The kiss is overwhelming everything, tingles of pleasure running down my body to my fingers and toes and centering between my legs. My cheeks are burning. My head is throbbing with excitement. I make an embarrassing moan into the kiss.
“That’s it,” he says, pulling his mouth away for just a moment and rubbing his cheek against mine. “Just give in to the experience. You’re liking it, aren’t you?”
“Uh... huh.” The soft grunt is all I’m capable of articulating. I reach up with both hands to hold on to his head and bring his lips back to mine.
He responds to my naked eagerness. Deepens the kiss and slides his tongue into my mouth.
I gasp in pleasure through my nose as I rock restlessly beneath him. I try to suck on his tongue. I arch deeply enough to feel my nipples against his chest. I’m making all kinds of uninhibited sounds against his mouth—soft but urgent. Utterly carnal.
Then I suddenly hear myself. See myself. I pull back from him sharply.
He immediately backs off. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah. It was good. It’s just...” I take a hoarse breath. “Didn’t want to get too into it.”
“What would be wrong with that?”
“Nothing. I just... Anyway, it was a good kiss. Thanks for letting me try it out.”
Okay. That didn’t sound too terrible. He won’t necessarily know what a riot is going on inside my body and mind at the moment.
“You’re welcome.” He sounds a little breathless too. He moves back over onto his side of the bed. “I told you I was a good kisser.”
I gasp indignantly and reach over to swat his chest.
He laughs, and I feel better.
It might have been the best kiss of my life, but it would be dangerous for me to let it go further than that.
I put a stop to it just in time.
Five
IT’S LIGHT IN THE ROOM the next morning when I open my eyes. I slept soundly and longer than usual. I’m not used to waking up well after the sun rises.
So I’m disoriented at first, having no idea what’s going on or how I got here. I blink several times and then gasp when I see Damian’s familiar face above me.
He’s not smiling, except for his eyes, which are glinting with that dry, intelligent humor I can finally recognize.
I smile up at him, groggy and fond. My heart feels like it’s expanding in my chest.
He smiles back, his face softening. “Good morning.”
I blink again, my mind clearing. “What?”
“I said good morning.”
“I know what you said. What the hell is happening here?” I start to sit up, startled to find that Damian is very close, sitting on the edge of the bed beside me. “What time is it? What day is it? Where the hell am I?”
He laughs and scoots down to give me more room. “We’re at Pop’s. And it’s seven thirty on Sunday morning.”
Rubbing my eyes, I groan. “How did I sleep so long?”
“I don’t know. I was surprised you weren’t up before six like normal, but I didn’t see any reason to get you up since we don’t have any plans until church.”
With another hoarse exhale, I flop back down onto the pillow. “When did you get up?”
“About thirty minutes ago.”
“You seem very cheery this morning,” I grumble.
He does seem unnaturally cheerful. It’s not like he ever expresses overt joie de vivre, but I can sense something simmering beneath the surface of his calm demeanor. A warm force trying to escape and thus pushing out slightly around the edges.
“I slept in. I don’t have to go to the library and work on my dissertation all day today. And I just took a shower and had a great cup of coffee. What’s not to be cheery about?”
I give him a half-hearted snarl in response.
“Plus,” he adds, leaning over so his face is way too close to mine, “I had a great time kissing you last night and figured we’d probably do it again today.”
I huff and push him away—without much force or will. “What gave you that idea?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I suspect you enjoyed it too.”
I’m so tempted to stick my tongue out at him that I can’t seem to resist the childish impulse.
It makes him laugh uninhibitedly. “Keep drawing attention to your luscious mouth that way, and we’ll be kissing again in no time.”
“You’re ridiculous.” I sit up again, this time managing to get my legs over the side of the bed. I catch Damian’s eyes slipping down to my disarrayed nightgown, so I