Page 18 of Run

I dropped my lids against the sound of her voice.

No one had ever said my name like that, and hearing the words from her, hearing the undertone beneath it, was something I couldn’t bear.

Giovanna had taught me so many things, the biggest among them what it felt like to be loved. How wondrous it felt to love someone back. In these few moments, I was again transported beyond the pain that had pulled us apart, the anger, the worry about the future. Instead, I focused on her, being with her, making the most of this time we had together.

“Gia…” I whispered, my voice coming out a needy plea. Most times, I would have hated that, but here with her now, I didn’t care. Because I was needy, desperate, for what only Giovanna could give, desperate for the things that only she could make me feel.

I moved forward, brushed my lips against hers, and then looked down at her.

Her lids had lowered and she breathed out hard, skated her tongue out of her mouth to lick her lips.

I had seen her do that so many times before, times that reminded me of these. And as I had before, I followed that unspoken request and brushed my lips against the corner of her mouth.

If I had died in that moment, I would have been happy.

Seeing Giovanna was something I’d thought I’d never be able to do again. Kissing Giovanna was something I’d thought I’d never be able to do again. Holding her in my arms was something I’d thought I’d never be able to do again, and that in this day I had gotten to do all three, see her, touch her, taste her, was enough for me.

I pulled back, looked down at her, intent on studying her face and then brushed my mouth against the corner of hers again. Then again. Soon my movements were a near frenzy, as I kissed the corner of her mouth, then, finally, slid my tongue between her lips.

She breathed out on a harsh sigh and I did as well.

I moved slowly at first, something that seemed like an impossible feat given how desperately I wanted her. But I traced the warm cavern of her mouth, brushed my tongue against hers, remembering her as she had been before, learning her again now.

She did the same, brushing her tongue against mine and moving in a sinuous dual that was so much like Gia and me.

It was always like this, one of us grappling for control, neither willing to give it. But that was what made her so special. She would never give in, and neither would I, but that always made the eventual coming together that much more worth it, that much more passionate.

I lifted my hands to grasp her face and kissed her hard, kissed her until she breathed deeply next to me, her face and body molding against mine.

I let go of her neck and dropped my hands lower, tracing the soft roundness of her shoulders, and then hooking one arm around her waist to hold her closer.

She felt perfect in my arms, just as she always would.

“You’re really here,” she whispered, her voice a soft, barely there ripple in the darkness.

In her voice, I heard surprise, suspicion, but more than anything, I heard relief. In that single statement, Giovanna had answered one of the questions that had tortured me since she’d left. If nothing else, I knew now that she had missed me.

I lifted my eyes to hers and kept them locked there as I worked my hand up the curve of her waist, lingering to touch every inch of her skin, studying her as if I could memorize her, have those memories to keep with me forever.

She did the same, moving her small hand down my arm and then back up again, tracing her fingers across my chest, moving on to explore my back. It was the most beautiful distraction, and every brush of her fingertips against my skin made me feel something I hadn’t felt since she left.

They made me feel loved.

I froze at that thought, cursed myself for it. Part of me couldn’t believe I was here, that Giovanna was again in my arms. But that was no excuse for what I was thinking. When I’d come into the room and saw her sleeping form, I’d been driven to touch her, pushed by a need I couldn’t question or deny.

This, though, the emotions that she had stirred, were dangerous. I couldn’t let them take hold, couldn’t again give Gia the power to destroy me.

Driven by physical desire that I couldn’t ignore, and the instinct to push away those soul-stirring emotions, I grasped her breast and brushed my thumb across her nipple. She arched against me, her choked-out cry the most majestic sound I’d heard in years.

So majestic, I needed to hear it again. This time, I squeezed the hard nub between my thumb and forefinger, twisted it just hard enough to make her moan. Then, before she could recover, I swooped down and caught the tip of her breast between my lips and sucked her in.

As I worried the puckered skin with my tongue, I again moved my hand down her body, moving with barely contained urgency until my hand was centered over her mound.

I stilled for a moment, the desire of touching her so intimately threatening to snap the last of my self-control. Gia was no better off. She’d locked her fingers around my arm and now rocked against me, her body moving in what I knew was an unspoken plea.

I’d never denied her anything, couldn’t now.

After another moment’s pause, I moved my hand lower, then pushed two fingers inside her wet heat, both of us crying out as I did. I spared only a moment to marvel at what this woman did to me, too distracted by how amazing she was to linger.

---