Page 52 of Ashes of the Past
I know I shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t help myself. I have to taste her again.
The kiss starts slow, tentative, like we’re both afraid to break whatever fragile thing is forming between us. But then her fingers curl into my shirt, and I tilt my head, deepening the kiss. She tastes like wine and garlic. My heart is racing.
My hands slide to her waist, pulling her closer. She fits against me like she was meant to be there, and for the first time in a long time, everything feels right. Perfect, even.
Her hands move to my shoulders, then up into my hair, and a low sound escapes me before I can stop it. The kiss turns urgent, heat building between us like a wildfire. I’m not sure where Iend, and she begins, and I don’t care. All I know is that I don’t want this moment to end.
But eventually, we have to come up for air. She pulls back just enough to look at me, her lips swollen, and her cheeks flushed. Her eyes search mine, and I can see the same mix of emotions I’m feeling—want, fear, hope.
“Brynn,” I start, but she shakes her head, a soft laugh escaping her.
“Don’t,” she says, her voice trembling. “Don’t ruin it by talking.”
I smile, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. “Not planning to.”
She laughs again, but it’s softer this time, almost shy. “Good.”
I pull her into another kiss; this one is full of passion and hunger.
Maybe this is all wrong. I’m not ready to put my heart out there, but for whatever reason, with her, it doesn’t seem wrong or even scary.
It feels right.
Chapter Twenty-One
Brynn
He pulls me into another kiss, and this time, it’s full of passion and need. His mouth is desperate, his tongue searching for mine. My fingers dig into his bicep, clinging to him for dear life.
I can feel myself slipping. I can feel the steel around my heart bending and crashing down as he pushes me up against a post in the barn. I’m pinned there. I don’t want to move; it’s like I can’t get close enough to him.
I pull away slightly. I close my eyes, inhale, and then reach down and link our fingers together.
Olivia and Dad will be asleep by now. She has a room there. It’ll be okay.
I start walking toward my house with him in tow.
Don’t stop moving, Brynn. The second you stop putting one foot in front of the other, you’ll start overthinking, and all of this will be over.
You want him. You deserve to see where this goes. You deserve good things.
As if he can hear the war in my head, he stops and tugs me into him.
“Are you sure about this? We don’t have to—”
“You said you wouldn’t ruin this by talking.”
A small smirk tugs at the corner of his lips before he nods. I turn around before I can lose my nerve and we’re inside my house before I know it. I lock the door behind us and the second that I do, he’s picking me up, pinning me against the wall and kissing me as if our lives depend on it.
I surrender to the heat of his lips, the pressure of his body against mine, and the overwhelming need and desire that is threatening to consume me whole.
I’ve never been kissed like this before in my life. My entire body is on fire.
His hands roam over my body, and I feel goosebumps followed by intense heat wherever he touches me.
We’re wearing too many clothes!
As he trails kisses down my neck, his warm breath sending waves of pleasure through me, I lose myself in the moment. All doubts and fears melt away, leaving only the raw, primal need that drives us together.
