Page 41 of One More Chance
“I’m clean,” I said. “I got tested. I wanted to make sure… in the off-chance you wanted to… I mean, I wanted to ensure you were safe.”
She gave me a long look, her expression unreadable. Then she gave a short, unimpressed hum. “Hmm. Not exactly romantic, Levi.”
I smiled. “No, I know… but still important. Romance is giving flowers. This is… basic human decency.”
“Look at you. Evolving.”
“I’m a work in progress,” I said as I watched her. “But for once, I’m not rushing the ending.”
“That goes against your previous nature.”
“Funny,” I muttered. “I walked into that one, didn’t I?”
She shrugged. “I mean, you used to rush through everything. Conversations, conflict resolution, foreplay, sex.”
I winced. “Hell, okay… ouch.”
Her eyes flickered with the tiniest glint of amusement. “I’m saying… this is new. The slowness. The awareness.”
“I am trying,” I said. “It’s like emotional yoga. I am sore in places I didn’t know existed.”
"You have changed," she said as a wicked grin crept across her face. "But let's see how much." She leaned in close then, her hand now clutching my chest through my shirt. She brought her lips close to my ear, her hot breath against my neck, as she whispered in the sultry tone she knew drove me wild, "I bet this… still hardens your cock, doesn't it?"
Fuck yes it does.
My body responded instantly. She looked down at the unmistakable bulge rising between my legs and she let out a short, playful laugh. "Still works, huh?"
Her nearness, her heat, her scent, her nails digging into my chest, her cockiness, her mastery over my body, her voice,thatvoice, all came together to overpower me. I had never, in this life or my previous one,ever swooned before. But I sure as hell did just then. Words failed me, so I did the only thing I could think to do.
I brushed my fingers against the back of her neck onthe spot. The one place that always made her shiver, always weakened her legs, and often made her whimper. Like it did in that moment.
Her breath hitched, subtle but undeniable.
I grinned. “Still works, huh?”
She shot me a warning look, trying and failing, not to smile. “Don’t get cocky.”
“Too late,” I said. “That ship sailed the moment you said ‘cock.’”
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t move away. “You’re impossible.”
“But slightly improved,” I said as I moved closer.
“Debatable."
"We can debate later," I kissed her throat once, tentatively.
“You’re not making this easy, you know,” her voice a mixture of warmth and warning.
I paused, a slight laugh escaping me. “What do you mean? I’m... remembering.”
“Remembering what?”
I traced the edge of her jaw with my thumb. “The way you feel. The way we used to be. I never forgot, Sloane, not really. But I’ve... missed this.” I lowered my hand from her neck to her back gently. "May I?"
She nodded. We let the silence speak where words would have fumbled, moving slowly as our clothes eased away, barriers dropping with each careful motion. Her warm skin beneath my hands, sun-kissed and soft in a way that felt like home. I removed her bra, my breath catching in my throat as the fabric slid off, my eyes tracing the swell of her breasts and all the familiar contours of her body that I once took for granted.
I took my time, memorizing all of her again, each freckle, every curve, as if I was tracing a memory that time had taken from me; her body was familiar and new all at once. We explored each other, unspoken but understood, with each brush of fingertips, each sigh, each shared glance that lingered, swollen with longing.
