Wordz Press

1:30 a.m.
Wrapped in Ray's warm embrace, Sarah felt her heart clutch. She'd gone through enough pain over their breakup. To have him say something like that and not really mean it would be beyond cruel. She had to make sure she was hearing what he was really saying.

"What are you telling me?" she asked quietly. "I have to know what you mean."

He didn't answer her with words. He brought his face to hers and covered her lips in a kiss that stole her ability to even think. Beyond the reality of what was happening, though, she understood. He loved her. He really loved her.

She kissed him back with abandon.

For what felt like a lifetime, they clung to each other and didn't let go, their bodies meshing in the old familiar way, their hands exploring the sweet paths of the past. He'd filled out, she thought, his shoulders wider, his hips more narrow.

She wondered if he could tell how her shape had changed, as well. Since joining the force, she'd slimmed down, toughened up. She felt a fleeting sense of anxiety; her soft teenage curves had been replaced by a leanness born of strenuous exercise. Would he still find her attractive?

She didn't have to ask. Ray murmured deep in his throat and dropped his hands. His fingers followed the lines of her hips then smoothed their way to her buttocks. He almost lifted her up as he brought her close and for a moment, she halfway expected him to do just that. She did nothing to stop him, either. She wanted to feel him against her, wanted even more. The need must have made itself known. He yanked her black T-shirt from the waist of her pants then slid his hands underneath it.

Like a heated torch, his touch imprinted itself against her skin, and Sarah gasped. It'd been years since they'd been together, years since they'd made love. In her memory, she'd imagined it, but all the images from the past had fallen short as had every man who'd ever touch her since Ray. No one but him could make her feel like this.

No one.

Her body took control and Sarah let it. With her hands, she pulled Ray closer and with her mouth she urged him on. Nothing meant anything but this, the moment taking on a life of its own.

Later on, she wondered how it could have happened. How could she have lost control so easily? How could she have forgotten where they were, what was happening? It seemed impossible that a man could have that kind of power over her very sense of survival, but then again, maybe that's what the moment was about. Even in the face of danger, one had to survive, to feel...to live.

She had no real answer to her questions because nothing had made sense that day. She only knew she did what she did because she had no other option. In this moment, at this time, nothing was important but the feel of Ray's body, his skin against her own.

Their mouths still locked, they fell into each other's arms, their kiss deepening with a passion sending them straight into the past.