She was already igniting me, making me harden with need, but I didn’t want to rush this. I missed teasing her too much. I missed the anticipation. I moved my mouth away from hers, connecting my lips to her jaw instead, and I felt a slight shudder go through her. “Mine and the other guys…” I told her. One of my hands slid down her back, over her ass, while I placed soft kisses down her neck. God, she smelled good.

She angled her head, giving me better access to her skin, and the ache inside me intensified. Slowly working my way down her throat, I said, “We’re all packed into these cubbies, like sardines.” At the base of her throat, I began lightly running my tongue up her neck. Damn, she tasted good. The noise she made when she dropped her head back made a surge of desire rush through me. Fuck. I want you.

Her hands ran over my ass and gently tugged on my jeans, subconsciously pulling me into her, telling me she wanted me too. I cupped her cheek. “It’s not as spacious as your bed back home, but there’s just enough room for two…”

Our faces were so close together…but I purposely kept our mouths apart. The tease was nearly excruciating, and I knew I’d need relief soon, but God…it felt so good. I sensed her minutely shift her focus to glance at the cubbies, and I pointed out the one on the bottom. “That’s mine. My home away from home, where I try to get some sleep with a bunch of snoring, smelly dudes around me.”

The brutal, unglamorous reality of my life made me laugh. Then I was struck by my remembered daily loneliness, and I sighed and touched her face again. Pulling back from her, I paused to absorb the beauty I had ached for so much. “Where I dream about you…where I miss you…”

My eyes misted as I stared at the depth of love in her ever-changing eyes. Being apart from her was so…hard. Harder than I’d thought it would be, and I’d anticipated it being nearly insurmountable. Maybe that was because of everything else I was going through. Maybe if all I was dealing with was homesickness it wouldn’t be so bad, so devastating. I would never know for sure, because I was already so deep in my personal hell, I couldn’t see a way out anymore. For a moment, as the weight became suffocating, I just wanted my old life back. Take me home, Kiera. Free me from this agony of missing you…and hating him.

Kiera’s eyes grew glossy, matching my pain. “I miss you too, Kellan.”