Adam #2
She balks at my attempt at dry humor, coming to a complete stop inside my bedroom. A deep blush shades her cheeks, crawling quickly down her neck as she opens her mouth to respond and closes it again without a single peep coming out.
I chuckle, shutting the door behind us and plopping down on my bed, patting the spot next to me.
“Kidding. Come here.”
She lets out a breath, but her body is still tense as she sits next to me.
“I got you something. Close your eyes.”
Cassie watches me curiously, her nervousness easing as confusion takes its place.
“Close your eyes,” I say again, leaning in to peck her lips.
She giggles, finally letting her lids flutter closed as I grab her wrists, turning her palms up toward the ceiling. Once I’m sure she’s not looking, I reach behind my headboard for the gift, laying it in her lap where her hands are waiting.
Cassie’s brows pull together once the board touches her palms. “It’s kind of heavy. What is it?”
“Open your eyes and find out.”
When she does, the little smile on her face fades instantly, her lips parting as her eyes sweep over the wood in her hand.
“Adam…” she says, my name just a breath on her lips. She pulls her hands from under the gift — a long board — and runs her fingertips over the designs splashed over the bottom of it. “Did you… did you make this?”
“I did. Well,” I clarify quickly, one hand finding the back of my neck. “I mean, I didn’t make the long board, of course, but I did the design. It’s decoupage, or whatever it’s called.”
She smiles a little as I butcher the word, her eyes still glued to the board as she trails her fingers over each design.
“I did the Palm South University crest, of course,” I say, pointing to it. “And then your letters — KKB — and I tried to make the whole thing in your colors. Lots of blues and golds. And I put some doctor stuff on there, see the stethoscope?”
She pauses when her fingers touch the bottom of the board — the Key West section.
“Dolphins,” she muses, her eyes flicking up to meet mine. “Like the ones we saw when we did the boat trip.”
“Yeah,” I admit, heat tingeing my neck. “I put a little of us on there. Not too much, I wanted it to be mostly you, but I added the dolphins. And pizza from Moon Pie.” I point to the oversized slice of Hawaiian. “Just a few things.”
There are pictures of her with her sisters, the largest being one of her and Skyler last Spring Break, and she eyes each one of them before landing on a small one of us near the middle of the board.
It’s from one of the intramural football games she came to watch, right after I tackle hugged her in my dirty gear as she tried unsuccessfully to shove me away.
Cassie laughs, though tears flood her eyes. “It’s so… perfect. I can’t believe you did this.” She looks at me then, swallowing. “Thank you, Adam.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you like it.”
“I love it,” she says quickly, running her hand over the board again. Then, she slips it carefully down to the floor, the nerves back on her face as she faces me again.
“What?” I ask, searching the unspoken questions in her eyes.
“I was just thinking…” she says, her voice a whisper as she scoots closer to me on the bed. One hand reaches forward, playing with the hem of my polo. “That first thing you said, about why you brought me here… you said you were kidding… but… maybe, it doesn’t have to be a joke.”
Her eyes flick up to mine then, wide and hopeful, and her cool hand slips under the fabric of my shirt, her fingertips brushing against my abdomen as I suck in a breath.
“Cassie…”
“We don’t have to go all the way,” she says hurriedly, but she slips her fingertips between the band of my jeans and my boxers, making every thought in my brain turn to fuzz.
“I just… Adam, I can’t go another second without you touching me.
I mean,” she clarifies, scooting even closer, one of her ankles crossing over mine. “Really touching me.”
I growl out my next breath, my hand covering hers. I wrap my fingers around her wrist, pulling her forward, and she climbs into my lap without another word. When her thighs straddle mine, she rolls her hips hard, and I press my forehead to hers.
“Wait.”
She pauses, her hands fisting in my hair as her eyes find mine.
“I just, before we go any further, I want you to know that every single chance I get to touch you, every chance I get to put my hands where you don’t let any other hands go, it means… everything to me.”
She swallows, the corners of her mouth turning up a bit.
“Does that mean you’ll touch me where you haven’t before?”
The question is just a whisper, but it pains me like it was blown through an air horn. I wince, gripping the thick fabric of her hoodie as I pull her flush against me.
“If you’ll let me, yes.”
“Please,” she whispers immediately, rolling her hips again. Then, her lips land on mine, soft and inviting, and I know there’s nothing else I can do but give her what she needs.
It’s all I can manage to repeat my conversation with my aunt in my head, to remind myself why I’m waiting, why I’m going slow, as Cassie intensifies our kiss.
She’s all hands and moans, breaths and touches.
Her hands rip at my clothes, my hair, my skin, her lips devouring mine.
But I keep my pace, forcing her to slow down, asking her to trust me.
We’ve waited so long, had so many years — so many people between us — but I’d wait twice as long, and suffer through twice as much, if it meant I got to have her in the long run.
That’s why I take my time, and that’s why I promise myself again that I can make her feel good without hurting her, that I can give without taking, that I can go slow and make every moment with her count.
At the end of it all, when Cassie McBee looks back on her life, she will never forget the moments of us. She’ll remember every word, every touch, every kiss — and in those moments, she’ll find no pain — only the brightest joy.
That’s the promise I vow to keep.
Cassie strips my shirt over my head, and I roll us until she’s beneath me, her red hair splayed out against the light blue cotton of my pillowcases.
I don’t realize I’m trembling until I reach for the hem of her hoodie, helping her ease out of it.
She lays back again, her chest heaving under the simple white tank top covering her bra.
For a moment, I just stare at her, eyes slowly climbing over every curve of her. When I make it back to her eyes, they’re underlined by bright red cheeks and a shy smile.
“No one looks at me the way you do,” she whispers.
“I’d kill them if they did.”
She laughs, helping me as I work the button and zipper on her jeans.
I pull the stiff fabric down over her hips, her thighs, until I can peel the denim off her calves and let it fall to the floor.
A soft, mint green pair of cotton panties is the only barrier now between my eyes and the place I ache to touch Cassie most, and the weight of that is like a bag of bricks on my chest.
I force a shaky breath, dragging one finger over the cotton before dipping it just a centimeter underneath, brushing the soft, bare skin of her that rests underneath. Cassie arches into the touch, her eyes fluttering closed as both fists twist in my comforter.
I’m still trembling as I slip my thumbs under each strap of her panties, stripping them down slowly.
I don’t even know where I drop them, because my eyes are too busy devouring the newly exposed view — one I’ve never seen before.
Cassie blushes deeper as my eyes greedily take her in — every inch, every freckle, every single centimeter of pale, white skin.
She still has her tank top and bra on, and as much as I want to see all of her exposed, I don’t move to dispose of those last two articles.
They’re all that keep me from feasting on all of her, and I know if I had her completely naked in my bed, I wouldn’t have the strength to stop until I was so deep inside her that I became a permanent mark.
Instead, I kiss my way slowly down her arms, shoving her tank top up enough to lick a line down her stomach, and then I settle between her legs.
Her emerald pools never leave me as I hoist her thighs up, the backs of them resting on my shoulders, and I hold her gaze as my tongue flicks out, just marginally, just enough for the first taste.
We both moan, the sounds mixing together in a symphony of pleasure and pain.
I close my eyes, steeling a breath before I lower my mouth again, this time running my tongue long and flat against her. From her slick opening all the way up to her tender, swollen bud, I taste her, the heat from my next breath making goosebumps explode over her legs.
She whimpers, writhing under my hands pinned at her waist. I just hold her steady, lips closing over her clit as I suck gently. Cassie’s legs quiver more, her fists twisting in my comforter more until they fly into my hair with the same pressure.
It would be a bold-face lie if I said I never imagined what Cassie would taste like, what she’d look like if I ever got the chance to throw her down on my bed and ravage her the way I wanted to. But everything I’d ever imagined, every wet dream I’d ever had was so wrong, so far off, I almost laugh.