Present
After we get back from Gwynn’s we settle on the living room couch. Me with a bottle of wine and Linc with his Lumberjacks. We spend hours talking. Sharing memory after memory until we gorge ourselves on the past. There’s something to be said about someone who knows everything about you. All of your embarrassing moments, your dark secrets, every undeniable truth.
The tension crackling between us is so potent I think I might burst into flames, seduced by every smile and word that falls from his lips.
“Remember when we were fifteen and we rolled Mr. Whitehead’s yard with toilet paper.” Linc chuckles, his green eyes sparkling with mischief.
“He was so pissed when he walked outside.”
“We almost got caught because of you,” he says.
“Because of me?”
“Yeah, you squealed like a girl when he flipped on the porch light. If I hadn’t covered your mouth and dragged you to the woods, we would’ve been busted for sure.”
“It would’ve been worth it. Mr. Whitehead was such an asshole.”
He was our high school history teacher, and I swear he had it out for Linc and me. We couldn’t even look at each other without getting into trouble.
We spent a good part of our sophomore year in the hallway.
“That was the first time I ever wanted to kiss you.”
My lips part as he slips the wine glass from my hand and sets his empty beer bottle on the coffee table next to it. He scoots in closer, bringing a new wave of heat with him. His closeness is more intoxicating than ever, more potent.
“When we were crouched down, hidden behind the trees, my heart was racing.” He gently picks my hand up from my lap and places it on his chest, feeling the thundering beat of his heart as he holds it in place. Then he brings his fingers to my cheek, grazing my skin with his knuckles. “Not because I was afraid of gettin’ caught, but because you were so scared. And all I could think about was kissing you, so you wouldn’t be afraid.”
My heart beats harder. “Why didn’t you? Kiss me, I mean?”
“I don’t know, but I regret it every goddamn day of my life.”
He drags a finger beneath my bottom lip, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. His eyes dart to my mouth, and I watch in fascination as his body grows tense and his breathing picks up.
Beneath my hand I feel his heart gain speed, leaping with abandon toward mine.
“No more regrets, Sylvie,” he whispers just before his lips cover mine.
His kiss is full of promise and strength, unlike anything I’ve ever known. His kisses before were breathtaking, heart stopping.
But they all pale in comparison to this one.
This one is built of salvation and love.
Longing and desire.
Moving one hand to the back of my head, he lowers me to the couch where he positions himself on one side. His other hand roams the outer lines of my body, skimming over the parts I desperately want him to touch. His tongue dances with mine, in a tango of heat so hot I’m certain I’ll burn up from it.
“Jesus Christ, is this really happening?”
“Yes,” I breathe.
His hand moves to my neck, angling it so he can kiss me deeper. My hands clutch his shirt as I pull one foot to dig into the couch. I feel like if I don’t ground myself I’ll float away.
“Linc,” I plead. “Touch me.”
He grins against my lips before nipping the bottom one. “I’m touchin’ you.”
I groan. “Please.”
Smiling, he pulls back to look into my eyes. “I don’t know where to start. Part of me wants to take my time, so we don’t miss a damn thing, but the other part wants to ravage you, rip your clothes off, and show you once and for all who you have always belonged to.”
“Yes, I want all of that.”
I barely get the words out of my mouth before he’s doing just that. His hands drop to the hem of my dress, pulling it up and over my head before tossing it onto the floor.
He caresses each breast, giving them a hard squeeze while placing a worshiping kiss on each swell. Dropping hot kisses down the center of my belly, my hands skate through his hair, gripping the strands to encourage his journey. His fingers hook the sides of my panties and his lips follow them all the way down my trembling legs. It’s hard to concentrate on everything at once.
Because all I can think about is how each brush of his lips and touch of his hands fills my soul with redemption.
“Breathe,” he whispers the command softly.
I release his hair along with an imprisoned breath. He rests back on his haunches, pulling his t-shirt over his head, his green eyes roaming up and down my body appreciatively. I squirm beneath his heated stare.
Now that the moment is here, I thought I would be more nervous, more…apprehensive.
But I’m not.
Nothing has ever felt more right.
Linc stands up from the couch, removing his jeans and socks, then with his eyes locked on mine, he slides down his boxer briefs. I never break eye contact as he drops one knee, taking his place once again between my parted legs. The couch is large enough to accommodate us thankfully, because I don’t think I could move from this spot even if I wanted to. My knees are trembling and my heart is racing with anticipation of what’s to come, wreaking havoc on all of my senses.
I feel him, all of him, settle between my thighs, the weight of him drawing a heated gasp from my lips. He catches it on cue as he swiftly covers my mouth with his. His hips begin to move slightly, with each dip of his delicious tongue, thrusting against me, creating an insane amount of friction. Our skin is melded together, grateful for the contact that has been denied for so long. Linc reaches between us, dragging his fingers slowly through my wet, hot flesh.
He rests his forehead to mine as he pushes one finger inside of me. My breath is short and sporadic, silently begging for more. “I love the sounds you make.”
“Linc,” I beg.
He smiles, closing his eyes as my hands drift to cradle his face, and just as my lips find his, he centers himself and pushes inside of me.
Not until he is fully seated inside me, and his hands move to cradle my face, do I finally feel complete.
Whole.
Like my heart finally possesses its other half. The man I’ve always loved. The one person I’ve shared every other part of myself with. More than I ever shared with anyone else. Now he has all of me. And the thought is so overwhelming, so comforting, a single tear escapes from the corner of my eye.
Linc doesn’t miss it. He kisses my temple before bringing his salty lips back to mine.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m here,” he whispers. “I’m here.”
I nod, unable to speak as he begins to move in and out.
Slow.
Steady.
Sure.
The way our bodies fit together, the way they answer to one another is so perfect, so flawless, so achingly beautiful, I immediately question how I ever lived without him and know without a doubt I’ll never let him go.
Deep desire takes over and his thrusts become more powerful, measured. Like he’s trying to tell me something only his body can convey.
I move my hands to his back, scraping my nails along his skin as he drives into me harder and harder, staking his final claim. In a blaze of passion so bright, so incredible, we are both completely consumed by it. I find my release in a kaleidoscope of colors, a thick haze of heat that drowns and revives me. Linc follows and we plunge into an oblivious state of bliss.
The culmination of what just happened can only be described as a dream.
But it’s not.
I know this to be true when his mouth finds my ear and in a breathless whisper he says, “I love you.” Linc has said these words to me a million times but they have never carried more weight than they do right now. They settle, taking root inside of my heart and my mind, wrapping around my soul. “No one has ever loved another human being as much as I love you.”
The smell of his skin is intoxicating. I’m pretty sure I could lie here in this drunken state all day. Just like this. I’m completely and utterly lost to him, and it feels so damn good. Better than I ever imagined. It’s hard to believe, after all of this time, we’re here.
In this moment.
“I love you, too.” His fingers draw content, lazy sighs from me with each brush across my feverish flesh. I never knew making love could be so beautiful, so passionate. Every touch, every breath overflowing with so many years of deep longing, I don’t think I will ever get enough of him.
Linc’s warm lips press against my forehead and my eyes flutter closed as a new beginning unfolds. His forehead kisses will never be the same again. Now they are so much more precious than they ever were before.
“What are you thinkin’ about?”
“Us.”
“Us,” he whispers, thoughtfully.
He’s still inside of me, the weight of him bringing me so much comfort. “I can’t believe we’re here together. Like this.”
His smile is as content as I feel, washing over me with the promise of love beyond my wildest dreams.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment,” he says, tucking a piece of hair behind my left ear. “And I’m not talkin’ about the sex, which turned out to be far better than anything my mind ever worked up. But I’ve been waiting for this. To hold you, to fall asleep with you in my arms every night and wake up next to you every mornin’. To know you’re finally where you belong, with me.”
“Every night and every morning? What makes you think I want you to even stay tonight?” I tease, but I’m silently hoping he will.
“You don’t think for one second you’re gettin’ rid of me now, do you?”
“What are you saying?”
“What do you think I’m sayin’, Syl?” he asks, narrowing his eyes.
“Linc, I think we should take this slow. I mean, we just…I’m as happy as you are right now. I never thought this would happen for us and now it’s happening so fast and effortlessly really. It’s a little bit overwhelming to be honest, and I don’t want to do anything to mess it up. And I don’t want to rush Caroline either.”
“Caroline is not going to even bat an eye at this. She knows, Sylvie. That kid is smart. Besides, she loves me.”
I smile.
She adores him.
“Still…I need to be careful with her. I want us to be together as much as you do, Linc. I’ve wanted it for as long as I can remember, but I need to make sure she’s ready.”
“You’re incredible, you know that?”
Heat invades my cheeks as his tense jaw relaxes into a pleased smile. When his lips find mine, my heart surges with heat, as does the rest of my body. I can’t remember ever feeling this loved.
Safe.
It’s so new and exhilarating and it takes everything I have to beg him not to ever leave this spot. I never want to lose this feeling. “I’ll give you all the time you need, Sylvie, but this is it for me. You’re all I’ve ever wanted, and I’m never lettin’ you go again.”
His words are like a balm, soothing the wounds that life has so irrevocably inflicted. Would they ever be healed completely? With a love like his, I refuse to believe anything different.
He pulls the thick quilt from the back of the couch and moves to situate himself next to me, wrapping his arm around my middle and pulling me close. His eyes hold mine.
“Sylvie.”
“Hmm?”
“There’s something else I need from you.”
“What?”
Lifting my hand to his mouth, he places a kiss on my wrist then my lips.
Tender.
Soft.
“I need to know what happened that day.”
I blink, my heart rate spiking with anxiety and apprehension.
I swallow. “Why?”
“Because I wanna know your pain. All of it.”
Tears spring to my eyes. “I don’t think I can,” I tell him honestly. I’ve never told a single soul what really happened that day, because if I do that means it really happened, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle that.
“Try.”
Try.
Does he even understand how hard it is for me to do that? My eyes fall closed as my body tenses all over, memories of that day playing over and over in my mind.
Images I’ll never forget.
But Linc deserves to know, and telling him is the only way I can move on.