Page 25 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
I wanted him too.
A lot. It seemed my skin caught fire under his touch.
I pushed things just a little further, and tugged on my shirt, freeing myself so I only wore my bra, and more of our skin could touch.
He stared down at me, his eyes wide. I kissed his bottom lip. “Just kissing still, but like this?”
His nod was fast and his mouth hungry when it found mine, practically gulping me down.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered in my ear between kisses before he dragged his lips across my throat. “They write poetry because of you.”
I could have argued, but right then, I wanted the illusion. Besides, he was absolutely perfect himself. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?” I pointed out.
He shook his head. “I don’t compare.”
We kissed again, over and over, until I was sure I would never need air again. I only wanted Julian to breathe life into me with his kisses. When he would grind his hips into me—seemingly unconsciously—a thrill arced through me so I moved with him.
Finally, with a sigh, he stopped, rolling onto his back, and drawing me against his side. “Sorry,” he said, sounding out of breath. “I need a minute. To stop, actually.” He panted, but he kissed my temple and my cheeks. “I love you. Got to stop. Okay?”
I wasn’t sure I followed, my mind practically drunk on needing him, but I couldn’t complain about his warmth or listening to his heartbeat. “That was…yeah,” I agreed, at a loss for words.
He grinned before he kissed my forehead. “It was. You are…yeah.”
In an awkward move, I managed to pull my shirt back on, trying not to feel self-conscious that he could still see me. The piano had stopped from the other room, but I could still faintly hear the television. I reached for my back pocket, realizing I’d left my phone by his computer. “What time is it?”
He sighed, one arm thrown across his eyes as if to block out the world. “Does time have to exist?”
I couldn’t think of a good reason to leave him, so I kissed his side then closed my eyes. “No, or we can pretend it doesn’t until you have to get up for water polo tomorrow morning.”
After a while of holding me, he moved, leaning back on his elbows. “If we stay here much longer, I’m not moving until morning, so we should get ready for bed. It’s late, I think.”
I nodded. “You’re probably right.”
“Alatheia,” he said and took my cheeks in his hands and kissed my lips. Once. Then twice. “I spent the whole day thinking about you. All day. I hated you being so close, yet I couldn’t see you all day. Just know that when we’re apart, I’m thinking about you every second I can think.”
I wrapped my arms around him, breathless with the force of my feelings. “I think I was just trying to survive. It wasn’t awful,but everything is new. I thought about you all day, too, in the midst of my chaos.”
“Fair enough.”
When he would have gotten up, I stopped him, entwining our fingers and making sure to make good eye contact. “What you wrote is just amazing. I think I might be carrying ghosts from everything that happened, if I’m honest. My mom for sure, and maybe even my dad? My relatives? Anyway, I loved the way you talked about the ghosts, and I think it is going to resonate with a lot of people.” With a smile, I gave his fingers a squeeze. “Are you carrying any ghosts of your own?”
“Fewer since I met you, if I’m honest. I thought. . .I thought maybe I would always be alone. How on earth could anyone want to be with me under these circumstances? But my heart knew your heart. So, yeah, I am carrying a whole shit ton of ghosts, but I feel like they aren’t as heavy anymore. We‘ll work on yours, too. Alatheia. This is forever for me. You are it. I know we’re too young for me to say that and you to believe it. I get it, I do, but just know…that’s where I am.”
I shook my head, but not because I doubted him…exactly. “It’s hard for me to think about forever. I just hope they don’t send me away to a boarding school in Switzerland or somewhere,” I confessed.
“If they can’t be encouraged to change their minds, either by us or by my parents or by Granny, then we will go with you to Switzerland. If you’re there, we’ll be there. I’m not sure about Barrett, actually, but we can go to school wherever you go. I don’t care where I graduate from. We’ll figure it out, I promise you that.”
I wanted to believe him, so for the moment, I allowed myself to revel in the illusion of pretty happy ever afters.
When we reentered the living room, Jeremy was still sprawled snoring on the couch.
Julian shot me a quick grin. “We should leave him. Waking him is going to be like poking a bear.”
I scowled, because I couldn’t leave him sitting up on the couch. “I’ll get him up. He won’t be a bear to me. If he is, I’ll forgive him, but where’s Phoenix?”
Julian sprinted back to his room, returning a second later with both of our phones. He passed me mine, his eyes glued to his own screen. “Hasn’t moved, still over at Jo’s, and I don’t know what time he’ll get back. As far as I’m concerned, if he isn’t here when we go to bed, he loses out on the snuggle that night. Normally, he gets automatic rights to you because he can’t sleep without you. I don’t mind it, because I like him better sleeping, but he can take the floor if he isn’t going to get his ass home.”
I frowned as Julian left the room, because I couldn’t just let it go. Instead, I sent Phoenix a text message.Coming home?
