There she was standing in the doorway, her long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a dark blue apron covered in dry paint protecting her clothes. Exactly how I remembered her.
My Lilly.
We stared at each other for an eternity. I wanted to take her in my arms, force my lips against hers. But that wouldn't be appropriate. So much time had passed. How could I ever explain to her how much I missed her?
“Kellan?” Lilly choked out. “What are you doing here?” She shook her head. “I mean how did you get out?”
“Can you invite me in and we can talk?”
Lilly nodded and bent down to pick up the fallen phone. I followed her inside and was amazed at how nice her place looked. Dark hardwood floors, long white drapes covered the windows, and an amazing view of the town from the twelfth floor. Her father had treated her very well since I'd been gone.
Lilly led me to the kitchen that looked straight out of a home magazine. I felt so out of place. My jail cell was literal Hell compared to this.
“When did you get out?” she asked, setting her palms down on the white quartz island.
Lilly was nervous. But why? I expected her to jump into my arms with tears in her eyes when she opened that door. What happened since I was gone?
“Just yesterday. Nobody was there to pick me up so I had to bum a ride to town.”
“...It's been a long time, Kellan.”
I walked around the kitchen island until I was only inches away from Lilly. All those ancient feelings came back. They were always there. But they were dormant. “Four years. Four long years.”
Lilly put her hand on my chest to stop my advances. It'd been so long since I held a woman. I dreamed of doing it every day in that prison. My heart pounded against her hand. Something harder pounded in my pants.
“How did you get out? You were sentenced to thirty years.”
Why did she have to ask so many questions? One kiss from me and she'd forget about everything. I jerked off every day in prison to the image of Lilly. Now it was time to make that fantasy come true.
I backed away to give her space. Lilly was obviously shocked at my return. Not exactly the warm reception I was expecting.
“They let me out because of overcrowding.” The reason sounded idiotic in my head but that's what they told me.
“Wait a second.” Lilly sat down at the bar stool next to the island and I joined her on the opposite side. There was an canyon of white quartz between us. “You were put in prison for attempted murder. They couldn't let you out because of overcrowding.”
Why was she making this so hard? I was back. That's all that should matter. “I was put in prison for a crime I didn't commit. The county knew they fucked up and instead of publicly acknowledging it, they gave a bullshit reason.”
Lilly put her head in her hands. “Sorry this is all so much to take in. I didn't think I'd ever see you again.”
“Why didn't you visit me?” The question slipped out of my mouth. I wrote to her almost everyday in jail but never got a response.
Lilly looked away. “I couldn't, Kellan. It would've been too hard.”
“Then why didn't you at least respond to my letters?”
“Letters?” Lilly raised her head with wide eyes. “What letters? I didn't receive anything.” She looked around the kitchen like the letters would just be sitting around.
“I didn't know you moved into this expensive apartment. I sent the letters to your father's house.”
“I never knew...”
“It was your damn father,” I said so loud that the windows could have shattered.
Lilly put her hands up in defense. “Please, don't bring him into this. Whatever he did, he was thinking of the best for me.”
“And that brings us back to that classic argument we could never get over when we were together. Can't you see your father for who he really is?”
Lilly stood up and walked to the window overlooking the town, Saint Marks. “I don't want to argue about him anymore.”
I came up behind her and slipped my arms around her waist. She felt so warm against me. Prison would have been so much easier if I could've seen her face just once. “I want things to go back to the way they were,” I whispered in her ear.
“I don't think they can,” she replied.
Her words were like a shiv in my back but they wouldn't stop me. Nothing would. The whiff of her perfume brought me back to old times. Sitting by the fire, naked, bodies slick with sweat from making love. Talking about the meaning of life until dawn. Those were the memories that stuck with me through all those dark days.
I turned Lilly toward me so she could see my eyes—see how much she affected me. “The only thing that got me through prison was you. I don't know how else to say it, Lilly. You're mine and you always will be.”
“Please Kellan. We can't do this.” Lilly tried to escape out of my arms but I wouldn't let her.
There was only one way to make her remember.
I forced my lips on hers. Adrenaline surged through my veins. My grip on Lilly tightened. The sweet taste of her lip gloss was something that I'd forgotten. It had been too long since I'd been with a woman. My cock throbbed in my pants. If I didn't take her right now, I'd explode. Lilly struggled for just a moment before surrendering in my arms.
She was mine again.