Page 98 of Holly Jolly July

I need more. So much more. Greedily, I push against her, and though she is bigger than me, she lets me press her into the countertop. With the pressure of something behind her, I can better form my body to hers, relishing her curves, aching to feel all of her on me. My fingers manoeuvre their way beneath her shirt to the smooth skin of her back, to the squishy parts of her hips and sides that I want nothing more than to nibble and kiss. I want to kiss her everywhere.

I hope she’ll let me.

Mariah’s lips sip mine as her hands trace up my back to my face, where she cups my cheek with one hand and my chin with the other, like I’m something precious. She pulls away slightly, eyes taking me in, searching for something. She swallows, her voice low, husky. “We can stop whenever you want.”

My heart thuds in response. “No. Don’t stop. Never stop.”I kiss her back harder, done with the teasing, the dancing, the playing, wanting more of her, all of her. She returns with fervour, gripping my sides, then my hips, then my ass, which she squeezes with a low moan in her throat.

I tug at her shirt. We part ways just long enough for me to pull it over her head, revealing a simple bra and her round breasts nearly spilling from her cups.Oh, fuck, those breasts. They’re everything I’d hoped for, everything I always wanted, and it wasn’t until now that I realize I can have them all to myself, enjoying them on someone else’s body. I press my face into them while wrapping my arms around her, my hands worshipping all the curves below, from the roundness of her belly to the smooth skin of her back. There’s so much to love with Mariah, so many places I want to kiss, to savour. I’ve never wanted to explore another person’s body so badly, to show them how beautiful they are, how sacred.

Mariah moans as my mouth sucks and licks, pulling down her bra and finding a nipple, bringing it into my mouth. This is it. My new home. I could live here. But then there’s the other one; I move to it quickly, almost overwhelmed by all the things I want to do, as if there’s not enough time in the world for me, and somehow I’ll run out before I get to taste every inch of her body.

She tugs me off of her, and I pout, hating the inch of space between us. She removes my shirt. My shoulders cave in, not wanting her to see me. She’s sowomanly. And I haven’t matured much past age sixteen, staying rigid, boxy, more angles and planes than soft and shapely like her. Even my bra is laughable, the soft fabric requiring no underwire, my hard nipples on full display.

Mariah’s fingers trace my jaw, then tilt my chin back up, meeting her gaze. My stomach flips at the way she looks at me. I’ve never felt more seen. Her fingers trace back down my neck, sending a shiver of tingles through all my limbs,coalescing down my spine and into my core. She caresses my collarbones, a breath escaping between her lips like a prayer, words I can barely make out. “So beautiful.”

And I almost want to cry.

I take her hands in mine, then begin walking backward toward the bedroom, watching for any changes in her demeanour, any look that means she doesn’t want to continue, but her gaze only grows in heat and intensity.

Once inside, I pull her close to me again, my lips hovering over hers. “I want you.”

She nods, her nose nudging mine. “I want you, too.”

I reach back and unclasp her bra, then let the straps fall from her shoulders. Mariah hugs her breasts to her chest then releases the garment, letting it fall to the floor. I suck in a breath, awestruck.

“You act like you’ve never seen boobs before,” she says, her words tinged with a laugh.

“I’ve never seenyourboobs before,” I struggle to reply, my tongue feeling thick. “And they’re magnificent.”

Mariah reaches forward and pulls my simple cotton sports bra off, tossing it away, then pulls me in tight, reuniting our lips. The feel of her body against mine is better than I could have ever imagined: warm skin against skin, pert nipples grazing each other, lips and tongues colliding.

We sit on the bed together. In between kissing we remove our pants, then climb farther onto the bed, pulling the quilt over us to create a warm cocoon. It’s here that I allow myself to let go, to explore her body with mine as we lie side by side, legs tangling up. I bring her thick thigh in between my thin ones and grind myself against her, already so wet. She grabs me by the ass and pulls me in harder, moving her hips against my thigh, and I feel a quick sharp shock through my core, gasping.

We continue like this, rocking into each other, building heat, building need, until I can feel Mariah slick against me, her breath coming in shorter pants, her kissing becoming morehurried. I push her onto her back and straddle her, keeping my one thigh between hers, getting more leverage, as my mouth abandons hers in favour of her breasts.

She tangles her fingers in my hair and arches her back as I taste every square inch of her breasts, listening and feeling for her, my whole body attuned to hers, as if I were made for this, to bring Mariah pleasure, to worship her body.

I kiss lower, cherishing every dimple, every curve, until I’m at her belly, where I press my face into her, humming in complete satisfaction. She giggles, and I hear her laugh through her body. I can’t help but smile up at her. And fuck, she looks so pretty, all naked and flushed, patiently letting me love on her despite the throbbing need I’m sure she has, if it’s anything like mine.

I move lower, to her shimmery satin black underwear, and kiss her mound through the fabric, breathing her in, relishing this moment. Her hands grip the bedsheets, and she rolls her hips toward me, but I don’t let her rush me. I lick along the panty line at her thighs to the top of her waistband, which I bite and tug with my teeth, releasing the elastic in a sharp snap. She gasps, arching her back.

“Can I?” I ask, not even sure how I’m forming words.

She nods quickly. “Please.”

I don’t know how my hands aren’t shaking when my fingers meet the line of her underwear, how my heart doesn’t stop when she raises her hips, how I pull her underwear along her legs and let them fall to the floor. But I do, and I’ve never felt so calm, so confident, so sure of myself and who I am and what I’m doing than right here, right now.

I take my time, letting my fingers trace the skin of her belly, over her thighs, over the hair between her legs, then lower. She breathes deeply, shivering from my touch. I inch closer, bringing my mouth to her, kissing softly at first. Then I close my eyes, letting myself get lost in every taste, every touch, every sensation. I have never done anything like this before, and yet it doesn’tmatter. I’m so closely attuned to Mariah, listening and feeling for what she wants, that by the time my tongue is circling her clit and my fingers are inside her, rubbing and pushing, slow and methodical, I forget that this is my first. It feels like this is both the first and the hundredth time we’ve found one another, that I know her body so well it may as well be my own.

Her core begins winding, tightening, then shaking, then she’s gripping me, and time and space no longer exist as she comes against my mouth, shuddering and moaning and crying out. My own body reacts to hers with a rush of heat and wetness, and we ride her wave over and over and over together as one, until I feel it ebb, until her shaking fingers grasp at my shoulder and I lift my mouth from her, resting my face on her thigh as we both try to catch our breath.

We lie there, in a tingling, shivering heap, as we come back to earth.

I’ve never been more present, more out of my own mind, more sharing of a space and a moment in time, than right now with her.

Mariah strokes my hair, and if I were a cat I’d be purring. I look toward her, still using her thigh as my pillow. Her eyes are closed and a gentle smile graces her still-flushed face. I relish the way her chest rises and falls, how she’s bare to the world—bare just for me.

I sit up a little higher, pressing my one hand into the mattress as the other strokes the soft skin of her belly. “Wow,” I manage to say, breaking the silence.

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