Page 92 of A World Apart
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Like this?” His hand began a slow, undulating motion between my thighs, a firm press of his palm that hit in just the right spot while his fingers danced lightly downwards, almost tickling me. The combination brought a gasp to my lips and I sighed, “Yes.”
He kissed me, harder this time, as if he couldn’t hold himself back. He groaned into my mouth, his fingers more insistent, parting me and stroking up and down with ever-increasing pressure. I grabbed his wrist, causing him to pause, until I urged him on. I felt him smile against my lips and I giggled breathlessly. Until I wasn’t laughing anymore.
Jihoon dipped his finger inside of me and gently pressed upwards. It was a kind of pressure that I couldn’t describe but made me reflexively shift my hips seeking… something. I inhaled sharply as he withdrew, but he didn’t go far, trailing his fingers back up to that spot that made me squirm. At first, he only lightly traced around it, but as my pants turned into gasps, he pressed down more firmly, alternating from circles to sweeps until my hips began to buck underneath him. He watched me carefully all the while, his eyes never leaving mine. And when I finally cried out and juddered under his hand, he grinned and pressed his forehead to mine. I clamped my hand around his bicep, curling my body into his, while his hand was still tucked between my thighs. I couldn’t catch my breath enough to speak, and even if I had, what would I say? All rational thought had scattered like dandelion seeds in a breeze. I could only lay there vibrating as the waves slowly gentled from the epicentre of sensation and I reeled myself back in.
I pulled my leg over and rolled onto my side, dislodging him. He ran his palm up my belly and to my waist, pulling me closer to him.
Absurdly, I felt my cheeks reddening and I burrowed my face in his chest, the scent of him calming my racing heart. Jihoon chuckled, the sound vibrating through me.
“Where have you gone?” he said softly, reaching his hand up to tilt my jaw so that I was facing him. He was smiling down at me, a soft smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
“I feel shy,” I admitted, “which I appreciate is silly, but it is what it is.” I don’t know how people are supposed to react after something like that.
“I mean, do I say thank you, tell you ‘good job?’"
“Because, yes, to all of that.” I rambled, then forcibly closed my mouth to keep my tumbled thoughts inside.
Jihoon chuckled and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You don’t need to feel that way with me, and you do not need to thank me,” he huffed a laugh, “but you’re welcome.”
I was silent a moment, but internally I was doing mental gymnastics, practically falling over myself to think what the proper etiquette here was. I was so woefully unprepared from all my previous relationships, and it hadn’t occurred to me that this might occur tonight, not that I’d had the benefit of prior preparation, being that the whole visit was a last-minute surprise.
A yawn took me by surprise and I tried to cover it, only being partially successful.
“I can see you thinking hard about something,” Jihoon interrupted my spiralling thoughts with another kiss to my forehead, “you should sleep, it’s been a long day.”
I didn’t reply, instead I lay my hand flat upon his bare chest, feeling the way his heartbeat pounded against his warm skin. I trailed my fingers across the expanse of him, delighting in the way he felt against my palm, and he sighed above me, his breath tickling my eyelashes.
My fingertips seemed to walk themselves downwards, towards his abdominals, those firm ridges of muscle so obvious even now, lying on his side. I lightly ran my hand over his stomach, hesitating when his muscles twitched, and I looked up at his face enquiringly.
“Ticklish,” he mirrored my previous explanation with a quirk to his lips that seemed to rekindle a low-burning fire in my belly, a fire that nudged my mind towards a reciprocation, of sorts.
Now that the thought occurred to me, I felt a twinge of embarrassment. Swallowing, I tentatively swept my fingertips further down, following the line of soft hairs from his navel to where his shorts hung low on his hips.
Just as I reached the small knot holding his shorts up, Jihoon reached for my exploratory hand and, clasping it gently, brought it up to his mouth, where he placed soft kisses to each of my fingertips in turn.
“But what about you?” I asked, frowning, trying to stifle another yawn.
Jihoon smiled, holding my hand and pressing it back against his chest.
“That’s not how it works. It’s not an exchange.
“I wanted to make you feel good. I didn’t touch you so you’d need to touch me.”
I blushed, tucking my head down and staring instead at our joined hands against his bare chest.
“What if I want to?” I muttered, a little petulantly.
Jihoon laughed softly, the still night air seeming to snatch the sound and muffle it.
“Another time and you can touch me all you want. Right now, go to sleep, jagiya.”
He nestled me into him more solidly, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me into him so absolutely our breathing synchronized.
I’d never slept beside someone like this before, and now that I had, I wondered how I’d ever sleep without it again.
Chapter 29
