‘Is this okay?’ he asks, his chest heaving, eyes wild.
‘Yes,’ I reply, just barely getting the word out before he bridges the gap between us and the sensation of his mouth on mine is enough to make it feel like the floor is falling out from beneath me.
His lips feel careful at first, moving slowly and curiously across mine so I have a small opportunity to recover from the rush of heat blooming, cascading through my body. He’s being gentle with me, treating me like I’m something delicate; maybe because he’s realised what a profound effect he has on my nervous system, but I want more. I open my mouth to gently take his bottom lip between my teeth and something in him breaks. He inhales deeply and wraps his strong arms around my waist, his warm fingertips grazing across the skin of my back as I bury my hands in his hair.
His grip on me tightens and I bask in the feeling of it. The feel of his chest under my hands, his tongue on mine, his body pushing against me. My head presses back against the tree as his lips explore my own with hot impatience and I stifle a moan when I feel the evidence of his arousal against my hip. I try to not push back against it to gain some kind of friction from him, given that we are still in public and I suppose I have someboundaries. With that said, when his hands move up to my neck and his thumb traces my jaw, I forget myself and whimper into his mouth.
Finally giving into the need to touch him, I run my hands down his stomach and underneath his shirt, revelling in the feel of the cool, hard skin beneath. My fingers ache to roam all the way up to his chest – to touch him, feel all of him, when I realise he isn’t doing the same; his hands remain fixed in the base of my hair, cradling my head against the tree.
‘Touch me,’ I plead against his lips, and that’s all it takes. He is no longer careful or polite in the way he explores my body, the way he grips my ribs, then pauses to grasp my behind and pull his hips against mine so hard that for a moment, I swear I see stars.
His head suddenly snaps back from mine and loosens his grip. His eyes are dark, wild and so fucking hypnotising that I can’t look away as I try to catch my breath.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ he murmurs, his voice ragged.
‘Like what?’
‘Like that,’ he says, nodding at my own heavy-lidded gaze.
All I know is, I don’t want to stop. I ignore him to attach my lips to his again, grazing my fingertips down the length of his body. He grips my waist tightly, before his touch travels up to my breasts, and his thumbs trace the outline of my nipples so lightly that at first I almost don’t feel it. His lips travel down my jaw and into the crook of my neck when he rubs his thumbs over themagain and the knot of heat in my core lights up. With a shaky breath, I grab a fistful of his hair to pull his lips away from me and find his eyes.
‘Let’s go,’ I beg, my chest heaving.
He pulls back to study me carefully. ‘Where?’
My vision is almost fuzzy, and it’s from this observation that I realise with absolute certainty that I have never been so turned on in my entire life.
‘My tent’s closer,’ I breathe.
His hair sticks out wildly around his head and for the first time, he doesn’t make any attempt to fix it.
‘Are you sure?’ he asks, his eyes flickering around my face for signs of doubt.
I don’t hesitate for a second and briskly nod. ‘Let’s go.’
Elliotand I stand amidst a sea of tents. Never-ending tents. I sigh as I stomp around a gazebo with Elliot in tow for what feels like the hundredth time in the last ten minutes.
‘Iswearit’s somewhere around here,’ I growl.
‘Nora, it’s fine–’ Elliot started behind me.
‘Trust me, we’ll find it any second.’
‘Nora,’ he says as he comes to a stop, tugging my hand to pull me back to face him. He runs his hands across my shoulders and a tiny part of me melts. ‘Nora, it’s alright. There’s no rush, we’ll find it. We have all night.’
The double meaning behind his words brings heat to my face, and I force out a breath.
‘Sorry. Okay.’
He presses his lips to mine for another chaste kiss, which we have been gladly exchanging every so often during our journey, and it feels like a sensation I’ll never get used to.
I turn back to face the direction we were going, when I realise I’m not sure where I was heading at all.
‘Uh…’ I murmur, my head spinning in all directions.
‘All good?’ Elliot asks.
‘Not really,’ I joke. ‘You just disorientated me.’
