Before I can dwell on it too much, I hear the latch flip, but the door doesn’t open. With a deep breath, I turn the knob and open the door.
The room is appointed like it would be for a teen, with posters of celebrities on the walls. Val is already back on her bed, her back hunched with hands gripping the mattress as she looks out the window.
I walk over and sit next to her, my hands clasped between my knees as I turn to look at her but say nothing.
“You know, I can handle her digging at me about not having somebody in my life. I can handle that she doesn’t think I was ready before, or even that I’m picky. But I can’t handle her bringing Dad into it. She has no right to speak for him.”
Her whole body trembles with the thought, and all I want to do is wrap her up in my arms.
“She doesn’t know what he’d think, what he’d say. Hell, I don’t even know. At this point, the only opinion that matters is my own. While I value Gram’s, the decision is mine and mine alone. Dad’s gone, and there’s nobody who can say who he would or wouldn’t approve of. Yes, you’re a smart, well-spoken, charming, and incredibly attractive man, but I get to decide if you’re somebody I like. Not them.”
“You think I’m incredibly attractive?” The question works as I want it to, and she bursts into a fit of giggles before leaning her head against my shoulder.
The whole situation, while tense and fraught with deep emotions, feels natural and right.
Which is why I take her chin between my fingers and tilt her face up to mine. “You’re incredibly beautiful, Val.”
And then I’m leaning in and brushing my lips against hers again. But this time, nobody stops us, and I can show her more strength and desire and passion.
She turns on the bed, pulling her knee up so she can face me and runs her palms up my chest. It makes me tingle all over.
My hand clasps around the back of her head and pulls her closer, my tongue sweeping through her lips, seeking hers. When she sighs into my mouth, I nearly come undone.
I’m about to lean her back when she pulls away, getting up and standing in front of the window, one hand on her head and one on her hip.
What the fuck just happened?
Chapter 18
Valerie
“Whatthefuckjusthappened?” My eyes are wide, and hysteria builds in my chest.
“What do you mean? We kissed.” Again.
“We barely know each other!” Though that doesn’t seem to matter. And while I want it to happen, it just feels a little fast.
“So? We’re two consenting adults, and there clearly seems to be something going on here. Don’t you feel what I feel?” There’s desperation to his tone, as though he’s pleading with me to feel it too.
“What if I said I do? What does that mean?”
“I think it means there’re feelings here, Val. And that’s not a bad thing.” He stands and walks over to me, lowering my hand from my head and wrapping an arm around my waist, tugging me into his taut chest.
The quick feel I got was more than substantial.
Which is why I’m captivated by it now, staring at his chest like I can see through his shirt and all the perfection that lies underneath. My hands trace up and down like a madwoman. Finally, I give in to the desire swirling through me, twisting my fingers into his sweater and pulling him down to me, his mouth crashing onto mine.
He doesn’t skip a beat as he lifts me, placing me on the edge of my childhood desk. The one that’s a long flat surface and has a bookcase attached to the top that’s filled with my teen reading choices.
One step between my thighs and he’s towering over me, tipping my head back as his tongue plunges into my mouth. A small whimper escapes from my chest. It’s been so long since anybody has kissed me like this. Actually, nobody has ever kissed me likethis. Like the world will stop spinning if he stops.
His hands slide up and down my legs, my torso, my arms, into my hair. They’re freely roaming my body, and I can’t keep up with the tingles being released from every touch. His mouth lowers to my neck, where he starts to devour me, and my fingers tighten in his sweater, the one I suddenly wish I could tear off.
But instead, I slide my hands under the hem of it, feeling the rippling muscles all along his abdomen, sides, even back. He’s lean and toned everywhere, and it makes my clit throb and legs fall apart even more.
Link takes it as an invitation, one I’m giving openly, for his hands to slide up under my skirt, which he hikes up to my waist in the process.
His fingers grip my tights and the sound of them tearing fills the room.
