I lie against him, pressing my naked body into his, and look at him. "Why'd you stop me?"
He lets out a sigh and groans, "I want to be inside you when I come."
I move my mouth to his ear so I can whisper, "You can be."
"No Dahlia, I won't be if you do that."
He molds my breasts with his palms and whispers things in my ear in that hot, raspy tone that makes me ache for him. Moving my hips he pulls me on top of him and he's right where I need him to be. Elation sweeps through me as he easily slips in. His hands move to my backside, pressing me into him. When I fold my knees beneath myself and sit up, he lets out a long groan. But when I try to control the pace by interlocking my fingers with his on either side of his head, he grins and shakes his head.
He leaves our hands there for a few moments and I rock into him over and over, rolling my hips. Before long, his hands are on my hips. But I got this. Leaning back, I rest my palms on his knees and move slowly, rising up just far enough so we both feel the thrill of him sliding back inside. With every passing moment, I sink faster and deeper but stay closer. My pulse pounds with excitement. Before I know it, he's clutching my legs, focusing on my every move. Our eyes meet and we are hypnotized by each other's expressions of pure pleasure. When I reach down between us and alternate stroking and squeezing whatever flesh I can get my hands on, he groans and curses so loud I lose myself.
Continuing with this rapid pace, I feel nothing but complete bliss. The pressure builds swiftly and I am quickly on the brink of climaxing again. It's heavenly. He pulls me to him and seals his lips to mine, thrusting his hips up. Breathing heavily, I know he's close. He rolls us over, never breaking our connection. Pulling my hands over my head, he takes control and it's perfect.
I watch as his body flexes rhythmically with mine. He moves faster, kissing me furiously. I'm pushed over the edge the second his tongue hits the roof of my mouth. "Oh God yes, River yes," I scream once again and he stills, shouting my name as my waves of ecstasy bring on his own climax.
When we are both spent, we fall into each other's arms and cuddle close together. "I love you, River," I say and I'm going to tell him this over and over again.
"I love you, Dahlia, I love every single thing about you. You're perfect, really." I can't contain my smile. I haven't heard him say that in so long and hearing the familiar words sends shivers up my spine.
"I missed you," I whisper.
He smiles at me. "Tu m'as manqué."
I look at him questioningly. I know he's speaking French, but have no idea what he just said.
Tracing his finger around my lips he says, "Brigitte told me once that in France they don't say I missed you, they say you were missing from me, and you were."
I have to compose myself before placing a soft kiss on his lips and nuzzling his nose. That is the perfect way to say it. It's how I have felt, too-like he was missing from me.
As I settle back in his arms, I think about how when we were together, there was no need for instant gratification because there were no doubts between us. We both knew we had the rest of our lives together. I kiss him again and close my eyes, laying my head on his chest. He strokes his fingers up and down my bare back and I feel myself fade. His soft tender voice awakens me. "Hey, when was the last time you ate?"
I playfully start biting his chest. "Well, I was planning on having you, but you stopped me."
He laughs and it's the first time I've heard that sound in a while. "No really, I want you to eat something."
I look up at him with a wicked smile on my face.
"Food, Dahlia. Food." Then he smirks his devilish grin and says with a wink, "Then you can have me for dessert."
I sit up. "Do you think it's too early for a grilled cheese, a chocolate milkshake, and French fries?"
Without answering he sits up and grabs the hotel room phone to call room service. "I'd like to order two chocolate milkshakes, two grilled cheeses, and two orders of fries, please."
He slips his jeans on without boxers and I wrap myself in the hotel robe. The food arrives and we eat, dipping our fries in each other's shakes. We alternate feeding each other and licking the shake off each other's mouths. We laugh and have fun like we haven't in what seems like forever.
Once we've finished eating we sit down and finally talk, and I mean we actually talk, we don't yell, accuse, avoid, or blame.
He settles against the bed. "Okay, let's do this."
I nod in agreement as I sit at the foot of the bed.
Sighing, he drops his eyes. "Bell came over to see me as soon as you left Mom's house. I know she told you everything."
His eyes rise up to meet mine and he crawls down to me and lifts my chin. "First, you need to know how very sorry I am . . . how many times I tried to tell you . . . I just could never get the words out. I couldn't hurt you like that."