“Aye?”
“Thank you. I’m putting this behind us. I’m… not the girl I was in school anymore, and… you’re not who you were either.”
I reach for her. I don’t want her to go.
“Stay.” The word comes out rougher than I meant. Her eyes flick to where my fingers wrap around her wrist, then back to my face.
“Why?”
“Because I'm not done with you yet.”
Her breath catches… just barely, but I hear it.
“Cavin—”
I pull her closer, slow enough she could pull away if she wanted. She doesn't. “Your plait’s loose. Let me… fix it.”
“Is it?” she says with a soft smile, patting her hair. “You know how to plait hair?”
“I’ve two sisters, don’t I?”
She nods, a little flushed. And then she turns around and stands primly in front of me. With an arm wrapped around her waist, I tug her onto my lap. She giggles, actually giggles, and a surge of something like pride swells through my chest.
I made Erin Kavanagh giggle.
I loosen her hair and let it tumble over her shoulders. I can’t help myself. I brush it off her neck, bend, and kiss her just there. She lets out a half sigh, half moan and leans further back against me.
I run my fingers through her hair. It’s soft and fragrant and a little damp, like she tossed it up after a shower. I exhale. Touching her like this loosens something in my chest.
I move her hair further and kiss her neck again. When she sighs and leans back into me, I turn her around, tip her head back, and kiss along the column of her neck to her collarbone.
Her eyes flutter closed.
“Tell me to stop.”
“You're not going to,” she whispers.
“Not unless you tell me to.”
Her hand comes up, fingers grazing the scar along my jaw. Tentative. Testing. “I don't want you to stop.”
That's all I need.
I pull her closer to me, one hand sliding into her hair, the other gripping her hip as she straddles me. Her lips part in surprise, and I take full advantage, kissing her hard—claiming her mouth like I've wanted to since she walked into this garden, looking soft and rumpled in that oversized jumper.
She makes a sound in the back of her throat, and Christ, it goes straight through me.
For a second, she's frozen. Then her hands fist in my shirt, pulling me closer, and she's kissing me back like she's been thinking about this too. Like she's been holding back just as much as I have.
I lift her jumper and slide my palm higher up, over the soft swell of her belly. She gasps against my mouth. I take advantage, deepening the kiss, tasting her. Her nails dig into my shoulders through the fabric of my shirt, anchoring herself.
“Cavin,” she breathes out when I break away to kiss along her jaw, down the side of her neck. Her head tips back, giving me access, and fuck me, the trust in that gesture alone nearly undoes me.
“Say it again,” I murmur against her throat.
“Cavin.” It's barely a whisper this time, and I feel it more than hear it.
My second hand slides under the hem of her jumper, fingers splaying across the bare skin of her waist. She's soft there, warm. She shivers under my touch, and I grin against her neck.
