“How long do we have before Evan comes home?”
“Have you not had enough yet?”
I smile at her, leaning into her ear. “I want you again,” I breathe into her skin.
I lift myself up, keeping her legs wrapped around me, and carry her upstairs. She throws her arms around my neck.
“Are you scared I’ll drop you?” I tease.
She shakes her head. “All these muscles have to be good for something, right?”
I laugh again. It’s like I can’t stop laughing, recently.
“You have no idea how useful they can be sometimes.”
“I’m not sure, but I think you’ve just showed me.”
“Fuck, yes,” I growl, grabbing onto her buttocks.
I head up the last few stairs and she points me to her bedroom. I barge open the door with my shoulder and throw her straight onto the bed, her body bouncing on the mattress.
“Now you just need a caveman’s club.”
I laugh as I approach the bed. I grab the waistband of her useless panties and throw them onto the floor.
“You’re overdressed, O’Connor. Show me what you’re hiding under there.”
I slide my jeans and my boxers to the floor.
“Oh shit,” she says.
“Mmm?”
“It’s better than I imagined.”
I laugh again as she sits up, holding her hand out to me. I take it and she pulls me in towards her.
She strokes my face, and leans in towards my lips.
Pain overwhelms me in an instant.
I put a finger between our mouths and close my eyes, sighing.
She stays there, silent for a few seconds, then speaks to me softly.
“They really hurt you, didn’t they?”
I don’t respond. I can’t.
“Hey,” she says, still stroking my face. I find the courage to open my eyes. “One step at a time, okay?”
I nod, trying to calm my emotions – because, right now, I could cry, or get up and leg it as far as I can. But neither of those reactions seem appropriate.
“Come here. I want to see if those muscles are real or if it’s just the alcohol talking.”
My mood lifts immediately.
“It’s all real. Totally, one hundred per cent real.”
“Just let me touch you and make sure.”
