Page 91 of Risking it All

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, and my lips turned up with the question because I loved those words coming out of his tempting mouth. Loved how he asked for my permission each and everytime, as if my lips touching his was a gift he cherished above all else.

“Yes,” I whispered. “I’d love for you to kiss me.” I nibbled on my bottom lip and glanced at him from beneath my eyelashes. “I’d also like to explore like we have and maybe do a bit more.”

He gave me a pirate smile. “More?”

“More,” I repeated before I lost my nerve. He thankfully nodded like he understood, and I could scarcely breathe as he leaned in and kissed me.

The first few presses were sweet, questioning, and curious, but then I touched him, my hands skimming along his muscled chest. In response, Relic wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, bringing our bodies flush with one another. Soon, there was a longing inside me—this need, this fire that burned for more, and Relic was my only answer for relief.

We kissed, we touched, we explored. My hands wandered beneath his shirt, and he gave me the most beautiful smile as I leaned back and pulled the material off his body then rid myself of my shirt— leaving my bra as the only material between our chests. Relic edged forward, kissed me again, and used his body and arms to lower me back.

Adrenaline pumped through me as I lay upon the blanket and Relic settled his body over mine. I welcomed his muscled weight, and I softly moaned with the fantastic feeling of his body aligning with mine. Our kisses grew frantic, our touches bolder, and when Relic moved his body, my head spun, and I gasped with the sensation.

“Anytime you want to stop,” he whispered then nibbled on my ear.

“I don’t want to stop,” I exclaimed before I reclaimed his mouth with mine. And so, we touched, we kissed, we explored, and we moved. Moved in such a fantastic rhythm that grew in pace. Moved in a way that created delicious hungers and needsI had never felt before—in such a way that, suddenly, there was this fantastic edge that I found myself hurtling toward. And then, when I went over the edge, there were explosions. I held onto Relic, let out a cry, and closed my eyes as I rode out this glorious experience.

We laid on the blanket, holding each other, gently giving each other sweet kisses, and just when I thought the world couldn’t be as wonderful as it was right now, Relic whispered in my ear, “I love you, Macie Hutchins.”

Chapter forty-three

Relic

Lying on an air mattress on the floor of Demarius’ room, I stared at the light filtering in from the blinds. Too wired from my fantastic night with Macie, I couldn’t sleep. Honestly, I didn’t want to sleep. I didn’t want to lose the memory of the feel of her body beneath mine, didn’t want to forget her sweet scent, didn’t want to stop running through the words she said, “I love you, too.”

Love. I thought it didn’t exist. Thought it was some myth made up by poets on a high, but now I knew it to be real, and I wasn’t ready to let it go. Yet I had to. Once I fell asleep and woke, once tomorrow arrived, I’d have to let her go.

“You still awake?” Demarius asked from his bed.

“Yeah.”

“I have a question for you.”

“Ask.”

“If you could leave your life and start a new one, would you?”

In a heartbeat. “It’s what I had been trying to do. Macie and I were trying to figure out who carjacked her so I could reap the reward money. Once I scored it, I planned on getting my sisters the hell out of this town. But I’m out of time. Even if someone handed me that check tomorrow, it’s too late.”

“What if it isn’t too late? What if you had an opportunity to start again, you’re saying you’d do it?”

“It doesn’t matter. It is too late.”

“Answer me. If it could be done, would you do it?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly then closed my eyes and grieved because opportunity never belonged to me.

Chapter forty-four

Macie

Something had changed within me, and I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. In the mirror, my eyes were brighter, my cheeks held a rosy flush, and my smile beamed bigger and cheerier than before. Where the world once felt small, it now felt big. Where things once were black and white and two dimensional, the entire universe now exploded in blazing color.

Sitting at the kitchen table, I could barely listen to the conversation between my parents, Abby, and her husband, Logan. They were chatting, keeping the conversation light and away from the reason why we were here, but it didn’t matter as all I cared about was my texts with Relic. I loved him, he loved me, and there was no way I was letting go.

Relic:Almost there. A stop light away.

Me:I’m excited to see you.

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