He tried to pull away, but I held tight.
“I never wavered, Rory. As far as you’re concerned, I stayed right where I was the day you walked away from my car. You’re the one who seems conflicted.”
“Not about you. It’s hard for me. Getting attached.”
“Why?”
“Because it never lasts. Eventually someone hands me my bag and sends me on my way.”
“I’m not going to leave you.”
“Everyone leaves me, Grace. Everyone. That’s why I’m here in this place now. No one ever wanted me, and now I’m eighteen. I have no family. One friend and she’s like fifty. Until you surprised the shit out of me on the path outside, I was all alone. So trust me when I say, I’m not the wild card here. I’ll just keep holding on and holding on”—his voice cracked—“until you leave me.”
My heart broke for him and the life I could never imagine living. I’d always had places to go for my emotional healing. I don’t think I could have made it on my own without. “But what if I didn’t leave? What if we floated on your lazy river forever?”
“Not going to happen.”
“But what if it does?”
“Then I’d be really goddamn lucky.”
“Let’s make a pact, then.” I offered him my hooked pinkie finger. “You and me forever.”
His mood shifted. “I think this requires more than a pinkie promise.”
“What then? How do we seal it? A blood swap? Matching tattoos? Branding?”
“Jesus,” he laughed. “You go straight for the pain. I was thinking more along the lines of pleasure.”
“You weren’t just playing on my emotions to get me in bed, were you?”
“No, I am actually suffering.” He chuckled. “But not when I’m with you.”
“Does that line actually get you laid?”
“I don’t know. Let’s see.”
Rory stepped closer, placing one hand on my waist and the other tracing his fingers along my hairline. His gaze roamed over my eyes, hair, and mouth, as if committing it all to memory. But I didn’t want that. I didn’t want this to be a memory he looked back on fondly. I wanted this to be us at the very start.
Gripping his strong jaw, I placed the tiniest kiss to his mouth. And then another and another, finally letting my lips just linger there, savoring our union. Rory remained still, allowing me to take the lead. To find my bravery. And I did, hooking his bottom lip between my teeth and teasing him. Inviting his participation. He groaned, his fingers tangling in my hair as he dropped onto my open mouth, forming a seal and kissing me deeply. The velvet texture of his lips drove a shiver down my spine.
He walked me back and eased me onto the edge of the bed, dropping to his knees between my legs. The height difference between us now leveled, I wrapped my arms around his neck and our lips crashed into each other again. This kiss was hotter, promising wonders to come. Rory had used his tongue sparingly before, easing me in to the new sensation, but now it was hunting mine down. There was nowhere for it to hide, and I didn’t want it to. If I’d had reservations about maintaining my virtue when I’d walked in the door, it all vanished with this kneeling kiss.
Rory broke away from the kiss long enough to flash me the hungriest look I’d ever seen on another’s face. He wanted me. All of me. I pulled the shirt over my head. His eyes tracked to my breasts, his hands needing no instruction. Their warmth slid under my bra, cupping my breasts and circling the nipples with his thumbs. I bit down on my lower lip when his wet tongue joined the fingers, the combination so carnal I wrapped my legs around his kneeling body and arched my back, allowing him full access to my body. A hand slid up between my breasts, reaching to my neck and up over my parted lips. I sucked on his fingers and moaned.
The sensations rippling through my body were all new and all empowering. I wanted more, not just of this but of him. I wanted to see him naked. Feel him. I pushed back on his weight, righting myself until I was back on my ass on the edge of his bed.
“Grace,” Rory rasped, his voice so caught up in lust he sounded like an old man.
“Shhh,” I whispered, grasping the material of his shirt in my fists. “My turn.”
My fingers freed the top button of his shirt, exposing a small area of his skin. Continuing downward, another button was gone, revealing the shallow ridge running through the middle of his breastbone. I traced the line with a fingernail and watched as Rory’s body quivered and his breathing intensified. A third button gone and his lickable abdomen came into view. I parted the two sections of his shirt, exposing his stomach and the whole of his chest before taking a taste of the treasure. It was my thumbs circling his nipples and my wet tongue trailing along his skin up to his chin and into his parted lips that were now causing his ripples.
His mouth closed over mine, a violent need passing between us. I broke the kiss, unbuttoned his jeans, and exposed his pubic bone. He stood up, allowing me to shed the last barrier to his nakedness. There was no hesitation, only anticipation and nervous excitement. And then he was there, naked before me like my own personal buffet. I wasn’t sure what to do with all the goodies, but I sure as hell wanted to sample them all.
Rory nearly doubled over, his body clenching almost as if in pain, when my tongue touched him. I held his hips as I got a feel and taste of him. He legs shook, guttural groans escaping from him. And then he pulled away. I blinked up at him, confused.
“You’re going to have to stop,” he said, leaving my side temporarily to dig through his side drawer. Holy shit. The condom. In my virginal haste, I hadn’t even considered it. I watched him roll it down, my eyes widening when I realized where it was going.
