I twist on the stool and wait for her to come back between my legs. She sets her phone down and her arms come around my neck, my hands rest on the swell of her backside. “I did,” I tell her. “It was a really good one too.”
“Do you want to tell me?”
“If I do, it might not come true.”
“Hmm.” Her fingers push through the hair at my nape and her nails scratch gently. “Happy birthday, baby.”
Lana lowers her forehead to mine, and her breath dances across my lips. I bump my nose against hers and she does the same with a quiet, breathless laugh.
I reach up as she leans down, our lips touching with a soft graze, just brushing skin against skin.
“It’s after midnight,” I whisper.
“It is.”
“Is the kiss still valid?” I breathe against her lips.
“Yes,” she breathes.
“Any rules?”
“Don’t hurt me.”
“Never again,” I breathe and pull her into me by her hips.
Lana presses her lips to mine softly, then harder, just before she pulls away. My hands fly to her face and I pull her back. “I’m not done.”
She giggles but I silence her with my mouth moving in sync with hers. “It was one kiss,” she says breathlessly, holding onto me tightly.
“You said no rules.”
She moans and tangles her tongue with mine. It’s all I need before I stand, pick her up by her waist, and sit her down on the counter.
It happens so fast the way it did a few weeks ago. We move together smoother than water. I know her—I know her body, her sounds, her hands. I know her tactility and once I learned it, I’ve never been able tounknowit—unknow her.
Lana fingers leave my hair and run down my chest just as my hands move up her thighs and roam her back, under her sundress. Her hands fumble with my jeans and I force my hands to come off her skin and wrap around her hands.
“Lana,” I breathe, stopping her hands. “Lana.”
“What?” she breathes, still kissing me like she can’t stop. I can’t stop either. “Christian?”
“No sex,” I whisper.
Her hand cups my erection in my jeans. “But?—”
I hold her hand. “No sex. Of any kind.”
“We are way past that point, Christian,” she chuckles.
“I know, baby,” I say with a quiet laugh. “But not until we’re okay.”
Lana frowns. “We aren’t okay?”
“Not completely—not yet,” I say.
I still have a lot I need to say.
She nods, swallowing audibly. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”
