Chapter 31 First Taste
Chapter thirty-one
First Taste
Jasmine Chamberlain
I suck in a surprised breath at Shepherd’s words. He lets go of my wrists. My palms find a home against his chest. The racing rhythm of his heartbeat matches mine. His hands slide beneath my jaw, eliciting a toe-curling shiver. Before I can think or take another breath, his lips are on mine.
This is no slow exploration or patient caress.
No, his kiss is desperate, and I match it by dragging him closer.
He moves his hands to the curve of my lower back and draws me in to erase any distance between us.
I wrap my arms around his neck so our bodies are flush.
His tongue traces my bottom lip. I hum before allowing him to deepen the kiss.
The first taste of him is warm and addictive—better than anything I’ve ever made in a kitchen.
A low sound vibrates his chest and sets my body alight with a blaze of feverish desire.
I rake my hands through his hair like I’ve seen him do hundreds of times.
His arms tighten around me in response, fingertips digging into my back.
My knees weaken beneath me with each warm caress of his mouth.
He must sense me holding onto him, because he lifts me off the ground, stopping the kiss just long enough to walk us to the couch.
I straddle his lap and stare down at his mussed hair and swollen lips. He stares up at me as if I rearranged his world. I know I’m looking at him the same way.
“You’re so beautiful, Jasmine,” he whispers. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for weeks now.”
My heart jumps. “Weeks?”
He gives me a playful grin. “While you were thinking of throwing the chessboard at me, I was thinking of pushing it aside so I could kiss you.”
I frame his face with my hands, then kiss him again, soft and full. “Maybe I wanted to do both,” I whisper against his mouth when I pull back.
He presses an achingly soft kiss to my bottom lip. “I wouldn’t have minded, so long as I got to kiss you in the end.”
I go to kiss him again, but he stops me. I pull back to look at him.
“Hold on,” he whispers, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
The pad of his thumb grazes my cheek. He stares into my eyes, a hint of a smile toying at the edges of his mouth, his dimple playing peekaboo.
Anticipation stirs up inside me like it does when I’m about to step out to perform, only more intense.
“What are we waiting for?” I ask once I feel as though I can’t possibly wait any longer.
He chuckles. “Impatient, are we?”
“You don’t just kiss a woman and then stop,” I say, exasperated.
“I’m holding out for the perfect moment to begin again.” His smile is boyish and playful, those dimples of his on full display now.
“Which is?”
He brushes his nose against mine. His hands slide up and down my spine. My abdomen tightens.
“I’m finding it,” he rasps.
He drinks me in with his impossibly blue eyes. I don’t know that anyone has ever looked at me like this. What will he find if he looks for too long? Nervousness springs up within me.
“What are the qualifications for this so-called moment?” I begin to ramble, unable to be comfortable beneath the weight of his gaze. “Is the lighting not right? Should we move over?”
He brushes his lips against mine, silencing me. “Would you hush and let me have a moment to adore you?”
Oh.
I swallow, unsure of what to say to that. “Okay,” I whisper, earning another sweet, affectionate smile.
He presses a soft kiss to my forehead. My eyes fall shut and he kisses each one, gentle as the caress of a flower petal. He moves on to brush his lips against my cheekbones. I giggle when he kisses the tip of my nose. My nerves start to dissipate again. He smiles against my lips.
“I love your laugh,” he murmurs, not giving me time to process the word love before kissing me again.
He holds me close and kisses me languidly, savoring me like the last bite of a decadent tiramisu. One of his hands slides up to softly massage the back of my neck, drawing a soft sound from the back of my throat. His fingers tangle in the hair there and—a knock shatters our sugar-sweet dream.
I pull back, breathless.
“Owen took his keys, so it must be someone else,” Shepherd says. There’s a hint of anxiety in his tone that makes me frown.
“I can wait here while you see who it is,” I suggest. Hopefully he doesn’t think I’ll be upset if he goes to check. I’m disappointed that we were interrupted, but that’s all.
I press a kiss to his lips for good measure. “I’ll be right here to pick up where we left off.”
His smile is uncharacteristically nervous.
“Could you actually—uh—wait in my room?” My eyes widen at his words. “Not like that!” he quickly corrects as he sets me on the cushion beside him. “I’ll explain in a second, but I promise, I don’t want that—I mean I do, but—”
I press a hand over his mouth. “Please stop talking.”
He nods. I drop my hand.
“I will wait in your room, I guess,” I say, trying to be trusting though I’m confused.
Relief washes over his features. Another knock sounds through the door.
“I’ll be quick,” he says before jumping up and walking to a door beside the couch. He opens it and gestures inside. “This is mine.”
I get up and walk inside, giving him one last confused look before he shuts the door behind me.
I hear a loud “Hey!” but the rest is muffled, and I decide if I’m going to be forced to hide in here, then I might as well snoop a little.
My previous elation from our kiss begins to die down as a thought occurs to me.
Is Shepherd hiding me? He’s given me no reason to think he’d want to do that, but maybe I misread things.
I look around his room, noting the messy navy-blue bedding piled up at the foot of his mahogany bedframe. There’s nothing on either of his nightstands except a lamp. The only other furniture in the room is a matching wood dresser, and this seems to be where the bulk of Shepherd’s decoration is.
There’s a picture frame of him along with Jason and Willow at their wedding reception.
It’s a similar background to the one I remember seeing on Shepherd’s computer.
There are a few small award plaques, and next to those in a bed of black velvet is his National Championship ring from last year.
I remember that game. My family and I all went to support Bash.
The entire stadium was so loud, it was shaking.
At one point, I thought the whole thing would collapse.
It was a great game, and I’m sure a core memory for Shepherd.
My heart aches when I think of his loss from last night by comparison.
Hopefully, he can move forward now, still loving and pursuing his passions, but not letting them dictate how he sees himself.
I’m happy to be there for him every step of the way. I look at the door as it opens. If he’s not about to break my heart, that is.
“I’m sorry,” Shepherd says. He scratches the back of his neck. “I should probably explain.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, that would be good.”
He walks over and grabs my hands. My stomach flip-flops. “I wanted to tell you before I kissed you, but I got so caught up in the moment.”
I brace myself for whatever he’s about to say, though I have no way of guessing what it could be.
“Bash made a rule at the beginning of the season that we weren’t allowed to date cheerleaders,” he blurts out, proving that I would have never guessed that.
I blink. “What?”
“He heard a few of the guys talking about the cheerleaders, and I think he wanted to protect you, so he made this rule that if we date a cheerleader, we’ll be benched.”
My eyebrows shoot up. That’s why some of the girls said the football team was avoiding them like the plague. Poor Emmaline thought she got ghosted when, in reality, the guy was fearing for his spot on the team.
“That’s awful!” I exclaim, letting go of Shepherd’s hands. “He can’t do that. It’s not fair.”
“No player is ever going to call him unfair. At the time, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I thought it would be good to not be so distracted.” I give him a sharp look, and he lifts his hands up in surrender. “I know better now, but I didn’t then. Now, I don’t know what to do.”
“That’s why you asked me to hide,” I say slowly.
He nods. “I don’t want to put my spot on the team at risk after a loss that was my fault.”
I want to protest about it being his fault, but I know this isn’t the time. “So, what does that mean? Are you afraid to talk to him about it?”
Shepherd sighs. “I want to, but I want the time to be right. I don’t want him to be upset with me for not just breaking a rule, but breaking it with you.”
I think of how Bash got me my apartment. And how I was supposed to pay him back by being the best student and cheerleader possible. If he didn’t want me with one of his players…will he be upset? At the same time, he shouldn’t have any say in my dating life, even if he was trying to protect me.
I bite my lip. “What do we do?”
Shepherd draws in a fortifying breath. “Well, I had an idea…”