“And do you think of me as that safe place, Danica?” I whispered into her ear that was so near to me.
“Yes and no.”
“Explain?”
“I’m utterly comfortable around you. I feel totally safe with you emotionally. Like I can be every bit myself, whatever that means, and you’re not judging me or asking me to be what I used to be or what I ought to be. You take me where I am. It’s the safest thing I can imagine.”
“But?”
“But physically? I’m in mortal danger.” Then, in a move that can only be described as acrobatic, Danica wrested around, hooking her legs beneath mine, while twisting her upper torso toward me and wrapping me in a strong embrace. “Danger of something like this.”
Danica Denton offered her full, perfect, pouting, delicious mouth to me. With the slightest pressure, she brushed those lips against mine, igniting every millimeter of contact. My skin flamed to life, doused in the lighter fluid of a lifetime of wanting this, of wanting her. Of wanting Danica to want me.
With deft skill, she coaxed my mouth into a full kiss, and then delved deeper, an exploratory operation, and soon, I was putting up no fight against her insistence. In fact, I took over as lead of the mission, and in no time, we were diving into uncharted territory.
This was no simple physical exercise, though I was definitely getting an aerobic workout as the kiss progressed from seconds into minutes. No, this was a connection, a piecing together of lost parts of my soul that Danica had been hanging onto all this time and was now inserting to complete the full picture of who I was, and who I could be—with her.
I never thought it could be this good. I’d never imagined anything so passionate that could also be so emotional at the same time. Movies and books never portrayed anything this multifaceted. But as Danica’s kisses trailed across me and her hands traced my musculature, there was nothing one-dimensional about the experience. It was spherical, and expanding.
And I was getting close to falling onto one knee right here and proposing—before anything could ever go wrong.
“I’m falling for you, Jeremy.”
Yeah? Well, I fell for you the minute you defended me when I first moved to Wilder River. You told all the kids to back off and quit bullying the new kid for being weird and hyper. You spotted a fresh, untended can of Pepsi and snatched it. You thrust the can into my hands. “Drink this. It’ll calm you down. I know.” And it did. And I was yours from that moment on.
However, instead of that tumult of admissions, all I said was, “It’s getting pretty real over here, too.” I pushed her hair back off her face and kissed her neck until she made a sound that let me know we’d moved into actually dangerous territory.
“We should finish our dinner. We missed the moonrise, but in a half hour, the Perseids will be visible.”
“The meteor shower?” Danica’s breath came quickly. “Is it that late? Time flies.” She gave me one more luxurious kiss. “If you want to go on another official date soon, I’m free tomorrow night as well.”
I’d make time.