Together Again: A Second Chance Romance

by Aria Ford

  “So?” he asked. His mouth was dry and the word came out choked.

  I nodded. “Amazing.”

  “Mm,” he nodded. “It is.”

  I had a suspicion he wasn’t merely talking about the fish. I felt the words wash through my body and I grinned at him flirtatiously.

  Under the table, his foot moved: almost at the same time mine did. I felt his ankle slide between mine. I let out a long sigh as my body tingled excitedly. It felt familiar, too, though. It felt right.

  “So?” I asked. My voice was strangled too, and I reached for my water, letting it soothe my tight throat.

  “So?” he asked. His foot moved and I winced as he traced his leg up my calf, sending hot fire blazing to my womb. I shivered. He carried on. Stroking and soothing.

  “So? How about some?” I asked, indicating the plate. “There’s three things to try.”

  “Mm,” he nodded. I blushed.

  He took a tiny morsel of the plate with his fork and popped it into his mouth. Chewed slowly, carefully. I watched the tines of the fork glide between those firm, fine-shaped lips, and I shivered, wishing that they were touching mine. I closed my eyes, imagining what it would feel like if they were.

  “So?” I asked again.

  “It’s amazing,” he nodded. “I’m glad you also wanted to order that.”

  I chuckled. “You should have too!” I said.

  He just smiled. “This is fun,” he said.

  “It is,” I agreed. His foot had stopped exploring my leg, under the table, and now just settled between mine, a comfortable arrangement. I could still feel my entire body throbbing with excitement at his closeness.

  “Well,” he said, reaching for his knife to resume the meal. “It’s a good place, this.”

  “It is,” I agreed mildly. With his foot between mine, his handsome self opposite of me, I had to admit it was a very good place indeed.

  “And a nice location,” he added, inclining his head toward the restaurant interior.

  “Mm,” I nodded. “It has a good atmosphere. It seems kind of popular too,” I added as the tables were starting to fill up around us.

  “It does,” he agreed. His foot stroked up my leg again and I shivered.

  “You been here before?” I asked, reaching for my water again.

  “No,” he said briefly. “But I had heard it was good.”

  “So you brought me?” I smiled. I was really touched. I felt a soft light of happiness glow right inside me.

  “Well, yes. You really deserve the best.”

  We both laughed. My heart had melted. I was peripherally aware of the diners at the other tables, but at this moment it felt like it was just us, like we were the only two people in the whole world. My awareness had shrunk down to the green warmth of his eyes, the warm comfort of his foot beside mine.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “For what?” he asked.

  I smiled. “For bringing me here?”

  “Oh.” He laughed. “Well, thank you for coming.”

  We finished our meal in silence. When it was done, and the waiter came to take our plates away, we looked at each other. We didn’t say anything, but it felt as if a question was asked, and then answered. I reached across to take his hand.

  He took mine, and I felt his grip tighten on my fingers, holding them gently and firmly in his blood-warm, strong ones. He smiled at me.

  We stood and slowly made our way to the desk. He settled the bill. Then, as if we were one body, we walked out into the car park.

  We kissed.

  I closed my eyes as Brett’s lips gently slid across mine. He took his time, nibbling my lower lip, running his tongue gently across the line between my own. When the kiss became more intense, I wrapped my arms around him as his tongue pushed into my mouth. It felt so intimate and so good. When he kissed me, it felt like my body opened to his and the barriers between us melted. I had never experienced that with anyone besides him.

  When he leaned back, his eyes closed, his breathing as disrupted as mine, he sighed.

  “Whew.”

  I smiled. My whole body was on fire. I couldn’t walk away now. I wanted him so much.

  “Well?”

  My heart lit as his brow lifted inquiringly. “Well?”

  “Brett,” I said with some impatience. “You know.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, I do. But I was too shy to ask.”

  We walked together back to his car and got in. We sped off together into the late afternoon. The sun was just starting to touch the treetops and I looked at my watch, noticing absently that it was almost five P.M. The day had gone so fast!

  “Brett,” I whispered. I reached for his arm. He chuckled.

  “I can’t believe it,” he said.

  “Nor can I,” I said. It seemed almost impossible that after so long we were here together. But as his hand reached across and slid sexily on my bare skin, disappearing under my skirt, I stopped thinking about anything but the tingle deep in my stomach and traveling further down and the blood rush in my head and the warmth in my cheeks as I flushed and leaned across to rest my head tenderly on his shoulder.

  CHAPTER 4: KERRY

  As we stopped outside Brett’s block of apartments I opened my eyes. I had been leaned sideways, his hand on my thigh, mine on his chest, trying not to distract him much from driving.

  “This it?” I asked, sitting up. I looked out of the window. It was shabbier than I might have expected, and the setting sunshine struck the windows, making them pools of orange against the cracked gray-blue plaster of the structure.

  “Mm,” he nodded. “Home.”

  His hand slid up under my skirt and I shivered as it stroked past my panties. My breath was coming in gasps now, and I was shivering hard.

  “Should we go?”

  I nodded. “Yes. Please. Let’s.”

  He laughed. He got out and let me out and arm in arm we went in.

  The journey up was a blur. We went up in the lift but I couldn’t have said which floor we went to. I was focused on him and the warm body I held in my arms.

  We fell out of the elevator together and went to the door of his apartment. My blood was rushing in my ears, my body tensed with excitement. He struggled with the lock and then we fell inside together, breathless and laughing.

  He hung up his keys and took off his jacket. I waited in the door. Then he fell on me and we kissed again. His tongue plundered my mouth and my body started to tremble as he held me close, pushing me into his lean hardness.

  Then we were heading into the other room of the space—the bedroom.

  It was dark in there with the curtain closed before he switched on the light. His gestures were oddly gentle, almost as if he expected that, if he did anything too hard, the whole place would shatter and we’d both disappear. I sat down on the bed.

  He whispered my name.

  Standing before me, he put his hands on my shoulders and gently drew me in for a kiss. I opened my mouth eagerly and let his tongue probe the depths of my mouth. I wrapped my arms tight around him and held him close. I could feel proof of his arousal and I reveled in it.

  We fell back onto the bed together.

  I felt his hands run up over my body, reaching for the top of the dress. He was trying to deduce how it came off, I realized. I chuckled and adjusted my position so that his hand could slide behind my neck and draw the zipper down.

  Once he had that straightened out, he undressed me with a practiced, professional ease. He worked the dress down over my hips and it pooled on the floor. I was naked on my back before him.

  He stared at me. His eyes focused on my breasts, straining at the confines of my lace bra. I could feel his stare on me, more intimate, in some ways, than a kiss. I shivered. He carried on looking for a while, and the arousal on his face and of his body made me tremble.

  Reaching out, he very carefully stroked my breast. I gasped as the sensation flooded my body.

  I was shaking as his hands stroked
me and then slid round, gently searching for the fastening of my bra. When he had removed it, he stared at me.

  “Kerry,” he murmured. “You are so, so beautiful.”

  I blushed. I was sure the blush had traveled right down my skin from my neck to my toes—my skin is quite pale and flushes dramatically when necessary—and I saw him smile.

  “Oh, Brett.”

  He leaned in and very gently sucked a nipple into his mouth. I cried out as my nerves tingled and he gently worked it with his tongue, increasing the sensations of sweet flame that flowed through me and set me on fire.

  He played with my breasts and then moved lower, drawing my panties slowly down. I closed my eyes as his hand reached between my legs. His touch had always brought me to the very pitch of wonder and, I thought, amazed, now was no different.

  “Brett,” I whispered. I was shivering now, his fingers setting me aflame. I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel, couldn’t see. All I was aware of, my whole reality, had narrowed to my clit and the way he touched it.

  He didn’t move.

  “Brett?” I whispered. I could feel myself about to come, shivering and shaking and heating. I needed him.

  He turned. He smiled. “What?” he said.

  At some point he had taken off his shirt and I hadn’t noticed. He was bare-chested and sheening with sweat. I reached out a hand to him, feeling my body throb with new need.

  “I want you,” I whispered.

  That awakened him. Soon he was standing, unclasping his pants, drawing his undies down over his knees. His body was still amazing, if leaner and less full-muscled than it had been. I watched him and felt my need for him grow.

  “There,” he whispered.

  When he was naked, he knelt on the bed. He parted my thighs. I opened my legs and he knelt between them and, very gently, very firmly, went into me.

  I gasped.

  It felt good, and right: incredible, as I remembered and more amazing than I could ever know.

  ***

  I could barely believe my luck as I looked down at Kerry. Her beauty had always seemed too good to be true, her playful, funny nature too. And now here she was, beneath me. I was in great disbelief.

  How could I be so fortunate?

  I knelt between her thighs, and she parted them so sweetly that the blood rushed to my loins. I positioned myself and slipped into her.

  I cried out in amazement, unable to contain myself as I entered her. I loved the way she felt on me—warm and all-surrounding and wonderful.

  I drew back and pushed into her again and she cried out and her cries were wonderful too, each one of them racing through me and making me feel good. I pushed in and pulled out again, pushed in and pulled out.

  She was sobbing now, the sounds I remembered her making, the ones that made me feel so good, so right. I was moving without thought, without sense.

  Blindingly, suddenly, my body was shaking and I was gritting my teeth, fighting to hold it back, not let it go just yet…

  I came.

  I yelled in elation and wonder as the feeling crashed through me. More amazing than a high when you run a race, more fulfilling and satisfying than any race finish could be. I felt my nerves tingle and my brain gave up on trying to record it all, leaving my mind blank.

  I lay in her arms.

  I came to my senses a minute later. I rolled off Kerry drowsily and lay beside her. She had her eyes closed and she looked as if she cried. I nuzzled over and put my head on her shoulder. She gasped and held me close.

  We lay like that, her in my arms, her head bowed over mine, her hand on my arm, and I thought my heart would break. Every part of me felt wonderful. I wanted to stay here forever.

  I sat up, grunting as my back hurt a little—the exertion.

  “I should clean up,” I murmured.

  She stretched and smiled. Her face glowed. It was dark in the room, the light coming from the hesitant gold glow of my lamp, which wasn’t endowed with a great bulb. Her smile lit the dark, cozy space.

  “Okay.”

  I went lightly through to the bathroom and got some towels and headed back to the bed. She let me clean up and then rolled over, smiling up at me.

  She murmured something and I smiled at her.

  “What?”

  “Brett,” she said. She reached out and rested her hand on my arm. I thought my heart would break. I lifted it and, very gently, kissed her hand. She closed her eyes.

  “Kerry,” I said.

  She smiled and stretched. Her body was so beautiful, its white skin lit with the lamplight, a perfect contrast to the dark blue bedcover she lay on. I stared at her, drinking in her curves, her pale skin, her power to arouse me as no other could.

  She saw me looking and her face lit up. She never minded me staring at her like that—in fact, the way she lay there, I had the sense she liked it. I grinned at her and she smiled broadly back at me, her hair all tangled round her.

  I chuckled and lay down beside her.

  I reached out and stroked a hand down her smooth side skin. She rolled closer and pressed her body against me. I was amazed, but I felt a hardening in my member again. I wanted her again, even though we had only just made love.

  She rolled closer and I lay on my side, the fullness of my body pressing against her. She held me close and I leaned in and parted her lips with my tongue, slowly.

  She gasped and wrapped her arms around me and then I could hold it back no longer.

  I knelt between her thighs and slid into her again, my body moving in a slow, ceaseless rhythm that made her shiver and cry out as she came.

  I came too, again, and collapsed, gasping and worn-out, onto her.

  We lay like that for some time, letting the slow haze of amazement lift from us and the gauzy daylight filtering in through the curtain bring us back to the present time.

  I moved closer, so that I could look into her face. With her resting on my arm, I knew that there was never anything more wonderful in all the world.

  We lay quietly. After a while, she reached out, touching my arm. She looked up at me.

  “Brett?”

  “Mm?” I said sleepily. I felt good. It felt as if all the tension had drained from me, leaving me warm, safe, and peaceful.

  “I feel so good,” she murmured sleepily. “I missed you.”

  I bit my lip. Her words stabbed into me. I looked at her and knew myself for a fool.

  “I missed you too,” I whispered. “I was an idiot.”

  She laughed. “Oh, Brett,” she said. “It doesn’t matter, does it?” she added. “You’re here now.”

  I sniffed. “I don’t deserve that,” I said.

  She sat up. She looked at me and her brown eyes glowed in the wan light of the lamp. “No,” she said. “You don’t. But I’ll say it anyway. You’re here and I missed you but now I don’t anymore.”

  I laughed. “Thank you.” I meant it.

  She laughed too and snuggled closer. Her head was beside mine on the pillow, her body warm and cooling off as the evening stretched closer to night.

  I watched her settling down in my arms and I wished with all my heart that it was true, what she had said. That it was in the past and it didn’t matter anymore. But I knew differently. I knew that, even if all was well between us, I couldn’t afford to forget about the past. For the simple fact that it was not going to forget about me.

  I had to remember. And, that being the case, how could I let her into my life?

  It was too dangerous for her.

  CHAPTER 5: BRETT

  I drove Kerry back home round seven P.M. I couldn’t stop staring at her. She would have stayed longer except that she decided she needed to be back home to get up for work early the next day. I agreed.

  “I’ll miss you,” I said as I left her at her apartment building. She smiled up at me.

  “You are such a sweetheart,” she whispered. “I will too.” She always used to call me that. I used to call her honey.

  I smiled.
“You too, honey.”

  She was glowing when she turned away and opened the door. She waved from the hallway and I waved back and drove off. As I turned off back toward my apartment block, the car lights sending pale light up the darkened alley before me, I felt my heart ache.

  I will never see her again.

  It was the most terrible thing I could do to myself. But it was also necessary.

  If I didn’t put an end to this now, they would. And the end they would put to it was likely to be so much worse than whatever end I made.

  When I got back to my own apartment, I put on the light and looked round. My heart ached. My mind was filled with memories of her. The way she had lain on the bed, looking at me. The way she let me undress her, with that teasing smile on her face that said she liked the way I looked at her. The way she smiled at me as I leaned over her, my body about to enter hers.

  I opened the curtains, tidied the bedside table and pulled up the cover to straighten out the place where she’d lain.

  I sat down on the bed and closed my eyes.

  It was ridiculous. But, then, most of the things I did were. I always made my life hard, so it was no real surprise to me to discover that I had waited until this moment to say goodbye to her. Until I had reminded myself, absolutely and without argument, how much she meant to me and how much I ached for her. Until I recalled how wonderful she made me feel. Until I knew I loved her.