Page 84 of The System

“You said you were going to kiss me.”

“I just did.”

“No, you didn’t. Really kiss me, Carina.”

Carina lifted an eyebrow and said, “Well, if you insist.”

Her hands moved to the sides of Kieran’s neck, and Kieran was pushed back against the wall by the counter. Carina’s lips were back on hers in seconds, but this time, they were firm and deliberate. Yes, Carina was very deliberately kissing her, and it was hard, then soft, then deep, then shallow. Her tongue moved into Kieran’s mouth, and Kieran moaned as she let her arms move to Carina’s waist to pull her in closer. When Kieran pressed them fully together, Carina grunted, and that was sexy.

“How was that?” she asked after she pulled out of the kiss only to move her lips to Kieran’s ear and whisper it.

“Yeah,” Kieran said softly.

Carina laughed and said, “It was, ‘Yeah?’”

“It was, yes.”

Kieran knew exactly what she meant by that, but she couldn’t articulate it out loud to Carina just yet. That kiss was a ‘Yeah,’ and it was a ‘Yes,’ and an ‘Again,’ and ‘Never stop doing that to me,’ all at once. It was the best kiss of her entire life, and she wasn’t ready for it to be over.

“Will you do it again?” she requested.

Carina rested her forehead against Kieran’s shoulder and nodded.

CHAPTER 25

“How does it feel, to have a woman holding you like this?” Carina asked.

“Surprisingly, really nice.”

“Surprisingly?”

“Well, I thought I was straight up until recently. And, honestly, kind of up until you kissed me, I wasn’t sure that I could do this. That’s a shitty thing to say when we’re on a date, huh?”

Carina was lying on the sofa, holding Kieran from behind and kissing her neck occasionally.

“I understand. I suppose, there’s still a chance you might not like it when–” she paused. “If we get that far and you…” she faded out.

Kieran rolled over in her arms and smiled at her.

“Hey, we’ll get there. I have faith in us. And if how good it felt when you kissed me is any indication, I will very much like that when we do it.”

“Do it, huh?” She wrapped her arm around Kieran’s waist and pulled her in closer.

“You know what I mean,” Kieran replied.

“I do. And I know the movie isn’t over yet, but I’m exhausted. Any chance we can get some sleep?”

“Sure,” Kieran said before she leaned in and captured Carina’s lips.

And it dawned on Carina that this was the first time Kieran had initiated a kiss. They’d made out over by the wall for a while, only stopping for Kieran to get the wine open and retrieve the glasses. Then, they’d moved to the sofa, where they’d kissed again, but that had also been because Carina had leaned in. Sometime during the movie, Kieran had moved to lie down, and Carina had just moved behind her. They’d stayed like that for most of the movie, with Carina applying soft kisses to Kieran’s neck, and Kieran had been the one to pull Carina’s arm around her own waist, moving back against her as close as she could get. Carina had loved every minute of it, but having Kieran just kiss her this time meant more somehow.

When Kieran stood and held out her hands, Carina took them and allowed herself to be pulled to Kieran’s bedroom, which she still hadn’t seen. It turned out to be sparse but clean and still had a bit of Kieran’s personality in the simple decorations of the space. Carina liked it, but if they ended up living together one day, in the very far-off future, they’d have to compromise because while Carina’s room overflowed with pillows and looked – to her, at least – comfortable, Kieran’s room felt more practical. There was a bed with a thin blanket and a few pillows actually meant for resting a head on, not just for decoration, a couple of matching bedside tables with inexpensive lamps on them, a dresser without a mirror above it, a TV mounted above it instead, and not much else.

“I’ll get you something to change into,” Kieran offered. “Any preferences? I have sweats, some flannel pants, and–”

“I sleep hot, remember?” Carina said, sitting on the end of the bed.

“T-shirt and shorts. Got it.”

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