It would be all too easy to slip him inside me—and goodness gracious if I don’t want to feel him inside me again, preferably as soon as possible—but that’s not what this is about.

Right now, I just want to be here with him. To let him feel me. To reacquaint our bodies and our hearts after that treacherous time apart.

He laces our fingers together, then glides our joined hands up and down my body. Everywhere he grazes feels good and solid and warm—in seconds, I’m on fire for his touch.

“You’re everything I never knew I wanted,” he whispers, inspiring goosebumps to erupt along my neck and down my spine. He brings our hands to rest on the inside of my thighs.

Although I’d usually be wiggling and thrusting to get him where I want him, tonight, I’m more than happy to lie here with him and just let him hold me.

He draws little circles on my skin.

I caress up and down his arms and his thighs.

Our touches are constant, our need to reconnect intoxicating. Every point of contact sparks a sense of familiarity in me. Every caress feels like the comfort of coming home.

“You got me through the last ten days, Maddie,” he confesses against my skin as he trails kisses along my shoulder. “Your texts. Our phone calls. The videos you sent to my brother. Every time things felt too heavy or stressful or hard, I reminded myself there was a light at the end of the tunnel. That light was you.

“You’re my hope. You’re my courage. You’re my sunshine, ever-present and driving me forward, even on the darkest of days.”

A lump forms in my throat as I tremble at his words. Not because I don’t want to hear them, but because they mirror my own truth.

Rather than replying, I turn my head and catch his mouth in a kiss, pouring every emotion and confession I’m too chicken to give voice to into my kiss.

I kiss him until we’re both breathless. And even then, it’s not enough. I kiss him as I collect myself, painfully reminding my heart that this is almost over. I kiss him, and I swear I feel his soul fuse to mine.

I just pray it’s not welded too tightly. Because in less than ten days, I’m gone. And I can’t stand the idea of causing him any more pain.

47. Dempsey

Chapter 47

Dempsey

I reach for her, but she’s not there. I brush my arm down her side of the bed but come up empty. Panicked, I check the bathroom, then the balcony. Finally, I grab for my phone and send her a text. She wouldn’t leave while I was sleeping, would she?