One and Only

He reached between our bodies to pinch my clit, then pressed his thumb against it to slide it in circles as he pounded rapidly into me. That was all it took to send us both over the edge. We stayed like this for a minute; him buried deep, cock still pulsing as we caught our breath, panting against each other’s mouths as we came down. He kissed me quickly, then brushed my hair back with his eyes smiling into mine.

“Damn, Charlotte.” He gasped as his chest heaved from exertion. “Let me take you to bed.” We both gasped as he slipped out of me, then stood to pick me up and carry my limp body up the stairs, which I appreciated because I had definitely lost the power to walk. My legs were jelly.

We reached my room where he set me down gently and kissed my forehead. I stepped into the bathroom to clean up. I found him lying in my bed when I came out and immediately went to join him, snuggling into his side as he flipped the covers over us. “Let’s go to sleep, Charli. We’ll talk tomorrow. Okay?”

“Yeah, Cade. Suddenly, I’m exhausted.”

“Same. Night, baby,” he whispered as he pulled me tighter.

Despite not knowing where we stood and having not resolved anything with him—other than the fact that we could still fuck each other into a mindless oblivion—I fell asleep easily. He felt like warmth and familiarity, like safety and home, a fact that disconcerted me seeing as how by this point, we’d been apart in this life more than we’d been together.

* * *

I woke up alone.

The storm from last night was nothing but a memory. The sunlight through my window belied my mood, casting me in a light I could not feel. I blinked against the glare and sat up, grabbing the robe at the foot of my bed to cover my nudity.

Where did he go?

I got up, shivering against the chill in the air. Despite the sun, it was still cold, and I hadn’t turned the heat up last night. I descended the stairs and headed to the kitchen. The aroma of coffee greeted me, and there was a note near my coffee maker with my ring sitting on top of it.

“Work early. Talk soon.”

Cade could be succinct, but that was ridiculous. The writing didn’t even look like his either. Did handwriting change over time? Gah! This sucks!

I poured a cup, trying to keep my feelings under control. After the night we’d just spent together, that was all he had to say to me? He hadn’t even woken me up to say goodbye.

I shuffled into my living room to sit by the window. I sipped my coffee as everything we did came back to me in a wave of both mental images and bursts of physical memory. I was sore in places that had not been been touched in a long time—my nipples still tingled from his fingers and mouth, I was tender between my legs, and my thighs burned like I had run ten miles last night.

My cheeks heated as I recalled the words he’d whispered in my ear and how he had remembered everything that would turn me on the most. He could still drive me out of my head, make me let go of everything and just feel. We’d made love as if we had been transported to the past, as if our bodies had known nothing of the pain we had caused each other when we separated.

When we were still married, we’d often gotten caught up in each other’s bodies rather than working through our differences with words. But to be fair, we only had one real problem, and that was time. I needed time to go to college and chase my dreams and he didn’t want to give it to me. Waiting for what he wanted was not Cade’s strong suit.

I watched the glittering snow fall out of the trees as it melted. I knew he didn’t trust me. The hurt left over from when I left Sweetbriar still lived inside of him. Maybe it would never go away. Could I be with someone who didn’t believe in me?

Regret burned through me. It had been way too soon to get physical with him. My confused feelings were now tangled up so much I worried I would never be able to sort them out.