Page 131 of The Grumpy Defenseman
“I’m right here.”
When she came apart the second time, she did it with my name in her mouth and her hand at the back of my neck holding on like she had decided I was hers and was not interested in negotiating the point. Her body squeezed around me hard enough to take what was left of my control.
I followed her over.
I came with my forehead pressed to hers, her hand still cradling my face, and for one long, breathless moment, I could not tell where I ended and she began.
That sound was going to ruin me.
I let it.
Afterward, she lay half across me with her hair over my chest and one leg hooked over mine like she had decided I was furniture with a pulse.
I did not move.
I did not want to.
The room was warm. The city made low sounds beyond the window. My hand rested on her bare back, moving slowly because stopping felt impossible.
She traced the groove in my palm again.
Sleepy now.
Still precise.
“You okay?” she asked.
I looked down at her.
“You’re asking me that?”
“Yes.”
“I shouldbe asking you.”
“You did. Repeatedly. It was very responsible of you. Borderline excessive.”
I felt my mouth move.
She smiled against my chest.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The almost-smile. My favorite endangered species.”
I pulled her closer, and she let me.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
Then she whispered, “Tonight felt safe.”
The words hit deeper than anything else she could have said.
Safe.
Not easy.
