I know the answer to his question.
I arch my back up so he can slide them past my hips and down to my thighs. Now I can sense his fear. He doesn’t want to hurt me. I offer him the only encouragement I can. “Go slow. The only way you’ll hurt me is if you stop.”
Eli takes the material down a fraction at a time, taking careful movements until he reaches my toes. The cool rush of air in the room sends a chill over my whole body. This time, it doesn’t stop, even with his skin warming mine. He can see I’m determined. I’ve now gotten him to a point where I know he won’t stop either.
“I know you like to give as much as you receive, Viper, however let me give this time. Lie as still as you can.”
I reach my hands back to grip the headboard and settle my body deep into the mattress. “I’m all yours, Goose. Take the lead.”
With as much care as he took with my sweatpants, he takes just as much with the lace they were hiding. His road map over my skin now has new places to explore. He takes the corner of his thumbnail and drags it up the arch of my foot. My breathing and body shutter in unison. He’s asked me to be as still as possible. I’m finding it extremely hard to keep that promise.
Eli makes sure my left knee is as stable as it’s going to be before tugging his NYU sweatshirt over his head. His body is always a feast to behold. His jeans sit low on his hips. The sloping V they hide is just visible above the waistband. His skin is still kissed from the heat of summer these many months later. Every muscle is a definite outline.
The midday sun casts a halo around his body as he slides from his shoes. I can hear each one hit the ground with a soft thud. Eli opens the button on his jeans, letting the top of the denim hang slightly open. The shapes of his biceps fill my dirty mind as he leans in and begins a line of kisses on my right leg from the top of my foot to the inside of my knee.
He walks the long side of the bed to kneel at my side. His hand slides behind my knee to give him a little room for the next act. A lingering kiss at my apex is enough to bring the heat and more back to my body. I can not only feel but hear my nails drag over the fabric of our headboard. Elijah ghosts his lips over my hairline before sliding his tongue through my divide.
The one long lap ignites a lingering groan from him and a gentle hiss from me. He swirls his tongue in short bursts over what I didn’t know was a tightly bound bundle of nerves just below the surface. He massages it effortlessly while his hand kneads my skin.
I can feel the greed between us. He wants to make me come. He wants to hear me like he’s never heard me before. I want to come so badly I can taste it like the faintest amount of blood on my tongue from chewing on my lip. He asked me to stay still. I can’t.
I reach forward with my right hand, dragging my hand across his shoulder blades, ending on the nape of his neck. Winding my fingertips in his hair, I tug not so gently. I can feel my leg begin to shake in his hand. His noises and mine blend together like a call and response. After a few seconds, I can’t tell which is which.
With one final flick, my shoulders arch as my left hand slaps flat against the buttoned tufts of our headboard, as my voice is the only one echoing from one wall to the next. I can feel my husband smile against my skin. He’s so happy with himself. I am too. There is only one thing left that I lack.
“Eli,” I pant. “I need you inside of me.”
My fingers go limp as he rises from the floor and my hand falls back to the bed. He quickly frees himself from his jeans and boxer briefs. I hear them hit the floor nearly simultaneously before he slides from my feet to meet me at my torso. He hovers just above my body, resting on his hands.
“Good. Because I need to be inside you.”
Eli aligns our bodies perfectly to become one. He settles in that connection for a moment or two. His forehead drops to my chest, just between my breasts. I cocoon him with my hands, pressing my lips to the top of his head. The fullness I feel has eliminated all the ice I’ve been encased in since my injury. He’s given me such love. I didn’t think I could love him more than I already did.
I do.
He moves his hips with such skill and ease. I feel the beat of a rhumba between us. He slides sexily along the entirety of my limbs. He pays attention to every inch. Eli rolls his hips and I move mine. He tries to scold me, but I move in the one way he can’t resist, and his protests stop.
In the moment I’m not hurt. He doesn’t need to be careful. We are just us.
I can feel his release building. He moves faster in his restraint. I want him to be free… as free as I feel right now.
“Now. Eli. Please.”
I give him what we need. The open road. Talk to me, Goose.
He thrusts forward pressing all his angst, love, and doubt inside me. We come together in a way that only the other can hear. His arms finally shake as he lowers to his elbows.
“Lie on me. Please?”
“I don’t want to take the risk.”
“Trust me, Eli. You can’t hurt me. You’ve healed me.”
Elijah
Did I imagine what happened here tonight? Could it possibly have been a dream?
My cheek feels warm against my resting place. I can feel a gentle motion repeating through my hair and over my skin. Any tension I had in my body is gone. My hands come together to wrap around my pillow, when I come to the full realization that my pillow isn’t one of feathers or cotton. It’s one of flesh, bone, muscle, and the sweetest scent I’ve ever known.
My wife.
I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep. There are still hints of daylight sliding through the curtains covering our floor-to-ceiling windows. I feel the delicate yet powerful press of her lips against the top of my head. In my decadent haze, I mumble against her skin.
“What time is it?”
“Just past dinnertime.”
“Shit. I lost four hours.”
“Are you really that upset about it?”
“No. Not at all.” I chuckle. “How do you feel?”
“Settled. I’m still sad inside, but I know everything will be okay. You were so exhausted, Eli.”
“Yeah, I think I have a few gray hairs coming in.”
“Mmmm… that’s hot.”
“Good to know. I’ll let it go if it ever gets that far.”
“I’ll just start calling you the silver fox. You might just have to change your call sign. Silver Goose just doesn’t have a ring to it.” My wife’s laughter can cure anything it wants. “I was texting with Hayley while you slept. She was asking if she could come over. She… I don’t know.”
“What?”
“It’s nothing. Probably work gossip. I shouldn’t say anything.”
“Okay, now you have to say something.”
“Last week I was in the breakroom getting an extra coffee and some of the girls were eating lunch together from Hayley’s department. I popped over to say hello and we talked for a bit. They asked me about her. She’s been spending most of her lunch hours alone, even when they ask her to come with. That doesn’t sound like her.”