But this… God, this didn’t feel sinful.
This felt like coming home to myself.
I must have made some sound, a soft whimper maybe, because Marley pulled back just enough to look at me, her eyes searching my face. Her breathing was as unsteady as mine.
“Are you okay?” she asked breathlessly.
Instead of answering with words, I reached up and pulled her back down to me, my fingers tangling in her hair, surprising us both with my boldness.
I want more.
The thought came instinctively, shocking in its clarity.
This time, when our lips met, the kiss became hungrier, more urgent. Her hands slid from my face into my hair, and I found myself pressing closer to her, my body seeming to know what it wanted even if my mind was still catching up. I could feel the full length of her body against mine now, her weight pinning me gently against the glass, and the sensation made my breath catch.
I had no idea, I thought hazily as she deepened the kiss, her tongue tracing my lower lip. I gasp and open for her. I had no idea it could feel like this.
Heat was pooling low in my stomach, spreading through my limbs like liquid fire. Every nerve ending felt alive, hyperaware of everywhere our bodies were touching. When she pressed me more firmly against the glass door, her body flush against mine, I felt something in me surrender completely. The cool glass at my back was a stark contrast to the heat radiating from her body, and the sensation made me arch slightly against her.
This is what wanting feels like, I realised as her mouth moved against mine with increasing intensity, as my hands fisted in her sweater, pulling her impossibly closer.
This is what desire feels like.
And it was nothing like what I’d been told it would be. Nothing like what I’d expected. It was better and more terrifying and more right than anything I had ever experienced. Her tongue was warm and soft against mine, and I could taste something faintly sweet, maybe coffee or chocolate from earlier.
When we finally broke apart, both of us breathing hard, I stared up at her in wonder. Her hair was messed up from my fingers, her lips were swollen from kissing, and her eyes were dark with something that made my stomach clench. I could feel my own lips tingling and could still taste her on my tongue.
“Wow,” I whispered, the only word I could manage.
She let out a soft laugh that sounded almost disbelieving.
“Yeah,” she agreed softly. “Wow.”
X
“We are not only responsible for what we do, but also for what we do not do.”
— Jean-Paul Sartre
Chapter Eleven
Kelechi
After we came back inside from the patio, Marley dragged a hand through her hair, messing it slightly. “I should change into something more comfortable for cooking but be my guest and make yourself at home.”
She disappeared back into her bedroom, leaving me alone with the lingering taste of her kiss and the scent of her apartment wrapping around me like an embrace. I wandered back to the kitchen, trailing my fingers along the smooth granite countertop, still processing what had just happened between us.
We kissed. I kissed her. My first kiss.
I was freaking out.
When she came back out, my breath caught in my throat.
The tailored sweater was gone, replaced by a white cotton T-shirt that clung perfectly to her frame, skimming her shoulders and revealing the lean strength of her arms. Dark shorts sat low on her hips.
“Much better,” she said, catching me staring. “Ready to actually cook this time?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “What can I do to assist?”
