Time After Time (Sweetbriar Cove #14) - Melody Grace Page 0,29
class!” Madame clapped her hands together, breaking the spell. “Thanks for coming, everyone. Great work. Next week is Halloween, so costumes welcome!”
Aidan released Stella and stepped back. “See, that wasn’t so hard,” he said, looking totally unaffected.
“Nope!” she blurted, hoping that her cheeks weren’t flushing red. Hard to remember all her boundaries and rules, maybe. “Thanks for coming!”
“You’re welcome,” Aidan said, clearly amused.
Stella rushed over to grab her jacket and purse, her heart still racing. It was the dancing, she tried to tell herself. She should exercise more often, if a little activity got her blood pumping like this.
But of course, it wasn’t the gentle waltz that was making her short of breath. And she definitely hadn’t felt this way when she’d partnered up with Ronald.
Aidan was waiting on the street when Stella emerged from the stairwell. “I guess the heat wave is over,” he commented, his breath already fogging the crisp, dark night.
“Thank God,” Stella said, falling into step beside him. The weather. There, that was a safe, un-sexy topic of conversation. “I love Fall, with all the festivals, and hot apple cider.”
Plus, she was far less likely to find a naked Aidan swimming in the pond.
Stella blushed again at the memory, but this time, at least, she could blame the chill for the color in her cheeks. Winter couldn’t come soon enough, if Aidan was planning on sticking around—
She must have still been lightheaded from the dance, because she stepped straight off the curb, and stumbled from the drop. She would have gone flying, if Aidan hadn’t caught her arm at the last minute.
“Woah there,” he said, laughing, as he pulled her back against him. Suddenly, Stella found herself crushed in his arms – for the second time that night.
Only this time, they weren’t in a well-lit room, surrounded by other dancers. They were alone on a dark street, with nothing but the distant hum of traffic in the background, and the far sound of waves breaking on the shore.
Stella’s breath caught. Aidan was gazing at her in the dim glow of the streetlight, his eyes dark, and full of an emotion she knew all too well: the same stuttering spark of adrenaline that fizzed in her bloodstream.
The curl of desire that was snaking, low in her belly.
He reached down, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. She shivered at the touch, and then, before she could think twice – or even once – Aidan leaned in, closing the distance between them and pressing his lips to hers in a slow, hot kiss.
Stella melted into him, reveling in the feel of his mouth on hers, and his arms locked tight around her. It felt like she’d been waiting for this moment ever since that reckless day in summer. Deep and sweet, slow and sensuous… Those fevered fantasies she’d been harboring could never come close to this: The heat of his body burning up against her, and the fire in her own blood, rising fast, as his lips eased her mouth open and his tongue slid deep.
His taste was intoxicating, and she found herself arching up, pressing closer, needing more. Like a spark that starts a wildfire raging, out of control. It was head-spinning, heart-stopping—
Madness.
Stella’s last ounce of rational thought came bursting through. What the hell was she doing?
She stepped back, breaking the spell. And just like that, reality came flooding back in – accompanied by a hot rush of shame. All her careful rules and boundaries didn’t include making out with a guy in the middle of the street! Anyone could have seen – someone from Matty’s school, a parent…
Stella panicked. She’d spent the past fifteen years trying to live down her scandalous reputation. And now, she was just throwing caution to the wind again?
“I… have to go,” she said, her head still spinning.
“Do you need a ride?” Aidan asked, running a hand through the hair she’d just ruffled. He looked about as unsteady as she felt, breathing deeply, but somehow, that just made it worse.
“No!” It came out harsher than Stella realized, and she saw Aidan’s face fall. Stella winced, knowing she was screwing this up, but feeling too flustered to be able to explain herself. “It’s just… We shouldn’t have done this.” She gulped, regret already pounding through her, but whether it was from kissing him – or stopping the kiss, she wasn’t sure.
“This was a mistake.” She said, trying to sound firmer than she felt. “I’m sorry, but… It can’t happen again. Ever.”