Chapter 29 #2
“You… God, Maren.” He growls, his hands roaming up and down my legs. “You taste so fucking good, coming on my tongue like that.”
Nate rises from his knees, wiping his chin with the back of his hand. As he does, he flashes me the lavender tattoo on his wrist, and I could come again from the sight of it alone and all that I’ve learned it means.
“I’ve never tasted anything better, and I can’t fucking wait to have my fill again.”
I gulp, my skin flushed. “I don’t know… if I’ll ever walk again, so we might have to hold off.”
“Not a chance, Lightning.” The wicked glint flashes in his eye even brighter than before, and I’m putty. Witnessing such delight simply from getting me off is such a damn turn-on.
If his knowing smirk is any indication, he senses exactly how strongly he affects me. I’m not even sorry to be the wind inflating his ego right now.
Silently, he buries his hand in my hair and glues his mouth to mine.
I wrap my legs around his bare waist, my core still quivering with aftershocks of the pleasure he evoked.
God, his tongue is magic.
I nearly lose myself to this kiss when I glimpse the clock on the microwave, the numbers blurry. I fully open my eyes to bring the time into focus, and I fling myself backward, wobbling in my spot on the edge of the counter.
“I have to go.” I tuck my hair behind my ears, my heart rate slowly returning to its normal rhythm. “Dance class is only a half hour. Your mom will be back with Teagan soon.”
Nate drops his head to my chest. “Shit.”
I pull him up for one more kiss, then slip my shirt over my head. When I hop off, I fall right into his waiting embrace.
“If we had more time, I’d take you up to the shower and wash you off.” He trails the tip of his nose along my jawline. “Then I’d get you dirty again.”
“Guess you owe me, then.”
His groan meets my sharp inhale as he kisses me until my swollen lips tingle. As we finish dressing, Nate watches me, fists clenched at his sides as I wipe the crumbs from the backs of my thighs before sliding my leggings on.
I could easily get used to being the center of his attention. To capturing his interest with the slightest action.
“Looking at me like that isn’t going to get your shirt on any faster,” I tease, and he finally pulls on his plain black tee.
“No, but it might get me that date with you.”
I pause with one shoe halfway on.
He kneels in front of me to slip it the rest of the way onto my foot and peers up at me like he’s proposing marriage instead of a simple date.
And my eyes well with joyful tears.
“What do you say, Lightning?”
I sink my hands into his hair, further mussing it, then cradle his face in both palms. “I’d love to go out with you, Nathan.”
His eyelids close and open in slow motion. “Have I told you how much I love when you use my full name?”
I hum as he rises until every inch of him is flush against me. “You can show me when we take that shower.”
“It’s a date.”
“That’s the romantic evening you’ve been itching to take me on?” I grin. In truth, we could sit in the middle of his driveway for a date, and I’d be happy.
He chuckles. “This is going to be fun, isn’t it?”
It’s clear that he’s not only referring to the date. He means us, and he’s most certainly correct.
On the porch, he squeezes my hand, then turns it over and brings it up to his lips. With a lingering kiss to the middle of my palm, he murmurs, “You were right.”
“Which time? I tend to be right a lot,” I joke, running my finger along his strong jaw.
“The day after the Halloween party.”
Every ounce of amusement disappears, and my smile drops into a frown. That day is not something I’d like to revisit, especially not when I’m still riding the high of the last hour.
“That night was perfect for closure,” Nate says.
“I think we needed to let go of what we were and what we did or didn’t do back then.
We were just kids, and we did our best to navigate what life threw at us.
” He lifts my chin to peer into my eyes.
“This is a new beginning for us. We can make it whatever we want.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
It’s true. The last time he and I had sex, I thought it could be the beginning of something. That he and I could start new, but then the memories rolled in and squashed all the bright fantasies.
We couldn’t start new, not when we never actually closed that chapter in our lives to begin with. For years, we floated in a special kind of limbo, so many truths never shared. So many questions and what-ifs.
With everything out in the open now, it’s easier to accept what happened, flawed as it might’ve been. We can’t change any of those things. Up until a few weeks ago, I sometimes even wished I could, but not anymore. I don’t wish that.
I only wish to move forward, toward a fresh future.
I slip my hand into Nate’s, threading our fingers together.
And it feels big. This seemingly small, innocent moment on his front porch feels monumental, as does every moment after this, even though they haven’t happened yet.
But that’s the only way to explain this flood of emotions engulfing my body.
This is a second chance for us.
A second chance at love.
I owe it to myself to take this leap, and for once, I’m going to allow myself to enjoy it, because I deserve this.
I want to believe I deserve him.