I brought Laura back to my house. The night before had broken me. Watching my Laura dissolve into a woman I’d barely recognised, brought it all home. I couldn’t lose this woman to her demons. As I’d climbed into bed behind her, I’d promised her the world, I’d promised her my heart, I’d promised her my love. I meant every word.

Those awful hours after the fire had been excruciating, not being able to see her. I had been adrift the days after. Like I’d lost a limb, no, lost all my limbs and that I was bobbing around in the choppy sea, unsure whether I would stay afloat or drown. I lay out my heart as she fell asleep and vowed I’d never let anything hurt her again. Laura was my life.

Ryder had brought in dry clothes whilst Laura had slept. Phil had lain down the law and promised to hunt me down and gut me seven ways to Sunday if I hurt his girl. He’d been accepting of her wishes and was relatively happy I was taking her home.

“She’s better with you, give her the future she deserves,” he’d said. I had the absolute intention of doing so.

Laura slept, I plotted. I hadn’t found peace in three days anyway, what was one more? Ayden had stayed home, didn’t want to go back to Brighton while Laura was in the hospital. My son had a soft spot a mile wide for her and wasn’t afraid to show it. He hadn’t expected Laura to be going anywhere other than our house, said he’d do anything he could to help. He’d made sure the guest room was clean and there were groceries in the house for when we got home.

Helping Laura to heal was going to be a daunting task, a long road lay ahead of us. I was no therapist, had my own trunk of baggage and dirty laundry, but I was more than willing to try. The journey would be worth it, no matter the ups or downs. Laura held our future in the palm of her hands, each step would be one step closer. Her family and I would get her through this.

She stood in the kitchen and watched as I poured the boiling water into the coffee mugs. We’d been home only a few hours. I’d taken her up to the guest room and shown her around. Ayden had hovered for a while, easing up when Laura hugged him fiercely, clearly sensing his unease and need of assurance. It was a funny sight; this larger than life young man stood solemn, Laura’s head against his filled-out chest as he hugged her back. No words, just comfort. My son’s eyes swam with tears, I’d have thought of him no less a man if they had fallen, for I’d shed many of my own. We were all sore and raw, finding our feet.

I handed Laura her cup and we made our way to the den. I loved the room, Laura had confessed to liking the space too when we’d eaten here. I’d spent a lot of time in the recliner the past few days, staring out the window, questioning the cruelty of some, yet the love of others. It was a puzzle I feared I’d never understand.

Laura sat next to me on the comfy leather sofa, unlike the last time, there was more than a foot of space separating us. “The room okay?”

She took a sip of her coffee. “Yeah.” She scrunched her nose, a telling sign I’d come to recognise.

“What does it need, what are you missing?” I would give her anything.

“It’s fine, really.”

She looked past me, out the expansive windows. Although today had been frosty again, mother nature had afforded us a bright sun, low in the sky. It took the chill away somewhat. Seemed like the perfect day to bring Laura home.

“Laura, what’s missing? Tell me.”

She ducked her head in shyness. “I feel silly.”

Inching closer, I gently placed my hand on her knee. “Nothing is silly, not to me.”

She smiled demurely and lifted her head to look at me, the browns of her eyes full of a warmth I hadn’t seen for days. “It’s missing you,” she said simply.

I sucked in a breath, not being able to help myself. I didn’t know what she was saying. The guest room was to give her the space I figured she’d need, she’d want. So she could recoup, heal, not feel pressured to do anything she didn’t want to do. Her own sanctuary. Lying in the hospital bed with her had been a comfort I didn’t take for granted. A moment of weakness. I wasn’t kidding myself she’d want to share a bed with me after what had happened. Maybe it would be a long-term arrangement, I hoped not, but if it was what she needed, it was what she would have. The saying - getting over someone, you need to get under someone - didn’t apply here. We’d joked on that before; the circumstances now vastly different.

“I’m here, Laura. Always. I promised you and I meant it.” Again, with the shy tip of her head. I wanted to see her face. “Look at me. What are you saying here?”

She cleared her throat and observed me, as if summoning her courage to ask for what she wanted. She had to be sure, because if she came to my bed, she wasn’t leaving, not ever.

“You’re not there.”

“And?”

She huffed in frustration and I felt like a bastard making her spell it out to me, I had to be sure. She drew away from me and placed her cup on the glass coffee table in front of us. Pushing me back into the pliant leather she then climbed into my lap. Her arms reached around the back of my neck and she lay her head against my chest. I cradled her close.

“I need your strength, Lucca.” Her voice was muffled against the soft cotton of my top. “I need to lay in your arms. Fall asleep with you.”

Perhaps her courage faltered, or she noted the heavy thud of my heart beating, for she didn’t speak another word. I was content to sit there with my beautifully damaged woman in my arms, she was almost childlike, vulnerable, insecure in her needs. After years of being an annoyance to a woman who was meant to love me - it felt cathartic to be needed. Wanted. To show her the same would be a privilege.

* * *

Climbing into bed that first night, two weeks ago, was awkward at best, in all the ways it shouldn’t have been. Laura had been curled into a ball, at the edge of the mattress, with her back to me. Unsure of what to do, I climbed into bed behind her and laid on my back, urging sleep to find me. It had been fruitless. I spent the night tossing and turning; my t-shirt strangling my neck and my boxer briefs strangling my nuts. When I eventually fell asleep, dawn was creeping lazily through the curtains.

I’d woken up wrapped around Laura, my morning wood poking into her back. She had been holding my arms to her chest for dear life, not enough to stop me being mortified at my length enjoying Laura’s heat. I’d sprung from the bed and dashed to the en-suite to hide until my penis behaved itself.

Over the past two weeks however, things had become easier. Laura eventually climbed into bed at night wearing my t-shirts and without the thick armour of her leggings. My own top had disappeared after the first night, the boxers remaining firmly in place. Each night we crept ever closer until finally, the middle of the bed became my favourite place to be - where Laura was.

Laura relaxed, let me hold her, kiss her, skim my hands across her delicate skin. And when she touched me back, my whole body sang. Every night I’d gone to sleep with a painful hard on - more than worth it - we were making progress.

I didn’t jack off in the shower when I was alone, no matter how much my horny mind protested. I would wait. Wait until my woman was ready and came to me. Then I was going to show her that she meant the world to me and more. I’d wait an eternity hoping I didn’t have to. Laura was a beautiful woman, my body simply paid attention any time I saw or felt her skin. I reigned myself in and repeated our rewards would be worth it.

This morning we laid facing one another, taking our lazy time to get up for the day and it reminded me of the first night we’d spent together. My hand absently ran up and over her hip in a sweeping motion. Laura’s fingers lingered at the stubble on my jaw. I closed my eyes and leaned into her touch like it was my everything - maybe it was. I was no fool. I’d been starved of a woman’s affection most of my life, so to feel her hands on me anywhere, I was greedy and lapped it up. I basked in those touches she gave so freely, would never take them for granted.

“I need to deal with some things.” Her fingers scraped the short hair around the back of my neck as she spoke.

“Mmm...” I opened my eyes to look at her, tucking strands of messy morning hair behind her ears. Such a beautiful sight I’d never tire of seeing.

“The house...”

We hadn’t been over to there, unsure if it would set back the progress she’d been making with the therapist. I wasn’t all that keen to test the theory. Her house, the one she loved so much, was no longer a place she’d want to be. I knew that with certainty.

“Today?”

Snuggling closer, she sighed, tangling her smooth, bare legs with mine. “Yeah, I think it’s time. Will you take me?”

“We can do that.” I snuck a kiss into her hair and curled my fingers around her hip. “You’re sure?”

“I am.”

She tipped her head back and searched my face, sure to see the worry there. Her tongue darted over her lips and I stifled a groan. I could feel him downstairs waking up and I cursed myself for how little self-control I had. My dick had a mind of its own no matter how much I willed my erection to fuck off.

Laura kissed me. A light dusting of plump lips across my own, her mouth parting - an invitation for more. I obliged with no hardship, my tongue seeking hers as I poked into her mouth. She nipped at me as if greedy for more, I deepened the kiss, my arousal straining in the confines of my boxers. I was so lost in the act I almost jumped out of my skin when Laura’s fingers grazed below the waistband of my underwear and stroked along the slit of my cock. The traitorous bastard was hard as steel and begging, weeping for more.

“Take them off.” She whispered against my lips.

“Laura...” It was a warning that held no consequence and sounded almost like pleading.

“Please.” She tugged at the material. “Let me do this for you.”

My head was telling me it was a flawed idea, my rigid length having none of it as my body arched into her playful fingers circling the base of my shaft. I rolled us on the bed, so I was on top of her, her hand caught between us and pressed into me. I put my weight on my elbows and looked down at Laura, who was smiling back.

“You don’t need to do this.”

I kissed her head as she squeezed me tight. The pressure felt fucking amazing, right. I searched her face for any indecision, finding not a flicker of doubt or worry. When her hands peeled my shorts down my legs, I didn’t protest, I relaxed and let her have her way. My cock thumped her belly between us and she giggled, dissolving the last bit of apprehension I had.

“Lie down.”

She pushed at me, nudging me off her and I rolled onto my back, watching as she tore my favourite t-shirt from her body, exposing beautiful, milky white breasts to me. My eyes feasted on her, eager to touch, re-acquaint myself with her body. Laura straddled me across the tops of my thighs and grabbed my hands, pulling them to her breasts. Peaked nipples pleaded for attention and my hands obeyed, pushing into the soft flesh. More than a handful was a waste, wasn’t that what people said? Laura’s were just right, stiff nipples poked through my knuckles as I lavished her with devotion. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward into my touch. Her covered pussy brushed against my balls causing a fierce zing to rocket up my spine, my skin to pebble with sensation.

I wanted this woman so fucking bad and I was going to hell for thinking it so soon. I should stop this, give it time but as Laura slid back and forth over me in slow cautious movements, hell looked rather fantastic and felt divine. Her melodious moans of contentment stirred me up, I couldn’t bring myself to stop.

Laura slipped down my body until I could no longer reach her, just twine my fingers through the sleek, glossy strands of her hair. When her luscious mouth sucked around the head of me, I groaned low in my chest and held on tighter. Her tongue felt so damned wicked as it flicked my slit, then flattened along the underside and she swallowed me down.

With every pull back, she pushed forward, taking me to the root, sucking me like I’d never been sucked before. No hesitation, she worshipped me like I was the air she breathed. Her fingernails dug into my thighs and when I craved to move, she took the careful thrust of my hips with ease. We’d never done this before and I had no idea how much of me she could take and now wasn’t the time to test. My composure fled when warm fingers curled around my tight balls and tugged. Good Lord, the woman was glorious. I gripped her head, plunged deeper and hoped I wouldn’t lose the battle too soon.

I’d never liked blow jobs, Stella’s teeth always made an appearance, but the scrape of Laura’s along my shaft was shiver worthy and I handed over my trust on a silver platter. I wanted her to take it all.

Laura quickened her pace, sensing I was close as I writhed and moaned underneath her. The indecision I had over coming in her mouth or having her sweet lips on mine as I came was ripped from me as my sack drew tighter and Laura’s hand clamped around the base of me. I roared my release as thick jets of cum pulsed down the back of her throat. I couldn’t take my eyes from the beautiful creature swallowing me down. Her lips stretched around me; she had a mouth full of my cock and cum and a wicked gleam in her eye. I’d never forget the look, it was breathtakingly sinful and blew me away. There was pride, she felt proud that she’d made me come. And come I did, so fucking hard I struggled to catch my wind.

Laura’s hand had disappeared between her legs at some point. With her tits squashed against my thighs and her mouth still around my sensitive member, I could only imagine she was fucking her fingers. I couldn’t see, but the back and forth motion told me enough. She was getting herself off. I slipped from her mouth as she let out a ragged sigh and came. Laying her head on my stomach, her body twitched above mine as she claimed her own orgasm.

“Lucca, Lucca, Lucca...”  She murmured my name over and over like I was her saving grace. I loved hearing it, would never tire of it.

We lay in a tangled heap of flushed skin and heaving breaths until I pulled Laura upwards, planting a languid kiss against her mouth. She smiled lazily as I tucked her in at my side.

She laughed, like really laughed. “Good morning, again.”

She sounded the happiest she’d been in two weeks. Some morning exercise hadn’t been such a poor idea after all. We were getting there - one small step at a time. Funny how it felt the steps were strides rather than baby steps. I hoped there wouldn’t be a fall.