through the deluge of guilt and sorrow.
“I do not blame you for any of what you did while you were suffering and didn’t know why, and you cannot blame yourself. I forgive you for all of it, and I need you to forgive yourself too. I love you, Brandt. And even when you couldn’t remember who you were, you still loved me too. That in itself is the greatest testament of love that there will ever be. And now, we are here, together, and all has been restored. We should not think about any of the last hundred years again.”
“The only thing that I want to think about is you.” Brandt lunged forward and kissed her, and it felt as if their kiss would last an eternity. Neither of them had ever wanted anything more desperately than the want they had for each other now.
They stood with their bodies pressed so tightly together that they felt as if they were breathing as one. Their tongues circled each other furiously as if trying to pull themselves deeper into each other than was physically possible. Breathing became a secondary concern, as they gave in to the need that had been haunting them relentlessly for a century.
Brenna pushed her pelvis against him as she felt Brandt’s yearning swell and throb between his legs and felt his body shudder against her. He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her toward his bedroom, their tongues never parting even as they moved along the hallway. He kicked open his door and didn’t bother to close it behind them.
The other three men were in the apartment as well but stayed in their rooms to give Brandt and Brenna the entire run of the apartment for as long as they both needed. Each of them knew the suffering the two had been through, and each of them could feel the palpable energy of longing in the air. Colby smiled from inside his bedroom as he heard Brandt’s bedroom door next to him swing open and hit the wall. In the minds of the rest of them, Brandt and Brenna had earned as much time in peace together as they both desired.
Brenna pulled the shirt over his head before Brandt even laid her down onto his bed. Their mouths parted for only the split moment that it took to remove both of the shirts between them. He adeptly pulled her jeans from her body, and then his own, before crawling over her. As overwhelming as their need for each other was, there was no rush to intercourse. There was the slow adoration as their hands explored each other’s bodies as if it were at once new territory again. Fingers traced over each muscle and curve, and lips caressed each expanse of soft skin. They whispered to each other between breaths, professing undying love and devotion, and using every word that would come to them to express how much they had missed each other and yearned to rekindle the pieces within each other that had suffered.
Finally, when they could stand it no longer, Brandt pushed himself between her spread thighs, and their bodies trembled against each other as they felt the satiation of need that they had longed for far too long. As he moved inside of her, Brenna felt every single day of the last hundred years melt away from her memory as if it were a gift.
“Are you doing that?” she panted in pleasure.
“Yes. Can I? I want to erase all of the last hundred years, at least all of the parts about our separation. I want to make it feel as though it were not so long and torturous. I want to free it from being a burden any longer.” He looked at her and awaited her permission, as he continued to push and pull within her body in an escalating sensation of ecstasy.
“Do it,” she said. “I don’t want to remember any of that pain.”
Brandt smiled, and with every movement against each other, he gently stripped away all of the painful memories they had endured without each other, making sure to keep intact everything that was of importance. By the time he exploded within her, all of the pain and remorse had been wiped clean. They were left with only a mild, aching memory of a short time apart, but none of the unbearable nature of it. He kissed her softly, and she smiled. Then she looked at