I kissed him and it felt so right, it felt so familiar, as if finally, I was where I should be. Hunter took my hand and pulled me into the bedroom, closing the door before putting his arms around me.
We kissed again, our bodies pressed together, and it surprised me how much my body responded, despite what had happened to me. In fact, I had been afraid I would never want to be with a man again, but I didn't feel that way.
Not with Hunter.
I wanted him.
"Do you want to?" he whispered, kissing my cheek. "I can wait if you're not ready."
I didn't know if I was ready, but feeling Hunter's arms around me, feeling the intensity of his desire for me, and mine for him, made me want to try.
So I did.
I woke and glanced around the bedroom. Night had fallen and the bedroom was dark – Hunter's bedroom, in the huge house on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean. The king-size bed covered in grey and burgundy satin beside me was empty. I was naked under the covers, and my body felt good. I had been afraid that when we fucked it would bring back memories of the rapes, but somehow, it didn't. It only brought back memories of Hunter and our times together before.
Hunter came back in through the open doors and went to a closet. He was wearing a pair of boxer briefs and nothing else. My gaze moved over his body with appreciation.
He retrieved a men's dress shirt and came to the side of the bed. "Here," he said and held it out. "Come out here. I have a surprise for you."
I complied, pulling his shirt over my nakedness, following him out the doors and onto the deck. Perched on a tripod was a telescope – a Celestron. Hunter stood on the deck beside it and peered into the eyepiece. He fiddled with the controls and then smiled at me, motioning me closer.
"I got this in the hopes that you'd come and live with me. I thought you'd like this. When it gets dark enough, you can see some pretty great things."
I glanced through the eyepiece and saw a blurry object in the field of view.
"What is it?"
"That's Andromeda, or M31. It's our closest galaxy outside the Milky Way. It's in the constellation of Andromeda."
"It's beautiful."
I stepped away from the telescope and leaned against Hunter, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. Above us was the Milky Way Galaxy, the stars so bright where we were after midnight.
Then I closed my eyes.
"I always wanted to live in a house by the ocean," I said, happiness filling me.
I turned and slipped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes.
He buried his face in my neck, kissed the skin beneath my ear.
"Never leave me again," he said, and pulled back, looking deep in my eyes.
"I won't."
I didn't.
THE END