Page 44 of Between Now and Forever

I’m messing this up and I refuse to let that happen. I can’t say what I want to, but I can show him.

I’m scared. Even though he’s said he’s interested, I can see that I will have to be the one to make a move. So, I call on my courage and take a step toward him.

His eyes narrow when I slip a hand around the back of his neck. He doesn’t miss a beat; his hands slide around my waist, and he closes the distance between us. My breasts press into the solid wall of his chest and I can feel the thump of his heart against my own.

Our faces are only an inch apart, his lips are slightly parted and mossy green eyes are devouring every inch of my face.

I cup his jaw, and marvel at the scrape of his stubble against the palm of my hand. God… I could get used to touching him like this. So easily.

“So, is that a yes?” he asks, and the cinnamon from the chai fills the next breath I inhale.

I raise up on my toes so that we’re nose to nose and my lips start to throb.

“Yes. Come back. I’m very attracted to you, too.”

And then I lean forward, slowly bringing my lips toward his. He cups the back of my head, and it fits perfectly in the cradle of his big palm like it was carved from the same bone.

His nose brushes the tip of mine.

Once.

Twice.

I’m melting from the inside out. My nipples tighten so fast they sting, and the space between my thighs starts to throb again, this time though the pulsing is deep and there’s a pressure building. My hips rock forward and when I feel the hard evidence of his desire, a moan unfurls from the deepest part of me and spills out of my mouth in a whimper.

“Fuck…that sound,Beth,” he growls before he claims my mouth.

The heat of his kiss surprises me, and I gasp. He slides his tongue between my parted lips, and the sugar, cinnamon and clover on his breath is heady and divine.

I wrap my arms around his shoulders and let him lead us.

The dance turns into a feast, and our lips and tongues make merry.

Thatthismagic is my first kiss feels like an early birthday gift. And maybe an apology from the universe. After my experience with Duke, this kiss is an elixir of good karma, serendipity, and cosmic kismet.

In my mind’s eye, I see visions of us - our kissing mouths sealed together, eyes closed. Our bodies are a midnight blue flecked with gold. We have stars for eyes and moonbeams for hair, and we hover above the ground on wings spun from silvery starlight. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and I know that I will find a way to put it on paper.

This kiss is what I’ve always dreamed I’d find in the shadows, but Carter has given it to me with lights blazing all around us.

His hands slip past the waistband of my leggings, his strong, calloused hands knead the bare flesh of my ass, and his fingers dig into me like they’re desperate to make sure I can’t go anywhere.

There’s a sliver of pain that zig zags through the pleasure and intensifies. Everything throbs and I scramble to get closer. I’m frantic by the time he lifts me off my feet and my legs wrap around his waist.

The thin fabric of my borrowed leggings is no match for the insistent press of his rigid erection, and I gasp at the pleasure that pulses through me.

“God, you taste like fucking paradise. I want to feel your pussy,” he mutters words I should find filthy, but instead, I want to hear them again.

“Yes.”

He presses me back against the door and then places his hands on either side of my head. He uses his hips to hold me in place while he shows me what he really wants to do. He thrusts and grinds into me.

I move in response to him, and we’re panting as our bodies strain to get as close as possible.

There is a riot of sensations running through my body – a delicious tightness in my core, the demanding sting of my hard, aching nipples, the shiver of gooseflesh that blooms in waves over my skin, the ripples of pleasure that radiate from my clit every time he grazes it.

Our lips move like they've done this a thousand times, and yet the newness of it all isn’t lost on me. His lips skim my cheek and then drag– hot and wet -- down my neck sending waves of delicious sensations radiating through me.

My hands spear into the thick waves of his hair and hold him as close as I can manage.

---