Page 34 of EverGreene
“You do. But in a hot way.”
She studied me, her eyes wandering down to the bulge in my pants. “It’s not fair that you can see my face, but I can’t see yours. Why can’t you take that mask of yours off? What are you hiding from me, V?”
“I—can’t. But I will. I promise you I will, Ever.”
She watched me, and I would have given anything to hear the thoughts going on inside her head as she got up from the bed to shut the window to quell the chill that had descended upon the room from the brisk autumn air. On her way back to the bed, she took a detour as though a thought had occurred to her while walking, and she steered over to the light switch, flipping it off.
My eyes, adjusting to the darkness, caught Ever’s form climbing back into bed next to me. “Sit up,” she commanded.
I pushed myself up on my elbows, glancing at Ever’s outline next to me.
“Take off your shirt.”
This was going to either end up being really bad or really good, and to be honest, I was game for it either way. Propping myself up into a sitting position like Ever commanded, I pulled my t-shirt over my head and tossed it to the floor. In the darkness, her form made its way to me, straddling my lap. I sucked in a breath when her fingertips brushed over the skin of my flank and made their way up to my shoulders.
“I have no idea what’s going on in your head, but if you need some time, I’m willing to give it to you, which requires a lot of trust on my part.”
“I know.”
“Since I’m trusting you, it’s only fair that you trust me, too.”
“I do, Ever. If I’m being honest, I think I may trust you morethan anyone in my life right now outside of maybe Cole and a few others.”
“Good. Then I’m going to ask you to trust me by letting me do something.”
I swallowed hard, my mind racing with all the possibilities of what that ‘something’ could be. “Okay. I trust you.”
Ever’s hands skimmed the bottom of my mask as her fingers slid underneath it, gripping it and pulling it up to expose my mouth. She ran her hand along my jawline, feeling the stubble that had grown since I’d last shaved.
“Is there a part of you that isn’t ungodly perfect in any way?” she whispered as her hands explored more of my exposed face.
“I’ve done too much fucked up shit to ever be considered perfect.”
“It’s the fucked-up shit that makes you perfect to me.”
“Ever.” I all but moaned when she inadvertently—or hell, maybe it wasn’t so inadvertently—rubbed against my cock.
“Say my name again.”
“Ever.” I reached up to touch her chin in awe of how soft her skin felt against my fingers. “Ever.”
Her fingers moved to my mouth, pausing at my lips. “I want to take the modulator out. May I?”
“Yes,” I answered her, a bit confused.
She pulled the device from my lips and set it down on the nightstand next to her bed. “I want to kiss you. Are you okay with that?”
Was I okay with that? Um, fuck yes? Tasting Ever was on my top ten list of things to do before I died. Of fucking course, she could kiss me. I’d had to muster all the strength I could not to kiss her that day in the office when I had her pinned against the door, despite how her eyes practically pleaded with me to do it.
My hand rested on the back of Ever’s head, bringing her face in closer until her lips hovered near mine. The warmth from her breath washed over me like rays from the sun. Hesitant at first, Ever’s lips brushed against my chin before finding mine in a kiss that began as chaste but soon deepened when her tongue parted my lips. Fingers still entwined in her hair, I pushed her in closer to me, meeting her tongue with my own and savoring every taste of a mouth that was just as sweet as I’d imagined it would be.
Ever’s hands became just as frantic as her lips, running down my body to the rhythm of the same silent melody our tongues danced to, only breaking apart long enough for me to gently nibble that pouty bottom lip of hers that drove me fucking crazy. “V.” She managed to say my name without breaking her lips from mine. “Take off your pants.”
I groaned when her hand found its way to my erection, gripping it over my jeans and lightly jerking me off while her other hand worked to unbutton my fly. She lifted herself up on her knees, and I arched my back to pull my pants down, kicking them off the bed. Delicate fingers made their way underneath the waistband of my boxers, tugging them down my leg as I used my foot to pull them the rest of the way off.
Oh, shit. Did I have a condom? I hadn’t come to Ever’s house with the intention of getting into bed with her, so it hadn’t occurred to me to come prepared. Clumsily, I reached over to the nightstand and found the modulator.
“I don’t have protection,” I said in the voice of a person who wouldn’t give two fucks about wrapping it up if they were here right now.
