At first, Marcus hadn't known why he couldn't seem to stay asleep. What dreams he had time to have were strange and he would wake up with a start to find that almost no time at all had passed. It was only when he recognized the outline of Katie's body against the barely lit sky that Marcus realized that he'd been waiting for her, hoping if not expecting her to come to him again just one more time before the guilt overtook everything and buried them both alive.
Far from stiffening, Marcus finally felt himself begin to relax now that Katie was back where she belonged. Her skin was cold to the touch but it warmed him from within as she pressed in close. Marcus's eyes closed against the wave of emotion, at the tightness in his chest and throat, telling himself sternly to remember this moment because it would never happen again.
He'd just begun to wonder how he was going to convince Katie to stay when her lips brushed his jaw. By the time they reached his lips, Marcus's heart was pounding, fingers itching to touch, to feel, arms desperate to hold and to keep holding as long as she would allow. His lips parted against hers, the words one last time ringing in his ears as he tasted her just one last time. It was impossible, with the taste of her lips on his and the scent of her surrounding him again, to keep his hands still. They slid around her back to lift Katie above him and brushed down to her thighs, releasing a puffed breath rather than the moan that wanted to escape and pulling her closer. What could he possibly say, what could he possibly do, to make her stay just one more night?
Rather than say anything, Marcus's fingers dug into the crease of her thigh to pull it properly over his hip and deepened the kiss yet further, pouring all he had into the connection: please. Please stay with me.