with the staccato creak of his bed frame. A symphony of fucking, each note driving them toward the crescendo. He reached forward, using his fingers to stimulate her from the front, slowing down so he could hold his orgasm at bay, stroking her to the beat of his thrusts, his finger slick with her juices.
He didn’t want this to end. It was heaven. Pure, euphoric heaven.
“Oh God,” she gasped, and he saw her knuckles turn white where they squeezed the headboard. “I’m going to come. I’m going to come,” she chanted. There was something in her voice he couldn’t identify with her faced away and his own pleasure rising and spiraling, peaking. Surprise? Wonder?
She came with a guttural cry, letting go of the headboard and dropping to her elbows as she pressed her face into his pillow. And then he was coming with her, his whole body tensing as he pulled back and gripped her hips, his fingers digging into her soft flesh as he came with a booming intensity that crashed over him, through him, like a tidal wave of bliss.
They collapsed, Reed half on top of her, both panting harshly with the exertion. He slipped out of her and lifted himself up, nudged her over so they were facing each other. Their eyes met, and he got that sense of vulnerability again, though her eyes were sleepy with satisfaction, her lips tipped in a sweet smile. He pulled her into his chest and she tensed. For a second, her muscles seemed primed to flee, but he pulled her forward gently. “Shh,” he said. “Just for a minute. Let me just hold you for a minute.”
Later, Reed woke, and she was still curled in his arms, warm and soft. He blinked at the clock and saw that it was after four. He tilted his head toward her, drawing in the scent of her hair. Lemons and fresh grass, with the underlying muskiness of their sex. Them. God, he liked it. It caused a pulse of desire to beat through him. She mewled softly in her sleep, pressing closer. His blood hummed lazily, and she made a sound in the back of her throat again, only this time it was deeper, richer, as though even in sleep, her body responded to the change in his. He rolled away, reaching for her purse on the floor and finding a condom just inside. He ripped it open, rolled back toward her, and she opened to him, her hand cupping the globe of his ass and pulling him in. They made love slowly this time, half-asleep, their eyes meeting in the dim glow of the muted lamplight. Their gazes held as their bodies rocked together gently, pleasure cresting, and it wasn’t only her body that was softer, but it was her eyes as well, something that hadn’t been there before, or perhaps something she hadn’t allowed him to see until just that moment.
“Tell me your name,” he whispered against her throat.
And though she paused, she finally whispered back, “Liza.”
“Liza,” he repeated, lifting his head and meeting her eyes. “Hi, Liza.”
She blinked up at him, so beautiful his heart gave a small leap. “Hi, Reed,” she said softly, her legs coming around his hips, and though they’d spent most of the night together, though he’d been inside her, though he was inside her now, he felt like they might just be meeting for the very first time. He had the strange urge to reassure her, to tell her it would be okay. But why? He didn’t know.
He reached down and grasped the underside of her thigh, pulling her leg higher so he could go deeper. She let out a raw sound of pleasure that sent a flash of arousal zigzagging through him, urging his thrusts faster, harder.
He watched her as she shattered beneath him and then followed her over the edge, their cries merging and fading away, melting into the approaching dawn. After quickly cleaning up, they burrowed together again, and minutes later, Reed fell back into a dreamless sleep.
When he woke, he was alone. He sat up, disoriented, scrubbing a hand down his face and glancing at the bedside clock. 7:23 a.m. Shit, he needed to get ready for work. He ran his fingers through his disheveled hair and looked around the room. The lamp was still on, shade tilted toward the wall. Liza’s purse was no longer on his floor, though a couple of random condoms that must have fallen from it