“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I swallow around the lump in my throat.
He brushes a kiss lightly over my eyebrow, and I bring my hand to his chest and lay it flat against his skin.
He tilts his head, and his own brow furrows. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Shelley. Your body language seems like you want to be touched, but your eyes are telling me something different.”
“I’m trying to figure out where to start. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or push too far for you. Can I kiss you?”
One corner of his mouth turns up in a small smirk. “Kissing is definitely an option.”
“Okay. Then I choose that.” I beam up at him before he leans in to brush his lips over mine. A spark ignites inside my chest, and my hands slide to his shoulders to pull him closer. He tastes like toothpaste and smells like home as my fingers slowly move up to the back of his neck so I can lock him into this moment with me.
Chapter 22
Jordan
I’ve lost my damn mind. I’m in Mike’s room—literally in his bed—making out with his sister after I offered to help her get herself off. I’m a terrible friend, but I’m ready to accept that fact about myself because Shelley’s slowly taking over every thought in my head. Her breathing has changed, and her shallow, needy sighs erase all sense of logic and reason from my brain.
When she presses her hips into me, I want to peel off every layer of fabric between us, but instead I say, “Do you still want me to try to help?”
She whimpers and nods.
“Lie back. Put two fingers in your mouth and suck on them for me.”
She mumbles something to herself that sounds like “here goes nothing,” but then she shifts her body and brings her fingers up, and the soft suction coming from her side of the bed is the only sound in the room.
Shelley removes her fingers and speaks again. “Now what?’ she asks, tentatively, waiting for me.
I ignore the ache in my own body while I focus on telling her what to do. “Slide your hand down your body. Slowly. Stop when you get to your waistband.”
Her hands are under the blankets, but I know she’s doing what I tell her because her breath is uneven now. “Takeyour other hand and slip it under your shirt.” My voice is a scratchy whisper.
“Are you hard?” she pants, but there’s a hint of worry in her voice, like she’s afraid my body won’t react to this.
“Do you want to feel?” It’s a confirmation as much as it is an invitation. I’m not planning to do anything about my own situation right now.
“Can I?”
I swallow and nod. I know we’re entering new territory, and there’s no coming back once we cross this line. But I shift my body and offer it to her. She seems cozy under the blanket, so I leave it draped over us, letting her set the boundaries here.
“Jordan?” Shelley hesitates and I run a finger lightly across her arm, wanting her to know I’m right here in this with her. “I need you to know I want this. So badly.” She runs her teeth over her bottom lip. “But I can’t promise my body will cooperate.”
I put a finger to her lips to stop her before she starts an apology. I don’t need her to be sorry for something she can’t control.
“It feels like you’re waiting for permission to be imperfect, and I should tell you you’re not going to find it here,” I warn her gently. “First of all, you don’t need it. You’re human, so be human with me,” I encourage her, and she gifts me a shy smile, so I continue. “But also, I promised you I’d be honest, so I can’t agree with the premise you’re setting up here, because I do happen to think I’m looking at someone who’s pretty damn near perfect.”
“Jordan.” She breathes out my name again, and it ignites a flame at the base of my spine. When our bodies are so close that barely a millimeter of space exists between us, she brings her hand out from the covers and gently runs her fingertips over my chest again. I can smell the arousal on her skin. My foreheaddips down to touch hers as her other hand gently traces over my pajama bottoms. She whispers my name one last time before my lips finally land on hers.
Time and space cease to exist. There is only us here now with each other. Shelley explores my mouth with an eager curiosity while I pull her closer and let her wandering hands feel what she does to me.
Eventually, our lips part so we can each take a breath, then they briefly meet again. Two more soft, gentle kisses shared between us. A thank you and a promise. How can so much history and so many unspoken words about the future fit into one brush of her lips?
“Can I touch you, too?” I don’t want to assume anything.
She offers a shaky nod. “Please.”
“I’m going to try something, okay?” I wait for her permission, and when she gives it, I pull her shirt up, but not all the way off, leaving only her eyes covered, but her chest and her mouth exposed. I kiss her lips softly, then take both of her wrists gently in one of my hands and hold them against the headboard. Starting at her neck, I work my way down kissing, sucking, and nipping at her exposed skin until I reach her breasts. Licking one nipple, I blow on it gently while I lightly pinch the other between my thumb and forefinger. Her hips buck underneath me, and when I start to suck a little harder, she kicks the blanket away.
