twenty
I t was long past fully dark outside when they exited the store but Nate felt like he didn’t want this day to end yet.
Christmas was always difficult for him and his family, and for days now it felt as if there’d been a tight fist squeezing his heart to the point of pain inside his sternum.
This had been the first time since the party that he’d been able to breathe.
He knew that Madison had done all this intentionally.
Nothing escaped her notice, even though he’d done the utmost not to let his mood spoil their conversations.
A smile twitched at the edge of his lips at the thought of her seemingly innocent offer to accompany her here today. And oddly, it had worked.
The air was a bit cold outside but nothing excessive.
Plus, the neighborhood the music store was in seemed alive, with tiny lights everywhere, and a quick glance at Madison told him all he needed to know.
She practically had stars in her eyes, the color-changing lights around the lampposts and street signs bouncing off the frame of her glasses.
“Want to walk around for a bit?” Nate heard himself saying. Apparently, his mouth was running the show now.
“Sure.” Madison smiled up at him, just as a whiff of cold air blew towards them and a shiver ran through her body.
“Come here.” Nate lifted his arm, nodding for her to get closer. He just wanted to give her some warmth, that was it. He didn’t want her to be cold. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he seemed to almost gravitate around her, wanting her as close as possible.
During his entire internal debacle, Madison had already slipped under his arm, perfectly tucked inside his embrace, his arm tightening around her shoulders and her own coming to rest around his waist. His brain threatened to go offline with only one glaring thought left.
He could get used to this.
“Wow, you’re hot,” Madison said, groaning as soon as the words left her lips.
“Thanks.” Nate snickered.
“I know. I walked right into that one.”
“It’s okay. Everyone likes to hear they’re hot.” And before she could start sputtering something as she was clearly gearing up to do, he continued, “and speaking of hot, I’m almost done with my book.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.
They had started their lazy meandering through the beautifully adorned streets and store fronts, so he had to tilt his head towards her to see her reaction.
Madison peeked up at him through her eyelashes before quickly averting her gaze but she couldn’t hide the faint stiffening of her body or the soft blush that crept up her cheeks.
“Oh, really?” she asked with an air of indifference that convinced no one.
“Yes. In fact, I found it very illuminating and educational at places.”
“Educational, huh? Which parts exactly?”
“The whole vampire lore behind the secret society, of course,” Nate said with a smirk. “Why? Did you think I was referring to something else?”
“No!” Madison blurted. “That’s exactly where my mind went as well.”
Yeah. Sure.
I mean, where else would it go? Certainly not to the several hot as fuck scenes writhing with sexual tension and not just that. No. Absolutely not. Those had probably conveniently slipped Madison’s mind.
“And I do remember you checking if I was a vampire lord the first time we spoke. Should I feel flattered after what I just read?” God, he loved messing with her.
Madison was just opening and closing her mouth now, adorably embarrassed. She shouldn’t have been though.
“I did sympathize with the male main character though. I actually agreed with many of his decisions.”
Madison seemed to relax slightly despite her look of confusion. “Like with what?”
Their steps seemed to have paused without them realizing and they’d fully turned toward each other.
His next words came out as soft as a whisper, as if he was divulging a secret.
“I’d stop at nothing to protect those I care about.”
Nate felt Madison’s penetrating gaze burrow deep inside him. She said nothing for a few moments, as if weighing the sincerity of his words.
“You would, wouldn’t you.” She didn’t even phrase it as a question.
He didn’t know why it always felt like they both existed in the pause between one breath and the next when they were together.
Suspended.
Always on the cusp of something. Like at that moment for example.
Nate felt powerless not to let himself really look at her, indulge in this girl in front of him.
Her deep, soulful eyes. Her soft, curly hair that was just as unruly as she was.
Her smart mouth that always surprised him and made him smile.
A mouth that he’d probably spent a few seconds too many staring at, judging from the hitch in Madison’s breath.
Nate wanted to bask in that hitch. He wanted to be the cause of many more.
He lifted his hand and reached up to gently run the back of his fingers over her heated cheek. His eyes followed the movements of his hand as if he couldn’t believe what he was actually doing.
Everything seemed to sharpen into focus when Madison leaned imperceptibly into his touch, which made Nate step closer to her, the tips of his shoes almost bumping hers.
His hand slid down her neck to his favorite place, the small curve where her neck and nape met her shoulder, lightly tilting her head towards him.
The pull was impossible to resist as they both leaned in and met halfway in a barely there whisper of lips that electrified him to his very core. Her sweet, floral scent enveloped him, drowning his senses.
Nate couldn’t remember the last time his heart had beat so hard from something like this.
From just a kiss.
Perhaps never. Maybe he’d never had something like this.
Their lips moved against each other’s for a few precious seconds and it was like hello, and nice to meet you, and there you are. There you are.
A sigh escaped Madison’s lips as they parted and Nate wanted to swallow that sigh, take it inside him and possess it forever. He wanted to sink into this feeling and never resurface.
The smile that brightened her face when she opened her eyes and looked at him would have been enough to brighten even his darkest memories.
He wanted to do this right.
He would do this right.