Page 51 of Missed Sunrise
Ihoped.
And when he shifted in my lapjust so,pulling a gasp from me, Idesired.
I desired even more fiercely than I had in any moment in time before this one, if time even existed before I held Liem Lott in my arms.
A racking shiver overtook his body, and I ran my hands up his torso, every one of my nerves lit like sparklers when my palms grazed over his nipple piercings.
“Cody,” he rasped as he arched his back and ground against me with such perfect friction that I was set on fire.
I feared nothing of me would remain after this.
14
Liem
The first timeI heard Cody Desmond’s voice, the world started to turn a little differently.
When I finally laid eyes on him, a grand upheaval took place inside me, rearranging the way my heart beat and how I breathed.
But those instances paled in comparison to the catastrophe blanketing me at this very moment in time, on the first day of life as I knew it, with Cody’s hands on me, my arms looped around his neck, and the scent of cherries, coconut, and elated despair perfuming the air.
“Cody,” I prayed.
He ran his palms up my chest, and when he grazed my nipple piercings, I encountered heaven.
Then words rang in my memory like a dissonant bell, bringing me straight back to Earth.
“I’m no good.”
I shuddered involuntarily, remembering the certainty in his broken voice.
No. This was hell.
My blazing arousal seemed content to burn, as did my hips as I rolled against him. His back was against the hard brick, the same brick that my knees dug into as I straddled him. I hardly registered the discomfort, though, and could only focus on where my body connected with his.
When his hips rose to meet mine, lightning ignited in my veins. “Dez—”I tried to say, but his thumb ghosted over my nipple again, and I only got out part of the name before I dropped my forehead to his and panted heavily. The sensations were so overwhelming that my chest boomed and my hearing crackled.
“Fireworks,”Cody said into my neck and then skimmed his lips over the skin there, painting a path all the way up to my ear. “We’re in a fucking Disney movie.”
A boom that did not align with my heartbeat sounded, and I forced my eyes open just as a comet of red sparks painted the sky above us.
Unexpected laughter escaped me as I watched the sky. Embers faded and tendrils of smoke dissipated, only to be replaced by new colors, and I lost myself completely to the moment. Cody’s hands fell back to my hips, and he squeezed gently before snaking them underneath my shirt and flattening his palms against my lower back.
I locked eyes with him as boom after boom sounded, but none of the colors above could compare to his hazel gaze that was so close to melted caramel and just as rich.
His expression shifted to deep regret, and the words that had been hovering between us all night succumbed to gravity, and Cody voiced them. “I’m not ready, Liem.”
His hands flexed underneath my shirt, and I smiled sadly at him, though I willed the understanding—and the hope—to show there too.
His lips formed the words “I’m sorry,” and if I hadn’t been watching, they might’ve been too faint to understand.
I brushed my knuckles over his cheekbone, hoping beyond reason that it wouldn’t be too long before I could do so again. I rose onto my knees and took his face in my hands, heedless of the stinging pain of my palms that mirrored the one in my heart, and brushed my lips across his with the faintest touch. Not quite a kiss, but an intention.
“Everything will be okay,” I vowed against his lips.
His lips slightly parted, and he strained toward me as I pulled back. I wanted nothing more than to taste that fuller bottom lip, to taste all of him, but not now.
Not like this.
