This Is War, Baby - K Webster Page 0,63

again?” My cock twitches and I let my mind go blank. The vortex that is her sucks me in easily and I let it.

“Yes.”

At her whispered response, I take my hand from the wall and tentatively run my fingertips along her jaw. Her bright blue eyes blaze with a need that matches my own. She lets out a gasp when I run my thumb along the other side and grip her face in my hand. Those perfect pink lips part open and her eyes flutter closed.

God, she’s alluring as hell.

Dipping down, I barely brush my lips against hers. The action sends wild excitement buzzing through me. My brain struggles to grab statistics about mouth-to-mouth germ transferring but I snuff out those thoughts.

She is my focus.

My only thought.

When she lets out a tiny moan, I dart my tongue out and taste her. She’s sweeter than the orange juice we had this morning and I want to devour her. To stick my tongue deep into her mouth and run it along every surface just to know her from the inside out. I want to tangle my fingers in her golden locks and hold on to her indefinitely.

But what if I pull to hard?

Would her hair be torn from her scalp?

Would it bleed all over my white carpet?

Stay in the moment, War.

Kiss her. Kiss her. Kiss her.

I try to drive away the maddening thoughts that are now popping around me like gunshots on a battlefield but it’s too much. The moment one of her palms touches my cheek, I jerk away from her. My heart is thundering in my chest, my cock is proud and at attention behind my jeans, but my brain is on overdrive.

Twenty billion oral microbes.

Seven hundred or more possible strains of bacteria.

Thirty-four to seventy-two different varieties in each person.

Hers mixing with mine.

The combinations are endless.

Streptococcus mutans. Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus salivarius, and Lactobacillus sp.

Crawling and crawling and crawling all over the inside of her mouth—the same mouth I’d fantasized about tonguing every crevice.

“War,” she says in a firm tone that snaps me from my thoughts. “Calm down. Brush your teeth. Shower. Do whatever it is you do and then let’s finish our chess game.”

My eyes find her concerned ones and I relax, even if only marginally. Focus on something else. Not her mouth. Anything.

“Uh,” I grunt and run my fingers through my hair. I tug at it but don’t let go. “Why won’t you move your queen, Bay? It’s the only move.” Chess has always been a good focal point when my brain threatens to explode. I can focus on the strategies and become obsessed with moves, not germs and gore.

She starts toward the door but gives me a tender smile. “Because the queen always protects the king.” And then she whispers the last part. “Even from himself.”

Her strategy makes no sense to me…

And yet, a sense of calm washes over me as she leaves the room.

Turns out, I don’t need the shower after all.

Just a little mouthwash and a lot of chess will bring balance back to my world.

I think I just semi-averted a meltdown—a first in my book.

And that was solely because of her.

Baylee.

“THIS,” HE GRINNED and handed me a dainty tennis bracelet, “is for you.”

A couple of girls nearby giggled—the excited type of giggle—at Brandon’s romantic notion. We’d been going out since last year, when we were juniors, and were very much in love.

“It’s so pretty. I love pink,” I gushed and batted my lashes at him as he latched it around my wrist. “Thank you, Brandon.”

“Our one year anniversary is important.”

My cheeks reddened and I glanced around. No teachers were around so I slid my fingers around his neck and drew him forward. Our mouths met and he kissed me sweetly.

“God, Baylee,” he groaned after our kiss. “You make it really hard to function at school.”

He dragged his backpack into his lap and flashed me a shy smile. Today, he was especially cute because his normally perfectly spiked hair had become messy from the rain we ran through this morning to get from the bus to the school. I liked when he wasn’t all perfect and put together.

“I wish we could spend more time together outside of school. You know how crazy my dad is though. He’d be happier if I didn’t date until I was thirty!”

We both laughed and he leaned in again for another kiss. Rain drops began pelting us and the giggling girls from earlier were now screeching. We were left all