Epilogue
Elena raised her eyes to Daniel’s, her fingers drumming nervously on the envelope in her hands. They stood next to the kitchen table in Daniel’s apartment on a Wednesday in March, the late afternoon sun filtering through the windows.
He smirked. “Open it. See what it says.”
She nodded, looking at the envelope again. “I know. I will. But right now, there’s still hope. Like, it could be acceptance or it could be rejection. As long as it’s unopened, it’s both. It’s Schroedinger’s admissions letter.”
Laughing, he shook his head. “You’ve been watching too much Big Bang Theory.”
She shrugged. “Maybe so. It’s still true.”
Coming around behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her to him. “Just open it, Elena. You’re killing me with the anticipation.”
She nodded, biting her lower lip, sliding her finger under the lip of the envelope. Taking out the folded paper, she straightened it out, her eyes going to the first line. Congratulations! It is with great pleasure I offer you admission to …
Elena didn’t even finish reading the first line before she squealed and turned in Daniel’s arms. “I got in!”
His grin pulled wide across his face. “Congratulations!”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself up on her toes at the same time she pulled him down, giving him a hard kiss. But Daniel took over almost instantly, one hand on her lower back pressing her into him, one hand gripping the back of her head as he devoured her.
They’d been dating again for almost two months, going out, watching movies with their roommates, careful not to spend too much time alone. But now, Elena was tired of waiting. She wanted to celebrate. And she wanted to do it naked.
She slipped her hand under his shirt, feeling the smooth skin and taut muscles of his back. Her other hand joined it, and she started working his shirt up his torso until Daniel broke the kiss, but he didn’t let her go or move to help take his shirt off.
“Arms up,” she whispered.
His eyes examined hers. He’d stopped her the last time she’d tried to take his shirt off, making the valid point that he would have a much harder time stopping if either of them took off their clothes. But this time he lifted his arms, bending so she could take off his shirt. He shivered when her fingers traced over the muscles of his chest and abs after she discarded his shirt.
Then he was kissing her again, backing her up into the kitchen and lifting her onto the counter, stepping between her legs to kiss her more thoroughly, his hands sliding under her top as well, but not making a move to take it off.
When he started to kiss his way down her neck, she let her head drop to the side, arching into him. “Daniel.” She inhaled sharply as his teeth grazed her earlobe. “Daniel, I want you. It’s been so long. I don’t want to wait anymore.”
He straightened and stared into her eyes, his own dark with desire. “Why, Elena?”
Looking at him, taking in his expectant air, she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. There were so many reasons. Didn’t he know? Didn’t he feel this way too? “I—“ She swallowed, licking her lips. “Because, I miss you. And I hate being apart from you. I hate when we don’t hang out because we’re afraid of rushing things. I want to see you every day, all the time, and not just a few times a week for dates. I love you. And I want to feel your skin on mine again. I’ve missed the way your body loves me. I want it now. To celebrate that everything is going right again.”
His eyes shone with happiness, a smile tugging on his lips. “You love me?”
She pushed at his shoulder. “Yes, dummy. Of course I do. I’ve loved you for months. How do you not know that?”
He lifted one of his beautiful, sculpted shoulders in a tiny shrug. “You’ve never said.”
“You haven’t either.”
Laughter, low and rich, flowed out of him. “You’re right. I haven’t.” His hands slid up to her face, tipping her jaw up ever so slightly, his eyes steady on hers. “Elena Natalia Martinez. I love you. So much. And I can’t wait to make you mine again.”
His mouth descended on hers, his kiss slow and deep and luscious. Each stroke of his tongue making her want him more. She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him tight against her, her hands roaming over his body. His hands slid under her ass, then he picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, undressing her slowly.
He took his time, kissing her everywhere, giving her an orgasm with his fingers and mouth before sliding into her, both of them gasping at the sensation. He moved inside her, each stroke loving and deep, rocking them together in pursuit of ecstasy.
Elena wrapped herself around him, her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, stroking up and down his back, moaning and gasping as he drove her higher, the familiar heat pooling low in her belly, coiling tighter and tighter as he picked up the pace. When the tension released, washing through her body in a wave of heat and bliss, Daniel thrust hard inside her, shuddering as he came with her.
She held onto him as he collapsed onto her, his weight warm and comforting. Nothing felt better, more right, than this, here, now. There were decisions to be made about what came next—would they do the long distance thing for a few months while he finished student teaching? But right now, that didn’t matter. Things were falling back into place. And she once again had hope that life would be good. At last.
The End