I looked up at him, and the expression on his face told me he almost regretted saying those words to me. I didn’t want him to regret that. They were the most beautiful words I’d ever heard.
“Well, if we’re being honest, I think I might already be in love with you,” I told him, and I felt his whole body go slack.
“Seriously?” he asked, the look of hope in his eyes making my heart break.
“Yes,” I said definitively, so I was sure he heard me. “I have no other way to describe my feelings for you that complete and total all-consuming love.”
His forehead dropped against mine in relief. “Okay, well, then if we’re being honest, I already love you, Cassie. I don’t really think it’s possible for me to fall any harder.”
He was so close I could feel his warm breath on my cheek as he whispered the sweetest words I’d ever heard. The look on his face told me he’d meant every word, so I tilted my head up and kissed him, my heart beating so fast with the knowledge that he loved me, and I loved him. I wasn’t sure I could have packaged a more perfect moment had I’d tried – even if we took the long way getting there.
Jared kissed me back, the emotion he felt melting between us in the most perfect kiss I’d ever had as our lips moved in time with each other and our bodies locked together. I never knew a kiss could be that all-consuming, that powerful. I’d kissed tons of guys in my life, but nothing compared to what it felt like to really kiss Jared and have him kiss me back for the first time. It was nothing short of incredible. I never wanted to stop kissing him.
“Stay with me,” he said, the words whispered against my lips, melded into our kiss.
Something about what he said sounded familiar, like I’d heard it before in a different lifetime, but I couldn’t place when or where. I pushed it out of my mind, not wanting to think about anything but what Jared was asking me. I didn’t know if he was asking for me to just stay the night or stay with him forever. I didn’t think it mattered. I would do both in a heartbeat. I slid my hands from around his waist and reached up to cup his face, pulling back from the kiss.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I told him honestly.
He smiled a small smile as his mind wrapped around my words. Then he lowered his head again. His lips met mine, soft but determined as his arms tightened around me, pulling me against him. His tongue parted my lips, seeking entry, making me melt into him once more. I wrapped my arms around his neck and threaded my fingers through his hair, loving the feel of his lips and how they made me feel like I was sinking into him, body and soul.
When he pulled back he looked at me. “Will you think I’m a complete dork if I said wow?”
I laughed. “Not if I say it first,” I said, pulling him back down to kiss him again. I could easily do it for the rest of my life.
He walked me backward until my legs hit the side of the couch. I tumbled back and pulled him with me, so he settled on top of me, his weight comforting and safe as it pinned my body beneath his. I hadn’t felt something that right in so long, but engulfed in Jared’s warmth, I felt like I was finally home.
We kissed for too long to count as we lay on the couch, entwined in each other, kissing until our lips were sore. It had been too many months since I’d done that, since I’d felt so content to be with another person, to enjoy the moment and not think about anything else but how good Jared tasted and how wonderful it felt to be wrapped up in his arms.
In his tiny house, away from everything real and scary and unpredictable, we were able to shut out the world and just be together. It was almost too perfect, the feel of my hands running through his soft hair, the sensations he was eliciting deep within me, and the burning desire to take things further but the contentedness to know that what we were doing was intimate in its own right. There was no need to rush. It was okay for once to just be happy for the simple things in life – things like falling in love for the first time, because I knew with Jared I’d never loved anyone more than I loved him in that moment.
* * *
We finally moved into Jared’s bedroom, and I tucked into his arms, our legs entwined, our bodies connected at every possible point. I watched him as he placed soft kisses on my bare shoulders and my neck while his arm wrapped protectively around my waist, pulling me ever closer.
“I’m so glad you came to see me tonight,” he said as his lips landed on the side of my neck.
I smiled, inhaling his clean, familiar scent. “I’m just glad you finally came to your senses,” I teased him, and he squeezed me tighter.
“You’re persistent. That’s for sure, but I needed that. I needed to know this was for real.”
“It is,” I assured him.
“Good.”
I looked up and kissed him, taking a few minutes to just relish in the fact that I could.
“I just know how much life can change in an instant,” I said when I pulled back and looked into his bright blue eyes. “I don’t want to miss out on the good stuff.”
“Like me?” he said, looking at me adorably.
I smiled and kissed him again. “You’re the best stuff,” I told him. “And I meant what I said. I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
“I hope not,” he whispered, and I knew it would take time for him to believe it. He’d been through a lot and didn’t trust people readily. I just had to make him see he could trust me.
He rolled onto his back, pulling me to him, so I was resting my head on his chest, my arm draped over his stomach.
He kissed my forehead and whispered, “I love you,” with his lips against my skin.
“I love you too,” I whispered back to him, “more than anything.”
I pressed a kiss to his neck and tucked my head back so I could feel his heart beating against my cheek.
I listened to the sounds of him breathing in and out, his chest rising and falling. Soon his breaths became shallower, and when I looked up, his eyes were closed. I watched the peaceful expression on his beautiful face for as long as I could before I too was sucked under.
When I woke up the next morning, I was still tucked in his arms, and I realized I’d slept better than I had in months.
I lay next to him, perfectly content to just feel his warmth against my back. Behind me Jared stirred and tightened his arms around me, his leg hooking over mine. I smiled, completely at ease in that moment. Then as quietly as I could, because I was feeling self-conscious about waking up next to him for the first time, I slipped out of bed to head into the bathroom.
When I did, Jared grabbed my pillow and hugged it to him. I stifled a giggle. He was so darn cute in the morning. And dammit if I wasn’t enjoying just watching him. It was the first morning, of what I’d hoped would be many, where I’d wake up next to him, and I wasn’t sure what was more satisfying – watching his beautiful, peaceful face as he slept or being in his arms. I decided I could watch him sleep all day, but feeling his hard body pressed against mine won out any day, so I hurried into the bathroom, swished some mouthwash around in my mouth and returned to him as quickly as I could.
I snuggled back in next to him, and even in sleep his arms wrapped around me instinctively and pulled my back flush against his chest, almost protectively. I sighed contentedly and closed my eyes. Jared stirred behind me a few seconds later, and then I felt his lips press against the back of my neck.
“Good morning,” he mumbled, tightening his arms around me.
“Morning.”
“I’m glad last night wasn’t a dream. This is a nice way to wake up.”
“I have to agree,” I said, turning to face him. “Hi.”
He smiled, his expression sleepy and his eyes hooded. “Hi.”
I kissed him then, picking right back up where we left off the night before. I might have caught him off-guard, but Jared started to wake up the more I pressed forward, his kisses becoming more urgent with each passing second. When he took charge and rolled us so I was beneath him, the feel of his weight and his masculine scent engu
lfing me made me want him more than I ever had before. My hands slid up his arms to feel the hard curves of his muscles beneath his t-shirt, and I cradled his hips between my thighs, pulling him closer, as he groaned into my mouth.
He dropped his head to my shoulder, his warm breath panting against my skin. “Doing that is going to get you in trouble,” he cautioned.
“Who said that wasn’t my intention,” I told him as I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him even closer. The hardness I felt there pressed back against me.
He lifted his head and looked at me. “Are you serious?”
I nodded as I curved my hands over his shoulders to his back where I splayed them wide, holding him against me. “Completely. I’ve never wanted anything more than you in this moment.”
“God, Cassie,” he breathed out, his voice raspy as he pressed against me, telling me he wanted exactly the same thing.
Then he dipped his head and kissed me again, slowly grinding against me, making me want so much more than what we were doing. I slowly snaked my hand between us so I was cupping him through his basketball shorts. Neither of us had bothered to change out of our clothes the night before, so I was still wearing my sundress, and he was dressed in what he’d been wearing when I came over.
He dropped his head to my shoulder again, his lips kissing a trail along my bare shoulder to my collarbone to my chest. My whole body was on fire from his touch, his kisses and just his general closeness. I let my head fall back as he brought his lips back to mine, kissing me deeply as his hands slid up my sides and tugged the top of my strapless dress down, his mouth kissing me as he brought one hand up to cup my breast. The other raked down my side to the bottom of my dress and slid up my thigh. His fingers teased the edge of my panties before moving them aside, and then he was stroking me, evenly, methodically, making me moan from the concentrated pleasure in that one area mixed with what his other hand was doing. It was all sensations and heat as he continued to kiss me breathless.
“Get a condom,” I breathed around his lips after his finger had dipped inside me and was driving me to the brink of insanity.
Last night we’d held off, held back and savored the simple fact of being together, but this morning, in the warm light of a new day, I wanted everything with him. I wanted to be his, to feel his solid naked body wrapped around mine, to feel connected to him in a way I’d never felt with anyone before, because although there would be a raw, animalistic feel to what we were doing, I knew nothing could compare to the feeling of having sex with someone I loved.
And I did love him. So much that it was scary at times, but I’d felt an unexplained connection to Jared Lansing since the day I’d met him. I hadn’t felt it years ago when I’d known him in high school, not at all. Back then he’d just been a boy I couldn’t have felt more different from. And I couldn’t chalk this change up to how he looked either, because even though so much about him had physically changed, there was something intrinsic that drew me to him like no one else in my life. And it had been there since the beginning.
I could tell he felt it too. When he looked at me, it was as if he was looking into me, like he knew me better than what six weeks of being friends had gotten us. We were connected in some way, and I couldn’t explain it. I wasn’t sure he could either.
Without a word, Jared reached for his nightstand drawer, opened it and then cursed before slamming it shut. He rolled off of me and onto his back, glaring at the ceiling.
I looked over at him, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. “What’s wrong? No condoms?”
He shook his head. “I gave them to Austin last week.”
“Why would you do that?”
He looked over at me. “Because he’s seventeen, his girlfriend isn’t on the pill, and it’s only a matter of time before they seal the deal. I wasn’t taking any chances.”
“Well, that was nice of you. Sucks for us, but it was probably a good idea.”
“It was the worst idea in the history of the world,” he said dramatically, making me laugh.
So I rolled over and hooked one of my legs between his, my body half-draped over his. I slid my hand up his thigh and into his shorts, massaging him slowly.
He looked over at me. “What are you doing? Don’t do that.”
“Relax. I’m improvising,” I said as I moved so I was straddling his legs. “Have you not been in this situation before?”
He looked up at me as I reached with both hands to pull his shorts and his boxers down. “Not that I can recall.”
I smiled. “There are many other alternatives to make you feel just as good,” I said as I slid back on his legs and then leaned forward and closed my mouth around him.
“Holy shit,” he said when I caught him by surprise, and he practically shot off the bed.
I held his hips in place, forcing him to stay still. And he did, finally, relaxing into the moment. After a several minutes I felt him start to writhe beneath me and knew he was close. I loved making him feel that way, so thrilling it was to feel him come apart like he was.
“Cassie,” he rasped out, and I looked up at him. He met my gaze with a desperate expression. “Get off.”
I appreciated nothing more than a man who was considerate enough to let you know when he was about to come. Nothing worse than a surprise assault. And I wasn’t a big fan of swallowing anyway. So I pulled back, took him in my hand and finished what I’d started, letting him spurt into my hand as he relaxed beneath me with a soft groan.
His eyes were closed, and his arm was thrown over his forehead. “Holy shit, I was not expecting that.”
I laughed. “You’re welcome,” I said as I leaned forward and kissed him.
He managed to kiss me back, but I could tell he needed a few minutes to recover. So I slid off the bed and went to wash my hand. When I came back, I snuggled next to him, and he wrapped me up in his arms.
“Just give me a minute. I want to return the favor,” he breathed out.
I smiled, the anticipation of what he was offering making me quiver. But then there was a knock on his door that interrupted the moment. Jared just laid there, his eyes closed, his arm wrapped around me.
“Don’t you want to get that?” I asked him.
“No.”
The banging got more intense.
“I think you should see who’s at the door,” I told him.
Jared grumbled, but then he rolled out of bed and pulled his shorts up. I heard him padding into the living room, and a few seconds later the door was yanked open.
“What?” he asked whoever was on the other side. My guess was Scott. I waited to hear his cheerful voice, but instead I heard Austin’s voice.
“Do you have a girl here?” he asked, no doubt noticing my bag that I’d dropped when I’d walked in the night before.
“Maybe. Don’t worry about it.”
“Nice,” Austin said. “I hope it’s Cassie. It’s about time you hooked up with her.”
I smiled at that. See, everyone knew we were supposed to be together.
“What do you want?” Jared asked him.
Austin took a deep breath. “Diana’s worried because Scott didn’t come home last night. She figured he just crashed out here, but she asked me to check just in case, because he’s not answering his cell. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume he’s not here, unless you two had a threesome with Cassie, which although she’s hot, I’m not gonna lie, that would be pretty gross.”
“Hey!” I called out from the bedroom. “Not cool, Austin.”
“Hi Cassie,” he yelled to me. “I wasn’t implying that you’re gross, but would you really hook up with Scott and my brother at the same time?”
“No, that’s gross,” I yelled back to him.
“See, told you,” he yelled back.
Yeah, I could see his point.
“Okay, seriously,” Jared interjected. “No one here is planning to invite Scott over for a threesome. He’s not here.”
Jared was
trying to act annoyed, but I could hear the concern in his voice. It wasn’t like Scott to just disappear. It hit me then that I’d left him with Marley, and if he hadn’t come home, there was a good chance she hadn’t either. Or she’d ditched him. I was going to kill her if she did that.
I jumped out of bed, yanking my dress up and down since it had basically been floating around my waist for the past half hour, and then walked into the living room to get my phone. I grabbed it out of my bag, saw that I had no missed calls and then dialed Marley. She didn’t answer, so I called again. Still no answer.
Grabbing my bag, I turned to Jared. “I need to see if Marley came home last night. She was with Scott.”
“I’ll come with you,” he said, opening the door and pushing past Austin who was still standing outside.
I followed him out and we trudged across the pool deck to the grass and around the side of the house. He took my hand in his as we walk silently toward my house, both of us thinking along the same lines. What if something had happened to them?
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Scott’s Acura parked in my driveway. He must have crashed in the guest room, which was odd since if he was able to drive home, it didn’t make any sense that he’d stayed three houses down from his. I wasn’t sure what to think.
I wordlessly unlocked my front door and came face to face with my parents.
“Cassie?” my mom questioned, taking in the scene in front of her.
Jared and I were both rumpled from sleeping in our clothes and then spending the past hour making out. I hadn’t bothered if fix my hair before we’d left his house, so I was sure I looked like a complete mess. My mother’s gaze shifted to where Jared was still holding my hand.
“Hi Mom. Hi Dad. You remember Jared, right?”
“Yes. Hello, Jared. How are you?” my mom asked.
I’m not sure my dad knew what to say.
“Hi Mrs. Witter. Mr. Witter,” Jared said softly, his hand gripping mine tighter.
“Up early, Cass? Or are you just getting home?” my dad finally asked, reading the situation way to well.
I swallowed as I felt a blush creeping up my face. I had no reason to feel guilty. I was twenty years old. But it didn’t matter. Getting caught by your parents doesn’t feel good at any age.
Paper Airplanes Page 27
