“Tell me I can kiss you, my love, tell me I can pretend for just a moment.”
“Kiss me, Rhys.”
I’ve never heard sweeter fucking words.
I dip my head lower, my lips brushing against hers in a featherlight touch, watching as her breathing hitches and her eyes flutter closed. She’s so incredibly beautiful, so seductive without even trying.
Everything around us softens, noise, movement, even the air itself feels like it’s holding its breath as I erase the remaining space between us. I couldn’t hold back another moment if a gun was to my head.
My lips finally press against the plush fullness of hers, my eyes falling closed as we mold together. It feels like the world finally exhales, like everything that had been off balance in my life, everything I’ve been searching for, has been righted and found.
I’ve been dreaming of this moment since the very first second our eyes met, so I kiss her slowly, gently, but there’s no question about whether this is right or wrong. Kissing Bristol is a reckoning, a sign from the divine that everything is finally as it should be.
Sinning never tasted so sweet.
Our bodies pull tighter, her voluptuous breasts pressing harder against my chest, erasing all space between us. My fingers tangle gently in her hair, turning her head so I can deepen the kiss just as she surprises the hell out of me. Bristol opens her mouth, her tongue seeking mine. My tongue slides against hers, coaxing, tempting, until she melts in my arms, a soft little mewl escaping her lips.
Everything before this moment disappears. My entire world is reduced to this single moment, this woman in my arms, and I’ve never felt fuller and more fulfilled. My life begins and ends with her.
I kiss her like I mean it, like I never want it to end, throwing all the feelings running through my veins into it, wanting her to feel every uninhibited desire to make her mine, to have this to hold onto, to think about as a reminder that she’s loved, thatshe’s wanted, and desired. That there’s someone out there who loves her more than anything in the world.
Our tongues caress against one another, slowly, methodically, without urgency or a rush, and I’ve never been more turned-on. Her hands slide up my forearms before dropping to my chest. She explores me, fingertips running along my pecs before dipping lower, gliding along each of my abs through the thin fabric of my dress shirt. Her touch ignites a wave of goosebumps, arousal following in its wake.
She tastes of the champagne she was sipping all night, sweet and intoxicating, her tongue smooth against mine as we pull each other closer, our bodies completely flush now. I swallow down her sweet gasp as she feels the proof of just how she affects me on a physical level.
But fuck, if it’s not so much more than that.
I slowly break away, peppering a few lingering kisses to her lips, resting my forehead against hers. She’s panting, clinging to me like she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she lets go.
“Tell me what you need, my love, and I’ll do it.”
“Take me away. From here, from all of it. Just . . . I need to escape for a little while longer. Help me escape.”
That I can do.
Grabbing her hand, we leave the house that neither of us belongs in and rush back outside. Bristol kicks off her dress shoes as we go, leaving them discarded on the steps of the house. I quickly open the passenger door of my truck, scooping her up and setting her back in the seat. Her smile is infectious, like she’s excited about the future for the first time in a long time.
After I get her buckled, I close her door and jog around to the front. I know exactly where I’m taking her.
Bristol rolls down her window, so I follow suit, the wind whipping her long hair around her face. She hikes up her dress to her thighs, pulling her legs into the seat. My knuckles turn white with the strength I’m squeezing the steering wheel with. Long, bare legs sit just inches from me, and her cute red-painted toes that I want to kiss. She sticks her arm out the truck window, head lolled off to the side as she looks at the night passing by.
We don’t exchange words, nothing but the wild wind whipping through the truck cabin and the soft melody of Elvis on my playlist coming through the speakers. When we arrive at our destination, Bristol sits up straighter, looking around as I pull off onto the side of the road at a mile marker. We’re on an empty road in the middle of nowhere that stretches between Amberwood and Aspen Ridge. I can’t fight the smile that fills my face as she looks around with confusion.
“Come on, I want to show you something.” I jump out of my truck, walking around to the other side to get her door just as she’s opening it. I help her down, but not before I take my fill of her gorgeous legs. They’re thick, and that slight jiggle when she slides out of the seat before her dress falls down over her legs makes my mouth water and my fingers ache.
Taking a deep breath to control my physical reaction to her and her body, I grab her hand, then scoop her up in my arms.
“Rhys! I know how to walk, in case you don’t remember?”
“Is this okay? We have a little trek through the woods, and you don’t have shoes on.”
“Oh, yes. This is okay,” she says, giving in and making me so happy in the process. Any excuse to have this woman close to me is one I want to take advantage of. Plus, I’d hate for her to hurt her feet stumbling around the forest at night.
Bristol holds my phone flashlight for me, lighting our way as I walk through a small, man-made trail that I could do with my eyes closed. She looks all around us, taking in everything as far as her eyes can see. After a few minutes, we arrive at the edge of the woods, the tree line coming to an end and opening up to a gorgeous meadow at the top of a hill that looks out over more forest.
I gently set her down onto the grass, grabbing her hand once more and leading her farther into the meadow. Massive Sitka spruce trees surround us in a large perimeter, wild lupines growing tall; if only she could see the pink, purple, and blue hues. But nighttime is the best, anyway.
I usher her forward to the center of the meadow, loving how willingly she follows me, how trusting she is.
