Page 26 of Rejected
But he saw her nod. He saw.
He didn’t even take a breath.
He bent down and crushed his mouth onto hers.
Dear Beth,
Deep down I know why I can’t seem to grow up quite as eagerly as everyone else does. I know why I am constantly left behind.
Because I am stuck there.
I cannot move on. I cannot imagine a future without you in it. I should, but I refuse to. I cannot imagine having a child that will never meet my sister, or be held by my mother. I cannot imagine falling in love and binding myself to a gentleman without all of my sisters there. What Meg did… I could never do. I would be missing you too much.
I cannot imagine leaving the house where we grew up—even though I will have to, eventually.
What does the future hold for one such as I? What else but ghosts?
Yet I still cannot embrace a life where you do not exist. Such is grief born of love. I am trapped somewhere between the life I should have lived, with you by my side, and the life I am not living.
I am being morose again. I would never have spoken like that if you were here. But that is the whole point anyway, isn’t it?
Eternally,
Your sister
ten
His mouth tasted like safety and danger all at once.
He was right, it was straight out of a novel. It was… It was breathtaking, heart-stopping, life-altering. It was Laurie and Jo, Jo and Laurie and it felt right. Nothing had ever felt right until this moment.
His arms went around her back, her waist, circled her neck, traced the lines of her cheekbones. His lips never left hers as his hands ran all over her body almost frantically, as if he wanted to make sure she was real. As if he were trying to assure himself that she was not a dream.
As if he were hungry for her, and had been for a very very long time.
His lips parted, but he did not push her further. Instead, he waited for her to invite him in, and when she mirrored him and opened her mouth, even though the movement was slight, he moaned with a shudder and tipped her chin up. He explored her lips gently, visibly restraining himself, as she grappled with emotions so raw and new, she hardly knew what was happening to her.
All she knew was that she had lost her mind, and that she had never felt like this before. The fire inside her bones was simmering to a dull throb, almost aching in its deliciousness. He breathed into her lips, not breaking away even for air.
She could not feel her knees, and a slow weakness spread over her entire body, turning her bones into jelly. She was made of air and water—there was nothing to hold her up. She tried to sigh, or take in some air, but her lungs refused to function properly. She was dying.
Dying in his kiss.
This felt exactly like drowning in the ice had—except that she was now drowning in fire. And she did not want to stop.
Laurie—Laurie!—was holding her head with both hands, pushing her wet hair out of the way, his mouth hot, demanding, but gentle, waiting. His hand cradling her neck was the only thing holding her upright, but pretty soon she grew so heavy and boneless, that he had to slide his arm around her waist, then her hips. His grip grew tighter as he ran his tongue over her lips. He tried to keep her together, but she was falling apart against him, falling, falling…
Everything started to go deliciously dark, like a velvet sleep, drifting into moonlight…
“Love, if you go weak like that only by a kiss, then, so help me, I—”
Jo tried to open her eyes; she couldn’t.
I don’t faint, she thought.
But she was fainting in his arms—he was making her faint by his kiss, his touch. And she adored every second of it.
“Don’t stop,” she tried to murmur, but she couldn’t speak. Her lips opened up more, invitinghim in, and he immediately responded, exploring her mouth further and further. She groaned softly. “More. Please.”
