HAPPY FOREVER AFTER

She touched her damp forehead to his and deepened the kiss. He wanted to hold her like this forever. When he finally ended the kiss, he rolled her on top of him and she laughed.

“I don’t want this to end” Monica said, as if she had read his mind.

“I don’t want this to end either” Tom replied, as he tucked the hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear.

Monica smiled. “So I was thinking, let’s do something….. something that says we are moving forward… Like a big commitment to each other”

He didn’t say anything. Just stared at her. Monica’s face went hot. It hadn’t come out quite as nonchalant as she had planned. God, what an idiot she was. She wanted to pick up her clothes and leave.

True. She had meant what she said. She wanted something solid with him… Wanted to take a big step. It wasn’t like she was asking him for marriage… If that was what he was scared of.

So what if she wanted marriage. She thought. What was it with guys and their fear of commitment. He probably didn’t see a big future for them.

She shook her head and forced her mouth into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s the sex” she said. “It had addled my brain”

“Probably” Tom said, unsmiling.

Embarrassed, angry with herself, she climbed off him and went to look for her clothes, which they had left on the kitchen floor the previous night in their hurry to get each other out of their clothes. Right now he was probably wondering how the hell he was going to get off the hook.

In the kitchen, she picked up her panties and bra.

Well, he didn’t have to worry about it. She was a strong, independent woman. She had her own business, she had her own place, and if he didn’t want her she would leave him the hell alone. She stepped into her panties, glanced out of the window. The morning looked so heartbreakingly beautiful and she felt her eyes fill with tears.

Cut it out. She told herself.

She moved away from the window. Bra dangling from one hand, she gathered up her jeans and sweater and then she heard Tom behind her.

Flustered, she hugged herself. He stood in the doorway, naked still, one hand on the door jamb.

“HI” she said, nodding at her clothes. “I was just getting dressed”

“So I see,” He replied. He came over to her, put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “All right, what is it?” he asked.

The fact that he had to ask made her want to scream and throw something, preferably at his head. “What is what?” Monica asked, willing herself not to cry.

“You know what I mean,” he said. “Why did you suddenly bolt?”

“I didn’t. It’s morning. I need to go so I can get to work” she replied.

“Monica”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“Really, I’ve got a bunch of things to do.” His gaze on hers was unblinking.

“Okay” she added. “I just thought maybe you thought I was serious”

“About us doing something big?”

“Yeah. I don’t want you to think that I was going to descend on you, or something” she said.

“God forbid,” Tom said.

“I just didn’t want you to think that I’m trying to force you into… You know what I mean”

“So you weren’t serious when you said you wanted us to take a big step?” he asked.

“I did… I mean… I just”

Tom grinned. “Monica?”

“What?” she snapped.

“Shut up and take off your knickers,” he said.

Before she could say anything else, he drew her close and kissed her. She breathed in the scent of him, felt the graze of his beard on her neck, her face, her breasts. His tongue circled her nipples, her hands moved down her back, over her buttocks and thighs. Senses aflame, she didn’t even try to fight him. What was the point? Even after they had made love half the night, she felt weak with desire for him…. Just like always.

With his body, he guided her down onto the floor, then stripped off her panties. She opened her mouth to his tongue, opened her legs wide as his fingers plunged inside her. Head flung back, her back arched, she writhed and moaned as his fingers kept stroking and caressing her until, in a wave of white hot sensation, she called his name aloud.

A moment later, he slipped inside her. His mouth on her skin, his breath in her ear, she rocked with his body. Faster and faster, higher and higher. The floor creaking under them. Her hips moving under him, arms flung above her head now, her movements matching his in growing frenzy until she felt him come with a shudder that ran down the length of his body.

Minutes later, still holding her close, he whispered in her ear. “I wanna make a big step too. I love you, Monica” he said.

Monica stared at him, barely able to hide her happiness. “Really?” she asked.

He nodded. “How do you feel about moving in here with me? I want to do this with you. One step at a time”

Monica smiled. “One step at a time” she repeated. “I would love to move in with you, Tom. I love you too”

He smiled, and kissed her once again.

———————–

The front door of her mother’s home was as wide open as the arms that wrapped around her, strong and familiar. This was the succor she had yearned for. Emma thought. She had missed this so damn much. She hugged her mom tightly, like she could take in all the love and care she had been yearning for all at once.

“Wow.” Amy said smiling when Emma finally released her. “You must have missed me so much”

“You have no idea just how much, mom,” Emma replied.

Within a few hours after her arrival, she had told her mother everything about Daniel Rohan except for the most intimate details of their history.

“You love him?” her mother asked, brows pulled into a slant of empathy.

Emma knew there was no need to hide or deny it anymore. Keeping things in was one of the things that contributed to the shit she was in right now.