What the Heart Knows

His broad hands gripped her hips, and he rode through her shudders, never increasing his pace. He lifted her hips, penetrating deeper. He found the g-spot she’d heard so much about from others. Fireworks went off behind her eyes as he set off another round of release. She heard him cry out as his warm seed flooded the condom as he found his own climax.

“God, I could stay inside you forever, Juni.” He groaned as he eased out of her and moved away to dispose of the condom. She missed his heat immediately as she burrowed under the covers to ward off the chill that threatened to settle over her skin.

He slid in beside her a moment later and gathered her close. “Are you okay?” His voice was gentle and she fell a little more in like with him as he placed a kiss on her temple.

“I’m wonderful.”

“Did I perform well enough to make your list?”

She gi

ggled and moved to glance back at him over her shoulder.

“Hmm, I think I’ll need a repeat performance before I answer that question.”

“I think I may have created a monster.”

“You should take that as a compliment.”

“Oh, I do. But I also need some time to recover. Two years is practically a reborn virgin.”

She laughed and snuggled closer as she allowed their combined body heat and the activities of the day lull her to sleep.

Chapter Eight

Oliver lifted the bottle of beer up to his lips and glanced out over the backyard where his nieces and nephews played a game of tag. The setting sun had turned the sky into a brilliant blend of oranges and reds. Every few weeks or so, the Young family carved out time in their hectic lives to get together and reconnect over dinner. Today his sister Tanya was the hostess of a backyard barbeque. He nodded as Tanya stepped onto the deck beside him and joined him with a brown bottle of her own. Only two years older, Tanya had always been the sibling he was closest to.

“You know I don’t mean to pry.”

“Of course you do,” he said. He smirked when she scoffed, and shook her head.

“You should be grateful you have such a doting sister.”

“I do appreciate you, but what you call doting, I call nosey, prying…”

“I get the picture, thanks.”

She rolled her eyes and they both laughed at the playful banter that had gotten him through the worst of his grief. Tanya had always been tactful. She knew when to ask questions, and when to back off. It was a skill that had proved invaluable after the accident.

“Seriously, you’ve been different lately, and I mean that in a good way,” she said. “What’s going on?”

He paused for a moment before deciding it was past time to let someone know about Juniper. Things had progressed way beyond the point of no return. The next step was meeting one another’s families. It’d benefit him to soften the blow by telling someone ahead of time.

“I met someone a while back. I didn’t want to say anything at the time because everything was new, and I had no clue where it was headed.” He watched his sister’s eyes light up, and he couldn’t help but smile. Juni was changing him one day at a time. During his waking hours, Hannah’s memory had faded to the background as he focused on the present. He wished he could say the same about the dreams though. If anything they had worsened as his subconscious worked out the guilt he talked himself out of during the day.

“And now?”

“Now it’s pretty serious. I was a wreck for a long time, and suddenly Juni appears out of thin air like a beacon of light.”

“Juni?”

“Juniper… her last name is Bloom, and her parents fancied themselves comedians.” He felt his lips twitch and curve up at the corners when Tanya snickered.

“It sounds like she’s special to you.”

“She is, T. Juni is like no one I’ve ever known, and just like me she’s been through tragedy.”

“So you’ve told her about Hannah?”