He hadn’t meant for his hand to linger. He had placed it on the bed beside her only for balance, only for a moment, only because the conversation had drifted into that late-night softness where everything felt too close and too honest.
But when he tried to pull his hand away, she followed.
Not with fingers—
with warmth.
Her palm slid lightly over his, catching him in the most subtle, intimate way. No force. No grip. Just the gentle, unyielding presence of her skin touching his as if his retreat simply wasn’t an option.
The warmth was… unmistakable.
Alive.
Intentional.
Her eyes lifted to meet his, and the look she gave him made his breath falter. It wasn’t bold or aggressive—it was knowing. Deeply, quietly knowing. The look of a woman who understands exactly how much power a single point of contact can hold.
“You’re leaving your hand too quickly,” she murmured.
He swallowed. “I— I didn’t mean—”
Her thumb brushed his palm.
Just one stroke.
Slow enough to make him forget what he was explaining.
Older women know how to turn a simple touch into a conversation of its own. She didn’t need to pull him closer; she let the warmth of her skin do it for her. The heat of her palm seeped into him, spreading up his arm, across his chest, down his spine.
He should’ve moved.
He didn’t.
Instead, he watched her fingers trace the center of his palm, mapping a silent pattern that made his whole hand relax involuntarily. His fingers curled slightly toward hers, a reaction he couldn’t hide.
She noticed.
Of course she did.
“You feel that?” she whispered—low, deliberate, as her fingertips paused right at the tender spot between his thumb and index finger. “That’s why you didn’t really want to pull away.”
He exhaled too sharply, and she smiled—slow, pleased, the kind of smile that comes from having perfect control without ever needing to assert it.
Then she lifted his hand—gently, but in a way that made clear she was guiding the moment—and placed it against her thigh beneath the blanket. Warm. Soft. Certain.
Her voice dropped to a near-breath:
“Now… don’t pull away again.”
And he didn’t.
