Page 44 of Pining for Pierce

“I’m fine.”

He lowers his left hand, taking mine, and raises it, placing it over his heart. When he did this the other evening, I thought he was playing games, but it seems I may have misjudged him, and I shift a little closer, breathing him in.

We both know there’s a fairly sharp bend in the road ahead, and he lowers my hand, placing it on his waist before he puts his back on the handlebars, changing down a couple of gears as we lean together. I love this… the sense of working as one, and as we straighten again, I rub my hands up and down over his abdomen.

“That feels good,” he says, moving his left hand and reaching behind, placing it on my leg.

“Hmm…” I clench my thighs, smiling at the slight groan that fills my helmet.

“This is how it should be,” he says.

“It is.”

“It feels different, riding with you as my girlfriend.”

Girlfriend? The word makes me smile and I nod my head, even though he can’t see me. “Yeah, it does. It’s so much better.”

“It is,” he says. “It really is, babe.” And as he speaks, he reaches around behind me and pulls me even closer. “Do you wanna stop for a while?” he asks, surprising me, although when I look to my left, I notice we’re close to one of the places we oftengo for him to sketch. It’s a quiet spot by the creek, sheltered by some trees, and as much as I’m enjoying myself, the prospect of sitting by the creek with him sounds even better.

“I’d love to.”

He chuckles, slowing the bike, then taking a turn down a track, weaving through potholes in the road until we reach the end, where he stops, switching off the engine. He supports the bike for a moment, waiting for me to climb off, then lowers the kickstand, dismounting, and turning to face me, flipping up his visor. I do the same, then reach up to unfasten my helmet, but he gets there first.

“Let me do that,” he says in my ear, undoing the strap, his eyes never leaving mine, except for that brief second when I pull off my helmet.

I may have braided my hair again this morning, too upset to do anything else, but a few strands have come loose, and Pierce reaches out, pushing them back behind my ears. He’s done that before, but it’s never felt this intimate. He’s never studied my lips, while doing it, or made me think he might kiss me.

He doesn’t, but the thought’s still there as he pulls off his helmet, too, pushing his fingers back through his dark hair. The helmet has flattened it, and he messes it up again, a slight curl falling over his forehead, before he locks both of our helmets on the bike… mine at the back, and his at the front.

“Ready?” he says, and although I’m still longing for that kiss, I nod my head and let him lead me over toward the creek. It’s only a few paces, and once we’re there, he pulls off his jacket, lying it on the ground so we can sit.

“Did you bring your sketchpad?” I ask, shifting just a little closer to him and unzipping my jacket. I let it roll from my shoulders and he takes it, putting it down beside him.

“No,” he says, looking down at me. “I’m happy just to sit here with you… just to look at you.”

“Just to look?” I say, tilting my head slightly.

“Well…” he whispers, leaning in and placing a finger beneath my chin. He raises my head a fraction, tipping it back. “May I?” His meaning is obvious and I nod as he lowers his lips until they meet mine in the most gentle of kisses. After everything Kaiden did, this is exactly what I need, and as Pierce brushes his lips across mine, over and over, asking nothing, expecting less, I wonder if he realized that.

His kiss may be gentle and undemanding, but it’s by no means brief. I don’t know how long he takes over caressing my lips with his, but it’s long enough to make me miss him when he pulls back, slowly opening his eyes and gazing down at me.

“You do really strange things to me,” he says, his finger still beneath my chin, his eyes filling with wonder as they roam over my face.

“I do?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of strange things?”

He smiles. “There’s the obvious,” he says, raising his eyebrows and shifting his hand to the side of my face, cupping my cheek with a silky caress.

“The obvious?”

“Yeah. I’m a guy. You’re a very beautiful, very alluring woman. What do you think the obvious is?” I’m blushing. I know I am, and he smiles again. “Sorry, but I can’t help it,” he says.

“Okay.” I nod slowly, trying to pretend this is a perfectly normal state of affairs for me. “But is that so strange? I mean, if you don’t understand why that happens…”

He chuckles. “I understand precisely why that happens, and given how beautiful and alluring you are, it’s not so strange at all. Not that we have to do anything about it.”

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