“You let me pull you down on purpose.”
Before I could punch him a fourth time, he caught my wrist. “No. I’m afraid I really don’t know what it is you want from me. Please. Continue demonstrating.”
With my right hand trapped, I reared back to hit him with my left instead. Yet, before I could even make contact, Kitt caught that wrist as well.
Using nothing but the strength of his legs and hips, he completely flipped us on the bed, so I was suddenly pinned beneath him.
It was a familiar position. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d been restrained in such a way. Yet, for the first time, the flutter of my heartbeat wasn’t out of fear or an anticipation of pain. I didn’t have to fake my excitement as I wrapped my legs around his waist to let our bodies rub together.
At first, it left me confused.
How could something so similar to the abuse I’d experienced in the past feel so different?
However, as I looked up into Kitt’s eyes, which stared down at me with a strange mix of concern and desire, I quickly realized the answer.
Before, whenever someone pinned me down, their strength always felt like a cage trapping me in place. In contrast, Kitt’s strength was like a wall shielding me from the rest of the world.
We lost ourselves for a while. Our clothes mostly stayed on, but there was something so thrilling about each undone button that even just seeing Kitt with his shirt hanging open felt more risqué than if he was fully naked. Part of me was eager to touch as much as possible, but a small, timid part in the back of my mind was still scared of what would happen when that boundary was crossed.
What would happen when there was no longer any clothing standing between us?
He must have sensed my hesitation, for although I said nothing, and the enthusiasm of my kisses never waned, his fingers only brushed over my stomach. My muscles twitched with every slide of skin against skin, but his hands never ventured farther than the waistband of my boxers.
If I’d been able to think clearly, I might have been disappointed in myself, but I couldn’t feel too badly about it when kissing him felt so pleasurable. Time slid by unnoticed, until I could barely remember what it was like to take a full breath without the air being stolen right from my lungs.
It was such a heady exchange that I didn’t even notice at first when Kitt suddenly stopped kissing me. I just lay there, panting against his mouth, drunk off the effects of my own hormones, completely unaware that anything was wrong until he sat up.
“Did you hear something?”
Even when he sat up, I couldn’t bear to let him go and ended up hanging off his body with my arms and legs wrapped around him like a sloth dangling from a tree branch.
“What? No.” I answered without even thinking about his question, too busy pressing a line of kisses along his neck.
With a gentle hand, he pushed my mouth away. “I’m serious. I think I heard something.”
The feeling of air between us, even just a couple of inches, brought some clarity back to my brain and I dropped back down onto the bed. “I’m sure it’s fine. We’re locked away in an underground safe house. What could possibly...”
I trailed off before I finished the question, realizing how stupid my question would sound.
Was I really about to say out loud “What could possibly go wrong?”
I may as well be asking for trouble at that point.
Although I’d stopped myself from finishing the question, the universe apparently heard my challenge anyway and decided to answer. Less than a moment later, Kitt and I both flinched when something heavy knocked against the front of his cottage door.
We both stared in the direction of the disturbance, neither of us moving. The cottages didn’t lock. There was no reason for someone to knock, and the noise sounded a lot heavier than the weight of a mere fist.
Kitt’s hand pushed down on my chest. “Wait here.”
I certainly didn’t have any plans of going anywhere and happily stayed right where I was as he approached the door.
There was another thump on the door, this time sounding more deliberate as if someone had slammed against the wood. Then, just as Kitt neared the door, it suddenly swung open.
Someone tumbled into the room too quickly for me to see who they were at first. Kitt jumped forward, catching them as they fell and gently lowered them to the floor.
Only then could I see who they were.
“Thomas?”
