if you want to go slow. I understand if you want to back up a bit, and I’ll understand if you only want me to hold you. Just don’t ask me to leave.”

My fingers hook into the waistband of his boxer briefs.

“I need you inside me,” I say to his lips before they crash over mine, taking me with more urgency and passion than I thought possible. Breaking free, his hands roam my body, over my shoulders, and down my arms to my wrists. He retraces his path before jumping to the hem of my tank top and removing it. Quickly, my bra follows, and Zack lowers for a breast. His teeth scrape the soft flesh before he nips at the peaked nub. Then his tongue swirls, and he opens to latch on to me. His pace is leisurely, dragging out the suction and forcing my back to arch.

Need builds quickly, and I awkwardly push at the edge of his briefs.

“Want something, angel?” he teases before moving to the other aching swell. My thighs are spread, and his abs rest against my core. I buck my hips, seeking friction against him.

“I want you.” Zack bites my nipple, and I squeak. He soothes the sting by sucking at the tip. With open-mouth kisses, he moves down my body, taking his time to reach my center. He blows over the cotton strip covering where I want him most, and then he removes my underwear. His eyes devour my body as he admires what he’s already seen before. Only this time, the lights are on. We aren’t under the dark sky but in the dim light of my bedroom. A small lamp illuminates the space, and Zack’s eyes worship all he sees.

“My God, you’re sunshine,” he says, glancing at my hair before scanning my body once more. Then he dips his head and laps at folds seeping with need. My hips surge in reaction to the sudden warmth of his tongue. He takes me to the brink like only he can, licking and kissing like the unquenchably thirsty man he is. Eventually, I break, spilling open over his mouth, and even then, he’s still drinking me in.

I whimper his name because I need him closer. My fingers tug at his ears to remove him, and I crunch upward.

“Inside me,” I murmur. Zack sits back. “Condoms in the drawer.” I nod to the nightstand, and Zack freezes. His eyes widen. “They’re for you. Only you.”

“Damn straight,” he hisses, reaching over for the nightstand and hastily working the drawer. I hear rustling, and the box fumble. A packet is produced, opened, and Zack covered. “I’m wearing this tonight, but soon we’re going to talk about going without this barrier. I want to give you that someday, River. The one where you wanted babies and more.”

He can’t mean it. We’ve jumped from a ten-day fling to I love you to children in a matter of a few weeks. My head is spinning until his tip rests at my entrance. Then he’s slowly filling me, and all thoughts dissipate. There is only him and me. Zack slides to the hilt, taking his time as he did that night on the lounger. He made love to me under the stars, even if he didn’t intend to do such a thing. It was romantic and sweet, and one of many moments when I felt the flying sensation of love he mentions.

“I’m soaring for you,” I say as he pulls back to the edge of my channel, teasing me with retreat before surging forward to fill me once more.

“Soaring?” he questions as he balances over me, watching himself disappear into my body.

“Gliding. Flying. Getting higher.”

His gaze moves to my face. “What are you saying, angel?”

“I love you, too.”

Zack stills, watching my eyes before lowering to kiss me. With his thickness buried inside me, he delves into my mouth with his tongue. “Say it again,” he mutters as his lips remain over mine.

“I love you.”

Zack pulls back as if he doesn’t believe me at first. As if he isn’t certain he heard me correctly or understands what I’ve said. Then his expression shifts, and those white teeth show. His mouth curls wide. He bites his lower lip, giving me a knowing smirk. Dazzling. The happiness written on his face is truly breathtaking.

“I love you, too. I love you so much.” His mouth returns to mine until his hips need to move. He pulls back, pressing inward once more before moving at a faster pace, thrusting with more determination. He wants to mark me inside and outside, but there’s no rush. He’s already staked his territory. I am his. He is mine. There are no barriers between us. We are a circle, on repeat, of love, and love, and love.

Zack’s thrusts match the rhythm of my heart, and together, we climb. We fly, and when we burst like fireworks or summer showers, we don’t see it as a fall but a glide back to earth. Drifting. Floating. Free.

He collapses over me and buries his face in my neck. “I love feeling you come around me.”

“I love to come around you.” Softly, I chuckle.

Zack lifts his head, pressing up on his elbows. “You’re really mine.”

“I’m really mine, but I belong with you.” I smile to assure him where I stand. Beside him, with him.