Page 130

deliriously right? That thought scared Dani. It really did.

She didn’t pull away, but Emily probably sensed it. She

wrapped her arms around Dani, holding her close. Close, but

not needy. Not clinging. Not forcing Dani to relent or change

her mind or be something she wasn’t. It felt natural to want to

be there in Emily’s arms, to want to wrap her own arms around

her in response.

“Just for tonight,” Emily whispered, snuggling closer.

Dani breathed in the rich scent of her hair, the scent of their

bodies, of sweat and desire and the pleasure they’d created and

shared with each other. She’d never done this before. She’d

never spent the night with someone. She went rigid and Emily

felt it. She pulled away a little and glanced up at her, but

instead of her face crushing with disappointment or anger or

confusion, she just smiled softly.

“Okay, maybe that’s too fast. I’ll wait until you fall asleep

and then I’ll go back to the couch.”

Dani didn’t have anything to say to that. She knew it was

dangerous to do that. But what would happen if Emily fell

asleep too? Would the world end? Would the ceiling cave in on

them and crush them because one of Dani’s unspoken rules

had been broken?

Just because she’d never done this before didn’t make it

wrong. It made her realize that she’d done all those things

because she was afraid. She did still need to protect herself,

but the urge wasn’t as strong. The impulse to run wasn’t there

like it usually was. She told herself she was getting things

confused and mixed up from the afterglow that was fogging

her head and cutting off her normal brain function.

Would it really hurt to fall asleep with someone? Would that