Page 39 of Keep Me Still
“Yes, please,” she says against my mouth, and I try to take it slow, I really do. But when her lips part, opening her to me, I’m done being gentle.
My tongue sweeps inside, desperate for hers. She’s tentative at first. Barely skimming her own tongue against mine with sweet little licks. But I press harder and she matches me. Layla lets her teeth graze my lower lip and I groan. I can’t even concentrate on memorizing each sweet touch of her perfect mouth because the knowledge that I’m the first, the only man to ever have her this way, has me mindless and infuckingsane with need. She’s mine goddammit, and the primal urge to shout it from the rooftops is almost impossible to resist. I release her wrists so I don’t bruise or break them and she wraps her arms around my neck, raking her hands into my hair. Keeping my hand out from under her short dress is an exercise in torture. My body aches for release, but this is her first kiss, for fuck’s sake. We have to stop here. For now.
“You did not just give her the very first kiss of her life in an alley,” Corin’s voice rings out from beside us. “Although, it looked pretty hot, so I might allow it.”
Growling low enough so only Layla can hear, I pull my mouth from hers, taking a moment to appreciate her flushed face and swollen lips. Her eyes are glazed over, and I’m hoping it’s a result of my lip-locking skills and not the alcohol. I drop one more kiss on her pouty lips, unable to resist, before turning to face her roommate. “Jesus, Ginger. You have fan-fucking-tastic timing. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“Anyone ever tell you the definition of romance? Here’s a hint. It doesn’t include dirty alleys downtown. And for the record, the last guy who called me Ginger hasn’t been seen or heard from in months.” Her deadpan tone makes me wonder if she’s serious.
Skylar appears behind her, and they both look hot and tired and ready to go. Judging from my roommate’s rumpled clothing, he’s been doing some intense grinding of his own. I smirk and pull Layla from the alley.Our alley. Deal with it, Ginger. And even better? Layla doesn’t let go of my hand on the cab ride back to the dorm.
So for tonight at least, I’m the luckiest bastard alive.
~PRESENT TENSE: Used to locate a situation or event in present time. Or a tense situation you thought you had put behind you that turns out to be much more current than you realized.~
It’sall I can do not to pull Landen from the cab and drag him back to my dorm room. The magic of tonight is already fading and the thought of losing him again has me on edge. If I ever start to forget that he can disappear at a moment’s notice, I touch the scar above my left ear to remind myself. It’s my permanent reality check. The one I need to remind me of the truth. Everything can change. Everyone can leave.
Corin was right. Kissing Landen, being kissed by Landen, changed me. The tension I’ve clung to for so long it became a part of me just lifted into the sky, and I didn’t care if I never pulled in another breath for as long as I lived. The world spun faster, and I think I left the ground for a few seconds while Landen explored my mouth. My whole body trembled, but not in the terrifying way like I’m used to. More like humming with the steady buzz of being alive.
Why do people need to do drugs when kissing feels like this?
“Hey, about what Ginger said,” Landen begins as he walks me to the front door of Campbell Hall. “She’s right. That probably wasn’t the best place I could have done that. I should have—”
“Landen,” I break in, placing a finger on his lips to stop the rest of his sentence. “It was perfect.”
He swallows and nods at me but I can tell there’s something else he wants to say. Dread settles over me, effectively cutting off my endorphin overload.
“Hey, um, Corin and Skylar seem to be hitting it off.” I’m trying to change the subject to dispel the awkwardness that’s shoved its way in between us. Landen clears his throat and glances over to where I’m looking. Corin is standing with her arms folded, watching Skylar tell her something that apparently requires a lot of frantic gesturing with his hands. “Wonder what that’s all about.”
“He thought he was going to get lucky tonight,” Landen says with a smirk. He pulls his gaze from our roommates back to me and grins wickedly. “Guess we’re both going home disappointed.”
He’s joking, Layla. Right, I know that. But he probably is disappointed. I’d never kissed a guy before. It wasn’t as if I knew what the hell I was doing. And if he’d hooked up with any other girl tonight instead of wasting his time on me, he’d probably be getting a lot more than a goodnight hug.But he didn’t.
I pull myself out from inside of my head and take a moment to appreciate how beautiful he is. Not that I haven’t memorized his face and then subsequently tried to forget it once already. But as I let my eyes cling to every inch of him, drinking in his full mouth and square jaw before covering his thick, muscular neck, he stills, almost like he’s doing the same thing to me. Thoughts I have no clue how to deal with intertwine in my mind.What would it be like to run my tongue over the masculine knot in his throat? To feel his stubbled jaw on my neck, on my bare breasts? In between my thighs?
“Good Lord,” I whisper at my thoughts, barely stifling a shiver.
“Kissing me is similar to a religious experience, or so I’ve been told.” Gleaming green eyes meet mine as he teases me.
“I was just realizing how…”Much I want you to kiss me again. “Late it is.”
“Yeah.” He groans and the throaty depth of it touches me all the way to my core. “And we have practice tomorrow and workouts tomorrow night. And because they obviously hate freshmen here, we have that ass early class Monday morning.”
Oh yeah, Intro to University Academics or something. Ugh, I’d forgotten. “Corin and I will probably take turns going to that one. We can always share notes if you, um, need to sleep in sometimes, because of soccer or whatever.”
“Yeah, the hangovers and late night orgies with cheerleaders will probably take their toll and I’ll end up failing Intro to Not Screwing Up College.”
My eyes narrow at his words because it’s been nearly a year since I knew him and I can’t tell if he’s serious. But then the corner of his mouth turns up and I have an overwhelming impulse to slap him. “Cute. Well, maybe while you’re busy with your cheerleaders, I’ll see if Luke feels like hanging out.”
Now it’s Landen’s eyes that narrow and I’m the one grinning. “I think you’re underestimating how much Lucas Taite values the use of his legs.”
“And I think you’re underestimating what a good kisser I am.” I lift my chin in defiance, daring him to argue. I was going for playful, but his glare is lethal. “Maybe he’d risk it.”
“I’ve never underestimated anything about you, Layla. No reason I would start now that I know from experience.” His fierce tone weakens my knees and tightens the muscles in my stomach. “And I’m sure as hell not sharing.”
“I was just kidding,” I say softly, hoping he’ll return to his smiling, eye-twinkling self.
He’s still staring at me intently, but he looks less ready to murder someone. “Me too, babe,” he says lightly, prompting me to release the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. “Cheerleaders have never been my thing. I prefer girls on the gymnastics team—much more flexible.”
