I loved everything about what we were doing. The day just seemed so…normal. Normal may sound absolutely horrible to everyone else, but to me, it was what I had been yearning to have in my life. We had gone apple picking, explored a small town where everyone thought we were married and neither of us corrected them, and then had an amazing picnic at the park. There I sat, finishing up the day in the most perfect way imaginable, making fun of a scary movie, shoving our faces with popcorn, and all while sitting there next to each other wrapped in a blanket.
Elana scooted closer to me, wrapping her arm in mine. Every time a “scary” scene came up, she would bury her head in my neck, making my heart start to race. I wrapped my arms around her and held her as tightly as I could, taking full advantage of having her that close to me. Everything about her was perfect, and having her in my arms felt absolutely amazing. I couldn’t have thought of anything better at that exact moment. The fact that Elana felt so confident and sure of us that I was the person that could make her feel safe and secure warmed my chest even more than it already was. All I wanted in this world was to know that she was okay, and now, I was getting the chance to make sure that was a reality. Maybe I felt a bit clingy because I had lost Lillie in a car accident, something I had blamed myself for over the last five years, even though I had nothing to do with it. Either way, I didn’t want to let this beautiful woman out of my sight.
She screamed as the possessed, one-armed woman escaped from the cellar.
She buried her head into my neck again, but this time when she raised it, I leaned in and kissed her. Before I could pull away, she had turned to me, putting her hands around my neck and pressing back into me. Slowly, she moved over into my lap, straddling me as our lips moved softly over one another’s. I could feel the heat between us like nothing I had ever felt before, and it was almost too much for me to bear. I pulled my arms under her and stood up, cradling her and walking toward the stairs. When we got to the bedroom, the lust had taken over, and we tore our clothes off, falling into the bed, entangled in each other’s arms.
I took a deep breath and slowed things down, running my fingers up and down her body. The sounds she made as I kissed her breasts knotted my stomach and hardened my cock. Wanting to give her all the pleasure I could, I ran my hands down to her wet pussy, massaging her gently as s
he moaned out, her hand clutched in mine. Moment after moment, I absorbed her passion, filling the room with the sounds of our voices, the beating of our hearts, and the ecstasy that lingered between us during every second of every day. She had become this force that I couldn’t escape, nor did I want to. As my tongue lapped through her juices, she gripped down on my hand, her breathing intensifying and her body going stiff.
I watched her as she came, hard and long, everything in me wanting her more with every moan. When she came down, I climbed on top of her, hovering over her as I kissed her lips with ease. Then and there, we made love like we never had before, our bodies cascading over each other, the attraction beyond compare to anything I had ever experienced. Not only could I feel the physical passion, but the emotional passion as well, vibrating from our bodies and twisting and turning with every move.
When we were done, ending in an exquisite chorus of orgasms perfectly timed to coincide, we laid close, my arms grasping tightly around her, and my face pressed into her neck. The day had taken all the energy we had, and she had already fallen asleep in my arms. I laid there listening to her breathing and feeling her heart beat against me. This was the most contentment I had ever felt in my entire life, and I couldn’t even begin to think of the words to express what I was feeling.
Being with Elana was like being home. It was like coming back from a long vacation to your house and collapsing on the couch, just feeling like everything was okay, even if it was just for a moment. It was smelling the Thanksgiving dinner cooking in your mom’s kitchen, or the way you felt on a snowy day wrapped in a blanket with a hot cup of cocoa. I realized at that moment that I had always felt that way with Elana: like I had finally come home. I just didn’t realize what that meant until then.
Chapter 28
Elana
I got up early and made the promised apple pancakes in the morning with a special side of ham that I knew he loved. Ollie was in heaven, and he couldn’t stop talking about the pancakes, even after the seventh one. I just sat back and laughed, feeling more than proud that I had created something that he loved that much. One thing about knowing Ollie for as long as I had, I knew when he was lying, and he definitely wasn’t lying about the pancakes. The smell of the apples and the breakfast in front of me, coupled with sitting closely to Ollie made me feel something I hadn’t felt in a really long time. I finally felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. It was the strangest feeling, especially since it had been gone for years. It felt perfectly natural to have Ollie at my breakfast table with me.
The last few days had been absolutely amazing. We had done so many things that I never thought I would actually get the chance to do with someone. It was this huge moment in my life, something I just couldn’t stop beaming about, and the best thing was, I was pretty sure Ollie was feeling it, too. I’d had a crush on Ollie since I was in college, never saying anything to anyone because he was with Lillie. But now that things were different and we had given ourselves permission to be together, I could feel my crush expanding into full-blown love. When I looked at Ollie, I didn’t just see this beautiful man. I saw a friend, a confidant, a lover. I saw the future when I looked at him, one filled with all the things I had wanted my whole life from a partner. “Partner” was the operative word there. I felt like Ollie was truly a partner to me, someone that stood beside me, not in front of me or behind me, but side by side, tackling the world and all its fucked-up mess together. It sure made me feel a lot braver knowing he was by my side.
Later that day, we took showers and got dressed, heading over to my mom’s like I always did to watch this week’s game and enjoy dinner with her. Of course, that wasn’t all that it was going to be, but that was the best part about it. After slaving away helping her around the house with whatever it was that she wanted done, we would get to drink some beers and relax, laughing and talking in front of the football game. Ollie was really excited, and it made me laugh how gung-ho he was to see my mother.
Just as I had predicted, my mother instantly put us to work, asking Ollie to take care of the things that she “couldn’t reach.” He was all about it, so out he went to clean the gutters and fix the leaning cabinet in the kitchen, smiling the entire time. I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better man to bring to my mother’s house. He loved being there, and he couldn’t wait to find out what she was cooking for dinner. It was just like him to be in it for the food. I shook my head and laughed as he winked at me before heading outside, decked out in pink gardening gloves and my mother’s floppy sun hat.
While he was outside, my mom put me to work pulling down all the cookbooks she would need for Thanksgiving. It was over a month away still, but this woman was like the queen of Thanksgiving dinners, even when it was just the two of us. I could see her staring at me from the corner of my eye, and I knew she had some kind of question to ask.
“What is it, Mom?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said, taking the stack of books from me. “I was just curious about what was going on between you and Ollie, that’s all.”
“Well, I guess I can tell you now,” I said, taking a deep breath. “We’re dating.”
She squealed excitedly, putting down the books and pulling me into a bear hug. “That is the best news I’ve gotten in, like, ten years. I’m so excited about this. I knew there was something between the two of you. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. He’s so wonderful, Elana.”
“Mom,” I said, laughing. “Calm down, please. I don’t want you to jinx it.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, squealing again. “I’m going to go put these books in the dining room.”
I shook my head, watching my mom walk into the other room. I looked up as Ollie came back into the house and headed down the hallway to check on the drip in the bathroom sink. I trailed quickly behind him, not wanting my mom to notice that I’d disappeared. I just wanted a minute alone with him before we were bombarded by my love-crazy mother again. Ollie pulled out a tool of some sort and started to tighten a pipe under the sink. I looked down at him, and he pulled his head out.
“What’s up?”
“I just wanted to say I was sorry,” I replied. “I mean, you come over here to relax on a Sunday, and my mother puts you to work like you’re her private handyman.”
“Hey,” he said, standing up and putting his arms around me. “I don’t mind this at all. In fact, when I get to do stuff like this, it makes me feel good. It makes me feel handy.”
“Oh yeah?” I looked him in the eye and bit my lip. “I think that you’re very handy.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep,” I replied, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I actually enjoy feeling that handiness all over me on a regular basis.”
“Well, I’ll have to make sure I do that more often.” He chuckled.