Meant to Be Immortal (Argeneau #32) - Lynsay Sands Page 0,90
the doorway. For a moment they just stared at each other, and then Mac cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak. What came out was a startled grunt as she caught his hand, tugged him into the room, and closed the door. He then found himself pushed back against it and CJ was kissing him. Mac was so startled at the greeting that for one moment he just stood there, his hands hanging loosely at his sides thinking, G. No nudity. But he was beginning to think Katricia had got CJ all wrong when her tongue slid out to brush along the seam of his lips. That small action sent a zip of excitement through Mac and almost had him opening his mouth, but instead he pulled back and eyed her worriedly.
“What are we doing?” he asked when she peered up at him in question.
Uncertainty entered her expression then and she bit her lip. “I was thinking, and I’m sorry you have HIV, but as ashamed as I am to admit it, I’m kind of glad too, because I like you and find you really attractive, and I thought you wanted—I mean, on the porch you—”
“I want you,” he interrupted, unable to bear the sudden anxiety on her face. “But I wasn’t sure that you wanted to.”
A wry smile curved her lips into a crooked smile. “Mac, I haven’t had sex for three and a half years. Trust me, I want to, and it’s safe with you. As long as you have condoms. I mean, I take my antivirals religiously and—”
“Let’s go,” Mac interrupted abruptly, catching her hand and heading for the door. She’d won the battle at “Trust me, I want to.” Katricia had definitely got it wrong. Thank God.
“Wait!” CJ tugged at her hand, breaking free and making him stop and turn to face her. “Where are we going? If you don’t want to, it’s fine. I just—”
“I want to,” he assured her. “But I don’t have condoms. We need to go to a twenty-four-hour drugstore. They will have one here, won’t they?” he asked with sudden concern.
“Oh. I don’t know,” CJ admitted, and then ran a weary hand through her hair and shook her head. “Maybe this is a sign that we aren’t meant to—”
“It’s not a sign,” he assured her with alarm. “Definitely not a sign. It just means a nice romantic drive under a starry sky. Or maybe they deliver,” he added thoughtfully, and asked, “If we order now, how long do you think it would take them to get here?”
“I have no idea.” CJ frowned and he could feel that he was losing this opportunity even before she said, “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“No. It’s a good idea,” he assured her, grasping her upper arms. “Really, really good. I— We don’t have to have sex,” he said now. “Kissing is a start, and touching. We can save the good stuff for next time.”
CJ’s eyebrows rose at that and she said dryly, “Mac, kissing and touching are the good stuff. It’s called foreplay.”
“Really?” he asked with interest. He knew kissing and touching were good, but they hadn’t had a name for it the last time he’d had sex. Of course, that had been centuries ago. Maybe a millennium. They might have called it foreplay and he’d just forgotten. Realizing that CJ was staring at him with disbelief and something like disappointment, Mac realized that his “Really?” may have led her to believe that he didn’t indulge in what she called foreplay. He had to correct that assumption at once, of course, or he suspected she wouldn’t even give him a chance. But what was he to do? Say, Yes, of course, foreplay. I love foreplay. Let me show you. The words sounded lame even just in his head. He doubted he’d get far spouting them, so he gave up on talk and simply kissed her.
Now it was CJ’s turn to stand still and unresponsive, but it didn’t last long. When he let his tongue run along the seam of her lips as she had done with him, she didn’t pull away as he had, but relaxed a little in his arms and opened tentatively to him.
CJ let her mouth drift open out of curiosity more than anything at that point. She was curious to see if he was as good as her dream Mac had been. She quickly realized he was better. That was the last coherent thought she had as his