2023 - Near Paris, France

[keptherwaiting]

Four hours outside of Paris in a eighteenth-century stone-built farmhouse is where the Whitlocks have been living for sixth months in blissful, post-second wedding (or vow renewal, depending on the view) bliss.

Jasper enters the said house late in the overcast afternoon and hears Alice on the phone with Esme. The separation has been harder on her than it has on him, he knows. He can sense her sadness now as she talks to Esme, but he also knows she’s been happy too. It’s strange, being away from their family for such an extended time, but also - good. They need this, and the timing was finally right.

He tries to give her the semblance of privacy as she finishes her call - or as much privacy as a vampire with super hearing can - and hums softly to himself as he washes the grime from his hands. He’s been working on one of the more derelict barns on the 28 acres they now own and it isn’t a very clean job.

Comments

[keptherwaiting]

“Definitely not,” Jasper says with a laugh and he closes the little distance between them to kiss her.

Not as heady or hungry as the kisses shared earlier but no less passionate.

[betagainstme]

She sighs against his lips, her hand curling at his side as she drinks him in.

It won’t be the last time, but she wishes once again, she could fall asleep here, in his arms, in the afterglow of their lovemaking. But then again, being able to see him for more hours in a day seems a better trade off.

“I love you.” Alice whispers into his kisses. “So much.”

[keptherwaiting]

“I love you too. So much,” with the words more felt as a puff of breath against her lips and the current of emotion he lets slip between them.

“Which,” he adds with a heavy sigh not a moment later, “is why I am willing to let you out of this bed so we can shower and go to Paris. If you still want.

“We’re gonna need a new mattress anyway.”