Chapter Twelve
Autumn
Lost time. Fuck, the lost time. So many years wasted, but right now... right now I had him. Each second stretched out into infinity as he kissed down, lower and lower. He seemed to want to cover every inch of my skin, claim it as his, even though it never wasn't. It had always been his, I had always been his, his, his....
When he drove into me, in one smooth, silky stroke, we both gasped. I saw his eyes — alive in the dark, dancing in the flame — open wide in wonder as he looked down to where we were joined. I raised my head and looked too, but I could only hold my head up for so long before the intense, overwhelming sensation sent me falling backward onto the blanket.
"Yes," he hissed. "That's it, you feel... You feel the same. Do you feel that? Do you feel the way we fit together, Autumn? Doesn't it feel the same to you?"
"It feels... Better... Oh!" I gasped.
He rumbled a deep laugh. "That's right, that's what this is, it's better. It's going to be so much better. We're where we should be right? Tell me this is right? Tell me this is something and not just a pity fuck. Tell me we can do this over again, that we can do this right. Because I, I promise, I swear to fucking Christ, I'm ready to start over again."
I closed my eyes as his words washed over me, an avalanche of emotion crashing through me and washing up against the overwhelming sensations that were flooding my veins. This was real, there was no way I was feeling so much and it wasn't real, but there was such a sense of fantasy too. All of my secret, unasked for hopes over the past eight years finally coming true? How? How could this be happening? And on Christmas Eve, too. This wasn't the movies. This was my real life, this was true, he was here, he was...
"Oh my God!” The orgasm took me by surprise, tearing through me like wildfire, burning through me until I was nothing but ash and flame, the whole blaze burning down around me as I cried out, vision blurring so that I could only see him, could only see Cole, and watch him watch me as we both fell apart together.
I pulled him to me, melting into the sweetness of his kiss. He pulled back and looked at me, searchingly. “Well?”
“Well?"
"I asked you a question."
I grinned and rubbed my hands over my face. "What was the question?"
He grinned, his white teeth gleaming in the firelight. "I'm sorry, I guess you were a little distracted?"
"A little."
He pulled away and rolled to the side, then reached over to brush his hand over my breasts. ”We’ve gotten a little better at that, Red."
"A little?"
"Well, I mean you must've had some practice."
"If we’re telling the truth, most of the practice was with my own fingers.”
He laughed, falling back onto his back. "Same,” he said, wiping tears of laughter form his eyes. “Thinking about you, though. I was at least pretending it was your hand."
"My hand?"
"We were in high school, Autumn."
I nodded, blushing with understanding...and memories. "You felt my hand more than anything else, really."
He sat back up again. "But I wanted more. I wanted everything you had to give me. Anything that you were ready to offer, I was ready to take. I was ready to give.” He cleared his throat and took my hand in his, entwining his fingers with mine. “I was ready to stay.”
I shook my head slightly. "I didn't want you to stay."
I saw his Adam's apple bob in the shadow as he swallowed and nodded. “I know you didn't. And I love you for that."
"You love me..." I repeated, making sure he was using the correct tense.
He nodded. "Always have."
“And... you’re here now."
"I'm here now."
”Why are you here?”
He shook his head. "Actually, I'm here on business."
I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want him to see how my hopes had just fallen. "Business?" I repeated
He nodded, but some of the gleeful joy had gone out of his eyes. "Your grandfather's land, actually."
I sat up. "You're the real estate developer guy?”
He sat up all the way and I couldn’t help but notice how he dropped my hand. “Is that a problem?”
My heart was racing fast enough to catch up with my confusion. ”No, I mean yes, I mean why didn't you tell me?"
"It didn't exactly seem relevant. What with all the...” he moved his hands between us, “reconnecting we were busy doing."
"Cole,” I said slowly. “You’re here to make an offer for my grandfather's land.” I felt like I had to speak slowly as if to a child.
"Yes, I believe I may have just mentioned that."
"You're not meeting with my grandfather, though.“
"No. Family representative, though. Is it your uncle?"
I felt like everything was crashing down over my head. "No, Cole,” I said, suddenly tired. "It's me.”