Page 119 of First-Time Caller
“Yeah?” he asks.
I nod.
His eyes narrow slightly, but he turns the TV off, tossing the remote to the same corner where all the sheets now reside in a tangled clump on the floor. He pushes himself up with a flex of his left arm and my mouth goes dry.
“We did say later,” he muses conversationally.
“We did,” I agree. I feel myself nodding, doing my best to reduce my smile to something manageable. It’s getting harder and harder to do that with Aiden, and I’m not sure why I keep trying.
I turn the thought over, examine it. I’m so used to reducing myself to feeling things halfway that it’s become second nature. I watch Aiden shift in front of me to better close the space between us and let myself sink into the warm, soft, gooey feeling in the middle of my chest. I don’t need to restrict myself with Aiden.
Because with Aiden, I’m safe. He told me so, the very first night we talked to each other.
I let my smile tumble across my face. Aiden blinks.
“That excited, huh?”
I try to pinch him again, but he grabs my hand and drags it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to my palm. My breath hitches and both of his dark eyebrows arch up.
“Ooh, she’s very excited.”
“Shut up,” I breathe. His mouth is warm and his body feels so big next to mine, the smell of his cologne or body wash or whatever it is that makes his skin smell like coffee and wintergreen stronger in his house and on his couch cushions. I feel like I’m a puddle of hot melty wax in the middle of an Aiden candle.
He presses another slow kiss at the base of my thumb and a shiver rolls its way over my shoulders. He grins into my hand and I imagine myself curling my fingers around the shape of it. Holding on to the rare proof of his happiness.
“You like my mouth on you, Lucie?”
He doesn’t wait for me to answer before he drags his mouth to the inside of my wrist, sucking a wet kiss to my pulse point that has my knees knocking together.
“I guess it’s—” I have to swallow down my groan when he drags his teeth along the inside of my elbow. “I guess it’s good.”
Aiden hums and squeezes my hand with his before tugging on it, encouraging me to wrap my arm around his neck. But I don’t need much in the way of encouragement, my fingers tangling in his hair while his mouth drops kisses against my neck.
“We can do better than good.” Aiden presses his forehead to my shoulder and rocks it there once. One of his hands finds the small of my back, fingers slipping beneath the material of my shirt. His thumb presses into the soft skin at the curve of my hip and my body lurches into his. “You’ve gotta tell me what you want, okay? I don’t want to push you.”
“Not pushing me,” I mumble, tilting my head to the side, giving him more room to nuzzle. The scruff along his jaw feels fantastic against the hollow of my throat. I hope it leaves a mark. I hope I’ll be able to look in the mirror tomorrow and see the shadows of his affection.
Still he lingers in the space ofalmostandmaybe, half touches instead of the mindless passion of the closet. I curl my fingers in his hair and tug until I can see his face. His eyes are dark and helookslike he wants more, but there’s still so much I’m unsure about when it comes to the intricacies ofthis. Wanting someone and wanting them to want me back.
I don’t want there to be any confusion. I don’t want him to hesitate.
“Aiden. I’d like to clarify something.”
He blinks at me sleepily, like he’s coming out of a haze or a very good dream. I scratch through his hair and his fingers flex against my back.
“Okay,” he says, voice pitched low.
“About what I want.”
A sound catches in his throat. I watch his Adam’s apple bob once. “All right.”
I lick at my bottom lip. “I want you to kiss me until I can’t breathe.” I hesitate and then decide to be fully transparent. Honest. Just like he’s always encouraged. “And then I want you to press me down into this very nice couch fort and make me come. More than once, if possible. That’s never happened for me before, and I’d like to give it a go.”
His eyes are impossibly dark. “Give it a go?”
I nod. “If you don’t mind.”
LUCIE STONE:Could you hand me that?
