He leaned over, his forearm baring all his weight. “I normally don’t ask, I normally don’t have to, but I’m trying damned hard to keep my promise. I want to kiss you, Samantha.” His mouth moved slowly toward hers. “Now’s your chance to tell me you don’t want me to.”
She looked up into his eyes, her heart pounding like a wild stallion, but no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried to make her lips form the words, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t say no. She wanted Tristan to kiss her, even though an hour earlier she would’ve been horrified by the thought. But in this moment, right now, it seemed like she couldn’t live if he didn’t.
His lips moved closer, her silence inviting him in, telling him it was okay, that he could take the thing she’d built up to fairy tale proportions, because this moment felt like one. A fairy tale.
His mouth came slowly, settling upon hers, warm, soft, and full. But he didn’t move at all after that, he just stayed there, right there, perfectly still. Their breaths mingled together, both hard and soft. Breaths that were full of excitement and anticipation, and made every nerve in her body abundantly aware of his every move.
It was erotic. Invigorating. Made her whole stomach tighten with tiny flutters. Just the simple act of breathing the same air as someone else, not touching, or even really kissing. When she exhaled, he sucked it in, taking so much more of her than a breath. He was taking her girlhood, her hope and her dreams, and leading her down the path she’d never been before. Making her think she’d never really known her body, because it was doing things she’d never felt in her life.
When his lips finally moved, her body melted. Like she’d been frozen, too afraid to do anything but breathe for fear she’d wake, but his lips were there, warm like a fire, slowly heating her from the inside out. He kissed her bottom lip, pulling it into his mouth slightly before letting it go. “Are you okay?” he whispered.
Because goddammit, he was being a gentleman. Being everything she never thought he could be. Being everything she always wanted but never knew it until now. She nodded, her grip on the rocks loosening.
He smiled against her mouth and took both her hands, relaxing them with his. “Relax,” he whispered, then slowly moved her hands until he laced them up around his neck. “Hold on to me.”
She felt so silly, not knowing at all what to do, but he didn’t seem bothered at all. He kissed her bottom lip again, pulling a little harder until she opened her mouth. His lips were soft, full, and nothing like she thought they would be. His tongue entered her mouth, touching hers gently with the tip, as though he was coaxing her to do the same. He felt so wonderful, tasted like winter-mint gum, and she couldn’t resist kissing him back.
He gripped her head on both sides, and her tongue touched his. A growl came from the back of his throat as his body shifted on top of hers. She may have been inexperienced, but she knew the reaction was a good one. She also knew his reaction was caused by her, and that made her feel more powerful than she’d ever felt in her life. His weight sank into her, anchoring her body to this very spot. His kiss grew deeper, more urgent, as his tongue pushed farther into her mouth, pulling out feelings she never even knew existed.
She couldn’t think anymore; his mouth was all-encompassing, his lips soft and firm at the same time, his teeth occasionally clashing against hers, and his tongue softer than any material she’d ever felt in her life.
Tristan Montgomery was kissing her, really kissing her, and she wasn’t holding anything back. The thought never entered her mind until the sounds of laughter and crunching leaves sounded from behind them.
Pushing at his chest, she scrabbled to sit as fast as she could, but it was too late. When she whipped around, the girls from across the lake were making their way through the trees, and weren’t hiding the fact that they’d noticed them. Samantha pulled in a breath, squeezing her eyes shut. Thank God it’s not Renee. Thank God it’s them and not Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery.
The girls continued to laugh, making their way down the path again and back to their cabin. But all Samantha could think about was her and Tristan’s kiss. About how easily it had happened, how quickly it had deepened, and what would have happened had the girls had not come along to stop it.
Samantha sat forward, wrapping her arms around her thighs and resting her chin on her knees. All of a sudden there was a hard pit at the bottom of her stomach. One that was large, and growing rapidly by the second.
Tristan moved beside her. His arm brushing her leg as he pulled himself to sit. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” But her mind kept rolling with fear. What would’ve happened had it been her best friend coming to look for her? What would she have said?
“You?” she asked, trying to push the thoughts to the back of her mind.
“I’m good,” he said. His voice low and textured, but there was something else. Curiosity, or maybe confusion.
She took a deep breath, trying to figure things out. Why had he kissed her? Why now? Why her? The girl he’d never seemed to notice once until tonight. She began playing with the rocks again, because she was too inexperienced to know what was expected after a kiss like that. Too inexperienced to know if the tingles she felt all over her body was a normal reaction. If a kiss between practical strangers was always so mind consuming and passionate.
She’d kissed her best friend’s brother, something she never would’ve expected in a million years. But that wasn’t the worst of it. What bothered her most was that she wanted to do it again. A thousand times over again.
Tristan stood, grabbing her attention as he offered his hand and pulled her up to stand beside him. She wobbled slightly, her legs like soft rubber that refused to hold her. He reached out to wrap his fingers around her waist. To steady her at the small of her back before she fell. She swallowed, not sure what to say. He’d taken a part of her. A precious piece she’d been saving for that special person, but she herself had told him there was nothing owed after a simple kiss. Nothing promised.
“We should get going,” he said softly, exerting the slightest amount of pressure to pull her forward. As though he wanted her next to him. As though he wanted her lips as much as she wanted his. “Before we get into trouble.”