The knowledge that we almost lost one another has us hurrying, need driving us forward. Caleb has us naked in moments and then seals us together in a mating so deep and so tender that I feel my heart become his all over again.
I feel him inside me and my body weeps for the joy of it. Our bodies are in unison as we move together. Each thrust is a gentle promise of commitment.
“Caleb…” I gasp, as we race for that ever-vibrant peak.
“I know… I feel it,” he says, thrusting faster and taking me higher.
“Say it again,” I breathe, one leg around his waist, my nails in his back. “I want to hear it again.”
“You mean…” He brings his mouth to my ear. “I love you.”
Heat rushes through me. My core coils tight. My heart beats heavy in my chest.
We’re wet. We’re dirty. And we still smell of forest and mud. But neither of us cares.
Our focus is the heat that we’re building together. The rush that overpowers all other senses, consumes all reason, and strips us down to only our hearts, crying out to one another.
“I love you…” he vows again.
They’re the last words I hear before something shatters inside, sending me into a euphoria so intense that I black out and fall into a nothingness, where all that exists is the warmth of Caleb’s embrace and the promise that I am home.