Page 67 of #Awestruck

And he did the same.

While yesterday’s kiss had been cautious and sweet, this one was the opposite. I made sure of it. I threw off my armor, my restraint, and let myself just ... be.

Let myself enjoy the way that even the slightest brush of his lips against mine sent waves of tingles coursing through my body. How a blazing river of fire burned through my veins at every touch, the way his fingers pressed against my back, seeking, holding.

He pulled his head back slightly, and I heard the harsh undertone of his breathing. “Your family is right inside.”

“I don’t care.” And I didn’t. I ran my fingers up into his hair, and his eyelids drifted shut as I applied pressure and played with the silky strands.

“One of us should care.” His voice sounded so rough and exciting. The man who didn’t get winded easily was sounding a little short of breath.

“Not yet.” I didn’t explain what I meant and instead started brushing kisses along his jawline. His five-o’clock shadow felt rough against the softness of my lips, but I liked it.

“Ashton,” he tried again, sounding like I was strangling him. Pleading.

But I wasn’t interested in stopping.

I followed the curve of bone until I came to his neck, pressing hot kisses against his skin. His Adam’s apple bobbed hard when I reached it. I ended my trail in the hollow of his throat, and he suddenly grabbed me by my rib cage, lifting me up so that our faces were level.

His strength was beyond thrilling.

And his eyes burned, intense and overwhelming. He said my name again. “Ashton.” Only this time it sounded like a promise.

Then he kissed me, his mouth devastating mine. It was an onslaught of sensation: the sound of his broken breathing, the smell of soap and cologne on his skin, the feeling of his muscles rippling and flexing underneath my fingers, the taste of his lips.

Now he was as hungry as I was, as if I’d infected him with the fire that still roared out of control inside me. My mind went totally hazy, and I floated dizzily in the pervasive sensations he caused with his intoxicating, delicious mouth. I didn’t know if the weightlessness I was feeling was due to me losing total control or because he was still holding me up off the ground.

His body shuddered beneath mine as I tried to get closer to him. As if I could burn my way into him, branding us both. Leaving behind pieces of myself that would never be removed. So that he wouldn’t be able to forget me even if he wanted to.

But it meant I might not ever feel whole again, as if a part of me was always missing, unless I was kissing him just like this.

“Okay.” He broke off the kiss with that word, like it had been ripped from his chest. “We have to stop. Now.”

He tried to let go of me, but my feet gave way. “I think you disconnected my legs.”

“Then you should keep holding on to me.”

“That’s not a good idea if you want this to stop,” I told him with a breathy sigh, more than ready to start that kiss back up again.

“Can’t resist me?” he asked with a wink.

“No. I can’t.”

I both heard and felt his sharp intake of breath. He moved me over to my chair, helping me to sit down. Which was good, since my head was still spinning. Evan might have been celibate, but it did not extend to his lips. That man knew how to kiss. I put my fingers against my mouth, still able to feel him there.

He stood against one of the gazebo pillars, his arms crossed. “You know, we don’t have to kiss like we’ve got to get all the kissing done today.”

“Why not?” Getting all the kissing done today sounded like a fantastic plan.

“Because we’ll kiss again tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that.”

“And what if there is no tomorrow?” What if he found out what I had agreed to, and this was my one and only shot to kiss him? It would be so much worse now that I knew what I’d have to give up.

“There will be a tomorrow for us. And the tomorrow after that. Unless you have Black Friday plans. Which I never really understood. Celebrating and being grateful for everything you have and then literally one day later trampling other people to get the best sales.”

“We used to go out and shop, but you’re right. It’s kind of turned into one of those dystopian movies where there’s one night of lawlessness and no such thing as crime. I do it all online now.” Bantering felt safer. Normal. Made the feeling in my legs return.

But now that I knew what a real kiss between us was like, I was torn between wanting to protect the fragile thing we’d just discovered and telling him the truth and dealing with the consequences.

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