Page 88 of The Other Side of Green

I pulled my mouth away slightly. “Please tell me Eva’s not sat there wide-eyed staring at us.” I couldn’t tear myself far enough away to look.

She shook her head, delicate hands clutching my face in a desperate grasp.

“Fuck,” I growled, pulling her tighter, closer, until we were almost the same molecule of air suspended in one single moment.

I stopped when my thumbs circled her cheeks, traced in slippery wetness. Yanking myself away, I stared into her eyes.

“You’re here?”

Even her voice shook.

Sliding my hand around the back of her neck, my thumb brushing her jaw, I smiled, trying to dial back the neanderthal neediness into something slightly less intense. Not that easy. “There is nowhere else I can be other than with you.”

“But…”

I laughed, a sound so light, so surprising, after the anger of the last twenty-four hours that it took me by surprise. “Can we do the talking in a moment? I need to kiss the life out of you first.”

Her lips stained a delicious pink. “I can do kissing.”

Grinning, I pulled her closer, licking along the seam of her lips until she opened enough I could steal inside, a thief about to plunder a sacred temple.

God. Kissing Lyra. Everything about it made a lifetime of dreams come alive. I tilted her face, rocking her head back into my hands so I could sweep in deep, exploring all the areas I hadn’t yet broached.

How it was possible to love someone with such intensity and to only have been with them once was a mystery of the universe. The fact I loved her before I even knew what she would taste like, feel like, was something miracles were made of.

Her body pressed into mine, soft curves and firm skin. My hand slipped under her shirt, grazing the bare flesh of her shoulder, my fingertip trailing down her spine across the surface of her tank until I got to the hem and pressed my palm flat against her hot skin. Her hands lifted to my hair, arcing her body against mine, our lips never breaking contact as she pulled me back toward her bed.

“Lyra,” I warned, wanting to do anything but stop what was happening.

“Eva’s gone out for a drink, won’t be back for hours.”

I smiled against the curve of her lips, living again, aching for a response I’d spend the rest of my life chasing. Pulling on a curl, I shifted back and met her gaze.

“I think for once in my life I should be chivalrous.”

She made a mewing sound and pulled me down on top of her on the bed, the air huffing out of her lungs with the impact. “Chivalry is for pussies. You should be the villain and steal in here and take what little virtue I have left.”

Her legs wrapped around my waist, her hips tilting.

God, this was going to hurt. Somehow, using a strength I didn’t know I possessed, I untangled myself, leaving her a panting mess on the mattress. “Lyra Lennox, we don’t need to rush.”

“Speak for yourself,” she muttered, and I leaned forward to capture the little pouty upturn of her lips with my own.

I smoothed my palm down her cheek, brushing her plump lip with my thumb, the pale-blue gaze I loved so much watched me expectantly.

“I’m really hoping you were right when you told me I wasn’t your sister. Otherwise, I’m not going to lie, there are rules within the fabric of humanity I’d be willing to break.”

Chuckling, I brushed the tip of my nose against hers. “I’m not your brother. Sadly, you only have Luca, for which I’m partially sorry because he’s crap.”

“But… Mom?”

We were getting to the serious bit too quickly. I should have spent more time kissing and licking those damn fine lips of hers. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so virtuous and just claimed her instantly as my own.

“Lyra, I don’t know if your mom was telling the truth. It’s something we can find out together if you want.”

I settled back on her twin mattress and pulled her into me, making sure I could keep eye contact with her at all times.

“So, how…?” She pressed her fingers into her lips. I removed them and replaced them with my own mouth, stealing for another long swipe of my tongue against hers.