“I always want it again,” Jamie answered, turning herself in his arms so that she straddled him, her arms wrapped around his neck and her breasts pressed to the firm warmth of his chest.
His hands dropped to curl around her hips, and she rolled them, sliding herself against his cock and feeling him start to get hard again underneath her.
“See?” she said, smiling up at him. “You want it again, too.”
“Fuck. Yeah. You’re irresistible, baby. If I ever have you writhing naked on my lap and I’m not getting hard, you might want to take me in to a doctor.”
Jamie laughed, and rocked herself down again, slipping a hand between them so that she could stroke him to full hardness. It didn’t take long. She held him in place, rubbing her clit against the head of his cock until he was swearing, his hands curling tighter on her hips.
“You’re a tease,” he said as he lifted her, Jamie shifting so that he stroked down the length of her sex to press against her entrance.
“Am I?”
“Yes,” he growled. “A terrible fucking tease, Jamie Reid.”
And then his hands were pulling her down onto the length of him, and Jamie gave up on teasing entirely, arms wrapping around him for support as he filled her. She lifted with the pull of his hands, and then slid down again, picking up a rhythm they both knew from so many other nights spent like this. Her head rested against his shoulder as she moved, and one of his hands moved up so that it pressed against the space between her shoulder blades, holding her close.
“Jamie,” he said, and this time there was no growl in his voice. It was low and aching with want, and Jamie felt the echo of his desire coil through her. “Fuck. I’ve missed you so much.”
His hands tightened, trying to pull her even nearer.
“We’ve been sharing the same house but we’ve been strangers in it for days, and I hated every minute.”
“I missed you, too,” Jamie answered, still rocking against him. “Let’s not fight like that again. Ever.”
He laughed, and if there were tears hidden in it, Jamie didn’t call him on them. “I don’t know if that’s possible, but I promise you that I will always do my best to make up with you again. Preferably before the day is even over.”
“Deal,” Jamie said, and then they were both done with words, the only sounds between them the sounds of their bodies moving together, the sounds of the pleasure they gave each other and took from one another.
This was what Jamie had been missing. More, even, than the physical aspect, although she had missed that, too. But this closeness. Alex all around her and inside her, as near as another person could ever be. And she knew that he’d missed it, too.
She wasn’t going to let fights drag out like this again. It was terrible for both of them. Sex always seemed to fix things between them.
But she wasn’t going to think about that anymore. She was going to think about Alex, his hands on her skin and his breath warm against the curve of her neck, his body under her own. She shuddered with the pleasure of those things, and felt it building to a slow peak. It was softer this time, slower and gentler, and when she came it was like light washing through her, chasing out any lingering bad feelings. She felt Alex follow her over the edge, his hands squeezing tight for just an instant before he relaxed and they both sank back to the bed.
Lying on his chest, Jamie lifted her head and brushed the tousled hair back from Alex’s forehead.
“I love you,” she said, leaning down to press her lips to his jaw. His cheek. His mouth. “I love you so much, Alex.”
One of his hands lifted to curl gently around the back of her neck, and Alex kissed her again, lazy and exploring. “I love you, too,” he said when he pulled back. “More than anything, Jamie. I swear.”
This time she believed him. Whatever else might come, they had each other again, and the rest of the world couldn’t touch that. Content in the afterglow, they curled up together under the blankets and slept.
***
When the phone rang, Jamie was making dinner. The twins were sitting in their high chairs, scribbling on paper in an attempt at coloring. Jamie reached for the ringing phone, turning it over with one hand to check the caller ID while she stirred reheating pasta sauce with the other. When she saw the name, she picked it up and swiped across the screen to answer.
“Mark,” she said. “Hey.”
“Hey, Jamie,” Mark's voice said on the other end of the line. He sounded subdued. “Sorry to call you right around dinner time, but this is the first minute I've been able to get away today. Things are always crazy over here.”
Jamie thought he sounded like he was tired, too. Like the constant work of the business was maybe too much for him. She didn't say that. He probably didn't want to hear it. “That's okay. I'm still making dinner, and Alex won't be in to eat for a little bit yet.”
He was down in the gym, working out some of his frustrations on the exercise equipment.
“That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” Mark said. “Alex. I don't know how much you've heard but we had a fight, and he's basically decided to disown me.”
Jamie's hand tightened around the spoon she was holding. “I know that you fought. He came home in a terrible mood that night, and Christine said something about it when I was out with her recently. But I didn't know that.”