Page 42 of Bonds of Magic
I froze, too stunned to react. His soft lips moved on mine tentatively, like he wasn’t sure of what he was doing. He wasn’t, I realized. This was his first kiss.
But I still couldn’t move, not until he made a frustrated little noise in the back of his throat and began to pull away. His fingertips slid down my shoulder and my body knew what it wanted, even if my brain didn’t.
I swept one arm around his back, pulling him closer, keeping him in the cradle of my body. The warmth of him pressed against me. My lips sought his, and when they met, mine parted and my tongue slid out, gently teasing him until he opened his mouth.
I ventured inside, not trying to pressure him, but desperate for more. His tongue met mine, darting forward, then back. I deepened the kiss, and he hummed low in his throat.
I wasn’t sure where his chest ended and mine began anymore. My fingers tightened on his waist, and his hand slid to my neck. I groaned, a broken half-sob that escaped my mouth and made a home in Cory’s. God, I’d wanted this for so long.
He hummed again and pushed forward, trying to merge into me. There was nothing I wanted more. His fingers slid down my chest, then to my stomach, then dipped lower, coming to rest on my cock, where it pressed up against my joggers.
I jerked back, wrenching my lips off of his. The taste of him still danced on my tongue. I exhaled, inhaled raggedly, and exhaled again like I’d been climbing a mountain.
Cory’s face was flushed and his lips, already plump, were red and wet. His chest heaved, and his eyes were filled with frustration and hope. I knew I’d made the right decision.
No matter how much I hated myself for it.
“I’m sorry.” My voice was gruff, more from desire than anger. But the anger was there—all directed at myself. “I shouldn’t have—I’m sorry. That was wrong.”
Cory tugged on my shirt. “But I—”
I stood up so suddenly my head spun. He fell back against the arm of the couch, staring at me.
“I shouldn’t have let that happen,” I said. “It was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”
“I didn’t—” Cory began, but my mind was reeling, too busy taking in the implications of everything I’d just done.
“Fuck, and after Sean tried to pressure you? What the fuck was I thinking?”
“It’s wrong to kiss me because Sean tried to do that earlier?”
“It’s wrong to kiss you regardless. But the Sean stuff doesn’t help. I took advantage of you when you were vulnerable.”
“Ikissedyou. You didn’t take advantage. And I didn’t do it because I was vulnerable.”
“You did it because you’re confused,” I said, running a hand over my face.
How could I have let it go so far? Cory was messed up. The last thing he needed was me making things worse. His dad had already made him think liking men was a problem. He didn’t need to add kissing me to the poisonous swirl of thoughts in his head.
“I’m not confused,” he said stoutly. He stood, glaring at me. “Give mesomecredit. I’m not a complete idiot. It’s fine if you don’t like me, but you don’t have to paint me as some helpless little victim who’s not responsible for his own actions.”
“Whether I like you or not has nothing to do with it.” I was so mad at myself, but I was beginning to get frustrated with him too. “I should never have gotten us into this situation. Letting you think that—”
“That you might actually care?” His voice thickened with disgust. “God, Iampathetic. I told you I didn’t want my first kiss to be with someone who despised me, and then I went and did it anyway.”
“I don’t despise you, Cory. But I’m your teacher. There are rules.”
“Those rules didn’t seem to bother you a minute ago,” he accused.
A new rush of guilt flooded my body. “I wasn’t thinking. But I shouldn’t have put us in a position where this could happen. That’s my fault, and I apologize. If you want to stop working together, I understand. I’ll talk to Isaac.”
“God, can you listen to me for a second? I don’t want you to talk to Dean Mansur, about this or anything. I want you to stop treating me like I’m a kid who needs to be protected from the big, bad world.”
“Youarea kid.”
“I’m eighteen.”
“Close enough. I’m over a decade older than you. This can’t happen between us. Nothing can.”
