“What are your Christmases like?” I ask, then bite my tongue. If Alex doesn’t even spend Thanksgiving with family…
“When I was a kid,” he says, putting a hand against my waist to steer me in the direction of his street, “they were full ofmiyeokgukand experimental skin-care products my cousins would invent. They’ve upgraded since then and now co-own a skin-care line that they operate out of LA and Seoul, where each of them lives. I think I have some of their face masks at home, if you want to try one.”
I chew on my lip, peering up with pure intrigue at the man beside me. “Were your aunt and your mom close?”
He nods. “They were best friends growing up. Aunt Jane has tons of old stories about my mom she tells me whenever I stay with her,” Alex says, smiling. “Just yesterday, I went to dinner with her, and we spent three hours talking. She was sad when my mom decided to move us to Seoul, but apparently, she also thought it was the right call for my mother’s happiness.”
“To get her away from Robert’s vicinity?” I ask.
Alex frowns. “I guess so. Though Aunt Jane doesn’t think Robert is so bad, mainly because her own husband was worse. He bailed on his wife and kids about eight years ago and never looked back. At least Robert didn’t vanish.”
“That’s true,” I say. “Robert did not vanish.”
Alex’s hand on my waist slips to my free hand, and he doesn’t let go as we climb the stairs of his place. Still doesn’t let go as westroll silently toward his bed. He puts both of our bottles on the dresser and pulls me close. Tilts my head back with the tip of his finger.
“Tell me what you want for your birthday,” he whispers. “And I’ll give it to you.”
I kiss him. I ache for this now. The feeling of his lips on mine.All the time.
He tugs on my bottom lip with his teeth, traces the marks he left behind with his tongue. I lift myself toward him, pressing our bodies flush. We kiss, and kiss, and kiss. Just standing there.
He’s hard against me, and I make him sit so I can straddle him. Alex moves my body against his, and we just keep kissing, like neither of us can stand to move on from this. My dress rides up eventually, and he lifts it over my head. I peel off his shirt, let my hands roam over the contours of his chest. He massages my breasts, thumbing over the fabric of my bra. Under it.
Mouth. His mouth is on my breast. It’s warm and dark and flooding me with a sensation that I have honestly, without a doubt, never felt before in my life.
I’m making noises that I’ve neverheardfrom myself in my life.
He lays me out and strips off the rest of my clothes. I’m dizzy, my vision blurring, my body humming. Hot breath tickles my thighs. Alex pushes my legs up to bent and spreads them wide. “Is this okay?” he whispers.
“I’ve been checked recently!” I blurt. Then, mortified, I shut my eyes and squeeze my lips shut.
“Good to know.” He chuckles. “Not what I meant, but thanks for the safety check.”
I shake my head, looking down. “I just meant that I went to the doctor more recently than I was with someone else.”
He exhales against me. “Me too. For the record. I scheduled an appointment the week after you slept in my bed.”
“That’s almost presumptuous,” I say lightly.
“It was incredibly presumptuous, and also a desperate attempt at wish fulfillment.”
He puts his mouth on me with no further preamble, and I spend the next few minutes cursing and gasping and thinking this is the best birthday anyone’s had, ever. I fall off a cliff one minute later, having completely lost any sense of control over my own body’s pleasure. It’s in his hands now. Which is just as terrifying as it is beguiling.
Afterward, Alex crawls up beside me. In between kisses brushed along my jawline, he has the audacity to ask, verbatim, “Want another?”
I am so stunned that all I can think to say is, “Are you running a deal?”
He rumbles out a laugh. “Well, it is your birthday.” He reaches for his nightstand and grabs a condom out of the drawer.
“Alex?” I ask softly as he puts it on.
“Yeah?” he half groans.
“I want to use the condom, but I also wanted you to know I have an IUD.”
He looks back up at me, leaning most of his weight on one elbow, searching my face. “Okay,” he whispers hoarsely. “Thanks for telling me.”
“And—I’m sorry I didn’t say this the other day, but I’m not going to sleep with anybody else while we’re… while this is…”
