Page 39 of Isn't She Lucky
I look up at her after successfully keeping my tears at bay and say, “You were my best friend. My everything. When you came to visit me, something lit up inside of me. It was a spark. A light. A flame. I knew what that was. Even at our age at the time, I knew. I was afraid of it at first, but then it was as natural as the sunrise. You fit into my life so easily. Being with you was the best part of my days.”
I try my best to bite back the hurt rising in my throat, but a tear escapes against my will. Oh, well. I tried. I need to lay it all out, and I don’t care about anything else right now.
I continue, “When that went away, not being able to see you was the worst of my days. In fact, I haven’t had a good day since the bachelor auction – when I finally saw your face again. Yeah, I graduated from high school, got degrees and certifications from college. I worked my way up to be able to take over my family’s business, but none of that, and I meannoneof it, gave me the spark that you gave me, Giada. You are my sunrise. My light. Without you, I’m dim, dark, and miserable.”
I feel a tear roll out of my eyes.
“Your lips are the only ones I’ve ever kissed. I’ve never been with anyone. I dated plenty of women, trying to purge you out of my system, but I could never take it there with them. And purging you was impossible. So I embraced you.”
I pull my shirt up over my head and say, “I got this tattoo so I’d never forget you when the memories of you started slipping. Giada, I never considered a scenario in my mind where we weren’t back together. I knew this day would come and I want you to know I need you in my life, because I love you and I don’t know how I will be able to live if I can’t have you.”
“Kase,” she whispers, touching my face with her soft hands and wiping that lonely tear away.
She asks, “How is this possible?”
“How iswhatpossible, G?”
“That you still feel the same way for me after all of these years?”
“You feel the same for me, too, don’t you?”
“I do,” she says as tears run out of her eyes. “I never thought twice about dating anyone because I only wanted you. And your lips are the only ones I’ve ever kissed.”
I stand up and take her hands into mine, prompting her to stand as well. Tilting her chin so she’s looking up at me, I say, “There’s nothing that will keep me away from you this time, Giada. Nothing.”
I lower my mouth to hers. My eyes close the moment our lips fuse. This kiss, unlike our last, won’t be so innocent. This time, I’m coming for her tongue, her taste buds. Her teeth. Her throat. For now, I let her get used to what a normal kiss is – just our lips touching.
Teasing.
Acquainting.
Interchanging.
But soon after this phase, I find myself ready to combust – to release the primal urge, pent-up desire, the instinctual craving I’ve nurtured over the years for this woman. And the fact that this kiss is in the very same spot where we shared the very first one sets something ablaze inside of me. It’s a full circle moment. It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime occurrences. One of those situations that doesn’t happen by mere coincidence. We’re together because we’re supposed to be together. We’re together because deep down, we both knew we belonged to each other.
Giada moans softly as she rises to her tiptoes and tries her best to keep up with the long, sweeping, powerful strokes of mytongue as we interchange sucking on each other’s lips. I think I’m making it difficult for her because not only does my tongue completely take over hers, but I know I’ve lost all control when I pull her lips into my mouth. When I take her tongue as my own. When I’ve reached the back of her throat.
My Giada.
This kiss has been over a decade in the making. The kiss, the marriage, all of it. I feel like I’ve been reborn, baptized in her mouth, and resurrected to this day – the first day of the rest of my life. Of our lives.
11.
“Kase,” I hearmyself say when my feet leave the floor and my back makes contact with the bed.
There’s no reprieve. No break. He picks right back up where he left off – with his tongue buried in my mouth, prohibiting speech as his lengthy body settles on top of mine. I try my best to breathe, but it’s difficult with the newness of this – with his weight bearing down on me as his tongue compromises my airways. Add my pounding heart to the mix and I’m close to death. Still, I try my best to lock my tongue with his and devour it like he’s devouring mine. I taste, sop up, and inhale his lips. My goodness! How did I go years without this? Without him? I must’ve been living under a rock, getting by just doing the same ol’ same ol’. But not today. Today, I’m claiming what I want. What’s mine.
I manage a sharp inhale of breath when he releases my mouth and lifts his head slightly to look at me.
His face…
My goodness, his gorgeous face. He’s devastatingly handsome. The kind of handsome that makes your brain spasms. That makes you question your existence and pinch yourself back intoreality. Is it the rich brown skin and sharp jawline that sends my pulse racing? Or is it the full, perfectly-shaped beard that frames a pair of full lips – lips that were just inside of my mouth?
I bite my lip, reliving it. I wonder how much longer we’re going to be locked in like this – just staring at each other.
Reacquainting.
Remembering.
