Page 73 of The Lovers
“Hey,” I reply, and I feel myself blushing.
I have the instinct to touch her hand and see if she pulls away. It’s been a long time since I let go and let God. It’s hard to know for sure if that’s what I’m really feeling. Or if it’s just hunger, or nerves, or a wish. My fingers flex before I stretch my arm out, touch her wrist, and tug her in.
There’s no resistance.
She even smirks, bending against me to whisper right in my ear, “You look like a hot librarian.”
I turn so that the edge of my mouth touches her cheek.
“So are we talking Rachel Weisz inThe Mummy?”
“Take me on an adventure, madame,” she quips.
I meet her eyes, asking with mine if it’s okay to kiss her here. She turns her face until our lips graze. I close the gap, absorbing the moan on her breath. It’s quicker than I want, but the fact that she lets it happen at all is something.
“I have to get set up for the readings,” she says, her body leaning on mine. “You have to stop distracting me so I can intuit the cards.” She presses her hips against me.
“You probably shouldn’t let me do this then.” I grab her by the hand, twisting away so I have a clear path outside the tent.
“Where are we going?” she asks, laughing but letting me drag her along. My fingers brush over her knuckles, creating tiny electric sparks.
I wind us back through the path until there’s a break. It leads to one of the covered cabana seating areas. I spin, gripping her by the waist with both hands and pulling her against me. Our curves meld, all space disappearing between us. We kiss in a fever, nothing but tongues and breath and want. My hands tug her dress up until I can get them under. The tips of my fingers taunt the lace edges of her panties, brushing against the mound of her want.
“Fuck me,” she exhales against my mouth.
“With pleasure,” I reply. My fingers test her longing. She clenches my hand between her thighs and I feel her quiver the whole length of her body.
“I have to get to the rehearsal table tent,” she says, pushing back to look me in the eye. Hers are bleary, her lip gloss smudged. “Damn.” She kisses me again with fresh desperation and I let my finger flatten to apply pressure right where she’s wettest.
Her growl is ravenous. “Hold that thought.” She bites off the order. I pull my hand from between her legs and twine it in her hair.
“Tonight’s festivities can’t end fast enough.” I kiss her again, this time with even more fervor.
With a squeeze of my ass, she lets me go. “It’ll be over before you know it.”
I watch her walk away. My body is screaming for her touch, the feeling so intense that I have to burst into a manic dance to try to expel some of the pent-up energy from my limbs, turning in a semicircle as I shake my body out.
“I saw you.” Piper’s voice comes from behind me. “Groping the tarot hottie.” Sharp pricks of dread shoot through my body, hitting nerves and sending heat into my fingertips, quickening the rate of my pulse.
“And?” I spin to face her off. I haven’t done anything wrong, so why do I feel like I need to prepare a defense?
“The least you could do is not flaunt it right in front of me.” Her brown eyes simmer with hurt.
“Why is that the least I could do? You and I have been broken up for over a year. No one here even knows we used to date,” I say, chewing on my lower lip. “Except for Kit.”
Her face drops, and I already know before she says a word that her voice will be tinged with a wobble. The only time Piper Cunningham ever shows a modicum of weakness is when she thinks it will get her what she wants.
“It’s pretty heartless that you aren’t even considering my feelings.” Wobble right on cue. “I came out to my family for you—”
“No—look, I am happy that you came out. I’m proud of you for taking that step. But you didn’t do it for me.” I feel my throat tighten as tears threaten, hot and thick in the corners of my eyes. “We haven’t spoken since I got my stuff out of your apartment a year ago. And then you come here, what, expecting I’ll just fall all over myself to get back together with you?”
Her nostrils flare. “We were good together.”
“I was a pawn on your twisted Piper chessboard. You used me, you molded me, and anytime I pushed for my own desires,you shot me down or made me feel foolish for wanting them at all.”
“I only did what I thought was best for us.”
“You did what you thought was best foryou.”
