CHAPTER 110: Just You

POV: Selene Castellano

He picked her up off the kitchen floor.

He didn't make a big deal out of it, he just stood up, held out his hand, and when she took it, he pulled her up and held on tight.

“Where are we going,” she said.

“Nowhere specific.”

He guided her to the bedroom, where he gently opened the window, allowing the soft evening air to drift in. Rather than flipping on the harsh overhead light, he opted for the warm glow of the small lamp that sat on the dresser.

“What are you doing,” she said.

“Making it not about Henderson.”

She observed him as he moved around the room, noticing a calm and deliberate air about him that she didn't often see. It wasn't like he was trying to impress her or put on a show, he was just being himself, taking his time, and carefully considering each step. There was a sense of slowness to his movements, like he was savoring every moment, and choosing his actions with a thoughtful intention.

He came back to her.

Avalon gripped the small metal tab of the zipper, the sound a sharp, rhythmic rasp in the heavy silence of the bedroom. He didn't pull it quickly. He paused every few inches, his gaze locked on Selene's reflection in the vanity mirror. Her eyes were clouded, the exhaustion from the Henderson company still clinging to her shoulders like a weight.

Is this okay?

Avalon's voice was a low rasp. He waited, his knuckles brushing against the warmth of her spine.

Yes,

Selene whispered. She leaned her head forward, exposing the pale curve of her neck. Just do it.

The dress slid down her hips in a pool of midnight silk, leaving her in a sheer lace bra and matching thong that cut deep into her soft flesh. Avalon stepped closer, the scent of her vanilla perfume mixing with the salty tang of her skin. He pressed his chest against her back, his heat seeping through the lace.

You were so quiet today,he murmured, his lips grazing the shell of her ear.

I just couldn't think about the office anymore, Avalon. I couldn't think at all.

He slid his hands around her waist, fingers digging into the dip of her hips. He felt her shiver, a tremor that traveled from her spine to her fingertips. He reached down, hooking his fingers under the thin string of her thong and tugging it slowly aside. He found her already damp, the slick heat of her pussy greeting his fingertips.

You're soaking, he breathed, his voice thickening.

Selene gasped, her back arching into him. She reached back, gripping his thighs, her nails digging through his trousers.

Stop talking, she commanded. Please.

Avalon didn't need a second invitation. He stripped his clothes away with frantic movements, his cock springing free, thick and pulsing with a heavy throb of blood. He turned her around, lifting her effortlessly and pinning her against the edge of the mahogany dresser. Her legs wrapped around his waist, the friction of her wetness rubbing against his thigh.

He leaned in, his mouth crashing against hers. It wasn't a gentle kiss; it was a collision. Their tongues clashed and tangled, sucking and swirling in a desperate exchange of saliva that sounded like wet slaps in the quiet room. Avalon groaned into her mouth, the sound vibrating through her chest.

He broke the kiss to look at her, his eyes dark with a primal hunger. He reached down, spreading her lips with his thumb and forefinger to reveal the swollen, bright red clit peeking through the folds of her pussy. He flicked it once, twice, and Selene let out a sharp, jagged cry, her head snapping back.

I want you inside, she whimpered, her voice breaking. Now.

Avalon positioned the head of his cock at her entrance, the pre-cum lubricating the tip. He pushed in slowly, feeling the tight ring of her muscles stretch and cling to him. The sensation was an overwhelming squeeze, a hot, velvet vice that threatened to end him instantly. He paused, letting her body adjust to the girth, the air between them whistling with heavy breaths.

God, you're so tight,,he groaned, his forehead resting against hers.

More, she urged, her hips bucking upward to pull him deeper. Give me more.

He slammed into her with a sudden, violent thrust, burying his length to the hilt. The impact made a loud, wet squelch as the air was pushed out of her orifice. Selene screamed, a sound of pure release, her fingers clutching his shoulders. He began to move, a rhythmic, driving pace that sent their bodies colliding with a steady, fleshy slap.

Shlick. Squelch. Shlick.

The sounds of their intersection filled the room, the lubrication of her pussy creating a frothy lather that sprayed against his balls with every downward stroke. Avalon's cock slid in and out, the friction building a searing heat. He could feel her internal walls pulsing, contracting around him in rhythmic waves of pleasure.

He shifted his angle, driving deeper to hit her cervix. Selene's eyes rolled back, her breath coming in short, panicked hitches.

Avalon, oh god, right there, she sobbed, her legs tightening around his back, pulling him in until there was no space left between them.

He increased the speed, his thrusts becoming shorter and more frantic. His balls slapped hard against her perineum, the sound wet and rhythmic. He felt the build-up, the tension in his lower back snapping like a bowstring. He let out a guttural roar, his body stiffening as he dumped a hot, thick load of cum deep inside her.

Selene followed immediately, her pussy clamping down on him in a series of violent spasms. She shuddered, her entire body vibrating as her orgasm ripped through her. They stayed locked together for a long moment, the only sound the ragged synchronicity of their breathing and the slow drip of fluids onto the wooden floor.

Later, much later, she lay against his chest, his fingers moving idly through her hair, the room dark except for the lamp’s small warm circle.

“Tell me something that isn’t about today,” she said.

He thought for a moment.

He recalled a childhood memory, saying "I was just nine years old when Nene took me to see the ocean, just the two of us. She made a point to tell me that the company would always be there when I grew up, but the ocean was something that wouldn't wait for me, it was something I had to experience now.

“That’s very her.”

“She made me put my feet in even though it was January and the water was freezing.”

“Did you cry.”

“I was nine. Of course I cried.”

She laughed against his chest.

“What else,” she said.

“Your turn,” he said.

She thought.

She remembered when she was sixteen, she had big dreams of becoming an architect. Back then, she would sketch houses in the margins of all her notebooks. Her sister Maya thought they were so good that she would rip out the pages and tape them to her wall, like they were part of some fancy art exhibit. It was pretty cool, looking back on it. Maya had a way of making her feel like her drawings were really something special.

“What happened to that.”

“Life happened to that.” She traced a pattern on his skin. “ I think about it sometimes. What that version of me would think of this one.”

“What do you think she’d think.”

Selene considered it honestly.

“I think she’d be surprised,” she said. “ Not disappointed. She thought she knew exactly who she’d become.”

“Nobody knows that,” he said.

“No,” she agreed. “ Nobody does.”

His hand stilled on her back.

“Selene.”

“Yes.”

“I want to ask you something and I want you to actually think before you answer.”

She lifted her head to look at him.

“What.”

He wondered what would have happened if things had been different. No will, no marriage clause, no Nene pushing them together. If they had just gone their separate ways, lived their own lives. He stopped for a moment, thinking about it. Do you think, he asked, that we would have still ended up together somehow?

She was quiet for a long moment.

She spoke candidly, "To be honest, I'm not really sure. Part of me wants to say yes, I want to think that we were always meant to be here, that it was somehow inevitable. But at the same time, I'm not entirely convinced - I wish I could believe that our journey was always leading us to this point, no matter what."

“But.”

"Honestly, I believe we had to be pushed together. We'd both created whole lives around avoiding each other. I don't think we would've chosen to meet up like this on our own, it just wouldn't have happened. We'd gotten too good at staying apart, and it took something else to bring us back together."

He was quiet.

“That’s not romantic,” she said. “ I know.”

“It’s honest,” he said. “ I prefer honest.”

“Do you think we’d have found each other,” she asked.

He thought about it.

He finally spoke up, "No, I don't think I would have changed a thing. I would have stayed right where I was, hiding behind all the walls I built around myself, for the rest of my life." He turned to her, his eyes locking onto hers. "Nene knew that about me, and I think that's exactly why she did what she did - she saw the real me, trapped behind those walls, and she knew I needed a push to break free."

“Forced us.”

“Saved us,” he said. “ From ourselves specifically.”

“That’s a strange thing to be grateful for,” she said. “ Being manipulated into love.”

“It’s not manipulation if she was right,” he said.

“She was right.”

“Then it’s just love arriving the only way it could.”

It was midnight when she woke up, and to her surprise, he was still wide awake, staring blankly at the ceiling above them.

She spoke up, her voice still heavy with sleep, "You're doing that thing again."

“What thing.”

“The thinking too loud thing.”

He almost smiled in the dark.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand at 1 AM.

She ignored it.

It buzzed again.

She didn't bother lifting her head from his chest, she just reached for it.

Maya.

Three words.

Kofi proposed. Yes.

Selene suddenly sat up, and Avalon, who was sleeping beside her, woke up with a start.

“What,” he said. “ What happened.”

She couldn't help but smile as she turned her phone to face him.

He read it.

Looked at her.

“We need champagne,” he said.

“It’s one in the morning.”

“We have champagne in the apartment.”

“Avalon—”