Page 55 of Suncatcher

Pearl leaned in and darted her tongue out, wetting the seam of Driz’s closed lips. “Want me to show you a real kiss?”

Pearl had lied to Molly when she said Driz wasn’t sweet.

Perhaps it was the thrill of kissing a creature so feared and forbidden. Perhaps it was the reverence in Driz’s gaze that silenced the appropriate response of alarm. Perhaps it was that Driz was all Pearl’s, or simply the unfiltered earnestness of it all.

She didn’t know exactly why kissing Driz was so imperative, but it was. And Pearl was going to do it, if Driz wanted her to. And every single signal Driz was giving let Pearl know she wanted her to.

Pearl settled closer, seating herself flush on Driz’s lap. Driz’s wings twitched, and Pearl had to stop herself from grinding against her.

Pearl tugged at the tense jaw until it slackened and Driz’s lips parted so Pearl could kiss her deeper. Slipping her tongue inside, Pearl delighted in the gasp she received. Pearl drew Driz’s lower lip into her mouth as her hands slid down her strong neck to her shoulders, letting one continue lower.

She cupped a generous breast through the fabric of Driz’s shirt.

Driz shuddered, and her nipple hardened as soon as Pearl rubbed her thumb over it. But the rest of her remained soft and giving. And very much a woman.

Pearl felt drunk. Driz was so responsive. Each pass of Pearl’s thumb earned a soft rumble and puff of breath against Pearl’s mouth. The sound didn’t frighten her. It emboldened her.

She unfastened Driz’s buttons to get to her skin. So Pearl could heft the full weight of each breast in her hands.

Driz drew back from the kiss and looked down, watching Pearl touch her.

Driz’s hands had left Pearl’s back and were braced on either side of her, clawed fingers tense, curling into the mix of dirt and crumbling stone.

That wouldn’t do.

Pearl reached for her own throat, tugging impatiently at her scarf and popping the buttons on her waistcoat and shirt. She wore too many damn clothes.

Driz’s intense gaze tracked each movement. It satiated a desire in Pearl she hadn’t known she craved.

“Touch me,” Pearl whispered, tugging open the layers she still wore. The cold night air nipped at her pleasurably.

Pearl’s own breasts were rather small in comparison, but Driz didn’t seem to mind as her right palm engulfed one. Her touch was so gentle, her movements careful. Pearl grabbed Driz’s other hand and placed it over her other breast, sighing and arching into it.

She was certain Driz could feel and hear how fast her heart was beating. And Pearl knew, if she’d had blight in her senses, she’d have been able to hear Driz’s too, her wings in a state of constant fluttering.

“Like this?” Driz asked.

“Yes. Now kiss me again.”

Driz obeyed, eagerly and more boldly leaning in and pressing her lips to Pearl’s. Bringing their bare chests together.

Driz’s hand slipped out of the way, spanning around Pearl’s ribs, sliding down to her hips. The light drag of her claws and rumbling growl traveled straight between Pearl’s spread legs.

Wings snapped open, sending out a scattering of dust and debris from the force of the movement. Driz tore herself away, leaning back, her eyes wide and her breath quick.

The arousal between them was thick. Pearl almost pushed for more. To continue. To reach between them and discover if Driz was as wet as she was.

But the almost frightened look on Driz’s face made Pearl behave.

“Too fast?” Pearl asked.

“No.” Driz shook her head, but Pearl thought that might’ve been the closest thing to a lie Driz had told.

Pearl started to pull her shirt back together, but Driz stopped her.

“No,” Driz repeated, and the single word churned Pearl’s belly.

So Pearl released her button again and let her hands fall. Driz caught them, grasping them as she simply stared. Her gaze roamed over Pearl’s stomach and breasts and throat, up over her face, and back down again, as if drinking Pearl up. Pearl took the opportunity to do some staring of her own, until the heat of their contact faded and the chill of the night made her shiver.