Page 57 of The Confidant
We took our time, testing the waters and tasting each other’s lips. Our lips brushed against each other once. Twice. And then again and again—the rhythm increasing as we got used to the movement.
“You still taste like mint gum,” she whispered between kisses.
“And you still taste like strawberries,” I whispered back.
Her lips were softer than I remembered though, but they fit perfectly with mine. And as our mouths met for a long, slow kiss, I knew she wanted this. That she cared about me and had been patiently waiting for this moment just as long as I had.
“You’re so tall now,” she said as she ran her hands up my arms and pressed her body closer.
“I am.” I leaned against the brick arch behind us, pulling her with me. “Is that good or bad?”
The last time we’d kissed, I’d only been an inch or two taller than her since I hadn’t yet reached my latest growth spurt then.
And while I’d always loved kissing her, it was somehow even better now. The five inches I had on her made me feel more masculine, like I could have a chance at protecting her if I needed to.
“Definitely good.” I felt her lips curl up into a smile against my lips. “I like having you tower over me.”
“I like towering over you, too.” I chuckled, unable to keep from grinning. “It’s so much hotter, right?”
She giggled. “So hot.”
And then, we were kissing again. I smoothed my hands behind her back and slid them along her spine. She wore a wool coat, so it wasn’t as intimate of a touch as I would have liked, but she felt good in my arms. When I tangled my fingers in her hair, it was just as soft as I remembered.
“That feels so good,” she whispered when my fingertips slowly grazed against her scalp.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She sighed against my lips.
And when I combed my fingers through her hair again and she shivered with pleasure, my stomach flooded with heat because I liked that I could make her feel good this way.
I wanted to make her feel good all the time.
“This is so much better than I remember,” she said, pulling away slightly and kissing my cheek and then the spot just below my jawline.
“I know,” I said, letting my head fall back to expose more of my neck for her to kiss. “So good.”
She kissed her way down my neck, causing blood to rush everywhere she kissed.
And all I could think was,Holy crap, this feels amazing.
So good yet so much different from our first kiss last year.
We’d been so timid back then. Nervous as we both experienced our first ever kiss and jumped into the unknown.
But even though we’d both been experiencing the pre-kiss jitters just a few minutes ago, they had apparently been a fleeting thing because there was nothing timid about this kiss now. It was hot and fierce and stirred feelings I hadn’t experienced since our last kiss—the kiss during spring break where we’d taken the huge, exhilarating risk of making out on her dad’s couch while he was working on his sermon at the church next door.
Also known as the kiss that had made me worry I might not be worthy to take communion the next Sunday, because it had to be a sin to feel as amazing as that kiss had made me feel.
Thank goodness I didn’t see sin and worthiness the same way now, or I might have to stop this soon.
And I definitely did not want this to stop. I wanted to keep going. To keep kissing Scarlett. Until my toes were numb and my lips were swollen.
We had so much time to make up for.
I was suddenly wishing we were in a more comfortable and private spot because I would love nothing more than to pull her onto my lap again and kiss her back in a way that no innocent bystanders happening to walk by this late at night should see.
“Is there some place we can go?” I asked, my voice sounding rough and deep to my own ears. “Some place we can sit?”
