Page 75 of Snowed In

“This,” I whispered, unwilling and too afraid to say what I actually wanted to say.

This.

You.

Kissing you.

Having you.

Finally.

“We’re going to make it out of this,” he said as he reached across the console to tuck a few strands of my hair behind my ears. “I promise.”

His hand settled on my neck, and I closed my eyes. Was it possible I was already dead, lying somewhere in the snow, and all of this was just the last vestiges of my synapses firing. Was he comforting me, or did he want to kiss me? I couldn’t be the one to make the first move. I couldn’t open my eyes and deprive myself of this thin thread of hope.

Oh God…

Just Kiss me.

“Are you sure?” he whispered, and I could feel the ghost of his breath tickling my lips.

My eyes opened and he was right there.

“Goddammit… Did I say that out loud?”

“Shi…” His mouth curved into a funny little smile, something I’d never seen before as he framed my face in his hands. “I want to kiss you so fucking bad.”

The console dug into my hip as I tried to inch closer. “You do?”

He nodded and licked his lips again, and it took all of my strength not to hop in his lap.

“Can I?”

“Don’t tease me right now,” I begged, my throat aching with suppressed need and all the hope I’d gathered over two long years. “I don’t think… I know I couldn’t survive this if you’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not fucking with you,” he breathed. “You have no idea…”

“I think I might have an inkling.”

“Oh yeah?” he murmured and pressed his mouth to mine.

The kiss was slow at first, unsure as I twisted in my seat to get closer. It built, like the years of want, stealing the oxygen from the small space between us as his hand gripped the back of my neck and parted my lips with his tongue. A low groan escaped his chest, and I buried my fingers in his hair, dragging my body even more over the console. We broke apart breathless, and he slid his seat as far back as it would go. I didn’t hesitate, taking the invitation, and crawled onto his lap, the car horn blaring as my back hit the steering wheel and our mouths collided again. The burn of his five o-clock shadow spread over my chin and jaw, andyes, this was everything, this was us, how we should have been. It was too fast, too overwhelming. He was a rising river, and I was a dam about to break. We had too many things we needed to say, too many fears. He was too important to me to lose over a heated, last man on earth scenario. I had to know if this was as real for him as it was for me.

“Gary…”

“Hmm…” His hands found the curve of my ass as he lifted his hips, grinding the growing bulge beneath his sweats against my own hardening cock.

He swore as I gasped. “Oh God.”

“Fuck, Shi… I…” He lifted his hips again, rutting against me, his mouth open with a moan, and I pressed my palms to his chest, fighting the lust burning through my veins.

I had him. And it was perfect. The world was a white blanket, and we were hidden underneath it, and I could take what I wanted and deal with the consequences later. But this was Gary.

This was the man I’d fallen in love with, and he needed to know.

“Shi…” His lips were swollen, his eyes lit with a blue flame, all of his vulnerability on display, and it gave me the courage to say what I’d been dying to say since I figured out I was gone for my best friend.

I traced his jaw with the pad of my thumb as I took a few deep breaths. “Gary… I… I don’t know how to do this.”

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