Page 54 of My December Darling

She is silent as the night surrounding us.

I continue, “I was wondering if…” I clearly can’t finish a sentence to save my life at the moment.

“Yes?” Her lips pull into a knowing smirk.

There is no way she is going to make this easy on me, so I decide to get this over with.

“Would you like to hang out? Outside of working on the speech again?”

She smirks. “As friends?”

I want to kiss the cute-as-hell look off her face, and I want to do it right now. We did not spend the last two hours together, flirting over drinks and stories of our lives, for me to be put in the friend zone.

Fuck that.

Catalina sucks in a sharp breath as I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her against my chest. Her eyes drop to my mouth, and I take that as an invitation to do something I’ve been thinking about all night, since the moment she circled her arms around me under the guise of craving body heat.

I tilt my head and lean down, not closing my eyes until I see her do so first. Her soft lips part ever so slightly right before I press my mouth against hers for the first time. A sigh slips out of her as she pulls on the front of my coat and drags me closer, eliminating any space between our bodies.

The kiss is soft but electric, making my skin tingle with anticipation as she matches my enthusiasm with her own. My other arm swoops around her, securing her against my chest as she deepens the kiss, flooding my mouth with the taste ofher.

After a few moments, I wrench myself away, my breaths heavy and my cock thickening with desire. “Does that answer your question?”

“Mm. I might need some further clarification.” She stands on the tips of her toes and seals her mouth over mine.

My head turns fuzzy with every second that passes, and I’m not sure how much time elapses, but I don’t care because the heat in my veins keeps me warm against the chill.

I thread my fingers through Catalina’s hair as her arms circle around the back of my neck, holding me close while we continue kissing.

I’m unaware of how long we stand in the cold, but it doesn’t matter. Heat floods my body, scorching a path from my chest directly toward my lower half that aches for her.

This is only a kiss, I try to remind myself.

Then why does it feel like so much more?a small voice in the back of my head speaks up.

The worst thing I can do to myself is get my hopes up over a woman who has no intention of sticking around, but then again, avoiding her doesn’t feel like an option anymore, especially when she makes me feel like this from a single kiss.

Even if it means I get hurt in the process.

16

CATALINA

Luke Darling is kissing me like I’ve never been kissed before, and I’m not sure what to do with this discovery. It is better than I ever could’ve imagined, and my brain feels like it floated away from my body, leaving me to make some very questionable decisions tonight.

I shut my mind off and deepen the kiss. The urge to explore his body with the tips of my cold fingers becomes undeniable, and I take advantage of his distracted state to slip my hands inside his coat and memorize the curves and planes of muscle.

His hips jut forward when I flick my tongue over his before sucking on his bottom lip. The obvious sign of his arousal makes my head spin, and my ego explodes as he shows me just how much my touch affects him.

I feel drunk off his pheromones, and for a brief moment, I wish to never sober up.

Or at least Ihaduntil a neighbor driving by my parents’ house rudely yells out, “Get inside before you catch a cold!”

Our lust-filled haze dies, and reality comes roaring back as I stare up at Luke with a blend of horror and fascination.

He didn’t just kiss me. He ruined every kiss of my past, present, and future, reshaping my expectations and creating a craving that only he can satisfy.

It terrifies me, and I take a step back, as if adding space will somehow clear my head of all the thoughts surrounding him. He doesn’t seem to share my same feelings of apprehension as he steps forward and clasps my chin.

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