“Will you f**k me?” she asks in a sweet voice.

“No, baby.” I reach for her hand and pull gently, bringing her reluctantly to me. I sit down in my chair and guide her onto my lap. One of her hands goes between her legs as I lift the lid off the plate closest to me. There are two steaks, both cut up into bite-sized pieces and grilled to a perfect medium-rare pinkness in the center. I pick up a piece with my fingers. “Open, Grace.” She opens her mouth and I place the juicy meat on her tongue.

“Mmmm. I’m hungry.” She chews slowly and I take this time to feed myself. We alternate this way for a few more bites, then I hand her the champagne flute and she sips. We do this over and over again. Not talking. Not fighting. No expectations or awkwardness.

Just… nourishment.

Her head is pressed against my bare chest. My hands play with her br**sts between bites. I squeeze when I want to hear her moan, and then when the last bit of meat is gone and the champagne glasses are empty, I dip my fingers between her legs and find her slick and ready.

“I won’t f**k you, Grace,” I say, bringing my wet fingers to her lips. She opens and sucks, her tongue doing a little dance against my skin, heightening my already raging desire. I’m so f**king hard for her. “But I’ll make like to you.” Her eyes open and she looks at me, still suckling on my finger. “Should I do that, sweets?”

She slips from my lap and drops to her knees at my feet. And then she rests her head in my lap, her hot breath penetrating through the fabric of my trousers, just like I imagined.

“I’d like that,” she says quietly. “I’d like that very much.”

I move her slightly, just enough to stand up. And then I reach down and scoop her into my arms. She laughs a little, but her eyes are closed. She’s very tired. And maybe drunk. But I won’t wait. This is a moment you don’t cut short. This is a moment you relish and prolong.

So I take her weary body to the bedroom and lay her gently on the bed.

“I’ve never had sex with you in a bed before,” she says sleepily.

God, that actually hurts. “I’m ashamed of that fact, Grace. I will make sure we spend lots of time in bed from now on.” She stretches her arms above her head, not trying to be alluring at all, but simply because it feels good. She presses her cheek against the soft white pillow and her whole body relaxes as she lets out a long breath of air.

“I’m tired.”

“Too tired for sex?” I ask her as I remove my trousers and fold them over the back of a chair. “I’m not in a hurry.”

She opens her eyes and gives me a smile that actually makes me swallow down a bit of apprehension. “I’m not too tired. But just don’t make me work too hard.”

I slip onto the bed next to her and my dick grows from this simple act. I position myself over top of her burning body and lean down, angling my mouth to kiss her.

“Mmmm,” she moans.

“Mmmm,” I reply. I tongue her and get an enthusiastic response, so I grip her head and clutch her to me. Our passion increases, the kiss lingers, the want grows… and finally we have to pull apart to take a breath.

I lift my hips up and angle my c**k between her legs.

“No kinky shit?”

“No kinky shit, Grace. You want to know what everyday sex with me is like? This would be it. Me. You. In bed naked. I don’t need the dirty words or the public performances. I don’t need to make you submit or humiliate you. I just need you, Grace. That’s it.”

I slip inside her and she moans, her fingernails digging into my shoulders as I fill her up. He legs spread wide for me and I thrust, gently at first, then her hips match my rhythm, pressing against me, asking for me.

I give her more.

I give her everything she wants. I love her slowly. I take my time and whisper in her ear. “You’re so perfect,” I tell her. “You’re all I want,” I insist. “We don’t need the fairy tale when this is our reality.”

She stills underneath me and when I look down at her, a tear slips out of her eye and rolls down the curve of her perfect cheek.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, leaning into her ear. “What did I do wrong?”

She gives me a slight shake of her head as she presses her eyes closed. “Nothing,” she says with a sniff. “It’s just so perfect and I… I don’t ever get the happy ending, Vaughn. If I let myself think I can have it, if I believe… I’ll be so crushed when it disappears.”

“It’s not going to disappear, Grace. I promise. Don’t let your fear ruin this, sweets. Just accept it. Enjoy it. Please.”

“I have so much inside me, Vaughn. So many bad things inside me that I’m trying to move past. And I think you’re right. I’m too afraid of failure to allow anything good to happen to me.”

I drag a piece of hair out of her eyes and kiss her nose. I know her past is something we need to deal with, but not now. Not tonight. This night is not about the past, it’s about the future. “You can’t fail, Grace. You’re a winner.” She smiles. “And besides, I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I will never treat you badly again. I’m sorry. I promise, what we have is good. What we’ll have in the future will be good too. Just trust me.”

I move inside her and she responds by wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I plunge deeper. “Be mine, Grace. For real. Just tell me you’ll be mine.”