Page 110 of Yours, Forever

Max was supposed to leave in half an hour, if he wanted to make it to the nearest airport in time.

I frowned as he put two pairs of shoes in a traveling bag and into the suitcase. "Now what? What happens after London tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure. I will probably have to be in London for a few days; I might have to go other places as well. This is too important to discuss over video. I need to make these Board members feel special, so I need to visit them in person. The extra privacy is great, too."

I closed the laptop and put it in its briefcase. "If you gave me a rough estimate… are we thinking a week? Two? A month?"

"I'm hoping I won't have to stay around after the board meeting my dad's team called for." He closed the suitcase and put it on the floor next to the carry-on. A second later, he took his jacket from the hook behind the door, and folded it on top of the smaller piece of luggage.

Restless, I stood and dried my hands on my jeans. I didn't like any of it. At all. In particular my empty closet, and having Max leave.

Max gazed around the room, checking that he took everything he needed. He even patted his pockets, making sure his phone and wallet were there as expected. His eyes were unfocused; his mind was clearly elsewhere, likely in the big cities he would soon be in, and the people he would meet there.

"You'll come back, right?" I whispered.

His sight snapped my way. He straightened. "I'm planning to."

I pressed my lips together and nodded.

He frowned and stepped in closer. "I'm going to come back."

"Good. Yeah." I hated that my voice had almost disappeared. There was no power in my vocal cords. "Of course. It's not been eighteen months yet, right? So unless whatever your dad has planned ends up changing things after all, and you discover there's no need for the marriage anymore…"

"What? Darling." He took my face in his hands. "That's not going to happen. Our deal still stands."

"Great. I… I'm counting on it." I put my hands on his chest and gulped. "I'm not ready for you to go."

"Oh. No." He pulled me closer, his arms around my shoulders again. I let him envelop me, his warmth and smell around me. "I have to go, but I'll come back. Then we'll have as many years together as you'll give me."

"Or that you will still want," I mumbled against his torso. "Sometime down the line."

His heart beat strong and fast under my ear. "Don't you know? I want them all."

My pulse was so strong I felt its echoes in my neck, the pattern a mirror of the two-beat pump in Max's chest.

I heard his gulp. I waited for the promises I knew he wanted to make.

"I won't kiss you," he said. "You asked me not to, but… will you kissme?"

Not the promise I expected, but a promise nevertheless.

Kissing him meant admitting this was more than a deal. All pretense aside, deadlines ignored, divorce not certain anymore.

I put my forehead on his chin. His hands fell to the rounds of my hips; he pulled until our fronts lined up, my belly and thighs against his body.

His voice came out raspy, a hint of desperation in it. "Have you ever wanted to be touched so badly that you ache? An agony for weeks, ever since the balcony in New York. That's how badly I need you to kiss me, Eva."

I pressed my lips on the space under his clavicles. I undid a couple of his buttons, and tried again, right on his skin.

"I have to go," he said. "I'll come back. And if you kissed me now…"

I undid another shirt button, and the top one of his vest. I kissed his skin again.

"I'm in pain. Fully wretched. I know I'm always teasing you and I deserve this, but these little kisses are killing me, darling."

I smiled and opened the fabric of his clothes further, and kissed him again.

His fingers dug into my skin, asking for more. "I want your lips on mine. I need to know that you can see a future for us. That we don't need to think of our marriage as a loveless contract."