Page 256 of His Virgin Romance Series

“Can we talk for a second?” he asked.

“Of course,” I nodded.

He walked into the room, and we sat down together on the edge of my bed. His eyes fell to the papers that Devon had given me only an hour ago, but I saw no emotion on his face.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

“Well… yes,” I replied. “I suppose I am soon. I can’t stay here forever.”

One corner of his mouth went up in a tiny smile that might have been interpreted as sad. “No, I suppose not. That was never the plan anyway.”

“Exactly.”

“Any place in mind?” Ryder asked.

“There are two places in Devon’s list that seem like they’ll be a good fit for me,” I said. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“You know there’s no real threat to you anymore,” Ryder said, almost as an afterthought. “You don’t have to leave.”

“It would be hard for me to stay,” I admitted. “After…all this.”

I was being intentionally evasive, but Ryder didn’t press me further. He nodded and got to his feet. I don’t know why, but I felt my throat constrict with panic, and I reached out and grabbed his hand. He turned and looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“Did I thank you?” I asked, trying to buy more time with him.

I was keenly aware that these were our last few days together, and suddenly I was selfish and greedy for his time.

“You did,” Ryder nodded. “Even though it was unnecessary.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I said. “You’re the reason I won’t be looking over my shoulder anymore… you’ve given me peace of mind. That’s a pretty big gift, and you were a great teacher.”

“Was I?” Ryder asked. “I thought you felt like I was too tough on you.”

“I did,” I admitted. “At first… but if you hadn’t been that tough on me, I wouldn’t have learned as fast as I did, and I would never have been able to get away from Walter.”

“You would have found a way,” Ryder said.

I stood up and took a step towards him so that we were only inches apart. I wanted to tell him so much at that moment. I wanted to tell him that I loved him. I wanted to tell him that I would miss him more than words could express. I wanted to tell him that the thought of leaving him was more painful than anything Walter Black had done to me that day in Gordon’s Run.

But I knew that kind of sentiment would just make him awkward and uncomfortable. Just because I loved him didn’t mean he returned the feeling, and expressing how I felt would just create tension between us, and I didn’t want my last few days with him to be ruined that way.

So instead of telling him what I was really feeling, I swallowed the words and put my hand on his chest. I could feel the thud of his heart against his ribcage, and that told me that, at least for now, he was affected by my presence.

I leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek. He didn’t return my kiss immediately, but a second later, I felt him give a little. Then his hands came around me, and I felt my body relax into his. We undressed each other slowly, taking our time, kissing passionately as we did so. His lips were soft and tender against my skin, and his hands were earnest as they ran up and down my body.

I pulled off my pants, and then I unzipped his. He undid my bra and threw it to the floor, and then his hands cupped my breasts and massaged them slowly, with the lightest of pressures. As his fingers encircled my nipples, I placed my hand on his erect cock and moved my hand back and forth.

We fell back onto my bed, and I was on top. So I scaled down and slipped his cock into my mouth. I sucked his penis hard, taking him as far in as I could handle without gagging. I felt his body shudder under my tongue, and I felt myself moisten uncomfortably. I felt my whole body tingle with anticipation, but it was anticipation that I was happy to postpone, because what came before was equally wonderful.

After a few minutes, Ryder placed his hand on the back of my head and guided me up gently. Then he grabbed me by the waist and flipped me over so that now he was the one who was on top. Then he slipped down my body, kissing my neck, my breasts, and my stomach. He stopped between my legs and pushed them apart. His tongue against my wet pussy felt indescribably amazing, and within minutes, I could feel my orgasm coming fast and hard.

The moment my body stilled in the aftermath of my first orgasm, Ryder pulled himself up once more and entered me gently. We fucked passionately… and as beautiful as it was, I felt so very sad that I thought I was going to start crying right then and there. I wanted to tell him, but I just couldn’t bring myself to admit that I’d fallen in love with him. He had told me from the beginning that that was not who he was; it would be naïve now to think I could just tell him how I felt and expect the answer I wanted from him.

As we came to climax together, I wrapped my arms around his body, and I felt my body shudder with relief as the orgasm rocked us both. I felt a single tear slip from my eye, but I managed to wipe it away against the sheets before Ryder could notice.

Lying there in his arms, I stared up at the ceiling, and I realized how significant this moment was. We were two mismatched people who had come together unexpectedly and found solace and strength in one another’s company. And perhaps because we were so mismatched, it was hard to communicate sometimes. It was hard to be vulnerable, so when the time came, I knew we wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to one another.

But perhaps we had already done just that… the only way we knew how. We had expressed the significance of our relationship wordlessly, just now, with our bodies and our entwined limbs. It was the only way I knew to say goodbye.

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