The next night Milo was still angry, but even more, he was determined.

Constance hadn’t shown up again, not that he had expected her to. Constance was many things, primarily among them, a person of her word, so when she said not to expect her, he hadn’t.

But he’d hoped.

Hoped that she’d made her point, and now would get things back to normal. Because he was going insane.

Less than a week and he was barely able to function. All a testament to Constance and what she did to him. He needed to see her.

In under five minutes, he was on his way to her house.

When Constance pulled into her driveway and saw Milo standing at her front door, her heart lifted.

She pushed the feeling down, parked, got out of her car, and began to walk toward the door with her keys in hand. She didn’t acknowledge him, but once the door was open, she looked at him.

“Milo, I—”

Whatever she had been about to say was cut off in her throat, instantly forgotten as Milo kissed her.

Before she could think to react, she began kissing him back, her entire body feeling lighter, almost weightless as his arms closed around her.

She had felt so empty before, and now she realized what it was. She knew she had missed him, but her body’s reaction, the relief she felt from his touch, shocked her.

Milo’s kiss, his touch, told her that he felt much the same, and they moved in a sea of hands and lips, clothes coming off with each step. It was only when Milo pushed her down against the bed that she realized they’d had sex in every conceivable position and place except in bed.

She hadn’t considered it before, but she was happy to get to experience this with him. She pulled him close to her, and he braced himself on his arms and then kissed her, his body stretched out above hers.

She touched him where she could, muscles and skin and strength all adding to the impossibly arousing sensations. And when he finally entered her, she raced toward climax, that first touch enough to send her over the edge.

He thrust inside her steadily, hips pushing her into the bed as he moved wildly as if in a frenzy.

A frenzy she understood.

And when he finally thrust himself inside her, Constance held him close, her soul feeling complete.

The minutes passed and she waited for the regret to come, but nothing did. There was only the pure joy of having Milo here.

She laughed. “We’ve never done this before,” she said.

“I beg to differ,” he replied, tracing his lips along her collarbone.

“I mean in a bed,” she said, giggling now.

“Good point. My house has several beds we could try out. But I think the couch in my office misses you,” he said. “It looks so lonely, sad, without you naked on it.”

Constance looked at him, a feeling of warning coming over her.

“What do you mean?” she asked, the wariness in her voice coming out.

“I can’t wait to get back to the office. Now that we’re back to normal, we have lost time to make up for,” he said.

The feeling that had hit her was intensified and she pulled out of his embrace, watched him.

“What do you mean? Back to normal?”

“You’re going to quit that bar and come back,” he said.

Suddenly, rage filled her.

“What?” She blinked at him.

“You made your point, Constance. No need to keep drawing this out,” he said nonchalantly.

Constance was so angry she could hardly breathe, and when she looked at him he frowned.

“What’s your problem?” he said.

“You really don’t understand…”

“Understand what?”

“You thought that was all it would take? You come here, fuck me, and I would just come back, do whatever you wanted?”

He didn’t try to deny it. Constance exhaled. It was hard to believe that her heart was shattering yet again, but it was. And when she looked at him, she knew that they could never be together again.

“I’d like you to leave, Milo,” she whispered.

He started to protest, but she shook her head.

“Constance—”

“Thank you,” she said.

She said nothing else, and after long moments he finally stood. Constance held the tears back until she heard the front door close.