All Over Again

| Chapter Forty-Three |

Raffo ended up staying until first light at the trio of cousins' apartment.

Ruth had made sure to lock her bedroom door to prevent the girls from bargaining in, though it was pointless seeing as they stayed at a friends house anyway, before crawling back into the warm arms of Raffo Leflore, who was perfectly content with watching the moon and the early sun dance across her features. They were both utterly exhausted, but refused to fall asleep as they stared at one another with something that could only be described in movies.

His forefinger had danced across the intimate features of her warm, sepia skin. They feathered over the light freckles under her eyes and over the bridge of her nose, tracing the outer lines of her full lips, the mountains in her cheekbones. She had done the same thing, treating his face like a beautifully painted canvas. She marveled over his airbrushed lashes, the sketch of his cupid's bow lips, and the splashes of dark watercolor that had sprouted over the past week along his once clean shaven jaw.

Dark tendrils of silken hair brushed over his sharp cheekbone after he turned his head to kiss her palm, and she used her fingertips to bush the strands away from his face.

"Pisa achukma," she whispered to him.

The corner of Raffo's lip quirked up.

"Aiukli," he whispered back, tugging at one of her ringlet curls that had fallen over her cheek. He had moved so he was hovering over her, enjoying being completely enraptured by the view.

Ruth smiled softly at him and glanced down at the dark bruise along his side. Carefully, she stroked the tender skin there, wishing she could just whisk it away. His pain was her pain; his markings her markings. A hit to Raffo was a hit to Ruth.

"I never told you," Raffo said, drawing her attention back, as her gaze flickered back up to his. A playful smirk tugged at his lips, eyelid dropping in a wink. "It was pretty sexy seeing you drop Roger on his ass Friday."

Ruth laughed out loud at that one. "Sexy? You're such a dog, Leflore."

Raffo's chuckle heated Ruth's chest, temporarily dissolving her worry. His eyes full of pride made her heart do a skillful backflip. "I didn't know you could do that."

"I told you I knew Jiu-Jitsu."

"You did," he agreed. "But still—"

Ruth wrapped a naked thigh around Raffo's waist and pushed him over onto his back, easily catching him off guard as she sat above him, legs straddling his hips. He stared up at her, dazed and definitely turned on, just as he'd been last night.

"Fuck," he breathed, his tongue swiping hungrily across his bottom lip.

"Again?" she teased, pushing her uncovered lower half against him until he inhaled sharply and gripped her waist in his large hands. Not at all caring that she was completely naked above him with her newfound confidence, she sighed out with a roll of her hips, wanting him inside her again.

"And here I was, thinking you couldn't get any fucking sexier," Raffo said. His voice was hoarse and needy with a hunger that only Ruth could quench.

Before she could move her hips and push him back inside her herself, Raffo moved her body back and held her right above his erect shaft. Ruth whimpered at the feel of him hovering below her slick entrance that only grew wetter the longer he held her above him. It was his turn to tease her now, as he drifted her over the tip of him, both of their wet fleshes grazing against each other in what could only be described as a torturous agony for both of them.

"Raff," Ruth whimpered, trying and failing to push her body down his length. She rolled her neck until her head was pushed back and her curls covered her back. "P—please!"