Page 5 of Jagged Line Paradise

He sighs one moment and the next, his lips touch mine, softly, gently, just a test of how it feels to push the boundary of our friendship.

And it feels really good.

He’s slow with me, taking his time, but I feel the warmth of his breath and the way it rushes in and out of his nose as he struggles against his own breathlessness.

He’s breathless because of me.

Everything inside me sinks down low to the pit of my stomach. It twists and tugs and coils into the kind of need that soaks through my underwear…the kind of need that makes me want to go to bed early just so I can get behind a closed door, alone, and satisfy the throbbing ache between my legs.

He sits up a little taller, turning farther to face me. He pulls back for a moment—just a moment—and his dark eyes scan my features. I bite my lip, knowing my cheeks are flushed and probably bright pink right now. His other hand comes up and both grip my face at the jawline.

“Lonnie,” he says, staring at my mouth.

And then I’m lost.

His lips crash against mine with force I hadn’t expected. It pushes me backward, but I don’t go far,can’tgo far with the intensity of his grip as he holds my head in place. His lips part and I feel his tongue run across the seam of my mouth. He groans, causing a vibration that tingles in my lips and prickles down my spine.

My nerves threaten to get the better of me. I don’t want to be bad at this; I don’t want a bad kiss to ruin my friendship with Andrés. But I can’t think straight with the way his fingertips tickle the back of my head as they comb into my wavy hair. I let my lips fall open with his urging and I yelp into his mouth, surprised as he slips his tongue past my teeth without warning.

Holy wow.

It feels strange, awkward, different…but incredible.

It’s like my tongue has a mind of its own as it seeks his. They meet and swirl together, and the dance of it is so intoxicating, it’s all I can think about. I want him to kiss me harder, faster, always.

I turn my body toward him, reaching to grasp the strings of his hoodie to draw him closer. When I do, the kiss breaks and suddenly, I’m terrified that I’ve ruined it.

“Be careful,” he says, glancing over the edge of the bluff.

It’s not super high, but high enough that I’d likely break a bone or two on the way down if I fell. One of his hands falls from my neck, slipping around my waist and scooping me closer to him. I gasp as my breasts touch his chest when he pulls me in close and his thumb runs gently back and forth along my jawline.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” he says, his chest rising and falling in short, quick bursts.

“You have?”

His forehead falls against mine. “You taste good.”

“I do?”

He nods, his nose brushing mine as he does. “You taste like heaven. I know you feel like this place is your paradise. But it’s not for me. Avalon, my paradise isyou.”

Chapter 2

Andrés

FUCK, I DIDit.

I kissed her.

I kissed Avalon Briar.

My insides are on fire and I want more. I want more of the way she fans those flames and makes me burn for her like no one else ever has. A gentle breeze picks up a strand of her sunset-orange hair and my heart skips a beat. Her breasts are pressed tight against my chest, and I don’t dare loosen my grip on her as they rise and fall with her rapid, shallow breaths.

I don’t know if her panting means that she feels the way I do or if it means she’s scared.

Maybeshe doesn’t want this.

Her back arches, just a little bit, and she curves into my hold. I tighten my arms around her waist as she slips hers over my shoulders, around my neck. When her teeth catch her bottom lip, I see it. I see that she wants me, too, and my pulse thrums.

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