I bring my mouth to his and he cups the back of my head at the same time, rolling us to the side. My legs sandwich his, and his wet and used cock slips out of me and lays against my thigh. He has no shame between the sheets and I love that he's so free. I glance between us and smirk at the way his cock glistens, laying there like I completely used him.

I guess I did.

"You're welcome," he responds, and I giggle.

"That was incredible. I can't believe you remembered when I mentioned the candles to you. That was like forever ago."

He smiles proudly. We had ordered some sex toys online on a whim. Since we'd already had so many things in our cart that I wanted to try out first, I figured I'd get the candle next time, among a few other things that had caught my eye. I'm glad he took it upon himself to get it for us.

James shifts to fully turn his body toward mine. He twirls my dark hair around one of his fingers and gives it a little tug. My gaze shifts to his chest that holds a giant lion's face inked into his skin. I look into its black eyes. They lure me with interest and in a strange sense remind me of James. The lion’s mane is full of vivacious colors mixed with black lines that are intertwined. I look at it and feel alive. I feel inspired. I feel wild passion. But most of all, I feel James. A silent but strong man who is all mine.

"Aubrey?" he says, and I look up at him with a lazy smile. "Do you ever think about the future? Like, our future?"

I swallow a little rougher and turn onto my side to prop my elbow up and place my jaw in my hand. "Yes."

"How come you never talk to me about it?" His brows start to form a frown but he masks it.

"It's nerve-wracking, I guess. My future only has you in it, but I don't know if what we each want is the same thing. I’d hate to risk the argument that would probably ensue right after if we saw different things."

We're both quiet for a moment. He twirls my hair again.

"I definitely have that fear myself. You're young, you probably want babies. As much as I'd love to have a child with you and see you become a mother, I think I'm past my time. I don't want to be eighty when my child goes to college. I'll be lucky if I live that long."

I don't say anything because I don't know what to say.

The truth is, I'm torn myself. We've been wrapped in this bubble we both created that I never really thought about if I wanted kids or not with him. I want to be angry that James is basically telling me kids aren't an option. Sure, I'd love to create a family with the man I love, but in all honestly, the selfish part of me is fine with just having him, and only him, to myself for the rest of my life.