Page 47 of Time After Time (Golden Sands #1)

For the rest of the day, Gen and I chatted about the festival.

She even rearranged some of her appointments so she could stay with me, making sure I was okay, even though I’d insisted I could manage on my own.

Eventually, we changed into comfy clothes.

I gave her one of my oversized T-shirts and some shorts, but she surprised me by picking the black cotton tee that hung on her like a dress, which had almost killed me when she had stepped closer to me to help me change into my own clothes.

“What even is this?” Gen chuckled, reclining next to me on my bed. We were both leaning against the headboard, gazing at my laptop resting between us.

“I don’t even know,” I replied, my hand reaching for the empty popcorn bowl we had finished long ago and placing it on the nightstand. “We picked the worst film.”

She laughed lightly, and for a moment, everything felt easy. Then her voice turned almost hesitant, drawing my attention back to her. “Seb…”

As she nestled closer, her leg intertwined with mine, and I had trouble glancing at her face, but when I did, I almost sighed in relief when the darkness of the room didn’t allow me to see her properly, fearful of how her voice had sounded.

“What is it?” I shifted, trying to get a better view of her face as she toyed with her lip again.

“I,” she sighed, her eyes closing briefly. “I want you, Seb.”

“What?” My breath caught in my throat, my heart pounding wildly.

She sat up, her hand resting on my chest, and I couldn’t help but notice the way her chest rose and fell with each breath, her nipples pressing against the fabric of her t-shirt—well, my shirt.

“I want you, Sebastian,” she confessed, her eyes glistening. “I can’t stop thinking about the other night.”

“What do you want?” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the drumming of my heartbeat. With a gentle nudge of my leg, I pushed the laptop farther away, allowing her to draw nearer, until our bodies were pressed together.

“I want to feel you inside me again,” she murmured, her leg shifting over mine, bringing herself over me until she was straddling me. “And I want to please you, the way you pleased me.”

My chest tightened, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“Gen...” I whispered, my hands reaching for her, driven by instinct, aching to pull her closer, to feel every inch of her body.

But then doubt flickered in—just for a moment.

Was this wrong? I’d dreamed of this moment a thousand times, but now that it was real, how could I question it?

Her breath brushed against my neck, and the question seemed almost irrelevant.

Nothing had ever felt more right than being with her.

“Don’t be my best friend right now,” she whispered, her voice stronger now, her fingers threading through my hair, pulling me in, and in her eyes, I saw something raw, something impossible to ignore.

My heart stuttered in my chest. Pretending Gen was just my best friend had never been an option. Not now, not ever. “Be more.”

And what if I’d always wanted to be more? What if I’d been waiting for this moment, craving it all along?

My left hand rested on her hip. I could feel the tension in her body, a subtle quiver beneath my touch, as if every nerve was on edge.

If my shirt wasn’t covering her, I knew my fingertips would be painted on her tan skin.

With a harsh swallow and my heart lodged in my throat, I kept my gaze fixed on hers. I knew this moment would break me a little more, tearing apart the last of my resolve and leaving me exposed before her.

As I remained silent for far too long, Gen began to fidget on top of me, her breathing growing faster.

I could see the rise and fall of her chest, each inhale and exhale.

Her thumb moved to her mouth, her nervous habit, and without thinking, my left hand reached up to take her thumb away, preventing her from biting the skin around it until it bled.

Gen met my eyes briefly before her own dropped to my chest, where her hands now rested. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice barely above a murmur. With a hesitant shake of her head, she made a move to get off me, but I stopped her, holding the side of her hip.

“Where are you going?” My voice was low, laced with a hint of longing, a plea for her to stay.

“I was going to sit on my side,” she admitted, still avoiding my gaze.

“I want you too, Gen.”

And then, as if a switch had been flipped off, perhaps the one of fear and doubt, my hand ascended towards one of her breasts, gripping it over the shirt and making the hardened nipple stand more prominently against the fabric.

Gen gripped my wrist tightly, a moan escaping her lips as her hips, just once, ground against mine.

I continued massaging her, my gaze flickering to the slightly ajar door leading to my room, a sliver of light seeping through.

Panic surged through me as I remembered my parents were still awake until I remembered that I was in my cottage and that we could be as loud as we wanted to.

I was on the brink of losing myself in Gen, desperately wanting to bury myself as deeply in her as I could.

Returning my attention to her, I thrust upwards, already achingly hard from being so close to her and enveloped in her sweet scent.

When she felt it, she opened her eyes, a mixture of desire and apprehension swirling in their depths.

“I want to hear you, Gen,” I whispered urgently, nodding towards the door.

As she glanced at it and then back at me, a sudden awareness washed over her, prompting her to bite her bottom lip as she hazily looked down at me.

I gripped her chest, her mouth forming a silent ‘O’ as she swallowed her own moan. “Show me how loud you can be, Gen.”

“It’s embarrassing, Seb,” she breathed, her eyes already clouding with desire.

I felt a surge of pride knowing that I was the one eliciting such intense reactions from her, both physically and emotionally, even as it made me harder.

But fuck, she had the power to drive me wild just as much as I did to her.

“Everything feels so intense,” she confessed, leaning forward.

With a swift movement, she removed her shirt, exposing her chest to me.

My mouth watered at the sight, her breasts bouncing with the sudden movement. “It feels so consuming.”

“Fuck,” it was the only word that escaped my lips as I found myself unable to tear my gaze away from her chest. My hand moved instinctively to her back, urging her closer so I could take her breasts in my mouth.

But she only arched her back slightly, a mischievous glint dancing in her eyes.

“I swear, Gen,” my voice came out rough, as if it hadn’t been used in weeks.

“I’ve been dreaming of this, and if you don’t let that dream become reality, I swear I’ll push you to the edge and leave you hanging.

” As soon as the words left me, a twinge of nervousness shot through me.

Had I sounded too harsh? Not like myself?

But the glint in Gen’s eyes only grew brighter, and her hips pressed against mine again.

“I want to suck you,” she confessed, her words a stark contrast to the blush on her cheeks and the fidgeting of her fingers. Words that hit me like a tidal wave, nearly causing me to black out. “Teach me how to do it. I’ve been dreaming of it too.”

“You’ve been dreaming of it a lot?” I needed to know, or I knew I would carve those words deep in my mind forever.

I was stunned to hear that she had been dreaming of me, too.

My dreams weren’t solely about sex; they were filled with moments of intimacy, of kissing and holding her close.

Of being hers . “How much have you been dreaming of me?”

“Every night,” she confessed, leaning forward and causing my focus to waver. The admission sent a thrill through me, mingled with a sense of disbelief.

“What would you dream about?” I couldn’t hold back the question, the curiosity burning within me.

With her right nipple now in my mouth, I pressed her against me, desperate for her response.

“Tell me.” I paused just long enough to utter the words before returning to the task at hand, sucking her breast with fervour.

“About you,” she confessed, and I responded by lightly biting her nipple, enough to encourage her to continue without causing any discomfort.

“About us kissing, holding each other, and then also this.” I released her nipple, giving a few licks to the other one as she spoke.

“I’ve dreamt of having you in my mouth.”

“Really?” The revelation took me by surprise, and I found myself glancing down at her panties, which were white and see-through, adorned with delicate flowers and leaves.

She was already aroused, her wetness glistening through her underwear.

“Have you touched yourself?” My thumb applied pressure to her clit, eliciting a sharp exhale from her lips.

“Thinking about me, did you ever touch yourself?” Her nod was confirmation enough.

It eased the guilt that lingered from the nights I’d spent, my hand wrapped around my cock, fantasising about kissing her. “How did you do it?”

“I humped my pillow.”

The vivid image flooded my mind, painting a scene of Gen waking up in the dead of night, her body slick with sweat, tangled in her sheets. Restless and consumed by her dreams of us, she’d instinctively reached for her pillow, pressing it between her thighs.