chapter thirty-one
He let me lead, at least for a little while.
I sat on top of Andrew and kissed him like it was a welcome-home after a tour at sea. It felt effortless, the way we fit together. With some kisses there was the awkward dance of which way to angle your head, or that sinking feeling of mismatched pressure and speed, but Andrew and I always seemed to find a perfect rhythm immediately whether we were drunk in a closet or fighting off goats.
My fingers danced over the contours of his face and found their way into that hair. I pulled the little rubber band out and coaxed it free, running my fingertips along his scalp. He made a satisfied noise against my mouth that sounded like victory to me. I wanted to see what he looked like all tousled and undone, but I was afraid to stop kissing him, worried that the spell would be broken yet again. But this time we were alone, in his perfect little house with a fire crackling a few feet away, speeding toward the inevitable. I’d always thought that when it finally happened Andrew and I would crash into each other withall of the angry, pent-up emotions that had kept us in a decade-long sniper war. But what we were doing felt...tender.
I arched my back so that I could press my chest against his and claim more of him as we kissed. His hands moved from my waist to my back, leaving a trail of hot embers behind. I squeezed my thighs against his and felt his hardness through the jeans he’d mercifully worn that night. If he’d been in those damn sweatpants I’d probably already be pregnant.
Andrew’s mouth was gentle, tasting me, teasing me back, leaving me feeling like I couldn’t quite catch my breath. I wasn’t sure I could last just making out, because I’d been imagining the rest of it for too long, and I didn’t want to wait any longer.
His kisses strayed from my lips to trail along my cheek, up to my ear, where he nibbled my lobe, giving it a gentle, tugging suck that set off sparklers in my spine. I remembered what that tongue was capable of and I was more than ready to let it wander anywhere it wanted on my body. I ground against him to let him know.
He pulled back, ever so slightly but still too much for my liking, and his eyes swept around my face, trying to read my expression.
“What?” I breathed, worried that he’d changed his mind and I was about to be banished to the purgatory of wanting him.
He reached up to cup my cheek and my heart swelled from the tenderness of it. There was that look in his eyes again, the one that made me feel precious. “I’m just really, really happy you’re here,” he said, his voice husky.
“Me too,” I whispered back.
His palms scorched the tops of my thighs as we drank each other in. It was like we needed a moment before we let ourbodies take the lead again, to make sure that both of our definitions of “fun” included what was about to happen. Andrew’s hand trailed up my back to the nape of my neck and he gently moved me closer until our eyes were locked and our mouths were hovering just inches apart. It still felt a little reckless, like we were breaking some unwritten rule about keeping a safe distance from one another. My breathing went shallow as I waited for his next move.
“Are you ready?” he asked, his voice a raspy whisper.
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I nodded wordlessly as a wave of goose bumps rippled along my skin.
Andrew quickly slid one hand behind my shoulders and the other under my ass, then stood up abruptly, as if I was nothing more than a throw pillow. He muffled my laugh with a hungry kiss, and didn’t stop as he walked us past the kitchen and down a hallway. I locked my legs behind his lower back and tightened my arms around his neck as our mouths crashed together. My entire body hummed with the knowledge of what we were about to do, that the torture of secretly wanting him was about to end once and for all.
The hallway was dark and the next thing I knew he’d kicked open a door and was heading for the bed in a dimly lit room. He lowered me onto it slowly, never taking his lips from mine. I clung to him for as long as possible because I didn’t want to let go of him for even a few seconds. Once I was flat on the bed he stood over me, his eyes raking down my body.
For the first time ever, Ilovedthe way it felt to have him staring at me.
He reached down to pull open the button on the top of my jeans, unzipped the zipper, then tried tugging them off of me,nearly wrenching me from the bed, as if he didn’t know his own strength. I rolled onto my side as the giggles overtook me.
“I’m usually way more suave than this,” he said, laughing at himself. “You make me feel... I don’t know...”
I sat up when I saw the tension in his face. “What?”
“You make me feelnervous. That’s not normal for me.”
It was impossible for me to believe or respond to. How could anything about me make the mighty Andrew Gibson nervous? He sat down on the bed next to me and it sagged beneath his weight. His thigh brushed against mine and suddenly my mind was off and running with visions of stripping him naked.
“C’mere,” I said, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and wrenching him closer to me. “Let’s see what we can do about those nerves.” I laughed as I said it because the thought of it was so unbelievable to me.
And with that we were back in the moment, getting lost in each other as our tongues explored. Andrew pulled me to my feet, pulling my jeans down as we kissed. He broke away to strip them off me and was already reaching for my ass as I stepped out of them.
“Have I ever told you how much I appreciate this thing?” His voice was muffled against the side of my neck. He cupped my ass with both hands and gave it a light squeeze.
Another bombshell as I tried to remain upright. “I don’t believe you.”
“That’s because you were always walking the other way when I was staring at it.” He pulled away from me to lean down and bite a cheek. The feeling of his teeth grazing my skin sent shock waves through me. “It’s even better than I remembered.”
I took advantage of the fact that we weren’t kissing to pullmy sweater over my head, leaving me standing in front of him in just my pale pink silk bra, panties, and ridiculous white socks.
“Shit.”
It came out in a whisper. Between the way he said it and the awestruck look on his face I knew that there was no higher praise. I swallowed hard as warmth spread in my chest. I straightened my back and thrust out my breasts to encourage more of his admiration.
