Charlotte

Lowell kisses me as if he could never let me go—as if he needs me for every hard, shallow breath he takes. I disappear into the feeling of his lips against mine, soft yet strong in the way they move over mine, our tongues sliding against each other. From his hands pressed into my hips, my body soon starts to thrum everywhere, more intense between my legs tightened around his muscular hips. His height separates us, hulking over me as my legs try to hold him in, stopping at the cusp of his tight ass. God, he has a delicious ass. A delicious everything.

“I love you, too,” I whisper, my words rushing out when our kiss finally breaks. We pant against each other, his forehead pressed against mine as our breaths mingle. He pulls back enough for me to see the brightness in his blue eyes, the affection, and love.

I almost feel lightheaded from it because I realize with a sudden breath that I never thought I could have this. At least not again. I thought Lowell would be my one good love back in college, and the rest of my life would be Kimberly and work. But it isn’t, and it won’t be. With Lowell, I see myself doing so much more, and I can barely contain myself.

He smiles so widely at me that it makes me smile too. His grip tightens on me, and I see the slight change in his eyes, wishing we could do more.

“I want to take you somewhere,” he says after a while.

“What about Kimberly?”

“There’s cameras we can watch her on. She’s a smart kid,” he jokes, but I think he is serious until he breaks a grin.

“I can’t be spontaneous anymore.” I sigh, almost sadly. I love Kimberly, I could spend all day and night looking at her. But right now, I want to be with Lowell and celebrate this new chapter of our lives. One where we love each other and can say it.

“You don’t have an on-call babysitter or something?” He raises his brows, actually meaning that question.

“No, I’m not a Kardashian.” I laugh once.

He rolls his eyes a bit licking his lips as he pulls away. With a heavy sigh, he focuses back on me. “I guess I’ll have to improvise.”

My hand goes to his face as he pouts, holding his cheek and brushing my palm on his chiseled jaw.

“Aw.” I giggle but glance at the clock anyway. Sometimes I hate doing this, but it isn’t that late. “I could ask Catherine.”

He perks up. “I should officially meet her at some point, anyway.”

I nod in agreement.

“You should.”

I reach in my pocket for my phone, almost out of battery charge, but it always is. Catherine’s phone is always near her when she isn’t working, so I text her, and she responds almost immediately.

“You’re in luck. She isn’t busy. What is it you have planned?”

Lowell grins hiding a secret smile. “Surprise.”

I sigh and hop off the counter, relenting to separate from him, to get Kimberly from her new playroom. I have a feeling she won’t even want to leave, and when I get there, I’m right.

“But why can’t Aunty Cat stay here with me?” She kicks her little legs over the piano seat setting herself on the ground.

I kneel and toy with the ends of her hair. “Because it’s not our house, hon.” I smile, she glances behind me at Lowell who probably doesn’t confirm that.

“But I thought… never mind,” she huffs.

“You have school tomorrow, too,” I add.

“School is the same every day, Mommy.”

My insides sink when I realize this might be a real fight. I’m in such a good mood though, and I’m fairly sure I’ll give up first. She even pleads with Lowell, but I realize there will be plenty of times like this in the future. I smile at Kimberly using her dad to try and change my mind even though it’s not the best thing for authority and all.

“You have to listen your mom, Keeks. She’s the boss.” He sits on the chair and pulls her into his lap, her pout still on full effect. His eyes dart to mine, and I shrug. It shouldn’t be too bad if we aren’t out late and Catherine keeps her from being too rowdy. Which is next to impossible, regardless.

“Okay, fine.” I give up before her waterworks start or something. But she honestly doesn’t cry much. I wonder if she gets that from me.

“You can stay here with her. But we won’t be out too late.” I smile when she does.

“Okay.” She pipes in her squeaky little voice. Lowell kisses her cheek and then sets her down.

We wait with her for Catherine to arrive after I send her the address. Kimberly plays new tunes she half memorized and is probably half making up.

She has a real talent for it, more like her grandfather in that department. I’m not sure if my parents will feel any differently after finding out the two of us are together again. They might stop telling their friends Kimberly was adopted because they don’t want their friends to know about how I had her. It sucks, but I’ve truly stopped caring about it a long time ago.

I love Kimberly, and even now I love how I came to have her, and in time ended up here with Lowell again. So, I don’t care what they’ll think. I love Lowell and everything that comes with him. I feel special to know who he is, about his sister and all his pain, and how he shines despite it.

“I’m glad to say we are meeting on better terms now.” Catherine shakes Lowell’s hand without glaring at him.

I feel a little sheepish like I’m introducing my boyfriend to my older sister, which I am, but boyfriend sounds so simplified for Lowell and me. It’s the first time I’ve done it too. I never did the whole boyfriend or organized dance thing in high school.

“We are. And you’re a lot prettier when I’m not pissed at you.” Catherine makes a face at me, and I frown back at her.

Lowell chuckles and hugs her instead. “Fair enough. Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

Catherine snorts. “Very short.” She gestures to her flannel pajama pants and matching sweater.

We show her where Kimberly is and faintly hear her offering a tour before we leave.

“This better be good,” I say to Lowell in his truck. One of his flashier ones, a shiny black truck with high seats and revving engine.

“It will be.”

I don’t know where we are going until he makes a certain turn ending up at the drive of the Dairy Queen, another one closer to his house. This might be the only city that still has these old-fashioned ones.

“See?” He smirks at me, parking in front.

He gets out to grab the ice cream and then comes back driving to the end of the plot of land and parks. We sit out on the bed of the truck. I get a major flashback from when we first did it—our very first actual date after we met back then. He took me to dinner at a steakhouse, not a basic on-campus restaurant where we were surrounded by other faculty and regular adult people, but then we came to the Dairy Queen drive-in and got huge ice cream cones, like real college kids, I suppose. I remember being so nervous the entire time until we did that. My black dress from Target was the nicest thing I had, and even though I was self-conscious at first, Lowell made me feel at ease. In the back of my mind, I thought I was one of the other girls, but by the end of the night, I knew I wasn’t. For the short time we had, it was only me. Now, it’s us together again. I’m excited for what’s next.

“You’re finished already?” Lowell nudges me out of my mind. I was eating fast as I replayed my feelings.

“I guess I am.” I giggle, setting the empty plastic cup down. I would eat key lime pie in a heartbeat anyway, though.

“Don’t take any of mine.” He licks at his cone with his eyes on mine. I shake my head at him and grin.

For a while, we sit under the dark sky loosely lit with stars, hearing cars pass by and the silence in the wind against the trees. We’re so far out, we’re alone. Lowell notices that when he starts kissing up my neck. His fingers brush my hair out of the way, his chest pressing into my side. I close my eyes, exhaling deeply as his lips nip at my flesh, and I grip his thigh to quell the sensations in my body.

“Do you think Kimberly will want siblings one day?” he asks after a moment. He pulls away and looks into my eyes.

“She doesn’t like to share. So probably not.” I laugh, half serious about it.

“I’m serious. Don’t you ever think about having more kids?”

I swallow at the shift in tone, wanting to go back to yearning for more of his touch but not minding this either. “Not until… I saw you again,” I say quietly.

“Do you?” I ask him.

He chuckles. “I think I’m still adjusting to Kimberly. But maybe. I’d do anything as long as it was with you.”

I practically melt in front of him. When he says things like that, I don’t think he knows how perfect he can be.

“Me, too.”

His lips part as if he might say something else, but then he doesn’t. Instead, he closes the space and kisses me.

His lips descend on mine with all the emotion in his body, and I feel it down to the bone and in all my aching limbs. When he rolls us over and settles between my legs, I wrap myself around him. I slide my fingers through his soft locks, holding him to me as he turns his head and deepens the kiss. My sex clenches in response, my breasts swelling underneath my clothes. There is too much between us.

Breaking for air, his lips go back to my neck kissing me right where it makes me mewl in response. The air is chilly, but it’s his warmth which keeps me sweltering inside and out. I trail my fingers under the hem of his shirt, my palms press to his lower stomach, and he groans in response. His cock hardens against the inside of my thigh as his fingers trail down my chest and cup both my breasts at once. My nipples press against the fabric, and I moan at the feeling wishing it was gone. As I remove his shirt, he works at mine and removes it the same time as my bra. Exposed to the cold air, I somehow don’t feel it at all not with the anticipation running through my entire body. Every time with Lowell is like this—a building, enthralling harp of love and passion. Once hidden, now out in the light, and it makes all the difference.

His strong shoulders hold him up as his lips trail down my sternum, over both my breasts as he leaves moist kisses circling around my nipples. The thought of being caught is far in my mind, an after-thought to everything. All I want is Lowell. It’s scary how much that need can control me, but with him, I feel so secure that being caught is the last thing I think about.

“God, Lowell…” His teasing is at an all new level tonight. When his hands join his mouth kneading my flesh as his lips and tongue circle my nipples, it draws every sensation out of my body until it dizzies me.

I rub my thighs together for friction, but it’s no use. His body holds me apart as he presses down enjoying every plea I make for more.

His attention leaves my aching breasts, and the cold air hits the moisture left behind and makes my nipples harden even more as he travels down across my stomach and navel. He looks up at me as he undoes my jeans, scrambling to get them off with my shoes. We laugh together until he does, and then he’s back, his body tightened and eyes focused on me.

The heat of my sex clashes with the cold air and his breath from his lips dangerously close to me. I feel steamy. My back arches, every muscle in my body coiling when his lips press to my clit, his tongue following suit and lapping me up at once. I feel myself dripping for him, incredibly so, and he absorbs all of it as he drives me closer and closer to the edge. I taste it on my tongue like I taste him whenever he kisses me. As I focus on the stars glinting in the dark sky, it builds and builds deep inside my body until it consumes me, and I erupt at the last swirl of his tongue and suck of his lips.

I clench his hair tightly as my body recoils, relaxing in the aftershocks. He kisses back up my body stopping to take off his pants and boxers.

“Shit. It’s fucking freezing.” He laughs against my lips. I smile and reach out for his hard cock pressed against my thigh wrapping my hand around his subtle girth.

“Better?” I grin. He kisses the corner of my lips and nods groaning under his breath as he juts his hips toward me.

His kiss is soft and short-lived before he pulls away. His cock slides against me rendering me useless as he cups my face, so I’ll look at him.

“You know, the only thing I regret is not fucking you in a drive-through theater.” He grins. I swat at his chest, shaking my head at him.

I link my arms around his neck, circling my legs around his waist as he kisses me again. This time, he deepens the kiss with his tongue and pours all his passion into me at once. Part of me lives in the kiss as the other thrives at his cock entering me. Slowly, but in one swift movement, he buries himself in me. The slight sting gives way to the comfort of having him inside me throbbing and filling me in my most treasured place.

Lowell breaks the kiss. “You feel so good, Char. Perfect.” His voice is raspy, masked with desire against my ear where he kisses me below it.

I shudder, tightening around him as I nod. “I love you,” I murmur. I’m not sure he even hears me since he starts moving again—pulling out of me slower, to sink back inside faster.

“I love you.” His eyes meet mine hovering over me as he cradles me between his forearms holding him up.

I hold his heady gaze as long as I can before the sensations in my body are too much, and I submit to them, closing my eyes but still seeing him above me. His blue eyes are sailing into mine, his voice in my ear telling me how good we feel and how much he loves me.

It must be what brings me so close again, so quickly.

He thrusts into me, hard and deep, not having to be careful of knocking the bed into the wall, but the truck shakes on its wheels, and neither of us care. My nails rake down his back and dig into his ass, hard and unrelenting as he drives into me.

His breath falls short as he carries on, and I know he is close too in the way he trembles—the way he grips me tighter at my hips and waist kissing me passionately.

I know when we come together, for the first time after declaring our love for each other, that it burns us both in a way which brands us together—forever and possibly long after that.

“I love you, Char… I love you so much,” Lowell says as the last of him releases inside me as much on fire as the rest of him.

I run my hands over the muscles and planes of his arms until I reach his face, cradling it between my hands to hold him in place as I lean up to kiss him. Rolling us over as he slips out of me, I feel the loss for only a fraction of a second. I ground myself in the warmth of his blue eyes and his body against mine, his soul. Knowing he will never leave me again, and I won’t leave him, and that our story is only just beginning.

“I love you, too, Lowell.”