The rain started slow.
A whisper against the window.
Then a hush.
Then a growl.
By the time the power flickered, Jesse had already lit candles.
"Romantic or apocalyptic?" I asked, grinning.
"Depends," he muttered, setting down a lighter. "You planning on surviving the night?"
I raised an eyebrow.
And dropped my towel.
---
The only thing I wore was his chain.
Heavy. Warm. Resting just above my collarbone.
I stood in the center of the kitchen, candlelight licking across my skin.
His eyes darkened the second he saw me.
"You're trying to kill me."
"No," I whispered. "I'm trying to feed you."
---
He didn't rush.
He circled me slowly, like a wolf deciding whether to pray or devour.
One hand on my waist.
One finger tracing the chain.
"You know what this means when you wear it like that."
I nodded.
"It means I'm yours."
---
He'd cleared the kitchen table immediately pushed me gently onto it.
The same one we'd eaten breakfast on.
Laughed over bills on.
Signed the lease at.
And now?
He laid me across it like a feast.
---
The first touch was reverent.
The second—ruinous.
He kissed the hollow of my throat, right where the chain touched skin.
Then lower.
Then inside.
And when he pushed into me, slow and deliberate, the thunder cracked like applause.
Shit,it was intense and this cranky feeling under my tummy.
I moaned.
"Jesse—"
"I know, baby. I know."
---
He moved like he was claiming me.
But every thrust said he already had.
And when I wrapped my legs around him, back arching, the candles flickered—
as if the storm outside wanted in on the heat.
---
At the edge of everything, he grabbed the chain.
Fisted it.
And with a voice that barely held together, growled:
"Say it."
"I'm yours."
"Louder."
"I'm yours, Jesse!"
---
We came together like lightning.
Blinding.
Violent.
Beautiful.
And when he collapsed against me, sweat-soaked and trembling, the storm quieted.
Like even the sky had been satisfied.
---
We stayed on the table.
Breath mingling.
Hearts syncing.
And in the dark, he whispered—
"You make me believe in redemption."
I smiled against his jaw.
"You make me believe in staying."
"Thanks for not pushing me away also".