She pants, “Duke, I’m almost there.”
In unison, we allow our bodies to unleash the intensity between us as our orgasms rock through us. I can feel my seed spill inside of her as her walls constrict and throb, milking everything from me. As we calm down from our highs of passion, I pull out of her and lie down next to her, cradling her into my arms.
Still panting, she kisses my cheek, “That was amazing!”
I chuckle, “Yes it was. I want to make love to you like that for the rest of my life.”
She smirks, “Then what’s stopping you?”
I see her wink at me as I pull her on top of me, ready for round two.
Duke
I wake up to the most beautiful girl in the world lying next to me. The sun shining on her face gives her an amazing glow. Her long brown hair flows along her naked body and her smooth legs are tangled around mine. I look at the time and carefully slide out of the bed to not wake her up. Slipping on my boxers, I walk outside to the garden where the smell of fresh flowers instantly hits my nose. Surprisingly, there’s still an abundance of them, even though the days are getting cooler. I walk over to the daisies and pick one out. This will do.
I head back to the house and into her room to grab the vase from her nightstand. Going back to the kitchen, I clean out the vase and slide the new flower into it. I tip-toe back into my room and quietly place the vase on my nightstand before walking to my dresser to ripping a piece of paper from my notebook. Searching around and finding a pen, I take a good look at her. What should I write today? How can I make this day any better? I scribble my thoughts onto the paper, fold it, and lean it against the vase.
I go into the bathroom to wash up and brush my teeth. The minute I turn off the water, I can hear the sounds of Raya waking up. Returning to the bedroom, I walk over to her as I watch her smell her flower and read my note: I promise to love you forever.
She gasps and looks at me as I bend down on one knee, taking her hand in mine.
“I know that we’ve had hard times and I know that it won’t be easy. But I’m willing to fight through the hard times because in the end, all I know is that it’s worth it. You’re worth it. You’ve always been worth it. You came to me like lightning out of the sky, striking me with a love I never thought existed. You can’t deny the chemistry and passion that we have. I realize this is sudden, but sometimes you just know. I love you and will always love you until my last dying breath. Raya Winters, will you marry me?”
Tears trickle down her face as I give her my speech. I wait for a few seconds, nervous as all hell, praying she doesn’t think I’m crazy for proposing so soon.
Suddenly, a smile stretches across her face and she throws herself into my arms.
“Yes! Yes! A million times yes!”
We spend the rest of the day in bed and I see a beauty mark on Raya’s shoulder. I lean in to kiss it.
She looks at me, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to kiss all of your beauty marks.”
I inspect her body and kiss each beauty mark that I find, whether it’s on her face, her leg, her thigh, her nose—I kiss them all over. As I glance down her leg, I see the scar from where she was shot and she tries to hide it under the covers.
She frowns, “No, don’t look at that. It’s hideous.”
I stare right at her, “Baby, all of these things make up who you are and I love every little thing about them. I know you’re not perfect, but that’s what makes you special.”
Her eyes glisten, “What do you mean?”
I breathe out, “For instance, you snore at night, or the fact that you need me to sing you to sleep at night, or how you try to hide the brand on your wrist. Even your scars or the way you eat spaghetti. Don’t you see? Those are all of the little things that make up who you are and I love you.”
She hugs me tight, “I don’t know how I got so lucky to have you. You make me want to be a better person and I love you for it.”
I wake up to find the spot next to me empty. I glance around the room, “Raya?”
I notice a note on my nightstand so I unfold and read it: Come meet me outside. I smile at her request and hop in the shower for a quick wash. Minutes later, I’m dressed and ready to head out to the beach. I glance outside and see her splashing her feet in the water. How can she touch that? The water must be freezing. I walk to the closet to grab a jacket for her and I glance back outside.
As she watches the waves and wets her feet, a man strolls up to her wearing a white jacket, jeans, and a baseball cap. He walks right behind her and says something to get her attention. In a split second, I see her turn and run toward the house screaming, but he grabs onto her and applies a rag soaked in what I assume is chloroform to her face, knocking her out. My heart races and my stomach churns as I drop the jacket and race outside to stop him. He hoists her over his shoulders and takes off for the street, heading for a red Chevy pickup truck.
“Hey! Hey! Let her go!”
The man turns around to look at me and his baseball cap has the Chicago Cubs logo on it. Fuck, it’s Derrick. I silently scream at my legs to run faster but Derrick is almost to the truck. He unlocks the car and drops Raya into the seat, races to the other side, turns on the car, and speeds off.
“Fuck!”