Twenty-Eight #2
Theo was smiling when his lips touched mine, the muscles in his lower back shifting against my palms. A frisson of electricity charged through my veins, and I pressed closer to him.
The kiss started off slow and teasing, dimming the ache that had simmered inside me for days.
His fingers threaded into my hair as his mouth moved with mine, combing through the strands until they found their place. A shiver slipped between my shoulder blades, and I rose on my toes to deepen the connection.
He cradled my face and dialled up the intensity, his mouth turning urgent as his hands kept me steady.
When his tongue swept across mine, my breath caught, and every nerve ending turned electric.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and sighed through my nose, congratulating myself for building the nerve to talk to him for the first time on the rooftop.
Theo’s hand drifted to my waist, sliding over the curve of my ass.
When I made a pitiful, desperate sound, he smiled against my mouth.
I broke the kiss and laughed at myself, wishing I had it in me to be calm and composed.
It was too easy to get lost in him. “I’m so out of practice,” I said, something telling me he wouldn’t make fun of the years I’d spent alone.
The corner of his mouth kicked up, and he brushed his thumb across my cheek. “If it helps, I’m barely holding it together.”
I smiled as I steadied my breathing. “I wasn’t even missing this until I started spending time with you.
” My mouth travelled over his jaw and down the side of his neck.
I gave the tattooed rose there some attention, smiling at the way he tipped his chin to encourage more kisses. “I’ve wanted you for so long.”
He made a rough sound in his throat and lifted my chin, searching my face. “Why didn’t you say something? God. Anything.”
The shards of silver in his eyes mesmerised me, and it took me a second to answer. “It only just hit me now.”
Theo laughed, a surprised crack that echoed in the quiet room. “Lockdown could have been so much more fun.”
I couldn’t even be annoyed at myself for taking so long to come around to him. Now was the right time, and anything beyond that didn’t matter.
His thumbs stroked my cheeks, and the humour between us slowly faded.
He looked at me for the longest time, and the words he’d uttered during our first time alone in my apartment played in the back of my mind. Everything about you makes sense.
Emotion crept up my throat and blurred my vision.
My reaction ignited something in Theo. His eyes turned stormy and intense, and when his mouth captured mine again, neither of us tried to hold back. The kiss exploded from the outset, taking on a life of its own—lips tasting, hands roaming.
Then I surprised myself by jumping into his arms. As my ankles locked together at his lower back, he let out an oof and supported me with his forearms.
A rush of heat sizzled across my skin as my mouth lifted from his.
My gaze travelled over his pretty eyes, his kiss-softened lips, and the tangle of damp hair falling over his forehead.
He was stupidly attractive, but that didn’t even scratch the surface of what I liked most about him.
A small part of me wanted to pull back and protect myself in case he became yet another person I lost, but I ignored the warning and let myself have this moment.
“You make me happy,” I said, leaving a smacking kiss on his lips.
My sister was missing, and everything around us had collapsed, but he made it all bearable.
Before he could say another word, I kissed him harder, pressing my chest against his, twisting my fingers in his hair.
Theo’s mouth stayed fused with mine as he headed for his bedroom. He bumped into the corner of the island bench on the way, exhaling a harsh breath through his nose that could have been a laugh. I smiled and pulled back, gently tugging his lower lip with my teeth.
He made a gruff sound in his throat and redirected his course, taking the final few steps to the doorway.
When he stepped inside his room, my stomach flipped, and I tried to keep my enthusiasm from overflowing.
The blinds were half open, the lamp’s glow casting light and shadows over the space. We were high enough not to worry about what was going on at street level, and I intended to make the most of every second with him.
He carried me over to the bed and lowered me carefully onto the mattress, standing beside me. My heart fluttered like mad, and I stared up at him, the low light turning his features dark and tempting.
His chest rose and fell as he looked me over. “If you don’t like something,” he said, “say stop or no. That’s all I need from you.”
His words and the rough edge to his voice worked like a physical caress, sparking warmth and need inside me.
While our gazes clashed, I clutched the hem of my tank top, and shivers followed the stroke of material as I slid it over my torso.
I pulled my hair free and dropped the bundle over the side of the bed, laying before him, breasts bare, vulnerable in a way I hadn’t been in so long.
His features tightened, his jaw clenching as his eyes flicked over me. He opened his mouth to speak when the power died, plunging the room into darkness.
My gut twisted, then immediately settled. I was safe here with him. We didn’t need the light when we had each other.
“Shit.” Theo must have had other ideas. He leaned over me and rested one hand on either side of my head. “Don’t move,” he said. “I’ll be back.”
“You don’t need to—”
He silenced me with a kiss, his lips a little damp, the pressure just perfect. “I have to see you.” He kissed my mouth again, then my neck. God—between my breasts—breathing me in as if he’d just found his favourite scent. He groaned. “Please don’t move.”
I wanted to clasp his head and keep him there, but his weight lifted, and he walked away.
Theo’s footsteps thudded through the apartment, followed by the opening and closing of a few doors.
As his absence stretched on, my craving for him intensified, and I slipped my pyjama bottoms off, tossing them over the side of the bed to join my tank top.
If he needed a moment, I’d give it to him, but it wouldn’t stop the longing. With a sigh, I ran my hands over my body, chasing the warmth he’d created, imagining his mouth wherever my fingers wandered.
A soft glow preceded his returning steps, and my breath quickened.
Theo appeared in the doorway with a camping lantern hanging at his side, and when he caught sight of me naked on his bed, he froze.
I had no clue how much he could see with the darkness surrounding me and only the lantern lighting the room. The weight of his gaze had my back arching slightly, and I wanted to reach for him.
He was still too far away. “Come closer.”
His pyjama pants bulged in front, his free hand rubbing his chest as if to calm himself. The flat plane of his stomach tensed, and I moistened my lower lip as I watched the ridges come to the surface.
I loved seeing my effect on him, to know we were both experiencing the same struggles. I bent my knees and pulled my heels toward my body, making room for him.
Theo wandered over to the bed and left the lantern on the bedside table, turning the brightness down and blanketing the two of us in a softer light.
He sank onto the edge of the mattress and trailed his fingers down my thigh, giving me a curious look. “Sometimes I think you have no idea how beautiful you are, just lying there like that, as if it's no big deal.”
I took in the hard line of his jaw, so at odds with the tenderness in his eyes. Warmth radiated through me, and I swallowed. “I know how beautiful you think I am,” I said. “I can see it on your face.”
“Good.” Theo’s hand slipped between my knees and gently eased them apart. “I want you to feel it, too.”