Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“Do you think so?” She hated that her voice had that wavering, little girl quality to it. As if she was seeking validation, when she didn’t need his validation or approval.
“Do you really want to know what I think right now, Lilah?” he asked, stepping toward her and broaching her personal space without a care. He cupped her face in his palms and loomed over her, his shoulders hunched in an attempt to close the distance between them.
TWENTY-ONE
Just a kiss
“Well?” he prompted. “Do you?”
She nodded, helplessly ensnared by his feverish gaze. “Tell me.”
“I’m thinking I would fucking die if I go another second without my lips on yours.”
He didn’t wait for her response, instead doing exactly what he’d so eloquently claimed to be yearning for. He took her mouth in a hot, voracious, no holds barred, oxygen and energy sapping kiss.
None of the kisses they’d shared before now even remotely compared to this one. It burned as hot as fire and robbed her of her breath as it scorched through the oxygen around them. She whimpered—helpless beneath the onslaught—and her arms crept around his waist for support, as well as to pull him closer. His hands were still on her face, tilting her head to the side, in order to have better control over this amazing, brain-sizzling, limb-melting, life-altering kiss.
He used his tongue only sparingly, and to wonderful effect; subtle flicks, strokes and licks designed to make her crazy.
He ended the kiss slowly, easing them both out of it with soft sighs, and delicate nibbles. He lifted his lips from hers, and she opened her eyes to see that his eyes were still shut. His lips were parted, and as she watched, the tip of his tongue slid over his full lower lip as if he was savoring her taste.
She and Ben simultaneously became aware of the whoops and applause coming from her group of raucous friends, and Ben’s eyes opened to stare into hers, a mix of guilt and amusement flitting over his face.
“Wow,” she breathed, and he grinned boyishly.
“You okay?”
“So okay,” she said, matching his grin. “Where did that come from?”
“I think it’s always just been lurking away somewhere inside of me.”
“You mean you don’t kiss all the girls like that?”
She was only half joking, but he was serious as a heart attack when he replied, “Only one girl, Lilah. Only you.”
“Phew, guys, I mean we know you’re newlyweds, but dayuuuuuum,” Kes said, as the other women came over to join them.
“But yeah, thanks for the show. It was so hot it should have come with a parental advisory,” Ivy joked, her eyes sparkling.
“Who even knew you had that in you, Benji?” Darbi asked, holding her hands to her impressive chest. “That there was some inspired oral communication skills, my man.”
A dull flush crept up Ben’s cheeks and he hastily mumbled something about “getting back to work” and fled. They watched him go before all dissolving into hysterical laughter. Well, all of them except Lilah, she was still giddy and shell-shocked.
“Sies, Darbs, you embarrassed the poor man,” Olive joked, and they all laughed again.
“Oh, any man who kisses like that has nothing to be embarrassed about,” Kes said, fanning herself. “I mean, I could have spontaneously combusted just from watching.”
She reached over and pressed a hand to Lilah’s forehead. “How you feeling, girl? You look a little flushed. You must have a fever after that shit!”
More ribald laughter from her irreverent hoes, and Lilah finally snapped out of her daze to duck away from Kes’s hand.
“C’mon guys, you’re being ridiculous. It was just a kiss.”
“Just a kiss, she says,” Darbi hooted. “And Jason Momoa is just a man.”
“The Mona Lisa is just a painting,” Olive chimed in.
“Bohemian Rhapsody is just a song,” Kes piped up.
“Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation is just math,” Ivy inserted eagerly and everybody groaned and glared at her.
“Seriously, Ivy? You couldn’t come up with something sexier than that?”
“What? It’s sexy! We wouldn’t have space travel without it.” More hard staring. “Or… Netflix?”
“If you have to defend it this hard, it’s just not worth it,” Darbi muttered, tossing her waist-length fire red braids disdainfully.
“Okay, fine… uhm—the Coliseum is just—”
“Forget about it, girl,” Kes told her with a sympathetic pat on her back. “The moment has passed.”
“Anyway, our point is—”
“Oh, you mean you actually have one?” Lilah asked sarcastically.
Olive gave her quelling look before continuing, “Our point is that we all really like Ben, Lilah. A lot. How could we not after what he did for us back in college? But I don’t think we’ve ever seen him that—I don’t know—so…so…”
“So fucking passionate,” Kes said in her usual blunt way, running a hand through her short, sleek blue-black bob.
“So absolutely gone for you.” Ivy’s smoky voice was quiet, her hazel eyes—so striking against her perfect brown skin—intent. “We knew he had to love you. Of course he does, he’s known you for years, he married you. But I don’t think we’ve ever seen it until today. Until that kiss.”