Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

pulled back and stared, noticed the flush to Omar's alabaster cheeks, the unevenness of his breathing. "Wait, are you actually real?"
    "Very real, Jesse, and very sorry for being such a fool. You're right. We should at least try. What have we got to lose?"
    Still not sure whether to believe what he saw before him, Jesse stroked a hand along Omar's jaw. So soft, like he'd just this second finished shaving. "I already lost everything when you walked away from me the last time."
    Omar cupped his hand over Jesse's. Warm, he was so warm and solid.
    "And I regret it. I didn't understand how much I love you."
    "You love me?"
    Jesse squeaked as Omar wrapped him up in strong arms. "Oh, Jesse, you have no idea. It's been hell trying to stay away from you. But I'm here now if you want me."
    "Not just a one night stand?" Omar shook his head. "Not just friends getting intimate?" Omar smiled but shook his head again. "You want to be with me, my… boyfriend?"
    "If I'm hopeless, you can kick me out."
    "Kick your ass, maybe, but never kick you out. If you come through this door with me, promise you'll never leave?"
    "I don't ever want to leave you."
    Thoughts piled up in Jesse's brain. Good thoughts. Bad thoughts. Very good bad thoughts. Too many to process all at once. "Do I get to touch you?"
    "I'd be very disappointed if you didn't." Omar crushed Jesse against the wall, lips trailing a line along the side of his neck. "I have a little touching of my own I'd like to take care of." The sweep of Omar's hand along Jesse's inner thigh made his chest ache.
    "Inside." Jesse pushed Omar against the open door. "Now." Heat and warmth and the echo of Omar's chuckle bled into every breath, every touch, every moment that had been lost but now restored along with Jesse's heart.
    ****
    A moment of clarity registered in Jesse's mind. So many questions. "Where did you go?"
    "I went home. It probably sounds silly, but I needed to speak to my dad."
    "You were gone weeks. Months. Where does he live, the moon?"
    "Much further than that, sweetheart."
    "You never make any sense when I try to talk about things that matter."
    "Don't be mad with me. Things will be clearer soon."
    "You're not going away again, are you?"
    "I'm not planning to. But I need to think about work. Not now, though. Now I want to make up for lost time."
    "That's the most sense you've made so far." And the moment slipped away as quickly as it had come.
    ****
    Jesse's body hummed contentedly. It ached in all the right places, the memories of which made him smile as he stretched out across the bed, the soft linen sheets cocooning him in this new heaven he'd discovered. After so many weeks of heartache, the weekend of sex, sauce, and more sex had left him dazed and exhausted.
    He opened his eyes, catching a glimpse of the huge bouquet of flowers and the heart-shaped box of chocolates Omar had brought back the day before after realising it was Valentine's Day, and smiled again. It was almost too good to be true. The sex had been. It was practically an out of body experience, a melding of minds or souls or some such. Certainly like nothing he'd ever experienced before. Jesse was tempted to think soulmates even though it sounded kooky but there was something… otherworldy about their connection, he just knew it. And he could finally grasp why Omar had been afraid. It was daunting to love someone so much. Scary. But there was nothing that compared. Jesse would sacrifice anything, everything for Omar. He'd thought that was how he felt before, but now—now Omar was onside, since he'd given himself so completely, so awesomely for hours and hours in several marathon lovemaking sessions—it was even more cut and dried. Omar was air, Omar was purpose, Omar was life itself. If life had meaning before Jesse couldn't remember it. But now, now he was complete.
    He sat up and looked around, aware for the first time that he was alone. "Omar?" He slipped off the bed and checked the bathroom and the kitchen, a trickle of fear running through him. "Don't' be silly, he said he was here for good this time. Just out buying more flowers." But something was wrong. Jesse felt it in a part of himself he wasn't sure he'd had before the weekend. He couldn't even explain it, but it was like the space in the world Omar usually took up was empty. He was gone. Missing from the world. Again. The earth shook, the heavens thundered, and Jesse's soul let out a silent scream.
    ****
    Present day .
    "Come on then." Omar