I was growling. I know I was. Cy had that effect on me. He knew just how to push my buttons. He could annoy me as fast as he could calm me down. Not much has changed at all but for him having a few growth spurts, apparently.
“Cy,” Elm called out, his voice so deep and guttural he sounded inhuman.
Cy looked Elm’s way briefly, just long enough to break eye contact with me to give Elm a meaningful look before that icy blue gaze was back on me.
Of all the things I thought Cy was going to do, say something dumb, insult me some more, shove his mother’s envelope at me, reaching out to tug my beanie back into place, then brushing the stray hairs of my wig away from my face, studying me like he was waiting for something from me, his lips tipped into a smile I can’t believe I’m about to describe as sexy, because that’s exactly what it was— arrogant, cocky, pleased with himself, sinful, downright sexy— it was a struggle to comprehend what had just happened. I was still blink-blinking stupidly at him as gooseflesh pebbled my skin when he muttered something about waiting or being done waiting, I wasn’t entirely sure, then leaned in so fast I barely had time to react, placing his lips upon mine.
Warm.That was the second thought that struck me as his lips met mine.Pleasant. More.Shock beat all. Cypress Tree was kissing me… and I liked it.
The kiss was brief, too brief. I felt the loss of it, of his heat as he broke our liplock, pulled back, and met my gaze immediately.
Swallowing thickly, staring up at him while the world spun around me and heat unfurled low in my belly while it did wild somersaults, I made a noise at the loss of him— it was hard to make it out as my pulse thundered in my ears.
My hands, still pressing to his chest, were curled in his shirt like I meant to keep him there.
Thick fingers fell over mine. It made me want to curl into him tighter and purr.
Blue eyes bore into mine as he smoothed his fingers down the backs of mine, down the back of my hands, pausing to press at my wrist as if testing my pulse.
Words were not computing. I forgot how to breathe, to think. Thought flew right out the window. All I could focus on was that kiss, on him.
In the back of my mind, I knew my response was extreme, which kind of freaked me out, but I was too busy thinking about him placing his mouth back to mine to care.
This is going to haunt me. The stray thought struck me.
Eyeing him as he studied me, I licked my lips. What if I’m building this up? Will this be yet another thing I’ll regret forever and ever?
Only one way to find out… and he did start all of this. Just one more taste, that’s all I wanted.
Dragging him back to me without a word, ignoring the surprised noise he made, I planted one right back on him, just like he had me.
That surprised noise slipped into a rumble that was soft at first but grew so deep, so long and loud my fingers grew numb from the vibration as I clutched him to me. The urge to rub myself against him and growl a little lit a fire in my brain. Why him? Why did this male ignite this- this primal feeling buried deep within me?
One kiss and I wanted to rip his clothes off and suck his tongue clean out of his head.
At the first hint of tongue, I automatically opened to him.
It had never been like this… this intense, all-consuming. Typical teenage angsty boy stuff hadn’t hit me like a ton ofbricks. I’d kissed a few men once I’d reached adulthood, on the rare occasion I accepted a date, but it was never- I never felt- It was never like this.
Cy broke our heated smooch long enough to rumble out a soft, surprised, “Pru” that I’d swear on a stack of bibles was just shy of a purr, and dove right back in.
My fingers crept higher, until my hands were at the back of his head, digging into the hair at his nape, his hands doing a bit of moving around as well. One of his hands slid up my back so he was cupping the back of my head, the other pressing into my lower back, urging me closer.
A guttural noise cut in on the moment.
One second I was sucking face with Cypress Tree of all beings, feeling like I might catch fire if I didn’t chase this feeling, the next he was yanked off of me, plucked right up, unsuction-cupping our faces, leaving me gaping, gasping, wondering what the hell was wrong with me that I’d lost myself so completely I’d forgotten where I was, what I was doing, and who I was doing it with.
The snarl that Cy lets loose as he stumbled backwards was inhuman. I’ve never heard a human being make a noise like that. It was more akin to a muted roar of a large jungle cat.
Without missing a bit, Cy rushed right back to me, cupped my face, and planted another whopper of a kiss on me, but then pulled back quickly. “No move,” he grumbled at me. Holding up a thick finger, he motioned for me to wait.
Stupified into silence, I stood there watching as Cy turned to confront Elm but Elm rushed him. Birch, hot on his older brothers’ heels, rushed up but stopped just short of jumping into the fray.
Elm grabbed Cy by the front of what I knew good and well was one of Cy’s favorite band shirts. That thing was so worn and lightened from repeated washings it was impressive I couldstill make out Ride and Lightning across his chest. Cy also had a coveted George Strait shirt he thought no one knew about and frequently wore under his button up flannels. Well, he used to. I had to keep correcting myself— used to. It was a bit of a sobering moment. I didn’t really know them at all anymore— I just felt like I did. A little metal, a bit of country, rock, a whole lotta hidden love for pop bands— the enigma that was the Cypress Tree I knew growing up.
Cy snarled and grabbed at Elm’s wrists, then began snapping at him to release him.
Elm did, reluctantly, but not before glancing at me over Cy’s shoulder. The look my ex bestie gave me made me want to duck and hide. It was a warning but I wasn’t sure what for— not to move, to get the hell out of here, how dare you kiss my brother.
