Page 91 of Forget the Stars


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“Areyou sure Morgan won’t mind mestayin’ here?” Chadasked outside my apartment door.

Iscoffed as I found my keys. “Why on earth would she mind? She brings guys backhere all the time.”

“Um,well …” He shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He dropped his gazeto the floor, and I got the feeling he was embarrassed, although I couldn’tunderstand why.

“Whatis it?”

“Well,honestly, it’s that you only have one bathroom,” he replied bluntly.

Mychin lifted as I understood. My eyes met his and I replied, “Don’t worry aboutthat,” as I fitted the key into the door.

“Yeah,except Ihave toworry about that.”

“AndI’mtellin’ you not to. It’s okay. And if she saysanything about it, she can go ahead and find herself a new place to live.” Iturned the knob and the door swung open.

Chadsmiled, dipping his mouth to my ear. “You’re cute when you defend my honor.”

“I’llbe a lot cuter once I get some sleep. I’m exhausted.”

Igrabbed his hand and led him into the apartment and quietly, we walked throughto my bedroom. Before opening the door, I prayed that my room hadn’t been usedfor any weird sexual experiments in the time I’d been gone.

Thedoor swung opened with a creak and Chad winced. “Remind me to dosomethin’ about that after we wake up,” he whispered, and Irealized then that this was happening. He was here, in my apartment, and wewere about to get into bed together. It wasn’t us taking a nap as kids. Thiswasn’t camping together in our early teenage years and it wasn’t a comfortingreprieve while he was in the hospital. This was intimate. Us, as a couple, forthe first time.

Emotionand urgent lust overcame me as I threw my arms around his neck, pressing hisback against the doorframe. Standing on tiptoes, I pressed my mouth to his withan immediate ferocity that I felt in my belly all the way through my limbs,down to my fingers and toes. Chad responded with a low growl, primitive andanimalistic, as his arms wrapped around my lower back. He opened his mouth,taking the initiative, and then, there was the hesitant introduction of histongue, seeking the depths of my mouth with a gentle swipe against my bottomlip.

Myheart hammered against my chest, so loud and violent, as I parted my lips andgranted him permission. What if he didn’t like kissing me? What if this wasn’tat all what he expected?What if what ifwhat if.As his tongue slowly and carefully acquainted with mine, mythoughts worried and festered, and all I wanted was to settle down and enjoythis.

“Molly,”he murmured against my lips.

Holy hell.Chad’s voice. Chad’s arms. Chad’s mouth onmine. It was all so good, and yet, so scary, I was shaking. My breathspuffed with tremors, and I knew he noticed when he broke the kiss.

God,I was screwing this up already, and it’d barely begun.

“Hey.”One of his hands came to brush a few flyaway hairs off my face. “We don’t haveto do this.”

“No.”I shook my head. “I want to. Seriously, I do. It’s just …” I shrugged andforced a melancholy smile. “It’syou,and I don’twannamess this up.”

“You’renotmessin’ anything up,” he assured me. “Just relax,and whenever youwannastop, we can stop. Okay?”

Inodded, trying not to cry. Trying not to get too carried away in how perfectlypatient and understanding he was.

Slowly,I brought my lips back to his. I allowed myself to savor the moment,encouraging my worries and fears to remain at bay as our tongues moved togetherin time with our feet, and we stepped sideways into my room. Chad closed thedoor and secured the lock, before I reached for his shirt, clenching the fabricin my hands, and pulling him toward my bed.

Wefumbled in the dark with calves hitting the bedframe and a sloppy fall to themattress. Hands anxiously clawed and shirts were thrown haphazardly to thefloor. Kneeling on my bed, in the barely-there glow of an outdoor light, he waspractically a stranger. A body so simultaneously different and familiar. I knewthese hands, I knew these arms, but not like this. Nothing had ever been likethis.

Myfingertips roamed over his chest and brushed against the cool, metal ends ofthe steel piercing his nipples. Every touch was a new discovery into unchartedterritory, and I learned that he inhaled sharply when the jewelry was touched.

“Ilike these,” I whispered the confession as my thumbs rolled over the glintingdots of metal. “I’ve always thought they were hot.”

Chad’sgroan was guttural and primal. “Always, huh?”

Inodded. “Yeah. Theykindamake you wonder.”

“Aboutwhat?”

“Like,whatkindastuff you’re into,” I admitted and drew mylower lip between my teeth.

“Hm,”he grunted as his fingers hooked underneath my bra strap and tugged it lower, overmy shoulder and down my arm. His neck craned to trace the line from my earlobeto collarbone with the tip of his nose, and as though to prove a point, he sankhis teeth into my skin. I gasped with surprise, digging my fingertips into hischest, and when he kissed my imprinted flesh, warm and wet with his tongue, mysurprise was replaced with only lust.