Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
I never realized just how much I liked having a gentle hand on my cheek until Crescent started doing it every time we kissed. His palms were always so warm and welcoming, compared to the harsh opposite I was used to.
Our lips hadn’t touched yet, but his forehead was against mine, and we were so close I could feel the warmth of his breath. “Morning, Sunshine.”
Smiling, I leaned into him more and let out a content hum. “Mmm, morning.”
I closed my eyes just as he did his as we moved together, following a path laid before us by forces unseen.
When Crescent kissed me, I could feel every thought and emotion hiding in his body.
Every time he’d shrugged when asked if he’d thought about dating.
Every memory of him looking at me with something more in his eyes, though I didn’t think either of us understood what it was.
Shared disbelief in a world where we couldn’t imagine life without each other. How long had I ignored the signs he’d given me? How long had I hidden beneath the shield of ignorance?
How long had Crescent wanted more, and did he even know that’s what it was?
Crescent’s hand pulled me forward—just a tug with the slightest bit of pressure. I followed him, deepening the connection between us, our lips seeking each other out like they’d been starved for years.
His tongue swept across my bottom lip. The back of my tongue started to go numb, tingles spreading down my throat, following a path all the way down to my gut.
It was overwhelming, like excitement in its highest form.
I gasped through it, letting his tongue slip past my lips, sweeping mine against his.
A deep groan rumbled from his throat. Fuck.
Was I making him do that? Was that noise because of me?
I inched closer to him, pressing our sideways bodies together as much as possible.
There was barely any space between us, yet it wasn’t enough.
I didn’t think it’d ever be enough. Every inch of my skin felt awake, alert, and alive for the first time in so long. I’d forgotten I could feel that way.
His existence had my heart pounding in my chest, his lips a story I wanted to read with my tongue, his hands a light I wanted to follow through the deep, dark depths of the world.
We were slow at first, languidly building to a symphony created just for us.
That was, until our chests got too tight and full of need, my fingertips vibrating with the ache to feel, touch, and hold.
We held onto each other for dear life, our lips barely parting for breath as Crescent nudged me onto my back.
Hair curtained me on either side of my face as he leaned over me, the strands tickling my skin. I reached up, cupping the back of his neck. I hadn’t realized that I was subconsciously pulling him closer, but the pressure on my lips had changed, and our tongues had followed, too.
One of his legs moved between mine, his upper thigh pressing into me. I was wearing a pair of new pajama pants, which did nothing to hide just how hard I’d gotten.
I groaned, rubbing myself against him slightly. It was like I’d lost control of my body, and it was moving on its own. We pulled away for a second, just enough for Crescent to lean his forehead against mine, both of us panting together. “Fuck, Sunshine. You’re so goddamn beautiful.”
Heat simmered across my cheeks. “I can’t believe you’re here, Cres.”
“I’m here, baby. Right…” He pressed a quick kiss to my nose. “Here.” Another to my lips.
We lost ourselves again. Time passed by in an array of colors, some of which I wasn’t sure even existed. My hips rocked against Crescent’s thigh, faster and with more purpose each time, the pleasure all but foreign to me at this point.
His leg lifted, moving to straddle my hips. He took a moment to settle, his ass sitting right below my crotch.
The weight of him did something to me. It made me pause—it made everything pause. My lips stopped responding to him just as all of my muscles tightened and darkness struggled its way into my chest.
For a moment, all I could think about was Jude. The final night I had with him. The way he’d gotten on top of me just like this, though it had been to give him leverage for a rain of punches to my face.
“Sunshine?” Crescent had pulled back, his eyes flicking over my face.
I blinked, forcing his face into focus. “Please get off.”
He rolled away immediately, sitting up beside me. “Yeah, of course. What’s wrong? What happened?”
Shaking my head, I tried to take a few deep breaths. It was something Christina and I had discussed in our last session—different breathing exercises to regulate my nervous system when my brain felt threatened.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m right here. Take your time.”
Always so fucking sweet. Always so caring. Crescent fucking Miller, the caregiver, no matter what. It took a few more deep breaths to remind me—or maybe my body—that I was safe. Safe and secure, right by Crescent. “I’m okay. Just… being on top of me like that kind of freaked me out.”
He slid down, lying fully on his side now. I turned over to look directly at him, sharing space with him. “Okay, good to know. I won’t do that again unless you tell me to.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” I sighed, taking him in. It was always so crazy to think about how he used to look when we were kids and teenagers. I loved that he kept his hair long, staying true to who he was. Kids used to say stuff when we were younger, but he never let it get to him.
He was truly one of the most handsome men I’d ever met. Seeing him grown up, instead of growing up with him, was painful in some ways. But in others, it was beautiful.
I closed my eyes as he swept his fingers along my face, swiping his thumb against my cheekbone. “I’m sorry, Sunshine.”
“No, don’t make it weird. I don’t want it to be weird.”
“It isn’t weird.”
“Okay, then kiss me.”
“El…”
Shaking my head, I leaned up on my elbow. “No, don’t ‘El’ me. Just kiss me. Kiss me like you’ve always wanted to.”
I watched as his eyes widened, then relaxed. He seemed to think about it for a second before meeting me halfway, doing exactly what I’d told him to.
Fire scorched my skin, seeping into every crack and divot, yet it soothed my very fucking soul. Was that even possible? I took him, soaked him in, like it was the last thing I’d ever do in my life. If I died today, I’d die happy and fulfilled with the taste of Crescent on my tongue.
Lifting my head a bit, I huffed a short laugh at the way he tried to follow me. “Can I get on you instead?”
The bed actually shook with how vigorously he nodded his head. “Yes. Yes, please. If you’re comfortable with that.”
“Don’t make it weird, Cres.” I threw my leg over him, mirroring what he’d done to me earlier.
Feeling him underneath me and staring down at him instead of up was almost empowering.
It felt right and natural. It felt like being on top of the world, looking over the largest mountain, and realizing I had everything I ever could’ve wanted.
I fucking loved it. There was nothing to be afraid of and nothing to feel embarrassed about, because right there, straddling Crescent, I was fucking beautiful, just like he’d said earlier.
Leaning into my newfound confidence, I shifted on top of him, moving my hips forward, only to whimper when my cock brushed against his beneath our pajamas. “Holy fuck.” I tried to whisper, but by the look on Crescent’s face, I’d said it louder than I meant to.
He cleared his throat from beneath me, looking away. “Yeah, sorry. Just kissing you seems to get me all worked up.”
No matter how weird it might’ve been, I couldn’t take my eyes off the erection tenting in his pants. “Fuck, I can’t believe that’s from me.”
“Kiss me, Sunshine.”
I leaned down, giving him everything—every part of me I could. I spilled all of my confusing thoughts and feelings into our kiss, hoping he could feel just how right it was. How delighted our souls were now that we were coming together.
He bucked his hips a little, pushing himself into me. That was all it took, all the permission I needed to push back. We moved our bodies in sync, moaning, groaning, and pleading in tandem.
A bouquet of daisies, all in different colors, bloomed across my skin. They fell around us, creating a field just for us to exist in, making space in the world that only we belonged in. A beautiful landscape, perfect for painting.
Perfect for us. Because we were perfect.
We weren’t kissing so much as panting against each other’s lips, sharing the air and space between us. When I rolled my hips, he rolled his back, stroking us through our pajamas, the friction building and building, leaving us wordless. Thoughtless. Numb to the outside world.
A warm, comforting pressure gripped my cock, pushing me to the edge. “Cres,” I whimpered.
“I got you. I’m here.” His words were breathless, rising in pitch at the end.
His hands moved from my upper thighs, traveling to my sides. He held me, keeping me in place, though not tight enough to stop my movements. I could feel his fingers digging into me, but they didn’t hurt.
I threw my head back, squeezing my eyes shut as bursts of life, hope, and pure fucking joy shot through my entire body.
My thigh muscles tensed, making it harder to thrust into Crescent, forcing me to move my entire body instead of just my hips.
I felt him tremble underneath me, our moans harmonizing, singing along to the symphony we’d been following.
As cum soaked through my pajamas, I lay there, motionless except for the heavy rise and fall of my shoulders. Crescent wrapped his arms around my back, keeping me against him.
And everything—despite all the bad—felt like it’d be okay. As long as I had him, it’d all be okay. The hope I needed, the hope I never should’ve lost, was holding me tight and would never let me go.