Page 27 of With Love

As Lucy heads off to her room, I pick up my glass of scotch and take it over to the sofa. It’s not long before Adrienne comes over and joins me. She sits on the ground right in front of the fire. Her back resting against the coffee table with her legs crossed in front of her. I place my drink on the table before moving in next to her. Our shoulders brush against one another and she moves in closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

“The fire feels good,” she says with a relaxing sigh.

With a smile on my face, I place my arm around her, offering her shoulder a comforting squeeze. We sit there in silence for a long time. I can feel the rhythm of her heartbeat, it matches mine.

“This is nice,” she says, breaking the silence. “Not just this, right now, but just being here in general.”

She turns her head slightly and looks up at me.

“Being stuck where I was, with him, I would always dream about what it was like elsewhere in the world. It’s a relief knowing that it’s better out here. Knowing that it’s okay to hope. Knowing that there really are people who care about you. Having people around thatIcare about too.”

With my arm still around her shoulder, my hand raises to her chin lifting her face up toward mine. I see her eyes, moving between mine. Her gaze shifts down toward my mouth. Her tongue darts out between her lips before she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth. I won’t be the first one to make a move. As hard as it is to stay put, I have to. She has to be the one to do it.

Her head twitches slightly in my direction. Before giving her a moment to second guess, I move in, closing the distance between us. Screw not making the first move, Ineedto feel her lips on mine.

Sparks fly. My heart races.

Adrienne’s lips are as soft as I remember. The taste of her sweet like honey. Her tongue darts out and slides against my lip, waiting for an invitation to enter. I open my mouth slightly and our tongues feel like velvet rubbing against one another.

She moans softly and I squeeze my eyes together. Is she kissing me because she wants to or because she thinks that she has to? Is she kissing me for me or because she is excited to see Owen?

I break the kiss.

“Is everything okay?” She asks.

“Yeah, everything is fine. It’s just…” I fade off.

“Marshall, you can tell me.”

“I just want to make sure that you’re kissing me because you want to. Not because you feel like you have to.”

“Oh.” She pauses, “Well, I promise you I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t want to. For the first time that I can remember, I have the option to do something that I want to do or not do. To kiss whoever I want to, or not. It's a different feeling, but I wanted to do it.”

Her admission has me beaming. I reach my hand back up to cup her cheek. My other hand caresses the back of her neck. She leans in and places her lips to mine once more.

Electricity runs through me once more. It’s as if no time passed. As if we've never been apart. I can feel the pleasure begin to build and I know that it’s too soon. She isn’t ready for this. She begins to run her hands down my chest, but I grab onto them gently, stopping her progress.

“Adrienne, I need to stop.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No! No, not at all. It’s just that I don’t want to take things too far before you’re ready. The last thing I want to do is hurt you like that.”

She nods her head and sits up straight allowing a little more space in between us. I miss the closeness so much it hurts. But I’ve waited three years to have her in my arms once again. She is here with me now, so that will have to be good enough.

“Can I walk you up to your room?” I ask her.

“I’d like that very much, thank you.”

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