_OceanofPDF

“That’s not enough?”
“No. It’s not.” He shifted close enough for me to smell the layers of his
cologne.
Anise. Musk. Wealth.
“We’re going to kiss for the first time, and you tell me if you’re
convinced,” he said, putting his hands on either side of my face.
I surprised myself by leaning into his caress, resistance melting away in
the warmth of his palms and the intensity of his gaze as his thumbs stroked
my cheeks. “Convince me then.”
The world got so small, so fast that I didn’t have a moment to think,
only act.
Or not act. Just stay still while he wrapped me in the cocoon of his
attention.
If I spoke again, I’d break the spell.
If I breathed, all the pain and uncertainty would rush into the space
between us like backstabbing friends.
If I moved, something I wanted to know would be forever unknown. An
idea I didn’t have yet would be forgotten.
He leaned forward slowly, as if giving me a chance to push him away.
Not gonna happen. He smelled too good. He was too handsome, too
well-dressed, too charming for me to refuse. Maybe this scheme would fall
through in an hour. Maybe it would be an utter disaster financially and
emotionally. But that kiss was a risk I was willing to take.
His mouth found mine willing, and when the tip of his tongue brushed
my bottom lip, I went boneless. I tasted crisp mint leaves wet with dew.
When his hands moved back on my neck to hold me still, I let my weight
drop into the support, giving him more control than he needed but less than
I craved.
Time could only be measured in stars while he kissed me. I wanted for
nothing and felt nothing but his lips and his hands. I thought not in words,
but in dots of moments strewn across the sky and connected by his touch.
But even a billion light years has an end. Gently, he dropped his hands
and pulled away. My spine held itself up and my lungs filled with air.
“Now,” he said. “That’s out of the way.”
“It is.”
“So?” He laid his thumb on my chin and turned my head to face him.
“Do you want to practice more? Because I think we got it.”