Page 117 of Say You'll Never Let Go

Instead of heading for the bedroom after those muffins like any normal couple might do, they’ve taken up the sofa to watch a movie off an unnamed DVD.

“I wonder what it is,” she asks excitedly, tapping the remote. “Kinda feels like a date.”

“Can be.”

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely. Who needs a drive-in when we got….whatever this is on the big screen?”

Good. Okay. She actually wants to watch this movie. That’s encouraging because it means he was right not to rush things, and disappointing because the only thing he wants to watch is her.

The Jurassic Park theme song erupts from the TV, and she scoots closer. “I like this one.”

“Me too.” He kicks his feet up on the coffee table, only grateful it’s not porn.

“Used to wonder why they didn’t all just leave sooner, but then our own apocalypse happened and it turns out people don’t take those very seriously after all.”

“Least not until it’s too late. We would have gotten off that island way sooner. We ain’t idiots.”

“We wouldn’t be on that island in the first place. Anything that’s got a T. Rex roaming its woods isn’t anywhere I wanna be.”

They’re doing that thing again, making small talk just to fill the void. Silence was always comfortable with them, except all of a sudden, it’s not anymore. He wonders if she’s just as nervous as he is, only better at hiding it. She told him once that she’s never liked anyone touching her, never wanted that in a relationship after what happened in that basement when they were teenagers. Maybe he isn’t the only one hesitating for reasons that are difficult to talk about.

Expectation lights up the air between them like an electric current with nowhere to go until she slings her legs over his lap and snuggles right up like they do this all the time, effectively saving him from agonizing over how to get her closer.

“Is this okay?” she whispers.

“Always.”

She goes silent while the movie begins to play. They lapse into comfortable territory again while his hand roams across her back, drawing absent shapes with his fingertips until she shivers.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s good. Makes my head and the back of my neck tingle. I like it.”

“Never felt that before,” he admits.

Kara lifts her head to watch him. “You’re missing out. Some say it’s better than an orgasm, but I’m not so sure about that.”

Fuck, she is going to kill him. He swallows hard as she turns that sudden statement into an invitation with the slow strokeof her hand across his shoulder and down his stomach, pausing just before his belt.

“Wade, I need you to know that we don’t have to do anything until you’re ready. But, when you are…I will be too.”

His heart squeezes while the comforting tone of her voice wraps him up in the best hug.

Of course, she would be patient with him.

Of course, he’s safe with her.

He swallows hard with a nod as the rise and fall of her chest moves heavily in his periphery. It becomes clear that she’s waiting on his move now. She’s led him here, and it’s his turn to take them another step forward in this gradual exchange of give and take.

They’ve gotten closer and closer until her exhales puff softly against his mouth. When he can’t wait any longer, he finally presses his lips to hers, slow and steady, rewarded with a curl of her hand around his neck to draw him in.

He never expected she’d be this responsive, but every tease of his tongue shyly darting in has her trembling, and when he weaves a hand into her hair, she crawls fully into his lap.

She guides his hand to the curve of her breast, giving him permission to touch. He’s nearly frozen in anticipation, all his nerves singing and sizzling, begging him to be brave. She’s so much softer than he ever imagined when he dips under her shirt and ghosts a tender touch across a hardened peak. Her teeth nip at him, shocking him with her ferocity as her whole body rises up to meet him along with her kiss.

He wants to go further, but this is the safe zone now. He knows what to do and how to behave, knows what she likes because she tells him with every delicate sound. So they linger here, indulging in each other painfully slow until their lips go slack for long moments at a time, barely touching at all before adding more pressure and starting anew.