My eyes flicked between Jasper's with his approach, my pulse racing as he moved the bottle just behind me on the counter, his chest grazing mine. Jasper's cologne forced my heart to beat a familiar hum on its own. The heat from his body radiated through my blanket, tickling across my skin into my shaky knees. His defined arms caged me against the cabinets and I was putty, molding with his abdomen to lean backward against the sink. The fabric of his soft blue dress shirt brushed my fists as I grasped the blanket at my chest. It was a reckless, nostalgic burn that tingled throughout my core as I inhaled the delicious scent of Jasper. Shower wash, cologne, and the subduing smell of him.

I nodded in response, perhaps a little too feverishly in my reply, and subliminally invited him closer, yearning for his contact. Warmth crept into my belly, the reassuring longing for Jasper that never disappeared. It swirled around my soul, mixing with his merlot and my poor judgment. I felt him inhale at my neck while his hands released from the countertop and began discovering my blanket.

"We're not married anymore." The words barely escaped my parted lips as our foreheads touched.

Jasper's nose tickled against mine, grazing my cheeks before he whispered against my ear. Reaching inside the blanket, he found my hands as they shook with anticipation before Jasper slowly laced our fingers and lifted them around his neck.

"Then why are you wearing my t-shirt, Rose?"

The blanket was a thin barrier, no longer shielding me and containing the rapid pounding in my core as it pooled to my feet. Already weak, unable to hold myself up as his words and touch were a dangerously seductive serenade, I could only focus on the torturously blissful distraction of Jasper's fingers against my skin.

His thumbs skimmed the hem of my shirt, lifting it over my hips, dancing along my stomach. Jasper's touch seared my warm skin, leaving its mark in a tattoo painted by our emotions that sent ripples of ecstasy throughout my body.

"And only my t-shirt, Rose." Jasper continued, pulling his face away as his deep eyes burned into mine with a homesick hunger. I know that feeling.

Staring at him, my cheeks burned with the smile he pulled from me. Jasper's head shook against mine, barely moving from my ear. The warm hum of his deep laugh tickled my neck. I couldn't move. I was mush, pliable and...completely in need of Jasper.

 "You can stay over." The suggested fell through gasping lips as I closed my eyes and melted in response to Jasper's lips grazing my neck. "If you want."

"Of course I do," his tongue searched my neck, "but I never wanted to leave in the first place."

"I know." Logic and longing were sparring in such a way that my body, while melding into his hold, fell fixed. Softly rigid, unable to move or think.

"If I stay, promise you won't be mad at how much I tell you I love you. I mean, we've had a lot of wine tonight—"

"I promise."

"Good." His widening blue gaze scoured the length of me, awareness of him turning my skin ablaze. "I always liked this shirt. I'd like it better off though. May I?"

I felt the tickle of fire against my skin when I looked at him, trying to stifle a blush by biting my bottom lip while slowly nodding my permission. Jasper's eyes glowed once I lifted my arms into the air, giving him access to me. Tumbling forward, a shiver consumed me as his warm fingertips grazed my stomach while he gently pulled away the fabric.

The rapid beat of nerves teased my chest, this familiar yet equally unknown territory rattling me, so I tried to buy time and distract myself by reaching for a new bottle of wine. Glancing up to see Jasper's smirk as I took the bottle to my lips, his eyes taunted me with their radiance.

Slowly, he wrapped his fingers around the wine bottle with one hand, spreading his other palm against my bare hip.

Swallowing some of the wine swirling around my tongue, I lowered the bottle back to the counter with his hand still holding it. "Want some?" I flirted, grinning at him.

Jasper eyed me, nodding deliberately slow, pressing against me as I stood on tiptoes to reach his mouth.

Biting his bottom lip, I slid my tongue into the space between his warm, parted lips. I let the taste of a new, much cheaper, cabernet dance on our tongues, pulling away with a smile. Jasper licked his lips, lifted his thumb to gently wipe wine that clung to his lips, the pressure of him against me praise enough.

Winking, he reached for the bottle and took a small sip for himself, his eyes flicking between mine. "Delicious."

"Careful," I warned, tryingto hold back my grin, to restrain the heat burning between us. "You don't wantto be sick tomorrow and miss Drew's dinner." I didn't know what tomorrow would bring, short of confusion, but I was already trying to stifle the guilt of where I knew that moment would lead, and I was irrevocably unable to stop. "Drew has big plans for you know that you're...separated."

"Shut up, Rose." The bottle tumbled onto the counter as Jasper failed to handle it before he grabbed me, lifting me to him and spinning me around. Slamming my back against the cabinet hurt, but it was a good pain, a carnal reminder of how things used to be.

"Big plans," I whispered into his ear as he frantically undid the zipper of his jeans. Behind him, I could faintly hear the wine dripping from my countertop onto the cold wooden floor.

"Shut up," he snarled against my throat.

Lifting my palms to his hard shoulders, I rolled my fingertips back and forth, grinning at him. "Make me, Jasper," I challenged.

Every inch of me was on fire, screaming for his attention. It was natural, comfortable, and in that moment I wanted to screw the consequences and feel Jasper. Quivering beneath him as a wave of warmth overwhelmed me once his teeth grazed my neck and collarbone, pausing only to kiss my chest, I was his again.

Lowering my hands, I took in every curve of his muscles, feeling his warm, toned stomach as I lifted off his shirt. I wanted my fingertips to absorb every detail of him, but they already memorized Jasper, so this time I just felt. Winding my arms around his neck, I knotted my fingers into his hair, remembering he loved how tightly I'd grab it when we slept together.

"Rose," he moaned, pulling me away from the cabinet and effortlessly lowering us to the floor. The chill was refreshing against my seared skin, awakened only by Jasper's touch caressing my skin. It scoured every curve, his touch hard and soft in every place that mattered, looking for what he'd lost...for what I'd taken from him.

On my back, I fisted his hair again, pulling his face closer to mine as his mouth covered me with kisses, deep and daring.

"You'll always be my best friend, Jasper," I uttered, lifting my hips toward his bare, warm waist, anticipating the relentless pleasure about to shatter the ache I felt for him.

"And you," I could feel him, hovering while his fingers tormented me, "will always be my Rosebud."

Oh sweet lord. Why did we separate? If for nothing else, we should have stayed married for this and just for this. I saw stars, millions of them, shooting around my eyes as Jasper poured himself into me, panting against my wriggling body. We couldn't keep up with each other, the perfect match of desire and need only the other could quench.

Tangled legs spun around each other as we remained on the cold floor, fruitlessly attempting to catch our panting breath.

"Happy separation, Rosie." Jasper's lips met mine, pleading for entry with his gentle tongue.

"Happy separation, Jasper." I let myself taste the mouth I'd never gotten over, never wanted to be without, and found myself greedily pining for. I didn't let my mind wander to better judgment, reminding myself we separated, and instead focused on the intense pleasure of Jasper's weight against me.