MAX
The house was quiet when I got in. Emma had been staying with me for the last couple of days, and I had loved every minute of it.
Her notes and books were scattered all over my living room, she stole half the blankets at night, and insisted on ice cream even when her toes were freezing.
The place was already different with her in it: warmer, better.
I moved through the house, noticing the traces she had left behind, and pushed the bedroom door open, expecting to find her asleep, but she wasn’t. Not yet.
She blinked up at me from the bed, her hair messy against the pillow and her eyes heavy with sleep. “You’re late,” she whispered, her voice rough and unguarded.
“Game ran long,” I said, stripping off my clothes. My body ached, but seeing her there – soft, and waiting – lit something in me that no win ever could.
She lifted the edge of the duvet just enough for me to slide in. And I did, immediately, because resisting Emma was never an option. I pulled her back against my chest, the heat of her skin soaking into mine.
“Missed you.” Her lips brushed my jaw as she turned her head toward me.
Not intentional, not seductive – just a sleepy, instinctive reach for me.
I kissed her gently, careful not to push, just brushing my mouth over hers.
But the second she sighed against me, everything I was holding back cracked.
Her tongue touched mine, and I let out a low, ragged groan.
“Em,” I whispered, pulling back just a fraction to give her the chance to drift off if she wanted. But she didn’t. She pressed back against me, her hips moving, and the softest sound came out of her throat.
“Don’t stop.”
God help me, I wasn’t about to.
My hand slid under her shirt, fingers skimming her stomach, then higher until I brushed her breasts. She sighed and arched into my touch, drowsy but wanting. Her nipples tightened under my palm as I rubbed gently, teasing until her breaths went shaky against my mouth.
My hand carefully drifted lower, sliding between her thighs. Her sweatpants were soft, thin and no barrier at all to how wet she already was. I circled her clit with steady pressure, and she arched back into me, pushing her ass against me.
“Fuck, Em,” I groaned into the crook of her neck, but I didn’t speed up. I kept it slow, drawing circles, kissing the side of her throat while her body moved restlessly against mine.
Her legs tensed, her breath hitching into short, sharp gasps as she chased the friction of my hand. When she came, soft and shaking, I held her through it, kissing her temple.
She turned in my arms then, pulling me closer. Her eyes were heavy, her mouth curved in a drowsy little smile.
I stripped us the rest of the way down, slowly, nothing rushed.
I fumbled around in the nightstand for a condom, the simple action grounding me for half a second before I came back to her.
Then I pushed deep into her, savouring every inch, my own breath stuttering at the friction.
She was so tight, so warm, and the sleepy moan she let out nearly finished me right then.
We moved together unhurried, like we had all the time in the world.
Her hand traced the line of my jaw, and I kissed her everywhere I could reach: her mouth, her cheek, her throat.
She shifted beneath me and I hooked her leg over my hip, pressing in deeper, holding there for a beat before moving again.
“Max,” she breathed, thick with sleep, and I swear it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard.
She clenched around me, trembling as she came again. The sound of her pulled me over the edge. I pushed into her, groaning her name against her skin as I came with her.
For a while, I just stayed there, breathing hard, listening to her heartbeat level out under my chest. Finally, I rolled us so she could curl back against me, her back to my chest again. “Sleep,” I whispered, kissing her temple.
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in until she was tucked against me. Her breathing got steadier and calmer. For a long time I just lay there, staring into the dark, fighting the heaviness in my chest.
Em?” I murmured, not even sure why.
No answer. Already fast asleep.
I buried my face in her hair, closed my eyes, and let the words I’d been holding back all night come out.
“I love you.”
She didn’t stir. But lying there with her, the words finally spoken, was enough. For now.