It didn’t take long to get down to Florida. Mostly because I yelled at just about anyone who got in my way between the house and airport. I was getting the hell out of there and I was on my way to Ashley, and that’s all I cared about. What took the longest was for me to figure out what the hell I was doing. What was really important to me in my life.

It took about a month for word to get back to me that she had dropped out of school. As much as I wanted to see her and talk to her and just touch her - I couldn’t risk it. My goddamned stepfather was on my back and was still insisting that I bring Samantha home, even though every doctor who examined her cautioned against it.

When I found out Ashley had disappeared, I just about went mad trying to figure out where she was, but I had next to nothing to go on. Just the camming website. I contacted them multiple times trying to get them to pass a message along to her. It was against their policy to tell me if she was working for them anymore or give me any information about her at all. I explained repeatedly that all I wanted was to get a message to her, and I had no way of knowing if they even did that.

When I finally looked around and evaluated my life I realized that I didn’t want any of it anymore. I didn’t give a damn about the job or the house and it was becoming clear that there wasn’t anything I could do to help my wife. If she wanted to stay in her own private hell, that was her choice. But sitting around and waiting for her wasn’t going to bring her back. And it wasn’t going to make either of us happy.

Amid massive protests at the college, I gave my resignation, and in the process gave up my house as well. I was fine with that, though. I needed to move on and, more than anything, I needed to find Ashley. I had no idea where I was going to start looking, but I knew I had to try to find her.

On my last day as Dean of Humanities, just as I was about to shut down my computer one last time, an email came through that made my heart stop. It was Ashley. It was actually from her. Finally, one of the times I contacted that damned site payed off and they forwarded my message to her. I opened up the email and read the most beautiful thing anyone had ever written to me in my life.

Drake,

I got the message that you needed to get in touch with me. You can email me at this address. I hope everything is going well for you. I truly do. I’m sorry that I left without saying goodbye. I wanted to. So badly. I wanted to tell you that, even though we couldn’t be together, my heart would always belong to you, and still does.

Your Little Sweet Pea

My heart almost exploded when I read that last line. And I practically screamed at the computer screen “But where are you?” I emailed Ashley back, telling her that I wanted to see her, that I was coming to find her, and that she should tell me where she was as soon as possible.

I sat there and stared at the damned screen for almost an hour. The staff had all left and wished me well on the way out while I refreshed the screen and checked for new mail like a madman. I knew I could get her email on my phone, but I didn’t want to risk her emailing while I was driving. Besides, I had nowhere to go except the airport as soon as I found out where she was.

Finally, she replied. Her excitement was palpable, even though it was only expressed in words on a screen, and made me smile from ear to ear. She told me that she was in Florida, down in the Keys, and that she would wait right where she was for me. She gave me the address, telling me that she hadn’t had a phone in months and preferred it that way. But she assured me that she would wait by her computer until she heard from me again.

The first thing I did was book a flight, and there was one leaving for Marathon International in a few hours. I could barely think after that. I would leave my car in the long term lot and come back for it eventually. I’d left most everything behind at the house, so there was no need to go there. And there was not a single thing in that office I cared about.

I honestly didn’t care about much of anything anymore, and I’d never felt more free. Letting go of the fear of my father-in-law’s opinion, or anyone around me, for that matter, was such an incredible weight off my shoulders. I realized that I’d done so much throughout my life in accordance with what I thought others wanted, or what I thought I wanted. Marrying the daughter of a college president, and working my way up to Dean of Humanities. Those things seemed important at the time, but now I couldn’t think of anything I wanted less. It had taken me a long time, but I finally realized that it didn’t take things or status to make me genuinely happy. I was still figuring it all out, but I knew for sure that freedom was pretty high on the list.

I’d planned on starting over and that seemed like exactly what was going to happen. I had a new life waiting for me out there, and I had no idea what that even meant. But I was ready to find out. I grabbed my jacket and turned out the light, silently saying goodbye to my old life.

* * *

“Oh my God, Drake! I can’t believe you’re here!” Ashley ran up to me the second I got out of the cab, as if she had been waiting on the street for me. “I’ve been waiting here for you since you emailed me from the airport. I didn’t want to take any chances.” She had been waiting, and she was adorable.

I dropped my duffle bag on the sidewalk and wrapped my arms around her. My hands felt like they had been made for her body, the way we seemed to fit together so perfectly. “I missed you so much, sweet pea.”

I didn’t care about whether or not anyone saw us kissing on the street and it felt amazing. I was so done with rules, it wasn’t even funny.

I pressed my forehead into Ashley’s and let our lips meet slowly, and softly. I pushed my hand up into her long, silky hair and pressed the back of her head into me, letting my lips and tongue linger on hers while our bodies pressed into each other.

“We need to get into a room immediately,” I growled in Ashley’s ear while I continued to move her soft hair through my hands. “Is this your hotel?” I asked, gesturing to the run-down building we were standing next to.

“Yeah, it’s kinda trashy, but it’s all I’ve been able to afford.”

“Well, it’ll do for tonight, but we’re going to have to find a better place than this tomorrow.

“We? Are you staying here … with me?” Ashely’s blue eyes lit up when they locked with mine.

“Let’s get upstairs and we can talk … after.”

* * *

This time I was on top, the way I’d imagined our first time together so long ago. And the funny thing was, it didn’t seem to matter what the position was, because in retrospect, both wound up being absolutely perfect. Because they were both with Ashley.

I missed the soft lips that met mine so eagerly, the long blonde hair that trailed down Ashley’s neck and shoulders—sometimes curling around one of her breasts. I cupped those beautiful breasts, then ran my hands down her stomach, touching every inch along the way. My hands wrapped around her hips and explored the crevice between her thighs, then trailed down her long legs, finally making it to her feet, where they caressed her ankles and toes—tickling Ashley in the process.

I couldn’t get enough of her. It had been months since our short time together and all I did in that time was think about her. Her laugh and her sweet smile, as well as the way her round ass looked when it was being spanked.

I gripped her ankles and spread her legs apart—slowly at first, but then with more force as my hands moved up to her thighs. When my hands reached the space just below her pussy lips, I pushed Ashley’s legs apart as far as they would go, then up into the air. Then I eased myself on top of her so that her feet rested on my shoulders.

My eyes didn’t leave hers as I moved the head of my cock in circles around her opening, sliding around and around in the juices that told me how much she wanted me. Her lower lip quivered in anticipation of my cock entering her again.

“Are you ready for me, little sweet pea?” I smiled down at her, desperate to feel that tightness around my cock.

“I’ve always been ready for you,” she whispered.

With those words ringing in my ears I slid my cock inside her, causing her to gasp. Ashley’s eyes grew wide, but she was just experiencing the beginning—barely one-quarter of my full length. I eased myself back, but then thrust in again with a bit more force. Ashley yelled out as she gripped my thighs with her hands and threw her head back. Her eyes closed for a moment, but opened up again each time I pulled back.

“You like that?” I said, glancing down to watch almost my entire cock disappear inside those pussy lips that were stretched tight around me. “You like taking my massive cock like a hungry little slut?”

“Oh God, yes!” she gasped, her eyes filling with that incredible look of pleasure and surprise. “I want all of you inside me, Drake!”

I put all my weight on my hands, bending her legs even closer to her chest while I lowered myself to her, and drove myself in. I could feel myself bottoming out inside Ashley’s pussy, and I could hear the slaps of my thighs hitting her ass. I watched as her eyes closed and her mouth opened wide, her head turning to the side and grinding back into the pillow. She was coming.

When I felt the muscles of her vagina tighten around my cock even more, I lost all sense of anything else around me—except Ashley’s body and mine. She was surrounding me. Not just her pussy around my throbbing cock, but her entire being. As my orgasm spread through my body I felt enveloped by her entire being. There were no arms or legs, just a feeling of utter warmth and perfection surrounding me that was inherently Ashley.

When I felt the last shudder of my cock I opened my eyes and there she was, looking up at me again. I let Ashley’s legs fall down to the mattress, but I stayed inside her. I couldn’t bear the thought of pulling out of that warm space, so I gripped her ass and turned her on her side while I reclined next to her. She wrapped one leg around my hip to keep herself anchored to me.

“I just can’t believe it.”

“What’s that?”

“That you’re here! I mean, I figured you had moved on, that you forgot about me.”

“Well, I did move on, but from my old life. I left it all behind.”

“Really? How?”

“I just did it. Your attitude had a lot to do with it.”

“What attitude?”

“When you talked about being free. I realized after you left that I hadn’t felt free in a long time. My life had become a long string of one responsibility after another. Things I thought I wanted at the time, but ultimately wound up making me feel trapped.”

“You mean your job?”

“Yes, my job … and my marriage. I left everything behind. Even my car.”

“I’m sorry, Drake. That must have been hard.”

“At first it was. But once I made the decision … when I finally realized what I wanted my life to look like … it wasn’t hard at all. I don’t want to wind up like my wife, trapped in my own grief, or her father, trapped in his ideas of how he thinks his life, and everyone else’s, should look. Or my brother.”

“I’m glad.”

“About what?”

“That you made the decision that you did. That you’re here. You seem really happy.”

“I am,” I said, kissing Ashley’s forehead. “And I’m glad too. So what have you been doing with yourself. I hope you’re not spending all your time in this depressing room.”

“No, I’m usually just here in the evenings. During the days I like to walk on the beach and explore a little. I started collecting some shells and things that I find on the beach and I’ve been putting them together. Just for fun.”

“What do you mean, like art?”

“Yeah, kinda. Little houses with shells and pretty rocks and things for furniture and the structure. It’s just a silly hobby.”

I looked on her bedside table and gestured to an incredibly small house that was sitting there. It could have fit in the palm of my hand. “Like that?”

“Yeah, that’s my most recent house. It’s got a little family of mice inside. They’re all made out of painted shells.”

I picked up the house and looked inside the windows. “This is really amazing, Ashley. I can’t believe you made this. It’s all so small.”

“I used a really fine brush for the details. It was fun.”

“You should sell these. You’re really talented.”

“Thank you! I’ve thought about it. I’ve also been writing, too. Mostly short stories, but I’ve started a longer one recently.”

“I absolutely want to read everything.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. I’d like to take some time off for a while. Maybe just spend my days on the beach, like you.”

“That sounds nice,” Ashley said, snuggling up to me. “I think you’ll look good on the beach.”

“Oh really?” I laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. I do know one thing though. Whatever I wind up doing, I want it to be with you.”

I watched Ashley’s blue eyes sparkle again as I lowered my lips to hers, then wrapped my arms around her and drifted, knowing that my life was now perfectly my own.