an option. Tonight I’d show him how much he meant, how much our family meant, and how hard I’d fight for us—as I should have two years ago. The past was gone, with no way to go back and right my wrongs. In the last few weeks I’d learned to accept my mistakes, admit my part in our separation, and focus my energies on the road ahead. With the future in mind, I’d plead with him the best way I knew how, by opening up my heart and holding nothing back.
The bitterly sweet moment brought tears to my eyes, and when next my mouth tasted his flesh, a tang of salt hit my tongue. My tears, on his skin. I licked them away.
“Are you crying?” Travis’s passion turned to alarm.
In all our years together, I’m not sure if he’d ever seen me cry. I’d either held my pain inside or crept off to weep alone, another way I’d deprived him of me. “I believe I am. But they’re good tears.” He didn’t appear convinced. I kissed his nose. “Trust me.”
Down his chest I worked, traveling familiar territory with new eyes, the salt of his skin and my tears mingling on my tongue. The mole on his hip became beautiful to me, a landmark. “I’ve always loved this mole. Did I ever tell you that?”
He snorted. “You love my mole?”
“I love every inch of you.” Oops. Had I said that aloud? Would he see my slip as an ultimatum, or pretty words meant to sway him?
He answered with fingers twined in my hair. “Love was never the problem. I couldn’t stop loving you if I tried. And believe me, I tried.”
He loved me. He loved me! I grinned through my tears. My Travis, my beautiful Travis, whom I’d let down simply because I’d been too self-absorbed to pay attention. I’d never make that mistake again.
His erection rose from a nest of dark curls, fluid clinging to the end. With a flick of my tongue, I licked the droplet away. Ah, the taste of him brought back so many memories, as did his murmured encouragements. Where before I’d have had sex with him or would have made love, now I worshipped. He tasted clean on my tongue, though the faint scent of pool chemicals filled my nostrils. No matter. Nothing mattered but Travis.
All the accusations I’d directed towards him were now reflected back at me. How wrong I’d been about him. My hands on his thighs and my mouth on his flesh begged forgiveness. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, again and again. I could apologize steadily for a thousand years and never be worthy of this man.
Tonight I’d show him his true beauty, teach him his worth, and if he then chose to return to my life, it wouldn’t be as “mine”, never a possession. I’d treat each moment he spent with me as the richest gift, for however long he’d allow. Forever, I hoped.
His skin warmed mine, and I brought our joined hands to my mouth to take his fingertips to my lips, kissing each in turn. Fighting a smile, I swiped my tongue across his palm, eliciting a gasp. Ah, yes. Somebody liked that.
Each nook and cranny, once well-known territory, now became an undiscovered country to be explored anew. I mapped trails across his skin with my tongue, closing my eyes, the better to capture his scent, his taste.
A gentle stroke of my fingers against his bare skin raised goose bumps, and I retraced once-familiar pathways: the spot just above his navel still caused him to flinch and gasp, and my tongue on his inner thigh teased out a moan. He’d once said he’d do anything I asked if I’d just lick… Oh yes, there it was, the weight shift to allow me to lavish attention on the area behind his balls. Regardless of time and tide, some things remained the same. Tonight, though, I wouldn’t let routine lull me in—I’d take nothing of my lover for granted. No, each gasp and sharp inhale warmed my soul, that after all this time, I could still play his body so well, give him so much pleasure.
The twin swells of his ass fit perfectly in my hands when I used them to guide his length into my mouth. With each plunge I marveled at the working of his muscles, until primal instinct took over.
To a chorus of sweet whimpers I argued my case. We’re good together. No one knows you like I do.