Page 87 of Big Girl Panties

"I'm going to slide inside you now, baby."

Slowly, I began to push inside her, feeling every inch of her body welcome me back. The sensation was overwhelming—warm, tight, and perfect. When I finally buried myself completely inside her, time seemed to stop. Her moan, starting low and building to something desperate and primal, mixed with my deep guttural groan as her body pulsated around me.

I shoved my hand into her hair, tugging, and my other hand held her hips in place as I slammed into her. Giving her exactly what she asked for, fucking her like she belonged to me.

The sound of our skin slapping together echoed over our labored breathing and her soft moans that were growing louder and louder.

Time seemed to dissolve around us, the world narrowing to just this… just us. Nothing existed beyond the points where our bodies connected.

My body moved on its own, finding a rhythm. Slow at first. Then faster. Harder. More desperate. Each thrust was a declaration. Each withdrawal was a question. Would this… us… last forever?

Her body answered. Muscles tightening. Back arching. "Matt…" My name in her mouth became something sacred. Something broken and whole at once.

And I was undone. I came so hard the edges of my vision darkened, reality fragmenting into nothing but sensation and her name on my lips, over and over, a promise I intended to keep.

I continued to pump into her until I was completely empty, the intensity of our connection leaving me breathless and somehow more vulnerable than before.

She lifted off the bed, and I pulled out of her. In the quiet aftermath, something shifted between us, a settling, a certainty that hadn't been there before. The physical release had unlocked something deeper. All I could think about was curling up in my bed and holding her until we fell asleep, then waking to her face tomorrow, and the day after, and all the days that followed.

"Move in with me?" The words came out more controlled than they felt, surprising even me with their clarity.

The question had been forming in my mind for weeks, even before everything fell apart. But now, with the taste of her still on my lips and the fear of losing her still fresh, was I rushing? Pushing too hard?

She stilled completely, her body tensing against mine. For three excruciating seconds, she didn't blink, didn't breathe. I counted each heartbeat hammering in my chest, one, two, three, four, preparing myself for rejection.

"What?" she finally whispered, eyes widening.

I could backpedal. Play it off as a post-sex impulse. Instead, I let myself fall further.

"I want to wake up every morning with you," I said. "I want to burn pancakes with you on Sundays and argue about whose turn it is to do the dishes." I took a breath, committed to the free fall. "I want this to be our home, not just mine."

I watched emotions flicker across her face like shadows—surprise, hesitation, and something else I couldn't quite name. Hope, maybe. Or fear. Sometimes with Brooke, they looked remarkably similar.

"But Kar…"

"You and Karen, of course."

Her face twisted. "Are you sure? Because Karen can be, well, a Karen."

I laughed. "Yes, I'm sure."

She smiled, but I could see the hesitation in her eyes. I didn't want to force her. I wanted her to be absolutely sure this is what she wanted.

"You don't have to decide right now," I added. "Take all the time you need." She smiled. "But if you decide you want to, we can redecorate to make this our home and not a museum."

"A museum?" she asked, glancing around at my minimalist decor.

"Come on, you've been dying to add some color to this place since the first time you visited."

"True," she admitted with a laugh. "I was thinking maybe a nice burnt orange for the living room..."

I winced dramatically. "Let's negotiate that one."

She laughed, and I wrapped my arms around her, breathing in the scent of her hair, feeling more at home than I ever had in this house. Whatever color she wanted to paint the walls, whatever furniture she wanted to rearrange, none of it mattered. She was here, and that made it home.

"So you'll think about it?"

She nodded. "Yeah."