Page 70 of Audiophile

No one is home when we arrive, and Reed bounds up the stairs before I can hold him back. He walks the perimeter of my bedroom, where Silla’s and my things are pasted all over the walls. Silla’s black belt certification is front and center, and he chuckles. “You weren’t exaggerating.”

I roll my eyes, throwing my laundry in the bin. “I’m scrappier than I seem.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Reed says, and goes back to picking his way through my things.

“Wouldn’t you rather rifle through my underwear drawer?”

“I’ve seen your underwear.” He shoots me a smirk that sends heat rolling through me. “I want to know your history.”

I shove the last items in my bag. “You stole my notebook. Was that not enough history?”

“I’m sorry I did that, but I’m not sorry that I got to know you because of it.” He’s had too much of me for all of one week, and I can’t handle sharing more.

“You’ve learned enough.” I press him against the wall, stepping into his space to bury my fingers in his hair. With a confidence I’ve lacked in the past, I pull his mouth to mine. It’s a hungry kiss, but when Reed tries to take over, I push harder.

“Pet,” he groans against my lips.

Power rushes through me. I want to kneel for him and wrench more moans from his throat. “You really are a switch.”

“I really am.” His hands are rough as he grips my hips. “Do it again.”

I comply eagerly, fisting my hand in his hair and using the other to pin his shoulder to the wall. I hold him there, leaning forward to nip his throat before taking his mouth for my own. He moans again when my fingers flex in his hair, and his ragged breath sends fire through me. I dig my teeth in to tug at his lip and soothe the bite with my tongue.

“Feel good, Reed?” I’m breathless from the adrenaline coursing through me.

Reed’s eyes burn hot, and his hand comes down to squeeze my ass. “Could be even better. I didn’t get to wake you up with my mouth, baby. Will you let me now?”

I’m tempted. So. Tempted. But I swallow my needs. “You had plans for today, remember?”

“Pretty sure I can move things around to fit this in.” Reed grins, and it breaks the spell.

“Food and beach,” I remind him.

Reed nods, but his eyes burn. “I’m going to relive that all day.”

I fight my blush as I retreat. “So will I.” He chuckles as I take his hand and tug him down the stairs, leaving a note for my parents on the way out. “You know there’s nothing to do there, right? It’s rocky and freezing cold—”

“Why do you enjoy going, Pet?”

“The waves, the whales, the sunset. Sitting on the cliffs and baking in the sun.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Reed says, pressing me into the side of the car. His quick kiss leaves me dazed. “And make out whilewe do it. Don’t pretend to be opposed.” I’m not opposed in the slightest. I shut my mouth and climb into the driver’s seat.

Reed makes the coast fun. We traipse along the tidepools as if we’re in grade school, poking sea anemones and watching the crabs. Clouds come and go, but it doesn’t bother us either way. Reed brings out his mic periodically, pinpointing the sounds he loves.

He belongs here, on the beach, the wind whipping through his hair and the sun on his skin. I’ve never seen the sky as blue as when he’s in front of it, or the ocean such a stunning mix of navy and turquoise. When he kisses me, salt spray on his lips, wet sand under our toes, I might be dreaming. Real life isn’t this vivid.

Eventually, we grab takeaway from a local deli and head to the bluffs. Reed spreads out our towels next to a group of boulders and guides me down into his lap. He kisses me, fresh salt on his mouth, and I give into my own craving for him. He kisses me thoroughly. Not just my mouth, cheeks, or jaw, but other rarer places. My hair, my wrists. He pulls my jacket and shirt aside to kiss down my throat.

“That’s what it is.” His golden, sunlit eyes sparkle as he looks up at me. “You smell like hot cross buns. Orange, cardamom, vanilla, and sweetness. I ate as many as I could over Easter break every year when I was a kid. Even during the worst years, my dad and I would drive to the bakery first thing in the morning for a box of them. We’d each devour one, piping hot, before we even got home.”

His tongue sweeps over my breasts as I moan, my fingers tight in his hair. “That’s the weirdest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Reed laughs before testing his teeth against my nipple. “How about I’m not sure if I want to fuck you, devour you, or both? Does that top it?” He sucks, and I arch against him.

“Reed. I can’t have sex with you in public, and this is making me want to. I mean, I can’t have sex with you at all.”

He nods, but the glint in his eye says he can’t get enough. “We won’t. I promise. But I want my mouthon you.”

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