Afterglow

She arched her back, feline as she stretched beneath him, and he ran a finger down her spine, the valley slick with sweat from the exertion of the past half hour. He rolled over and lowered himself onto the bed with a satisfied sigh, closing his eyes as he sank into the pillow and allowed himself to bask in the dull ache of his loins. She placed a hand on his stomach, less to feel the firm muscles beneath his skin than out of a reluctance to relinquish entirely the contact between their bodies.

“Why did we never do this before?” she mumbled, gazing at him through heavily lidded eyes.

He smiled without opening his own, “Because we didn’t trust ourselves to stop? I’m still not sure I do…”

“So what if we don’t stop?”

“The world falls apart,” he opened his eyes and turned to look at her, “Or maybe nothing.”

“I don’t want either of us to get hurt. But this,” she traced a bicep then his forearm, fingers gliding across smooth skin and rough hair, “this feels too perfect to be the wrong thing.”

“The best things in life’ll kill you.”

She sat up. The sheets stuck momentarily to her skin before giving in to gravity and tumbling away to reveal the curve of her breasts, nipples starkly erect against their smooth surroundings. He could sense himself stirring at the sight already, spent as he still felt.

Her tone was accusatory as she looked down at him, “Can you be less, I don’t know, casual about this?”

He opened his mouth but waited until she had dropped back against the mattress, her torso still exposed. He spoke softly, looking directly into her eyes, “You know I overthink everything. Just this once I’m trying my absolute hardest not to, well, be me.”

He stroked the gentle swell of her belly, and she touched his long fingers, shivering involuntarily at the memory of them working inside her. His hand drifted downwards, coming to rest absently between her legs, evoking a sharp intake of breath. Somewhere amidst discarded clothes a phone vibrated which they happily ignored.

It was her turn to speak without looking, “So we just see how it goes?”

“I think.”

“And hope the world doesn’t end?”

“Or we assume that it will, and enjoy the ride anyway.”