Chapter Forty
Second Chances
Reaper Accommodations
The space is small. A modest room with a single bed, a desk, a window that overlooks the darker corners of the OtherWorld. Not much and not mine. But right now, it’s ours. And safe, for the time being at least. How much time? I have no idea.
Maddy sits on the edge of the bed, her hands trembling slightly.
But her eyes are clear. Present. She remembers everything.
She also takes in the space around us, and while there isn’t much to make the room feel personal, somehow, she seems to sense that this place is not mine.
Perhaps the tartan kilt displayed along the far wall gave it away.
“Where are we, Thomas? Whose room is this?”
“This place belonged to Quinn Abernathy,” I say his name solemnly.
“You said his name like a memory.” Maddy articulates the feeling behind my words eloquently. She’s always had a better way with words.
“He is now. Just a memory. And a reminder.”
“What does that mean? I’ve never known you to speak in riddles before.”
“Never been all that good at solving them either. Quinn was a reaper. Damn good one. I fucked up a reap. Big D got angry, and Quinn paid the ultimate price for my mistake.”
“Forgive me, Tommy. I don’t understand much of what you just said.”
“Right. We’ve a lot to catch up on, love. For now, it’s enough to know that’s the way things work here in the OtherWorld.”
“And who is Big D?”
“Oh, Maddy. I’m not sure we’ll ever have enough time to truly unpack the mystery and the marvel that is Big D.”
We both laugh at the joke only one of us gets. Then I probe a bit deeper. “The Bliss has kept you sheltered from so much. Why didn’t you stay there? Why were you trying to leave?”
“Once I learned what brought me there in the first place, there was no way I could stay. Some knowledge won’t stay buried a second time.”
The weight of her words presses on my chest like a physical thing, but I don’t press for more info if she doesn’t want to share. She asks me the same question I asked her. “What brought you to that gate, Tommy?”
“You. You brought me there. I was given a chance to find you, and I took it. I didn’t know it was possible, or I would have tried much sooner. I still can’t believe this is real.”
“Reality’s a double-edged sword. I know that now.
Hope took me to that gate in the end. The Bliss offered me shelter without judgment.
I needed that then. If I couldn’t have you, I didn’t want anything this world or any world had to offer me.
Except to forget. I welcomed the erasure of all of it when you had already been removed from the picture.
But you’re back,” she says, her polished accent a contrast to my own.
“I carry so much hurt and pain again, but I know I can because I have you to share it all with.”
I sit beside her and take her hands in mine, still in shock that I’m able to do so. After I spent so long thinking she was just a memory, a ghost, a wound that would never heal, she’s here.
She leans into me, her head on my chest. I wrap my arms around her and hold her like she might disappear if I let go. Because after everything, after centuries of loss, I know how fragile this moment is.
“What happens now?” she asks quietly.
“Now we figure it out. Together.” I press a kiss to the top of her head. “We find a way to make this work. You’re out of The Bliss. You’re free. That’s what matters.”
Maddy lifts her head. Her eyes are bright, alive, and they’re looking at me like I’m the only thing in existence. She reaches up and touches my face, her fingers tracing the line of my jaw.
“I love you,” she whispers. “I never stopped. Even when I couldn’t remember, some part of me knew. Some part of me was always looking for you.”
I kiss her. Slow and deep, trying to pour every year of longing, every moment of heartbreak, every ounce of love I’ve carried for her into this single kiss.
She responds immediately, her hands sliding into my hair, pulling me closer. When we break apart, I feel like I’m in a daze.
“I should have done more. I would have burned the entire OtherWorld down to find you.”
“Show me,” she says, her voice low. “Show me how much this means to you. All of this … us … together.”
I stand and pull her up with me. Our hands don’t separate as I guide her to the bed. She sinks down, pulling me with her. My fingers find the buttons of her dress.
“Are you certain?” I ask, searching her eyes for any hesitation.
“You are what I want for all my time, so if we only have this time, then I need it to be with you, in the most complete way imaginable,” she says.
I undress her slowly, reverently. Every inch of skin revealed is a discovery, a reclamation of what we lost. She helps me out of my clothes, her hands urgent but careful, like she’s mapping the landscape of my body and committing it to memory.
When we’re both naked, I pause for a moment just to look at her.
To see her in the soft moonlight filtering through my small window.
To know that she’s real and she’s here and she chose me.
Her body has changed from what I remember.
There is a softness to her that wasn’t there before.
My fingers lazily trace up her full hips.
I outstretch my thumb over the silky skin of her stomach, and she lets out a low gasp at the contact.
I bite back the growl threatening to come out at the sound.
I watch her rounded lips part as I cup her breasts and my own mouth mimics hers. She feels so different under my hands, yet it’s perfection; she is utter perfection. And she’s mine. Really, truly, absolutely mine.
“I—” I begin to say, but the words feel inadequate for the enormity of everything. They lodge in my throat and won’t come out.
“I know,” she whispers. “I can feel it. I can feel all of it. What you’ve shown, what you’ve done, speaks louder than any words ever could, Thomas.
” She pauses, and I line myself up between her legs.
She looks down between us, then back to me and smiles.
“I love you too,” she says, trailing her hands to my lower back and guiding my body forward, closing the gap between us.
I enter her slowly, and she gasps while pulling me closer still, her body adjusting to mine. Her hands grip my ass, her nails digging in slightly.
“Yes,” I breathe, allowing that one word to speak for all the others.
“Yes,” she echoes, breathing against my neck. “Yes, Tommy, please.”
Pausing momentarily, I look at her. “Say it again.” My voice is all gravel and desperation as I push myself in as deep as I can.
“Ah!” She cries, her eyes rolling in pleasure. “S-Say what? Yes?”
“No,” I grunt as I pull out before impaling her again, reveling in the perfection that is her body, molding to me like nothing else has. “My name, Dove. I haven’t heard it in centuries. Say it again.”
She looks at me with heavy, lust-filled eyes. “Tommy,” she pants as I slam into her. “Tommy,” She repeats as I continue my rapid thrusts. I grip her legs and wrap them around me as I hoist her up with one arm.
“Don’t stop,” I pant as I stand and slam her against the wall. “That name belongs to you, Maddy. Never stop using it.”
“Tommy!” She screams as her nails drag down my throat.
“Fuckkk…” I whimper, biting her shoulder as my hand tangles in her tresses. I give them a quick yank.
“More!” She cries, and I pull harder. Noticing the desk off to the side, I carry her over to it, using my free arm to shove everything to the floor before laying her on top.
“No!” She cries in frustration when I slide out of her.
“Hush,” I order as I fall to my knees. “I’ve been starved for nearly two centuries. You will allow me to feast.”
“AH!” Her scream is choked as I plunge my tongue inside her. My hands are like iron, spreading her thighs wide. “Tommy!”
“That’s my girl,” I praise, nipping on her swollen clit. “Tell me who you belong to.”
“You!” She pants as her hands grip my hair roughly, causing my cock to twitch. “Only you, always … Y-you! Oh! T-Tommy!” Her back arches on her orgasm and I devour it. Every spasm, every drop. It belongs to me … only me.
Her body is trembling in the aftershocks, and her eyes are glazed as I stand and lean over her.
“Now,” I smirk while running my tongue over her lips, sharing her delicious taste with her decadent mouth.
“Where was I? Oh, that’s right.” I grip her hips forcefully as I claim her once more.
Her eyes roll back again, and I grab her throat.
“Eyes on me, Dove. I’ve had to see those beautiful blues in memory for far too long.
You stare at me and never look away.” Her eyes lock with mine, and the connection causes a tightness in my throat.
“I love you.” I pant out, trying with all I have not to break down.
“I … I love you too, Tommy.” She manages as she wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me to her. Her lips capture mine, and I feel complete. For the first time in centuries, I feel whole.
I continue to move inside her while our lips never break. She meets each of my thrusts as though we were made for each other, because we were made for each other.
She comes first, her body tightening around mine, her cry of pleasure muffled against my lips. It takes mere seconds to follow her over the edge, filling her with a groan that comes from the depths of my soul. She devours my every noise, her soft tongue caressing mine as I ride out my orgasm.
For a long moment after, we don’t move. I rest my head on her shoulder, and inhale her warm scent deeply.
She’s here, she’s real. And she is finally mine. Just she and I, forever.
After I can compose myself, I lift her into my arms and walk us toward the bed.
I lay her down gently, without removing my hand from her.
I fear if I lose contact, she may disappear again.
I lie next to her, pulling her body flush with mine.
Her head rests on my chest, and I smile—something I haven’t done in ages.
“We did it,” she whispers. “We actually did it. We found each other again.”