Page 102 of Cold Front
I licked my lips, my mind whirring through the weight of this moment. “I’ve never been with anyone before, so I haven’t been tested, but?—”
Eli’s fingers tightened at my waist, stopping my rambling. He didn’t speak right away. Just looked at me, really looked, like he was committing this moment to memory. Then he nodded, voice quiet but sure. “You’re good.” His grip firmed, reassuring, no judgment in his tone, only understanding. “Still, we’ll use condoms.”
A breath shuddered out of me. This was new, all of it: trusting someone this much, letting them see the parts of me I’d always kept hidden.
“Yeah.” My pulse thundered, but I didn’t pull away. I leaned in. “Yeah, okay.”
The tension between us didn’t break; it only thickened.
Eli’s fingers slipped beneath my shirt again, brushing over my ribs. “Come to my room?”
I nodded, letting him lead me. The moment we stepped inside, the weight of everything we hadn’t said filled the space between us. My eyes darted to his bed, his dresser, the small lamp casting a soft glow over the room. I hadn’t been in here since?—
Since before everything fell apart.
Eli turned to face me, his expression unreadable for a moment, and then he reached for me again, fingers sliding over my shoulders, down my arms, threading through mine. He kissed me then, deep and unhurried, like he had all the time in the world to take me apart.
His hands drifted lower, lifting the hem of my shirt. “Can I take this off?”
I nodded, barely breathing as he tugged it over my head, his fingers mapping my skin like he wanted to memorize every inch of me. My hands found his waist, but my gaze locked onto the silver bars piercing through his nipples, the slight swell of his chest rising and falling with each breath.
I’d been obsessed with them from the moment I first saw them. When I’d touched them before, kissed and flicked my tongue over them, I hadn’t known what it meant for me—why I wanted to taste, to feel, to hear the way his breath hitched.
Now, I knew.
My fingers traced the cool metal, and Eli sucked in a sharp breath. “Fuck, Niall.”
Heat flared through me. “I like these.” My voice was rough, barely recognizable. I brushed my thumb over the piercings again, then dipped my head, taking one between my lips. Eli’s fingers tightened in my hair, his chest rising sharply against my mouth.
“Jesus,” he breathed. “You’re trying to kill me.”
I hummed against his skin, dragging my tongue over the sensitive flesh, reveling in the way he shuddered beneath me. My heart pounded, every nerve in my body alive with need.
Eli tugged me back up, crashing our mouths together, his hands sliding lower, gripping my hips. “How do you want this?”
A fresh wave of heat rolled through me. I swallowed, my thoughts a tangled mess of want and uncertainty. “I… I’m not sure,” I admitted.
Eli’s lips curved into a soft smile, patient and understanding. “That’s okay. We’ll figure it out together.”
His hands stayed steady on me, warm and grounding, giving me the space to think, to feel. And maybe that’s what made the words come easier.
“I think…” My pulse pounded as I met his gaze. “I think I want you inside me.
Eli exhaled slowly, his grip on me tightening, his eyes dark with something I couldn’t quite name. “Yeah?”
I swallowed hard, my pulse thrumming. “I want this.”
His fingers traced soothing circles against my skin. “Okay.”
There was no rush; only slow hands, whispered words, and the steady unraveling of everything I thought I knew about myself. We undressed one another slowly, reverently, before lowering ourselves to the bed. Eli reached for the lube, his movements careful, deliberate.
“This okay?” he murmured. He slicked his fingers before lowering his hand to trace over my entrance.
A shiver ran through me. My breath caught, but I nodded. “I want to feel you.”
His touch was gentle, easing me open with slow circles before pressing a finger inside. My body tensed at first, unused to the sensation, but Eli kissed me through it, his free hand stroking down my side, grounding me. He murmured soft reassurances as he added another finger, stretching me, preparing me, making sure I was ready.
Eli’s patience and distracting mouth meant I didn’t know how much time had passed while he prepped me, but when he worked in a third finger, I was already panting and shifting against him, needing more. “Eli?—”
