Page 139 of Culinary Chaos
Heat.
Warmth.
Pleasure.
She pulled back, closing her eyes, not daring to look at Hope. Not yet. Not until she had a real, full taste. She moved in again, parting her lips and closing them against Hope’s. It was a quick touch of their mouths, but the heat remained. She brushed her thumb against Hope’s cheek, the softness of her skin and the ever-so-slight movement of Hope’s mouth spurring her on to try it just one more time.
Angelica looked at Hope directly for one brief second before she moved in again, lips parted, breath mingling, her heart still hammering so loud she knew Hope could hear it this time. Her entire body tingled when their mouths touched this time. When she felt the warmth and wetness of Hope’s open lips against hers, the gentle and hesitant push of her lips into a reciprocated kiss.
Dropping her hand, Angelica pulled away. She couldn’t look away. No guilt ate at her. No sense of shame or fear curled its way through her body. This had felt absolutely right and beautiful and like something they had been building to all season.
“Of that,” Angelica whispered, licking her lips to catch just one last bit of Hope’s flavor. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have done that.”
Before she could say anything else, Hope’s mouth was against hers. Angelica breathed in deeply, tilting her head up tomeet Hope’s eager lips. She reached up, cupping Hope’s neck again as Hope slid a hand behind her neck and against the small of her back. Their chests pressed together with each rapid breath.
Hope parted her lips, dipping her tongue out and sliding it along Angelica’s, just daring her to part them. So she did. She hummed a sigh as Hope dove in deeper, sliding her tongue inside Angelica’s mouth and against her tongue. Her full lips were so soft, so warm and welcoming. Angelica melted into her touch, into her hold.
Pushing forward on her toes, Angelica moved in even closer. She pressed her fingertips deeper into Hope’s hair and held onto her tightly. Hope stumbled a step forward, and Angelica barely caught herself, but that didn’t stop them. Their breathing quickened, the sounds of their kisses became more feverish by the second, and Angelica didn’t want to stop.
God, she never wanted to stop.
She pulled back slightly, afraid that it would tip Hope off to what they were doing and that she’d stop them, but she nipped at Hope’s lower lip and smiled before diving back in for another wild kiss. Their tongues tangled again, the taste of wine and beer mingling in the recesses of Angelica’s mind as she refused to stop. Not yet.
Not just yet.
Hope whimpered, and she pulled away, breathing heavily. It took her a few more seconds before she moved her hands from Angelica’s body, putting space and air between them. But the air was electric. Angelica’s entire body was on fire from just one damn kiss.
Fuck, that was a kiss.
“That’s what a first kiss should feel like,” she said, belatedly realizing she’d actually spoken out loud.
Hope’s cheeks turned bright red, her lips parted, her eyes wide. Angelica wanted to reach forward, to touch her again, to grab her hand and soothe the discomfort she knew Hope was feeling right now, but she couldn’t. This wasn’t something she could help with. It wasn’t something she could stop from happening.
She was just about to speak when Hope shook her head and took a step back. Her eyes moved wildly around the room and then settled on Angelica, firmly and confidently raking her gaze all over Angelica’s body from her lips to her crotch and back up again. It sent a new wave of arousal through Angelica, one that Angelica would gladly remember night after night.
“Hope…” Angelica said.
But Hope stepped back again. In silence, she turned around and fled, shutting the door firmly. Angelica sighed heavily, rolling up onto her toes as she dropped her head and just breathed. Breathed in the lingering scent of lilacs after the rain. Breathed out unrequited arousal. Breathed in the taste of Hope on her lips, the heady blend of wine and something so unique to Hope that she couldn’t describe it. Breathed out the memory of a first true kiss.
She didn’t regret it.
Not for one damn second.
Chapter
Forty-Five
Hope’s fingers were at her lips.
Again.
She couldn’t stop touching them. She couldn’t stop feeling the tingle and softness of Angelica’s mouth against hers. It had been days, and she hadn’t been able to get the feeling out of her head. This was so much worse than that first time. This had been passionate, desired by both of them, and it had sent so much arousal through her body that she’d nearly combusted when she got home that night.
“Is something going on?” Rex slid next to her on the couch, spreading out his legs and melting into it.
His question hadn’t been antagonistic, but imploring. Hope had to remember that. Because all of her defenses went up instantly. The lack of guilt that she’d felt concerned her. She should feel that, right? But the kiss itself had still thrown her into a tailspin that she couldn’t quite get herself out of.
“Why would you ask that?”
