Page 72 of Emergency Exit
But through the golden glow of connection, Harper felt a sense of panic welling up. It was a visceral sense of anxiety that made her flail and push herself away from Ash. Steadying herself by grabbing the lapels of his jacket, she stared into his face. He looked confused.
“You can’t take this one back,” she blurted out. “This is kissing. You’re kissing me, and you’re not allowed to take this back. I didn’t like that last time.”
His wide grin stretched across his face. “No backsies. I promise. I mean this one,” Ash said, crooking one finger under Harper’s chin and kissing her gently on the cheek. “And this one.” He kissed the other cheek. “And definitely this one.”
As his lips pressed into hers, Harper felt a shiver of delight run down her spine.
Harper was familiar with the flow state – the perfect moment in a creative project when the outside world couldn’t intrude and every move was completely right, even when it was wrong. But she had never experienced it with another person before. Ash’s arms around her felt gloriously strong, and the heat of his body made her skin rise in goosebumps.
Ash pulled back and smiled down at her. “I knew I was going to love doing that.”
“We could love doing that in my bedroom,” suggested Harper. “If you wanted to stay over.”
She couldn’t quite believe he wasn’t going to run out unexpectedly or declare he’d made some sort of mistake. She wanted things spelled out so there was no misunderstanding.
“Invitation accepted,” he said, a wicked grin lighting up his face. He reached for her again, but Harper let out a squeak as they backed into her clothing rack. Ash stepped forward to catch her and tripped over the water and flat of canned beans she had stored under her dresses. Then he put out his hand to catch himself, but his arm went straight through the clothes, and he pitched forward through the rack.
“Ack!” Harper grabbed Ash’s arm and pulled him hard. He came back out with a Rich Radi Q silk blouse on his head.
They stood still for a moment, panting.
“This is not my color,” Ash finally said with dignified disapproval. He gently rehung the shirt and turned back to Harper, who couldn’t stop giggling. “Oh, really? You find blouse removal funny? Well, let’s see what you can do about yours.”
“Oh no! No, please, anything but that!” Harper, still giggling, backed toward her bedroom, already working her shirt up.
He kicked off his shoes toward the shoe rack and followed her, laughing. Since the bedroom was only a few steps away, it took him two strides to catch up to her. Then he picked her up and took one more step before they toppled onto the bed.
Harper wanted to get Ash naked, but he seemed equally interested in doing the same to her, and she began to giggle as they got in each other’s way. Finally, they’d gotten down to their underwear, and Harper relaxed into Ash’s arms. She loved the way he touched her. He made her feel like she was precious.
Ash’s tongue made a little trail down her neck into her cleavage, and she giggled.
“Does that tickle?” he asked, almost laughing himself but repeating the move, this time over her nipple.
“Yes!”
“Really? So you need me to do it more, then?” Once again, his tongue made a feathery little exploration of her nipple.
Harper sometimes felt like she needed longer to figure out what she wanted, but unfortunately, in sex, everyone always wanted an answer immediately. But Ash seemed content to stay right where he was at.
“I... Oh! Yes, please.”
He chuckled and peeled her bra down for better access.
“Oh!” Harper shivered at the unexpected sensation of beard scruff and tongue on her boobs. “Oh, I like that.” She immediately cringed. “That sounded dumb.”
Ash sat up and stripped off his underwear, chucking them in the general direction of the door.
“Uh, no. Flag on the play. That’s not allowed.”
“What?” Harper stared up at him in shock. He was getting nakedandsaying no? She felt confused.
“We lovvvvvvve Harper,” he said, licking her stomach, which made her squeal in delight. “We donotsay mean things about Harper. And we most definitely help Ash out by telling him what we like.”
He peeled her bra down again and, with his eyes on hers, teased her nipple with his tongue. Harper didn’t think anyone had actually asked what she liked before. She hadn’t prepared alist, but if she was starting one, she was putting Ash’s mouth on it.
“I think I like tongue things,” said Harper, breathlessly.
“Really?”
