Page 20 of Kai
Butterflies again?
Ridiculous!
And yet it was true. His touch did something remarkable to me. Out of nowhere, I craved his strength, his warmth,him. My gaze drifted down to his mouth and fixed on his lips. Something surged inside of me, a burst of passion, an explosion of life.
My brain turned to mush.
As a wave slammed against the rocks, I pushed to the tip of my toes and brushed my lips against his. I didn’t stop there, no way. I never half-assed anything. A powerful, inexplicable impulse demanded I kiss him.
I pressed my mouth against his. To my shock, he parted his bow-shaped lips, an overt invitation. For a moment, I froze, but when I yielded a small gap, he took charge of the kiss.
Oh. My. Freaking. God.
His lips were soft. His kiss was all-consuming. My knees went wobbly. I had to brace my hands on his biceps. Beneath the neoprene, his powerful muscles tensed and flexed under my fingers. He slid his hands over my sides and coiled his arms around my waist. I was suddenly greedy for him, eager to discover more about how the rest of his body felt under the wetsuit.
The trails of pleasure permeating through me sprang from his touch. His arms pulled me even closer, and his hands slid down my back, stoking the heat pooling between my legs. The unfamiliar need that pushed me to accept the dance of our tongues was more powerful than fear, more daring than reason. I melted against him.
As long as he was kissing me, everything seemed possible.
It had been so long since I’d felt the wonder of human touch that I’d forgotten how it felt. It had been even longer since someone had kissed me. Or tried to kiss me. I’d never been exactly receptive before. Until now. Until Kai.
An unfamiliar sensation skittered beneath my skin and pooled in my sex, an urgency foreign to me. My body combusted under his touch.
Is this what desire felt like?
My thoughts dissolved. The world blurred around me, and I got lost in the feeling of him. The kiss stretched out. Our lips met at different angles. Kai worked his mouth over mine, filling my senses with his scent—fresh ocean breeze, dewy grass at dawn, and a sultry hint of tropical hibiscus. He tasted salty, like the sea, but also sweet like a snowmelt brook.
The passion gushing through me had me responding to him with heat that burned through me. I’d always been the cool, logical one, but right now?
I was none of those things.
Instead, the warmth flowing from his mouth built my inner heat. I felt the blaze converging in the neglected space between my legs. Moisture dampened my panties. It was a reaction that I’d been told was common in most women but had never registered with me, even on those occasions where I had sex.
Arousal. Is that what this is?
I had to suppress the sudden need to climb Kai like a tree, to rub myself all over him until I got some relief from this shocking compulsion. The growl he trapped in his throat vibrated through me like an echo reverberating in my body’s hollow cave. The waves shook the rocks beneath my feet, but it was his kisses quaking through me.
The fortress I’d built around my fractured heart wobbled. If my rational side broadcasted a warning, I never heard it. Instead, I lifted my hands and settled them on the back of his neck. His skin thrummed with that amazing warmth that wrapped around me like a blanket of muscle and man. His mouth draped over mine, stoking my fire, and his heat felt comforting and protective against my cool palms.
How long had I been this cold? Minutes? Days? Weeks? How long had I felt nothing moving inside of me? Months?Years?
The heat ran through my veins, wild and wicked. Life stirred in my chest, in my core, and lower still. His touch didn’t reach my skin, and yet it made me tingle with passion. Every contractible part of me tautened and ached.
I kissed him as if his lips belonged to the last man I would ever kiss, as if his mouth were the only one that could give me pleasure. I gave in to his touch as if his caresses were the first and last my body would ever enjoy.
Boom. My heart crashed against my ribs as hard as the waves on the rocks.Boom. For once, it beat, not to nourish my brain, but to nurture my soul.
“Cece…” he whispered against my lips as he broke the contact.
Seeking more of his kisses, I teetered forward. He steadied me against his body and hugged me to his chest. He sighed as he pressed his forehead to mine.
Did that really just happen?
“Yeah, it happened,” he breathed, and I realized I’d asked aloud. “We can talk about it later. We need to go now.”
The world came back into focus. Reality hit. He seemed… regretful? The night gained a red tint from the fire burning above. Smoke filled my nostrils and coated my throat with the bitter taste of ashes. It wiped his delicious flavors from my tongue. Fear returned to punch me in the nose. Even though the moon sketched a path in the water, it was a dead end for me.
Willing my body to work, I took a step back from him. “Sorry about that.” It was all I ever planned to say about that impetuous and out of character kiss.
