Off Duty (Off 5.6)

Sweeping my lips across her cheek, I murmur in her ear, "So much time wasted, baby."

Holly pulls back and looks at me. "I don't see it that way."

"Oh, yeah? How do you see it?"

"I see it as an opportunity for both of us to grow on our own. And most importantly, you had Sam. That wouldn't have happened if we had stayed together."

Brave, pragmatic, practical Holly. So fucking sweet and thoughtful.

This time, I pull her in and kiss her a little harder. And yeah, I slip my tongue in between those sweet lips briefly and really pour my emotion into her.

"Ewww," I hear Sam whine from behind us. "Dad... that's gross."

Holly and I break slowly apart, both gazing at each other with smiles before we turn to face Sam. "Trust me, buddy. One day, this won't seem gross to you."

Apparently, Sam had been watching Holly with keen interest all day, because right there and then, he gives me an eye roll that has me laughing at the little monster.

Chapter 8

Holly

"I can't, Tim," I gasp.

"You can," he urges me with a growl. "All the way down, baby."

"You're too big... it's too much," I whine, but damn... it feels really, really good.

"Just a little more," he pants, bringing his hands to my hips and pushing me down on him some more.

He's lodged inside me deep... I'm on top and trying to take the rest of him in. But geez... he's so freakin' big that I don't know if I can do it.

But this is our last night together. He leaves tomorrow afternoon and I'll be working, so this is where I say goodbye to the man that I've started spiraling for again. In just a few short days, he's become an important part of my world once more. Our time together has been limited, between my shifts at the hospital and his need to spend time with Sam and Denise, but we are making the very most of it. He's stayed the night with me a few times, and I spent another day touring New Orleans with him, Sam, and Denise. He came to see me once more at the hospital, and while we didn't have sex, we did have an amazing cup of coffee together where he told me all about his life inside the fire department, which included many funny stories about his best friend, Flynn Caldwell.

I want to make the most of tonight. I want to connect to him deeper than I ever have before. I feel an almost desperate need to make him understand... through my words or body language... just how much he means to me. So I'm going to take him in all the way and forge him deeper into my body and soul.

Panting, I push down another fraction of an inch, and Tim shudders underneath me. He slides a hand down between my legs, presses his thumb against my clit, and I jerk hard against the contact at the same time Tim thrusts up into me hard.

And, oh yeah... oh, my holy God... he's all the way in and it's the absolute best feeling in the world.

I sit atop him... holding still, relishing the fullness within me. Tim stares up at me, his dark eyes sparkling with lust. Tentatively, I give a little rotating move of my hips that causes him to massage against something deep inside of me.

"You're killing me, Holly," Tim groans, trying to literally pick my body up to slide it off his cock.

I bat his hands away and admonish him. "Hands off. I got this."

"Well, get it faster," he complains.

I snicker and bend forward to kiss him briefly. "Patience, my love. All good things to those who wait."

Tim's hands shoot up and grasp my face, pulling me back for a deeper kiss. His tongue possesses mine, and my hips start rocking against him. When he releases me, his voice is deep with longing. "You called me 'your love'."

I push up on his chest so I'm sitting ramrod straight, circling my hips. It's creating a little friction... just enough to drive him crazy. "I did call you that."

"Am I?" he asks, his face seriously intent. "Your love?"

I stop moving on him, placing my hands over his heart. "A lot of time has passed, Tim. But my feelings for you never changed. They may have been tucked away deep in my heart, but they never went away."

Tim just nods... seemingly at a loss for words, so I take that as my cue to get busy. I start to raise and lower myself onto him, slowly at first, but as I adjust to his length and girth, a little bit faster. Then even faster, and faster yet. Within moments, Tim's hands are back on my hips, helping me to practically bounce up and down on him.

"Fucking gorgeous, Holly," he mutters, his eyes roaming over my breasts as they bounce along in rhythm.

My muscles clench, tighten, and tingle. My orgasm builds swiftly, and I decide not to hold it back. Reaching behind me, I cup his balls in my hand while I maintain my rhythm, giving them a gentle squeeze. Tim bucks up hard against me, almost throwing me off, and yells, "Fuck yeah".

His hands are at my hips once more, grinding me down hard against him, and his back arches as he starts to come inside of me. That's my undoing... watching the sheer pleasure wash over his face, and I fall right along with him into bliss.

Many moments later, as I lay on top of him, my face sweaty and my heartbeat finally returning to normal, Tim's hands stroking my lower back, I hear him softly say, "You're my love too."

Where I find the strength after that bout of sex, I have no clue, but I rise back up, leveraging myself on his chest with my forearms.

When my eyes lock onto his, he gives me a bit of a sad smile. "I'd like to say that I kept all my same feelings for you over the years, but you're smart enough to know that I was hurt by what you did. I had anger and resentment mixing with my memories of you, but I did hold something back. I held back the purity of what we had before it was ruined."

My heart seizes and clenches over his words, because I know it's dredging up old hurts and peeling away scabbed-over wounds.

Tim brings a hand up, cups my cheek, and pushes his fingers back through my hair until he's holding me by the back of my head. His fingers spread wide and he grips onto me, giving me a little shake to ensure my attention. "I held something back all these years, Holly. Despite everything, when I saw you in that emergency room, I still felt deep care for you. When you told me what really happened... with your father... that just stripped all the bitterness away, and I was truly able to see that I had held back more than I had thought. I know it may sound trite, and maybe we're both still immature fools, but I do know one thing... you are my love too."

I can't help it... tears immediately start pooling

in my eyes. I think that may have been the singularly most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my life. "We've been given a second chance," I say hoarsely, my voice practically lost to emotion.

"We have," he says simply. "I don't want to waste it."

"I don't either," I tell him.

"I can't do long distance, Holly," he says matter of factly. "Not where you're concerned. And I can't leave New York because of Sam."

I push up off his chest, rearranging my body so I'm straddling his lower abdomen. Smiling down at him, I say, "Well... it just so happens that I've been a little homesick for New York. I could move back."

"You'd do that?" Tim asks with wonder, but then his gaze immediately turns somber. "But what about your parents?"

I wave my hand in dismissal. "New York's a pretty damn big place. I think there's room enough for all of us."

"What about your career here?" he asks, concern etched on his face.

Shrugging my shoulders, I tell him the truth of my life. "New Orleans was an escape for me. A way to go to college without the control of my father. A way to start over... become the person I was meant to be. I stayed here because I got a good job. I love it. Always will. But it's not my home."

"Because New York is," he supplies helpfully.

I shake my head and give him a tiny smile. "I'm thinking my home is wherever you are, and since you're in New York, then yeah... that's where it is."

"We're really going to do this?" His palms smooth over my thighs in a reassuring manner.

"I'm not letting you go again," I tell him softly. "It's time to take our lives back."

Tim slips a hand behind my neck, pulls me down, and kisses my forehead gently. I collapse back onto his chest, feeling his heart thump against mine, and close my eyes.

In this moment... right now... I've never been happier in my entire life.

Chapter 9

Tim

I sit at Denise's kitchen table as the midmorning sun shines through the window over the sink, leaving a streak of light right across my plate of half-eaten eggs and bacon. I take a sip of coffee and watch as Sam awkwardly scoops eggs up with the fork in his left hand.

"You're getting better at using your left hand," I tell him. He looks up at me with a grin, and I wink back.