Page 29 of Amethyst

“I won’t lie. I’ve changed, for sure.” My hand wanders absently to the scar on my cheek. “You can’t go through what I went through and not be a changed person. But at my core—at the very innermost parts of my soul—I’m the same Jenna. I’m still your best friend.”

He touches me, cups my cheek, runs his thumb over the scar. “I wish I could erase it all for you.”

“I know you do, and I love you for it. But you can’t, and I’ve accepted that. You need to accept it as well.”

He nods, and then he moves closer—almost in slow motion—until his lips touch mine.

I jerk backward.

Not because I’m scared, and not because I don’t want his touch.

I jerk backward because of the spark it elicits in me.

Wow. I totally wasn’t expecting that.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yes. I’m okay.”

He comes toward me again, kisses my lips, and this time, I make a conscious effort not to jerk from him. Instead, I lean into him, part my lips slightly so that I’m returning his kiss.

His full, firm lips are soft against mine.

He kisses me again, and then once more, and then his soft tongue probes my mouth for entrance.

So long…

So long since I’ve been kissed this way, and I wonder… Have I ever been kissed quite this way? Quite this gently?

I ease backward a bit.

“Sorry,” Max says. “Not ready for tongue?”

“No, I am ready, Max. I just…”

How can I say what I need to say? That I’m feeling something I didn’t expect to be feeling?

He’s being gentle on purpose, I know. Although I do believe Max is a gentle soul in his heart, he’s also a man, and the bulge in his jeans is impossible not to notice.

I need to expect that. Embrace it, even.

Why shouldn’t he enjoy himself? We should both enjoy ourselves.

I lean into him again, this time with my lips parted in invitation. He caresses them with his own, and his tongue slides into my mouth.

My body responds immediately. My nipples harden, and my stomach flutters. Tingles race through me, and as I meet his tongue with mine, desire rushes over me.

I thought it would take a little more, but my body seems to be leading, and my mind is ready to follow.

Max keeps the kiss gentle, slow, and while I appreciate his tenderness, my body wants more.

So I deepen the kiss. Me. Jenna.

And he growls.

Seriously, a vibrating growl into my mouth.

It doesn’t scare me.

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