The Last Kiss

by Murphy, M. R.

  She sank down low, rolling her hips all the way until her mouth was just a breath width away from his. “Come for me,” he softly demanded. Eyeing her face as she furrowed her brow, he whispered his command once more. It was the way she sank down on him, her brows knitted together as her mouth formed a perfect “O”, that told him she was close. Pistoning inside her from underneath, she bucked against the extra sensation. Sweat trickled down his face as his internal fire grew to combustion level with the coming climax. Growling louder, his mouth latched onto hers, tasting her sultry moans as he slammed her hips down on him settling into her rhythm. The feel of his sac tightening beneath her as she bounced from his body called to his primal side to release his hot spray of seed deep within her essence. She was so close, he could feel it as sure as he could feel his seed build up, ready to fire off like a bullet into her tight hot core. His hot breath sawed in and out of his lungs as every muscle started to turn to stone. Every muscle tightened as she rode him harder and faster, undulating with lithe finesse. She pulled him closer, staring into the depths of his ocean blues eyes like an eagle ready to take flight for the first time.

  Her moans turned to lustful cries as he took her over the edge, following her climax with his own, filling her with his hot seed deep inside her. As beautiful as the moment was, the overwhelming fear that this might be the last time, warred like an epic battle in his heart.

  Her body shook and shuddered with the remaining descending climaxes, tightening around his sensitive shaft and igniting another round of ripples through his body. His eyes burned into hers as he kissed her softly, taking his time to taste every inch of her sweet mouth. The tears he knew Raeve fought so hard to contain flooded her eyes as silent sobs against his neck filled his heart with guilt.

  “I love you, Sweetheart,” he whispered. Wrapping his arms around her, Aidan held on to her so closely their hearts danced together, making the moment not only perfect, but devastating.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Aidan held her close, her heart trembled against his chest and his own sank knowing the reasons why. He was afraid of the same thing she was. He feared this was the last time he would feel her like this. Her beautiful body wrapped around his, and he needed her as much as she needed him. The moment should have been perfect, but life wasn’t. Her silent sobs shuddered through her body the tighter he held her as tears welled up in his eyes.

  Slowly, he rose. His cock was still rigid, but sated. Raeve looked so beautiful and fragile as he reached down to scoop up her trembling body in his muscled arms. She felt as light as a feather, and relief washed over him when she finally wrapped her arms around his neck. Her quivering lips brushed softly against the swollen bite she had left, and he sensed that Raeve’s tears weren’t about to stop flowing, even if he made her all the promises in the world.

  Holding her tightly to his chest, Aidan walked them slowly toward the bedroom. What more could he say? What could he tell her to ease her worries? With only hours left until he had to board his flight, his mind stumbled over the usual passive phrases used to ease a person’s fear. ‘Don’t worry, it’ll be a cake walk…Give me more credit than this, I’m good at what I do…’, and so on and so forth. But the truth was a bitch and they both knew it. His profession came with only one guarantee: there are no guarantees.

  As much as he wished he could make things easier for her, he knew Raeve better than that. She wouldn’t appreciate false hope, only the cold hard truth would do. He hated to see her like this. Even in her raw ravenous state turned emotional, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The honesty in her tears as she clung to him for dear life only proved to him how strong she really was. Gently thumbing away the fat droplets from her haunted eyes he saw all he needed to know. In those tears that ran down her cheeks, he could see every fear, every hope she had for him, each tear coating another layer of pure love for him.

  The silvery moonlight cut slivers across the room as he lay Raeve down on the chocolate duvet. Her naked skin glowed with a resplendent light that glistened when the moon rays touched across her flesh. Her lashes fluttered to expel the excess tears as she curled into the fetal position. The same position he had seen every night as he slept next to her. She called it her safe zone for sleeping. The tighter she curled into herself, the more she tried to protect herself from the pain. Tonight was no different. Nearly a quarter her normal size, her body still shook as she closed herself in.

  His heart ached as he slid in next to her.

  “Raeve,” he murmured, “it’s going to be okay.” It was a promise he knew he shouldn’t be making, but he couldn’t stand to see her like this. Softly he wrapped his arm around her slender waist, pulling her body to his until her prickled flesh pressed against his. His lips were just a breath away from the curve of her ear as he tried to soothe away her fears. “I’ll always be with you, my love. Nothing will keep me from you.”

  “Bullshit!” she spat. “You’re going overseas, dammit. You are keeping us apart. You. I hate your job, and still you’re going. How am I supposed to live without you? It took over a decade to get you back, and now you’re so willingly going to leave me, leave us. Why?”

  “You know why, sweetheart. I have to go, it’s my job. It’s what I was born to do. I hate the idea of being away from you too, but I need to do this, for us, for our future.”

  “I don’t know how I will live if something happens to you. I was dead for so long, until you came back. You breathed life back into me, made me feel alive again. I’ve always loved you, but that love has grown beyond anything I’ve ever known. If something happens to you, I― I don’t think I’ll survive it. I can’t lose you. Not again.” Hot tears flooded her voice as she clutched his arm tighter.

  “Please, don’t leave me. Not forever. I know you need to do this, just promise me that you’ll come back to me. Someway, somehow.”

  Pulling her chin to him, Aidan looked longingly into her watery gaze. He knew he shouldn’t make this promise, but he had to. His heart commanded him to.

  “I’ll always come back to you, my love. Always till eternity.” His lips softly caressed hers as a fresh wave of tears filled her eyes.

  “I love you. Always till eternity.” Her voice trembled, returning his promise. Holding her close, Aidan suffocated at the idea that he might not make good on that promise, but damn, his heart was breaking for her. So much had happened, so many memories held them together. Like two magnets, they couldn’t stay apart if they tried. Time had proven just that. She had been the only woman he had ever truly loved, and at this moment her heart was breaking because of his choices.

  Darkness swaddled them in its loving embrace as time ticked away. He didn’t know when she fell asleep, only when he felt her body slowly uncoil as she pulled him over her like a warm blanket, gave him any indication that she had lost the fight of consciousness. As moonlight danced over her face, her angelic glow shimmered against the salty lines from her tears. Brushing her hair back, the smell of her jasmine shampoo comforted him as he inhaled deeply. If this was to be his last night with her, then he’d die a happy man. She felt too perfect in his arms, her tiny body curled in to his with ease. She fit there, with him, as if God himself had intended it.

  The days had passed too quickly, and he could barely remember everything they did. But he couldn’t forget every moment he spent worshiping her under the pale moonlight. Every kiss she pecked on his lips, every caress of her small hands. “I love you, Raeve. I will return to you,” he promised, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. “I’ve always loved you, always will, and I intend on marrying you when I come home.”

  Wondering if she heard him as a small smile curled her lips, he tested her state of unconsciousness by pressing another kiss to her soft lips, and was almost grateful when she didn’t respond. Aidan’s stomach churned bitterly as he damned himself for making such promises, but without them, without the hope of a future with her, he knew nothing he did or thought about would have the same imp
act. She was driving his need to return back home safe and intact.

  Laying his head down, he thought of all the dreams they had talked about. The kind of home they wanted to build, about children and vacations. All the pretty little details he didn’t know whether or not could happen. Didn’t matter, all that mattered was Raeve, in his arms, under his loving protection. His hand brushed against her breast to capture his dog-tag. Pride assailed him that she hadn’t taken it off since he gave it to her. Even when he saw the small piece of metal bouncing off her breasts as she rode him hard, he hadn’t felt the same amount of pride as he did now. Somehow knowing that she kept him close, promising to keep him with her solidified any fear he had. She was proud of him, even though she hated what was about to come, and damn him if he didn’t find that all the more sexy. His list of reasons why he adored her grew daily, and this was just one more reason why he loved her.

  His thoughts drifted away, imagining their life together, and he wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep, but the sound of the alarm clock tore him rudely from his interlude with Raeve in a stone-walled shower, making love under the hot sprays. Blinking back the intruding sun-rays, Raeve’s flushed skin shimmered as she leaned over to silence the noise. Her hair was mussed, and her eye make-up smeared from too many tears, yet she still looked incredibly beautiful to him. He nipped at the small of her back, and her sweet laughter littered the air with a sound he was happy to wake too.

  “Morning, beautiful.” He smiled.

  “Mmm, morning, wolfkins.” She giggled in return, pressing a small kiss to his lips before she attempted to slide out of bed.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Cocking a dark slash of brow, his smirk edged on devious as he pulled her back into his embrace. “I’ve got you, and I’m never letting go.”

  “Babe,” she started, with a quirk of her lip she considered what she wanted to say carefully. “Okay, then, if you’re okay with kissing me, it’s your funeral. I’m mean with the dragon breath and all.”

  “Uh huh, like I’ve let that stop me before. I’ve gotten used to your dragon breath,” he shot back, waiting for her to either smack him or laugh. To his surprise she just studied him with incredulous eyes for a few long moments.

  “You’re a sick, sick man,” she said, shaking her halo of dark locks, “but I still love you, even if I’m not the only one with dragon breath. Tic Tac?”

  Wrapping his arms around her tighter, he could only stare into the abyss of her eyes, the warmth she held in them hypnotized him. “I’m going to miss this.” His fingers traced the curve of her back, from the small of her back to the nape of her neck, carefully memorizing every bump of her spine, and the supple feel of her skin. Aidan desperately wanted to etch every detail of her lithe body in his memory bank

  “No you’re not. I thought about this carefully. I’m just going to chain you to my bed. You’ll have enough rope to make it to the kitchen and living room, but not far enough to make it out the door. So, I guess you’ll be my prisoner.” Her smile lit up just at the playful idea of it. How badly he wished she would do just that. He’d happily stayed chained to her bed for the rest of his life, if it meant he’d never have to worry her again.

  “Sure, sweetheart, and when someone comes looking for me, what then?”

  “I’ve already planned that part out too. Since your family already loves me, I know they’ll be okay with it. Your mom agrees with me by the way, and your work, well I was just thinking of telling them that I chained you to the bed and forced you to be my sex slave. Think they’d buy that?” she asked while cocking a sly brow at him. He wasn’t surprised in the least that she had concocted a plan so eloquently devious and purely heavenly in minutes. Pressing another kiss to her lips, his hand slid down to slap her bare ass with a hard crack. The yelp that jumped from her throat amused him more than her plan itself.

  “Sure, sweetheart. You tell the government that I’m your sex slave and see where that gets you.” He smiled as she wrinkled her forehead, knitting together her thin brows. He tried to grab for her hand as she slipped it behind her back to rub away the lovely red mark on her lush ass. “Uh huh. I don’t think so.” he teased.

  “Aye, you bastard! That fucking hurt.” She frowned and still managed to smirk as she struggled to free her hand. “Damn, babe, now my butt is going to be swollen on one side.”

  “Want me to remedy that for you?” The devious twist in his lips was warning enough as Raeve squirmed from his hold to no avail. The cracking sound of her ass being slapped echoed off the walls. His coy smile mirrored back at him in her eyes. “See? Now your ass is equally swollen.”

  “Fuuuuuuuck! Seriously! I don’t want a Kardashian ass, babe.”

  He released one hand long enough to rub away the new pain, laughing at her scowl at the small hiss as he slapped it again.

  “Babe! Seriously, what the fuck!”

  “Awe, I’m sorry, sweetheart. Let me kiss it better. Come here.”

  Her cynical stare said she knew better as she pulled from his hold. “I don’t think so. You’ll probably bite my ass next, when you really should be kissing it. I mean, this will be the last time you’ll see it for two years.” The sting of her words bit more than she realized. Even though she was only teasing, the truth was screaming in the air and her immediate recoil showed she felt the same thing. “I’m sorry.” she murmured, sliding off the bed. He reached for her, but only grasped air.

  “Wait, Raeve…” She turned to look back at him, that same haunted sadness he had seen so many times appeared once again; claiming its permanent spot. “If I didn’t have to go, I wouldn’t. Please, sweetheart, come back to bed.”

  “Aidan, I love you, always will, but so help me, if something should happen to you, I promise you, that I’ll travel down to the seventh level of Hell to find you.” The small quirk of her lip lifted. “And then I’ll beat the ever-living fuck out of you for getting yourself killed. Believe me, Satan will look like a pussy when I’m through with you. Got it?”

  There was no hiding the venom in her words, but he couldn’t help but bark out a tremendous laugh. He knew she meant every single word and knew better than most that she would put Satan himself to shame, but it was her devotion he adored most.

  “Trust me, babe, I don’t have any plans on getting myself killed.” He smiled. “You’re one cold bitch, you know that?”

  The look in her eyes said she agreed all too much with that statement. “Yes, I know. Douche bag said the same thing the last time I saw him.” Shaking her head like this was her normal aura. “I’m one cold bitch.”

  Surprise washed over him, as curiosity seem to creep up and got the better of him. “Oh. You didn’t tell me that.”

  “I know.” She shrugged. “I was just that. Cold, disconnected really.”

  The long pause that followed left him wondering. He’d seen her under pressure. Normally she was cool, stoic really. Loathing her ex-husband, he needed to know the details. “So, what happened? Or do you prefer not to talk about it?” He sat up, patiently waiting while she contemplated telling him.

  Her heavy sigh as she turned around spoke boat loads. Sidling up to the bed, she leaned against the edge, and folded her arms over her chest as though this was going to be one of those stories she didn’t want to tell. “No it’s fine, really. When I started to walk out of the court house, he ran after me, calling me every name in the book. Nothing new. Then he said I was a coldhearted bitch, that I had no feelings like I was dead inside. So I told him that I had tons of feelings, even put some down on paper from time to time, but that he wasn’t worth a single one, and that I didn’t give a shit about him anymore. His jaw dropped, and the only sound left to be heard was the sound of my high heels clicking against the tiled floor.”

  The small smile that curled her lips up with pride, made him burn intensely for her. Reaching across the bed, Aidan pulled her into his arms, and his eyes scoured every inch of her face, brushing over the little scars Raeve tried in vain t
o hide from everyone.

  “I would’ve loved to have seen his face. For someone as small as you, you’re pretty fierce, sweetheart. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever met a stronger person than you.” His lips caressed her cheek pecking kisses down to her lips. Her breath swept over him, and that sweet taste he loved pulled him in for another kiss.

  “I’m surprised at myself, actually. For so long I worried I wouldn’t have the strength to walk away. It was like he had gotten the better of me, and the fire that used to burn inside was barely smoldering anymore.”

  “Why? Like you said, he’s a douche bag. You left him for all the right reasons, and came back to me. Raeve, you belong with me, always have. I won’t say that you belong to me because I know better. There isn’t a person alive who could claim that.

  You’re too independent for that. But you’ll always be the one I love. You will always be the one who holds my heart.” Capturing her delicate hand, he gazed down at all the small scars, and memorized the soft feel of her skin. Bringing it up to meet his lips, he couldn’t fake his contempt for her ex, or the way those nimble digits tempted him as he brushed his lips over her soft knuckles.

  The loving look in her eyes and blush on her cheeks melted his heart a little more. He followed her eyes when she looked away, only to see what she hesitantly saw. “Almost time,” her voice trembled, and sadness coated each syllable.

  “I need to get dressed, babe.” The cold she left behind as she rose from the bed, sent a new wave of guilt washing over him.

  “I know.” His reply sliced through the air as he tossed the sheets back. “Time to get going I guess.” His words burned like acid on his tongue. Grabbing his jeans, he shoved his legs through angrily. The time had flown. He hated knowing that the second she was out of sight, he’d feel her break down completely. She’d tried to stay strong, but the dam was breaking, and the tears she’d shed before were nothing compared to what he knew was coming. More than anything, he hated the idea of leaving her here, alone. He couldn’t protect her, couldn’t hold her when she bounded from the bed from her nightmares. He wouldn’t be there to soothe away her fears or embrace her. He would be kissing her passionately every day.