At some point, he’d picked me up and carried me to the bed

I didn't know when.

My mind had melted away to a surreal, serene state the moment he’d put his mouth on mine. I only knew that I could feel the hard curve of his muscles as I clutched his shoulders, that his hands gripped my butt as he pressed me against the heavy ridge of his cock.

His mouth tore from mine and he kissed a burning line down my neck.

The little pearl buttons on my blouse gave away under his fingers, and I gasped as he began to kiss his way down my torso. My skin hadn’t ever felt so sensitive.

My body hadn’t felt this alive since…ever.

Maybe it was because I didn’t think we’d have this again.

My blouse completely unbuttoned now, he let go of it to seek out the zipper on my skirt. He dragged it down slowly, lips tracing the waistband of my skirt, the skin above.

With a shiver, I pushed my hands into his hair and pressed him closer.

His hands cupped my hips, slid under.

It was no time before the skirt was gone, the panties too. After the night in jail, my pantyhose had been shredded. I’d already thrown them away.

His fingers stroked that soft, sensitive skin on the inside of my thigh, no other barrier in the way.

The rough callouses on his strong fingers drew slow circles, making me shiver.

“Stop teasing me,” I demanded.

He made a low, rough noise in his throat but there was no change in direction. Instead, he caught my ankle and dragged it up and over, spreading my thighs.

As he opened me, cool air slid over my pussy. “Glenn, please.”

He licked me.

I gasped.

One slow, lazy circle around my clitoris, followed by another long, slow stroke of his tongue that went from the bottom of my slit, all the way up to my clit.

Then another taunting circle.

Shuddering, I tightened my hands in his hair and began to move against him.

Glenn made a low, demanding groan and the vibration was just one more tease.

When he pushed two fingers inside me, I began to quiver, curling my other leg around his shoulders in an effort to bring him closer.

Glenn was kind enough to oblige by drawing my clit into his mouth, applying more suction when thrusting and screwing his fingers in and out.

Cold and hot chills alternated, breaking out over my skin and racing up and down. I felt too small for what he was bringing to life inside me, but there was no way I wanted him to stop.

Moaning, I rocked against him, moving in time with the rhythm he’d set, mindless.

I had nothing in mind but my orgasm, then it hit and it knocked me sideways, breathless and gasping. My hands fell off and I moaned as the pleasure twisted through me.

“You’re jumping the gun,” he said, lifting his head and crawling up to settle between my thighs. He pressed his mouth to the curve of my neck. Between us, I could feel him tugging and working at his jeans.

“Hurry. Or I’ll do more than jump the gun.”

“How is that possible?” he asked, lifting to study me.

“I’ll do it twice.” I slid a hand down between my thighs. I was already aching for more, aching for him. When would I ever not ache for him?

Glenn laughed. Then I felt the hot, urgent press of his cock.

“No…you’re not doing that.” He caught my wrists and drew them over my head, pinning them to the mattress.

We stared at each other as he entered me. Although my eyes were heavy with the need to close and just…feel, I couldn’t look away from him. Our mouths touched. I didn’t even recall kissing him, but the kiss happened. Light and soft, echoing how he moved inside me.

I moaned into his mouth.

The pale beauty of his eyes darkened and he broke the kiss, shoving up onto his hands to stare down at me. Slowly, he caught one knee, dragged it up over his elbow and began to ride me.

“You…” His lids drooped shut for a moment.

I tightened around him, the muscles inside me squeezing until a slow convulsion went through me, without end.

“I’m not losing you again,” Glenn said, thrusting harder, deeper.

I reached for his arms, sinking my fingers into his biceps. “Glenn…”

His cock pulsed, thickened.

It was another teasing, taunting caress, and when he arched up, moving higher on my body, it was more than I could handle. Way…way…more.

I exploded around him.

* * *

“…yes, good… Thanks, Astor.”

Curled up on my side, I watched Glenn from the bed.

The smile on his face told me more than words could. He came back to me a few seconds later, crawling across the mattress, then stretching with his head propped up on the pillow.

“They’re fine. Got to that friend of Florence’s. Going to stay a few days and see what the news says.” He put his hand on my belly and rubbed it. “Once things calm down, they’ll head back home.”

“Good.” Sliding a look past him, I stared at the TV. I couldn’t describe how unsettling it was to be so cut-off from what was happening in the world. Sure, the news report had just finished broadcasting, but it had only given a very short, and in my mind, narrow, view of what was going on in Watts. There had been a time when if I wanted to know what was going on, I could pick up my phone and check Twitter, and find news happening as it happened.

Now…I was stuck waiting for the latest update for the few channels this TV picked up.

“Maya.”

The serious tone caught my attention, and I met his eyes.

He reached up and cupped my cheek. “I need to know.”

“Know what?”

He let go of my face and put his hand back down on the belly. “I’m…look, I’m not mad. But…I just have to know. Tell me where you’ve been. What happened to you.”

My limbs went cold.

Numbness settled in.

The warmth and hope that had wrapped around me for the past day faded away, and it took all I had not to lie there shivering.

Blood rushed to heat my cheeks. I could feel the sting of the blush, but I was still freezing all over.

What happened to you.

I’m not mad.

“Just tell me the truth, Maya.”

He stared at me with intense eyes and I swallowed back the saliva that had pooled in my mouth before it gagged me. I didn’t want to get sick in front of him. I didn’t want to get sick and look weak in front of him. Vulnerable.

What had I been thinking?

“Maya?”

“Let me up,” I said. My voice sounded alien, even to my own ears.

“I’m trying to talk to you—”

“I need to sit up or I’m going to get sick,” I said, not bothering to hide the tremor in my voice.

He eased back and I sat up, fighting with the sheets until I could throw legs over the side of the bed. Under my feet, the shag carpet was a welcome respite, warmer somehow than the sheets.

“Okay,” he said from behind me. “Now let’s just—”

“Let’s just nothing,” I snapped, my voice as number as I felt. “I already told you the truth. I know it sounds crazy, but I have nothing more I can tell you. If you’re not going to believe me, then just…” Shaking my head, I got up from the bed. The blanket we’d kicked off lay discarded on the floor, and I grabbed it, wrapping it around myself as I moved over to the window.

The curtains had been pulled, so I pushed one out of the way and stared outside.

It was too bright.

The sunlight was a mockery.

A few seconds passed before I heard the door to the bathroom slam behind me.

I didn’t waste any time.

I couldn’t stay another minute. Not after that.