Page 21 of Pallas & Kawehi

"I like the weight of your hands on me."

Pallas almost groaned with need. He doubted that she'd meant her words to carry such a depth of meaning, but being around her made every touch feel more important. Every emotion rocked him like a wave rushing onto the beach, pushing him back onto his heels.

It didn't scare him. It just made everything happening between them feel more powerful.

Like the power of nature itself.

"From the moment I met you," her words caressed his cheek, "I felt drawn to you. I'm just not sure that you want to deal with all of the stress and turmoil of my life. I feel like I could easily drop my walls around you and that you're strong enough to hold me when the world comes crashing down around me. I just don't want you to think that I'm putting all of this weight on you.

"Needing you to be strong because there are moments when I feel like I'm... just so damn weak."

He lifted his hand and caught the tear that touched her skin before it reached her cheek.

"The last thing you are... is weak, Kawehi. You're just like the mountains I see every morning. Tall, strong, and so beautiful that it makes me ache. I don't want you to worry that I won't be able to take the weight of what happens. The guys on my team can tell you, I can take it.

"I haven't been able to get you out of my head since we met. And I've been dying to know what it feels like to kiss you."

He felt her hesitate, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

"I've been wondering the same thing," she turned her head toward him and he met her right in the middle.

Her lips were smooth and soft, gentle against his need so he struggled to hold back.

He didn't want to scare her because his heart was already pounding, hammering against his ribs.

Kawehi tilted her head just a little bit, but that tiny movement made the difference.

Those waves he'd felt earlier didn't pull him under. He felt them pushing them closer as he kissed her soundly, and when they stopped, she lowered her forehead to his shoulder while they caught their breaths.

"Dom?"

He smiled and felt his heart lift. "Hmm?"

He felt the vibrations of his voice move through her skin along the side of her neck.

"I've never felt like this before."

He wrapped his arms around her in a tender embrace. "It's only the beginning," the promise he made wasn't just something he said trying to make her feel better, he felt it down to his core.

FOUR

KAWEHI

It was Saturday night and every time the front door opened, Kawehi would lean over the counter to see who was coming in.

No matter how many times she looked, it wasn’t Dom.

Domenico.

Domenico Pallas.

Yes, she was losing her mind.

She felt like a schoolgirl at times, writing her crush’s name on her folder, but Dom wasn’t a crush. He was a friend.

That’s the line she drew in the sand, and he was respecting that.

Sort of.

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