Sunday arrives before I’m ready for it.

I’ve spent the last two days with my chosen siblings and one sweet Cherry.

Having to leave them all today is going to hurt horribly. If my heart tugged when dropping her off for her flight here, I can only imagine what it’ll feel like today.

I’m leaving her for more than two days.

I’m leaving her, and I’m not positive I’ll be back.

Giving Justin the loaded pistol yesterday ended up being the final piece the FBI needed before moving forward. Now, the planning starts.

Not wanting anyone to possibly know Tessa’s here, we’ve stayed at Casa de Gallhagar for pretty much the whole time, not counting the couple of hours spent with Rhys at my condo. If I’d known she’d have been safe at my place, I would’ve loved to have her stay there, have her scent all over my sheets, her clothes in my closet, her shoes strewn haplessly by the front door, but I just couldn’t risk it.

Hopefully, it happens in our not so distant future.

Climbing down the stairs, I find Rhys exactly where I thought he’d be: in his home gym.

“Muncher of dicks, can I request a favor?”

“Creative name, assrocket. It depends on what the favor is,” he replies.

“Uh, it’s, uh…huge.” What I’m about to ask him may be drawing the line as far as our friendship goes.

“Spit it out already, dude.”

Turning around, I watch him through the mirrored wall. It’s better if I don’t make eye contact when making this request.

“Would you be opposed to letting Cherry and me have an hour or two of alone time? Here, today, in your house, which, uh, would require you and T-Lil to leave.”

The gym’s a small space, what with all the equipment and shit, which makes it hard for me to pace, but I’m doing my best. Turns out I can’t look at him in the mirror either.

“Let me get this straight—you want us to leave our place because you want to have sex?” he inquires.

“Yep. I don’t know when I’ll see her again. With the current situation, I’d feel better if she didn’t leave the house, otherwise I’d take her to my place. If I didn’t feel ominous about leaving, I wouldn’t ask, but I can’t shake this feeling of not seeing her for months, years, maybe forever. It’s like a lead ball has taken up residence in my stomach, and it’s making me sick. I don’t want to leave without showing her one last time how much I truly love her.”

He knows about this feeling. He suffered through it when he was going through his own mess, fighting his own demons, slaying his dragon.

“Yeah, we’ll leave. I’ll shower, grab Tiger Lily, and take her shopping or something.”

“Thank you. It makes me feel like a douche to ask for your house to have sex in, but hey, desperate times and all.” Not to mention I know Tessa had a similar favor asked of her when she stayed here before their wedding.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve both been there.” He stands, reaches for a towel, and after wiping things down, tosses it in the laundry basket. “The feeling of dread?” he asks.

“What about it?”

“Rest assured, I’ll keep her safe. Don’t let the nerves eat you up inside before anything happens. It’s the worst thing you can do—trust me, I know. It made me focus on what happens next instead of living in the moment. Live with her, here in the present. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”

“I’ll try,” I say as I follow him up the stairs.

* * *

Less than an hour later, I find myself blissfully alone with my girl. She’s sitting on the living room floor, painting her toenails, while her imaginary boyfriend plays on the television.

“How long will your toes take to dry?”

“Maybe ten minutes. I applied the top coat a moment ago. It’s fast drying and says two minutes, but we all know it’ll take longer. Why?”

“Because I want to eat those chocolate-covered cherries.” Off your body.

She has yet to notice the empty house, completely engrossed in her show and painting her sexy toenails red.

“Did you pack any?” she asks.

“Give me some credit, sweetness. Of course I packed some. When a man tells his woman he wants to eat chocolate-covered cherries off her naked body, he brings the damn cherries.”

Her facial expression makes me laugh. She looks scared, intrigued, and shocked all at once. The scared part is easily solved. I’ll tell her what I’m doing every step of the way. The shock is maybe because she thinks we’re not alone, but the one I love the most? The look of intrigue. It means she wants this to happen.

“From the look on your face, I’m guessing a few things. One, you’re shocked because I’m talking frankly and someone else may hear—wrong. They gave us the house for a couple hours. Two, you’re scared—don’t be. I’ve never done food play before…well, aside from whipped cream once…but you have nothing to be afraid of. It’s not like I’m going to put them inside you. I’m eating them off your delicious body. It’ll be sticky, but it’ll be worth it. Still intrigued?”

“Honestly?” she questions.

“Always, Cherry. Never be afraid to be honest with me. I’m not Mick—I won’t ever get angry and fly off the handle from hearing your honesty, and I sure as hell will never lay a hand on you for anything but pleasure or comfort. I’m not saying we’ll never fight—look at our track record—but what’ll be different with our fights is that we’ll always make up. We’ll never go to bed angry. From this moment on, I promise to kiss you each morning when I wake and every night before I sleep.”

Looking up at me from her perch on the floor, I see her sapphire beauties glistening with unshed tears.

“Don’t cry, Tessa. It breaks my heart to see you cry.” Standing, I walk over to her, hold my hands out for her to take, and proceed to pull her up off the floor. She wraps her hands around me and hugs me, hard, and it’s hands down the best hug I’ve ever had.

“These are happy tears, Ace. I realized something the night you made up with Rhys while you were passed out. It feels like the answer has always been there, but I’m stubborn and never wanted to admit it because the day of my divorce, I vowed to never love again. It’s a vow I’ve been able to keep all this time—until you. The day we met? When I looked into your eyes, I saw it all. I saw our future, one filled with lots of love, babies, a nice house not too far from a city, rocking chairs on the front porch, dogs lying at our feet…and it scared the hell out of me.

“When you asked me out, I turned you down because I was afraid.” She scrunches up her nose. “Not to mention the whole drunken frat boy thing you had going on.”

Running my fingers through her midnight tresses, I let her continue to talk while I listen, encouraging her to get it all out.

“You probably want to know what realization I came to, true?” she asks while placing a gentle palm on my cheek. I give her a slight nod, and she continues. “I love you, Brant Vincent Ashley-Martinelli. I’ve been running scared, but not anymore. I love you.”

My knees buckle, and it’s a good thing we’re holding on to each other. To hear the woman you’ve been crazy about for years say she loves you tilts your world a bit.

“I love you, Theresa May Annabelle.”

“I know,” she quips back, giving me a wink.

She lets go of me and proceeds to walk out of the living room, past the kitchen, and directly into the guest bedroom we’ve been sharing. All the while, I stand unmoving.

“Are you going to get in here and eat cherries any time soon, Ace? Time’s a wastin’.”

Man, she’s perfect.

The hours spent talking with Av yesterday helped me immensely when it came to telling Brant how I feel about him. She told me not to waste another minute without telling him.

Here I sit, on the end of my bed in their guest bedroom, waiting for Ace to come make love to me. Make love—it scares me. I’ve never made love before. The times in the past with Mick weren’t lovemaking. He just took, took, took without any give.

The first time with Brant?

It was hot, hard, fast, and everything I wanted. It was the most intensely satisfying sexual experience I’d ever had…until the next time, and the time after that. Our tryst in the parking garage was the same as our first time together—hard, fast, animalistic, and hot as lava.

Now, as I’m sitting here waiting, my nerves are attempting to get the better of me. What if we learn we don’t like making love versus fucking? My mind is going insane.

When’s the last time I shaved? When did I last get waxed? Do I need to brush my teeth? Should I be getting undressed now? Music, everyone likes music—I should turn some on. Oh look, a candle, I should probably light it.

As I’m sitting here hopping from one concern to the next, Brant walks into the bedroom. The sight of him puts my crazy brain at ease.

“What took you so long?” I tease.

“I couldn’t remember where I put the cherries. After I found them, I started to question things, but I told my thoughts to go jump off a cliff.” He begins to walk closer, closer, until his legs bump into my knees.

“I’m nervous,” we both blurt out in unison, causing both of us to break out in anxious laughter.

“Cherry, I’ve never been with a woman I loved sexually before. I’m afraid I’ll do it all wrong. I know it’s asinine to think like this, but I want it to be perfect for you.”

“It’s already perfect…it’s with you.”

“Screw it,” he says as he tosses the box of cherries on one of the bedside tables. “I was going to go slow, starting off by undressing you, kissing every inch of your body, maybe adding a cherry here or there, but I can’t wait for all that. I need to taste you now.”

He reaches for my shirt and jerks it up and over my head, tossing it to the floor. The zipper on my jeans doesn’t fare too well—he’s impatient and it’s stuck, causing him to rip it down before pulling the pants off my legs. My bra, he doesn’t bother to unclasp, just whips it up and over my head. Once I’m left in only my see-through pink panties, he starts to remove his clothing.

“Get on the center of the bed, lie down, and spread your legs for me, Cherry.”

Doing as he asks, I watch him stalk toward me. His hard cock, standing at attention, is tempting me to move forward and lick it. His steel blue eyes have turned dark with lust. Crawling up the bed to me, he stops when he reaches my foot.

“Did you paint these red for me, Cherry?” I nod. “All I could think about while watching you paint them was you sitting on the sink in my master bath, naked, while I watched you from the shower, where I was stroking my dick.”

“Mm, I’ll have to do that for you, bring the fantasy to life. Ace, I don’t want to go slow. I need your tongue, cock, fingers, anything—now.”

I’m impatient when it comes to him, which surprises me. Sex has always been an okay thing for me. I could go months—hell, years without it, but with Brant, I can’t seem to get enough.

His kisses are a drug, and I always need a fix.

His fingers are magical, and they play my body like the keys on a piano.

His cock? It’s pure perfection. It’s lengthy and thick, with veins in all the right places. It strums my insides like the strings of a guitar. With its girth, it spreads me open more than any guy who’s come before him. My thumb and forefinger don’t meet when circling it, and it feels like it was made only for me.

When we’re connected, I feel…fulfilled.

The head of his penis is glistening with precum, and I want to lick it off. The tip of my tongue salivates at just the thought of doing it. Gazing up into his eyes, I lick my lips, letting him know I want to taste him, too.

“You’ll have a turn, Cherry. First, I need to do this…” His hands roam up my body, starting with my feet. One reaches up and rips my panties off my body.

“Hey, those were ex—” My words are cut off by his tongue making contact with my clit. He moans, and I feel the vibrations throughout my whole body. His hand snakes up to cup my breast, massaging it, pinching my nipple before switching sides, his tongue continuing to explore my pussy. He pushes two fingers inside me, curling them and hitting a spot that makes me lose all control. I begin thrashing on the bed, my back arches up, and I cry out, “I’m coming.” His assault doesn’t let up. He presses his tongue on my clit and gives it a gentle nibble. “Yes—oh my God—I’ve never—don’t stop.”

As I’m coming down from my high, I hear him opening the cherries.

“Hey, you promised I could have a turn, and I want to suck your glorious dick.”

“You will, in a moment.”

He offers me a bite of the chocolate oozy goodness, and I take a small nibble, the filling dripping down my chin. He wastes no time cleaning it up then places the box of candies next to us on the bed. “I’m going to eat all of these from your sinful body. Have I told you how much I love your breasts?” He takes two cherries, breaks them open, and spreads the contents over my chest, licking up the mess as he goes.

My fingers reach for him, but he grabs my wrists and places them in a vise grip with one hand while the other begins crushing more sticky candy across my belly. “It’s still my turn, Cherry. Your roaming hands need to stay put. If you touch me, I’ll blow my load before entering you.”

“You’re driving me insane, Ace.”

I feel more oozy sweetness dripping over my body, his mouth working magic wherever it lands. “Ooh no, Cherry, we’re on the last one,” he says while breaking it in between my breasts.

He sucks up the cherry, licking up the filling, slithering his way up to my mouth. Before kissing me, he reaches a finger down and gathers up some of my wetness. Sticking the finger in my mouth, he orders me to suck, and I do, tasting my own essence on his skin. Pulling his finger out, he crashes his mouth to mine, pushing the last cherry into my mouth with his tongue.

“I wanted you to taste my favorite flavor in the world: you and chocolate-covered cherries.” He gathers more sticky goodness off my body with the same finger I just sucked and places it back inside my mouth. “Do you taste the heaven I do?” he begs.

Instead of answering him, I suck his finger harder into my mouth, moaning my reply. His finger pops from my mouth and his lips descend on mine once again. His breathing is labored. His hands cradle my chin, and with one swift thrust, he’s home.

There’s nothing slow about our lovemaking—it’s not like I expected there to be anyway. He’s pushing in and out of me at a steady pace, and before I know it, I’m on the verge of another orgasm.

“Ace, I’m there again,” I warn, but I needn’t worry, because he’s exactly where I need him: on the edge with me.

With another pump of his hips, we both jump over.

It’s perfect, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Not even the cherries.