“Well, it’s pretty much what it is. Make sure I don’t get into any trouble. Keep me safe.”
She frowned. “I forgot about that whole Fiona stalker thing. It was what brought Dani and Nash together.”
I nodded. It was the only good that had come out of what I always called the Fiona Fiasco. But like Tristan had said, it had brought Dani and Nash together, so I couldn’t completely regret it. Their love had survived life and death in an epic fashion.
“I keep forgetting you’re friends with them,” I said. “It’s strange we both revolved around the same people but never really met.”
Our elbows bumped together as we walked, allowing more waves of awareness to coast over me.
“Oh, I saw you. You just didn’t see me,” Tristan said with laughter in her voice.
I shook my head. “I’m not sure how that’s possible. You’re bright and shiny and impossible to ignore.”
She caught her breath, steps faltering before she continued.
I stopped, pulling her arm so we were facing each other. “Like right now, it’s dark as sin. There’s no moon, and yet, I feel like I’ve got my flashlight on. A beam of pure radiance is shimmering around me…from you.”
Her eyes were shadowed in the darkness, and while I couldn’t see their golden color, her whole face did seem to glow. That light from within.
“You’ve got pretty smooth moves, but you forget you’re the realestrella,” Tristan said. The real star.
I took a chance, running a hand along her face. The shimmer of light that exuded from her was matched by the smooth texture of her skin. Soft. Warm. Silky. Something I could imagine wrapping myself in.
She didn’t push me away, but she did stiffen as if the tender touch was something she was unaccustomed to. It made me wonder how long it had been since she’d been touched by someone who only wanted her.
I inched my body closer so we were touching as we had while we danced with one hand at the soft bend just above her hip and her full breasts pushed up against my chest. The buttons of her jean jacket pressed into me, only increasing the awareness of every single spot where we met. A deep ache filled me. I ached to join our mouths like I’d never kissed a woman before, as if this was my very first time in high school, my body vibrating with unforgettable pleasure and yet hesitant.
The uncertainty lingered, holding me back when I would normally have driven forward. The appropriateness of crossing this line with her was hanging in the air around me. She’d been hurt and lost so much. She needed someone to stay when I only had a track record of leaving. Of forgetting the ones I was supposed to be watching over.
But the desire to taste her was so much stronger than the doubts that I found myself breathing out, “Can I kiss you?”
She searched my face, and I wasn’t sure what she expected to find there except the longing that I felt. My body throbbing with the knowledge that it would eventually wither away if I was unable to savor her. Unable to sample those pink lips.
She responded by putting her hands on my waist. They shook. I could feel them through my T-shirt. I wasn’t sure if it was from desire or trepidation. She tilted her chin up, mouth parting ever so slightly.
“Yes.” She said it so quietly it was almost not a word. A breath of fairy dust, enticing me.
I lowered my mouth and touched hers gently. The soft plushness of our two parts merged into a mixed entity, and holy fires of hell, she was sweet. The berry flavor of the Chambord lingering, barely covering a deeper, hidden flavor. Cream soda and bitter chocolate. Such incredible sweetness that it forced a groan from the back of my throat. I instinctively pulled her tighter while my tongue pushed at the seam of her lips, demanding more of the caramelized sugar and hints of berry lingering there.
She opened for me, face tilting in my hand, as I slowly licked the inside of her mouth. Touching and exploring. She returned the movements. Soft and gentle, causing a wave of lust to hit me, causing my body to burst into showers of spun sugar.
We stood for what might have been an eternity with our lips and tongues writing a tender path on each other. Our bodies mingled but holding back so just our mouths made this initial step. A first kiss that rewrote the meaning of first kisses. As if there’d never been a more melodic and yet hotter attempt at a beginning.
It was just that. A beginning.
She crushed that thought when she pulled away, closed her eyes, and groaned. It was full of regret. When I tried to put my hand back on her arm, she stepped even farther away.
Her chocolate and spun-sugar-scented lips escaped me as she said, “I’m sorry.”
It took themoreI was dreaming of and shoved it back at me.
Tristan
I WONDER WHAT YOU KISS LIKE
“I wonder what your lips feel like
When they’re pressin’ up against mine all night.”
