Page 47 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)

I t was getting late by the time the movie ended and we’d finished off the six-pack we’d bought earlier.

We’d both showered after getting out of the hot tub ? separately, before setting down to watch a film, though I could barely recall what it had been about; we’d spent most of the time talking through it, laughing and kissing.

Yes, there had been lots of kissing. I was currently too comfortable to move as the end-credits rolled.

We’d eventually made it back to the sofa and I was now sprawled across it, my feet in Jihoon’s lap, where he was absently rubbing my soles.

I was so blissed out that my eyes kept closing, even though sleep was the last thing I wanted to do.

That countdown clock was now hovering somewhere around six hours until Jihoon had to leave, and although I tried not to think about it, bouts of melancholy kept creeping in, aided ? no doubt ? by the beer.

I dimly registered that Jihoon had turned off the television, and when he moved my feet off his lap, I weakly protested. But then I felt his arms scooping me up as I was hoisted against his broad chest. My eyes flew open and I swung my arms around his neck, probably a little too tightly.

“Whoa,” I protested, “I can walk. ”

“I know you can,” his voice sounded like a thundercloud from where my ear was pressed to his chest.

“But I want to carry you.”

And so, he did, all the way up the stairs to the bedroom we shared. He gently put me down at the foot of the bed, face hovering so close to mine I could count every one of his eyelashes. My arms were still wrapped around his neck, stretching my body out along his, being that much taller than me.

“You can let go now,” he smirked.

“No, I can’t.” I was breathless at even the thought of letting him go, in any sense of the word. He smiled down at me, his face soft in the dim glow of the bedside lamp.

I pulled him down and brushed my lips against his, just an impression of a kiss really, but he responded with such passion that it stole my breath.

He grabbed at my hips and pulled me against him ? hard, until I went limp in his arms. He ran his palms down my backside and then pulled me upwards so forcefully that it was either wrap my legs around his waist or… I don’t think there was another option.

Lips, tongues, and teeth clashed in a fervent need that felt without end, a lit match so close to burning my fingertips that I couldn’t let go, and then suddenly a loss of gravity as my back hit the mattress. I hadn’t even felt us move across the room.

Jihoon pressed me into the soft bed, his hips pinning me down while his hands softly cradled my face. I know it sounds cliche, but it really felt as though he was my oxygen tank. Nothing we did brought us close enough, this constant pawing at skin and pulling of clothes, wasn’t close enough.

I groaned when Jihoon tore his mouth from mine, but silenced when I saw the dark look in his eyes, the intent written so plainly upon his face, his parted mouth damp from our kisses.

Slowly, he crawled down my body, running a hand from my throat to my heaving chest. He rose up on his knees, straddling me fully, and assertively placed his hands on the bottom of my ribs, hooking his fingers underneath my thin t-shirt.

Holding my gaze, he slowly pushed the fabric upwards, dragging his fingers lightly into my skin and not stopping when he reached my breasts.

My head fell into the pillows, my mouth parted on a soundless gasp as his palms grazed my bare breasts, his thumbs rubbing across my peaked nipples with maddening pressure. My t-shirt was scrunched up above my chest, baring me completely to his hungry gaze as he looked his fill.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he ground out, eyes wild.

His hands trembled slightly as he reached for me, gently cupping me, running his fingers over me as I watched the shadows play over his face.

I was like a musical instrument under his hands, every touch felt like he was strumming a chord, the vibrations playing all the way down my body to echo in my core.

I arched my back as he ran his fingertips down my chest, almost dislodging him as my hips bucked underneath him.

He chuckled before he dipped back down, inching further down my body so the weight on my hips no longer pressed me into the mattress.

I rose up onto my elbows to watch as he bent down to trail soft kisses down my skin, swirling his tongue around my navel and nipping at my hip bones. I squirmed under him.

“Shhh…,” he cooed, looking up and holding my gaze, perhaps gauging my reaction as he hooked his fingers into the band of my shorts. I could only pant as I watched him slowly peel them down my hips, down my thighs until he eventually dropped them to the floor.

He now knelt between my thighs, absolutely nothing between him and my skin.

Despite the way I was utterly bared to him, it never once occurred to me to feel embarrassed.

I shivered, both in anticipation of the unknown, and also at the slight breeze of his breath upon my inner thigh.

He kissed me there, peppering soft kisses up and down until I ached.

“Jihoon,” I whimpered. His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and it was without a doubt, the most erotic moment of my life.

My chest heaved and I couldn’t bring myself to look away.

He wrapped one arm around my thigh and pressed my hip down with his other hand, keeping me so firmly in place I couldn’t move, even if I had wanted to.

Keeping my gaze, he moved his lips away from my inner thigh and I bit my lip, nervous energy thrumming through me, and I wondered if he could feel it.

Half a heartbeat later, all thoughts utterly scattered at the first touch of his mouth. I threw my head back, a silent cry parting my lips, breath frozen in my throat, until the next heartbeat where he flicked his tongue against me. Air whooshed out of me in an exhale so hard it felt like a scream.

After those first few tentative touches, Jihoon seemed to unleash himself; delivering long, deliberate strokes that made me cry out.

He licked his way up until he got to that point where all the tension in my body seemed to be gathering, and he pressed a soft kiss there, before engulfing me with his mouth, the heat of his tongue further fracturing me.

And when he slid a finger inside of me, I felt it in my whole body, an implosion of feeling that seemed to be radiating inwards in sweeping waves, all rushing towards that small piece of flesh Jihoon was currently fixated on, until?

I cried out, a frenzied exhalation torn from my chest that brought my whole body with it, rising up off the bed independent of my own control or intention, and had it not been for the way Jihoon held me so securely, I would have surely dislodged him.

I hung there for a second, frozen in movement, my body bowed like a violin string, before I collapsed back onto the bed, ragged gasps sawing in and out of my open mouth.

My head spun, my body vibrated, everything was a cacophony of sensation, my brain trying to interpret and translate, but falling short.

But eventually, I felt myself sink back into my body, a gradual settling of body and mind, and I became more aware of myself.

I looked down to see Jihoon looking up at me, everything about him a study in smug satisfaction.

The way he rested his head on my thigh, the hand he had placed over me, palming me in a soothing, but claiming way.

I took in a shaky breath and let out a small giggle, covering my face with my hands. I felt Jihoon make his way back up the bed, but no longer above me. Gently, he pried my hands from my face.

“Don’t hide.”

Any mirth I might have felt died the moment I looked at him. He was smouldering, and though I could see that self-satisfied crook to his lips, it made his expression no less proprietorial.

I sat up, so close we were almost chest-to-chest and my t-shirt fell back down to cover my top half.

Jihoon watched the fabric fall, but otherwise remained motionless.

I pulled my legs up under me, rising up onto my knees, crowding Jihoon now but he still did not move.

He just watched me with that predatory glint to his eyes, the sharpness of tension that hadn’t been released with my own .

I ran my fingers up his jaw to cup his cheek and brought his face closer to mine, so close our lips brushed, but did not touch.

I could feel his breathing panting over me, a careful restraint.

I could sense he was close to a breaking point.

It made me smile. I softly ran the very tip of my tongue over his bottom lip before I lightly nipped it.

Jihoon made a noise that sounded like a growl before his hands shot out to grab my waist, fingers digging in almost ? but not quite ? on the verge of pain.

“My turn,” I breathed against his lips, and he groaned a moment before his lips crashed against mine, a forceful insistence I matched with my own fervour, until I was done with playing.

I tore my lips away from his, pulling back when he tried to follow and instead pushed against his chest to force him down on the bed.

I knew he allowed it, because with his strength, he easily could have resisted, but he allowed me to lay him down and, just as he had with me, I lay a knee on either side of his hips, lowering my weight down on him, feeling immediately the evidence of his arousal.

Seemingly like he couldn’t resist, his hips surged upwards and nudged against me, sending a unique kind of sensation through my body.

My head lolled to the side, and I had to forcibly remind myself of my own intentions, bringing my gaze back to his, where I saw that masculine smirk curling his beautiful mouth up again.

I tsked, and his grin grew wider.