I couldn't tell you what time it is if I wanted to. I'm sitting in a warm paradise, wrapped in cotton sheets and tangled in burning skin.
Thomas is behind me, his arms draped over my shoulders. He's holding me against his chest as though if he released me this moment would vanish from our memories.
His legs are an either side of mine, neither of us wearing an ounce of clothing.
I draw delicate circles on his arms, intoxicated by this moment. This is purgatory. We're hanging between recovering from one round of sexual exploration, and preparing for another.
If it were possible I'd never let him exist anywhere else but inside of me. The feeling I get as soon as he penetrates my body is pure ecstasy, and I'm high on loving him.
"What are you thinking about?" Thomas asks me, whispering softly in my ear, his chin resting in the nook of my neck.
I smile and kiss his arm as it rests on my chest.
"I'm thinking that I could never be happier than I am in this moment with you."
Thomas kisses a soft wet trail from the base of
my ear to the edge of my shoulder. His hold releases just enough so that I can move my head and give him better access to my skin.
The question what's after this? lingers in the air, but for now we blissfully ignore it.
"Sophia Lane.." Thomas purrs my name against my shoulder, and it feels good to hear both names from his mouth.
"You were made for me, darling," he adds and I grip his arms tighter around myself in response.
Thomas leans back until his head collides with a pillow, and I fall back with him.
I turn over so that I'm facing him, our chests pressed firmly together now.
I move some hair off of his forehead and grin. "When I first saw you your hair was so much shorter,"
"Yeah, that haircut was a mistake," he responds laughing and runs his fingertips down my back.
"Tell me what you were thinking the first time you saw me," I prompt Thomas and he blushes, biting his cheek.
"Don't make me answer that, darling. It's embarrassing." I giggle at his sudden coyness.
"No, I definitely have to know now." I tease him. "Fine." He gives in, but first he rolls us over so he's on top of me.
I settle in comfortably between the sheets and his warm body as it smooshes me.
He loves the control he has on my body, but I love it more.
"Well, I remember I woke up that morning unbelievably excited. It was my very first day at this university and it almost didn't feel real. I got to campus and it felt like there was a target on my back. Apparently there's something arousing about a professor whose under forty, and I was desirable number one."
I roll my eyes, unwarranted jealousy stirring up slightly in my stomach.
Thomas grins at me, amused, and keeps going.
"But I figured, whatever, I can't be swayed by these teenagers. I get to my class room to prepare, thinking I have plenty of time when suddenly you walk in, fifteen minutes early!"
"Yeaaahhh.." I admit.
"I look up to see who has come in, and I see you and honestly I felt really nervous and sick because I began questioning my own resolve. You were too beautiful to be real. But I thought you know what? It's fine. She's probably just some stereotypical hot girl who can barely write a proper sentence, much less a full book report. I'll be fine. Boy was I wrong."
I blush and smile really big at Thomas's expense then I pull him in for a quick kiss.
"Keep going."
"You start talking to me about Edgar Allan Poe, of all things, and deeper meanings to The Raven, and you smiled, and fidgeted, and fucking blew me away. You were already the most unbearably beautiful woman I'd ever seen, but your mind was just as captivating. Honestly, I wanted to bend you over one of those awful little writing desks and fuck you stupid, but that's illegal and I thought better of it."
"Fuck me stupid?!" I choke out those words as I suffocate on my own laughter.
"Of course! Then you wouldn't be quite so alluring."
I take several moments to recover as Thomas smiles down at me with a look of pure infatuation.
"Now, why don't you tell me how you came to the idea of secretly seducing your Professor?"
I sigh, Supposing it's only fair that I explain myself.
"You left bookish-escapes open on your computer one day after class and I saw your username. I already had an account so I thought what harm could there be in some innocent messaging?"
"Innocent?" Thomas repeats with a chuckle so I emphasize "Yes! Innocent, but you were just so... incorrigible."
"I'll show you incorrigible," Thomas growls playfully and grabs my right breast with his warm fingers, kissing my shocked mouth.
"Exactly," I gasp the word once he breaks away, a look of satisfaction on Thomas's face.
"Keep going." He urges me, and I whimper in disappointment as he removes his hand.
"Well obviously we started talking a lot. Everyday in fact. And I started realizing that this wasn't just talking. I felt so bad about lying but I didn't know how to stop, and I was afraid you'd be furious."
Thomas spreads my thighs apart and pins my wrists above my head.
"Oh I am furious, Sophia," he groans "Keep going."
I try to find my voice but it's gone, his teasing wiping my thoughts of anything that isn't him.
"I ... I decided to end it because I knew I was in love with you, and if you love someone you can't just string them along," I swallow hard under Thomas's strong gaze "And I went to that park to cry."
Thomas kisses me rough and slow, then breaks apart as quickly as he had begun.
"And now...now I don't think I could ever picture a future without you in it."
The look on Thomas's face is unforgettable as he whispers "You'll never have to."
Thomas's words sink down to the depths of my soul, and I pull him in for a hungry kiss. He quickly returns it and starts pulling away any blankets that dared come between us.
I bend my knees and Thomas settles in between them. His hands desperately grab my hips, our lips passionately entwined, as he pushes deeply inside of me once more, sealing our promises in flesh.
***
I wake up to a black room, the only light streaming in through a slit in the curtains.
Thomas is sleeping peacefully beside me. I look over at him and can't help but want to cry from the sheer happiness inside of my heart.
I slowly ease myself out of his bed and walk to the balcony, appreciating the cool air radiating off of the glass. I look out at a sea of white the likes of which I've never seen in North Carolina.
I find Thomas's dress shirt on the floor and throw it on, hiding the bulk of my shame from any possible passerby's.
Taking a deep breath, I unlatch the balcony door and slip out into the unrelenting cold.
My bare toes sink into powdery snow as I walk to the edge of the balcony and stare up at the silver orb hanging among the stars.
Delicate crystal flakes continue to fall as I stare upwards, my heart so full it could burst.
Thomas Crane is laying naked in the room behind me. His scent is on my body and on his shirt. It fills my senses with a feeling of comfort, and I hardly notice the cold as it nips at my skin.
The streets are invisible below, no cars or cabs even daring to drive through the pale sea.
The city that never sleeps has been rendered comatose by this onslaught of white.
I have the strongest suspicion that our flight will be delayed tomorrow, but I don't mind.
I don't ever want to go home. Home is complicated.
I'm not looking forward to hiding my relationship with Thomas for the next year, but I will do whatever It takes to keep him in my bed and no one else's.
It's taken me so long to find that forever feeling, and now that it's in my grasp I will never let it go. Whatever hardships come with loving this man, I will handle them with all of the fierce strength in my being.
I look back at the half empty bottle of scotch on the coffee table inside of the hotel room and sigh to myself.
My back rests against the cold iron railing on the balcony as I stare at that amber liquid.
Is it just a crutch or is it an addiction?
I know Thomas must have baggage I don't know about yet, but we all do. Luckily for him I'm stronger than I look.
I run my fingers through my snow covered hair and close my eyes, embracing this moment and all of its perfection.
I used to think I hated the cold, but now I see I just hated having no one there to warm me afterwards.
"Why do I always find you barefoot in the cold?" Thomas asks, causing my eyes to flutter open.
He's standing on the other side of the door completely naked and grinning.
"I'm just happy you found me." I whisper in return.
***
A/N: Some beautiful Tophia fluff <3