Patting my way up and onto the couch, I hear him shuffle toward the kitchen.
A handful of seconds later, a soft, flickering glow cuts through the dark, casting dancing shadows along the walls as Simon approaches.
He goes to set the candle on the coffee table, and I move to scoot it farther from the edge, taking extra safety measures ingrained in me.
The flame wobbles and casts a wider glow, revealing Simon’s face mere inches from mine. My heart kicks into high gear, fluttering and shouting for me to go for it. He’s my fiancé, as he keeps reminding me.
Inhaling the scent of his cologne, I skirt my fingers up that firm line of his forearm I became obsessed with earlier. Dizziness sets in.
I’m not sure if he leaned closer or I did. All I know is it’s not close enough.
For a couple of ragged-breath seconds, neither of us moves.
Then Simon’s fingers push into my hair, his large hand cupping the back of my head as he brings his mouth down on mine.
Simon
Like a match to a fuse, as soon as my lips touch hers, my world explodes.
I can’t help but marvel that it’s like this every time. Every tiny caress and each press of lips takes our chemistry to a whole new level.
At first, I keep the brush of my lips light, never wanting to push her. But she’s the one who climbs right on over and into my lap.
I groan as my growing erection notches perfectly in the V of her thighs, and I run my tongue along the seam of her lips before parting them and using it to plunder her mouth.
Her whimper and the rock of her hips spurs me on. I wind my arms around her, anchoring her to me, never wanting to let go.
She sinks more of her weight onto me, fingertips skirting the veins in my arm and ridding me of every thought that doesn’t involve my body and hers.
Despite my urge to boost her into my arms and carry her into the bedroom to have my wicked way with her, I force myself to slow the tempo. To savor the moment.
For months, I dreamed of this woman I didn’t think I could have. Who knew something as simple as kissing could feel so extraordinarily monumental?
Reluctant to break the kiss, I pull back a fraction of a fraction, my lips grazing hers as I whisper the words onto her silken skin. “You’re incredible, Victoria. When it comes to kissing you, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to help myself.”
As though transfixed, her fingertips drift to her mouth, as though she needs to double check if our kiss were real. Then she sinks straight white teeth into that plump lower lip, and I barely refrain from offering to do the biting for her.
“No need to apologize,” she murmurs, glancing down as if surprised to find herself on my lap. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one who took it to the next level.”
I reach up and tug a curl, my stomach lifting and falling like I’m riding a rollercoaster. “You don’t hear me complaining, do you?”
Our eyes lock, and my heart expands in my chest. Nobody has ever looked at me the way she does. Like I’m worth caring for. Like I’m someone worth loving, for no other reason besides I’m me.
She looks at me like I’m her fucking hero. From now on, it’s all I ever want to be.
I lean in again, unable to stop myself.
This time, there’s no letting our mouths slowly get acquainted. Victoria throws herself fully into the kiss this time, her soft curves flush against me.
I inhale her gasp, releasing a groan of my own at the way she melts in my lap. Angling my mouth over hers, I draw out the tempo, kissing her deeper. More intently.
Every inch of me aches for more-more of her, more of this.
I bury my head in her neck, inhaling and licking and sucking. She fits so exquisitely, her body a live wire that jolts me with electricity.
I meet her tongue stroke for stroke, until at long last she becomes pliant beneath my mouth and my fingers. Completely surrendering to me, I’m in awe she trusts me enough to let me hold and kiss her like this.
My fingers trace the delicate line of her jaw. I glide them over the line of her collarbone before letting them drift to the curve of her waist.
She’s so fragile and so strong. Intelligent and compassionate. Any longer looking at her, and I risk coming entirely undone. With nothing more than the batting of her eyes or licking of her lips, she owns me, heart, body, and soul.
Shadows dance along the wall with the flicker of the candle, carving out a stolen moment that’s ours.
I love this moment.
I want to marry this moment.
I’m going to marry this woman.
At the loud clearing of a throat, we leap apart. You’d think now that we were no longer teenagers, we would’ve been smoother about getting caught making out. Whereas we’re scrambling and arranging clothes as we squint against the glare of the open door.
Anna stands in the center, the afternoon sun leaving her profile backlit. As my eyes readjust, I make out the twitch of her lips.
“Whoops, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but as you’ve probably figured out by now, the power’s out.” She shrugs on a jacket hung on a knob near the door. “Simon, do you mind checking the breaker real quick?”
Before I can answer, she grouses, “The dang sink’s leaking, too.”
I readjust my clothes, thinking of icy cold rainstorms and going over quarterly reports in my head. They’ve probably changed, but it helps calm the raging situation in my pants. Smoothing a hand over my hair, I pop to my feet. “I’ll get right on it.”
“Wait,” Victoria says, as though shaking herself out of a daze. She pushes to her feet, tucking in her shirt and remaining at my side. “I’ll help.”
Victoria
I sit cross-legged on the kitchen floor, handing tools to Simon as he works under the sink.
While the lights are back on, we were relying on the sunshine streaming through the window above until clouds drifted over and obscured its glow.
I should get up and flip on the switch, but there’s something nice and fitting about the scene getting cast in a more intimate light.
Or perhaps I’m feeling everything in a more intimate light when it comes to Simon.
His muscles flex as he tightens the wrench, veins standing out in his arms. I wouldn’t have put him to work on all the household repairs, but my mom has no such qualms.
And while he might not have originally known what he was doing, he was a fast learner.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.