Jack lay beside her, breathing shallowly, his eyes closed, his lashes spread out on his cheeks like the most delicate of Chinese fans. Tilly let her gaze move over him, drinking him in, trying to learn every curve and angle of his face, because she knew tonight might be an experience she never got to repeat.
At least, if that proved to be true, something amazing had happened. For the first time ever, reality had surpassed Tilly’s expectations. Nothing she’d ever dreamed, consciously or not, could hold a candle to the press of Jack’s mouth on hers, the exhilarating sensation of his hands on her skin.
Jack opened one cobalt eye. “Everything okay?”
Tilly straightened. Despite everything, she felt awkward being caught looking at him. “Sure. Why not?”
He smiled then, that sort of shy, slow-bloom smile that made her heart flip over in her chest and drop into her stomach. “I could feel you looking at me. Come here.” He lifted his arm, and, when she snuggled up to him, resting her head in the little crook between his arm and his shoulder, it felt natural.
Tilly sighed, listening to his heart beat, inhaling the seductive scent of his skin. “What now?”
“I thought we might go to sleep.”
“Funny. You’re a funny guy, Brogan.” She slid her hand down his side, and tickled just under his ribs, a vulnerable spot.
Jack laughed. “Okay, I know what you mean.” He caught her hand, imprisoning her fingers between his so she couldn’t tickle him any more. “Listen, Til… we don’t have to talk about this, you know. We could just… leave it be. Not everything has to be discussed.”
He’s right. Maybe it would be easier if they just let tonight be… whatever it was to them both, and move on. That is what I suggested, after all. She shifted slightly, let her eyes flutter closed. “Okay.”
They lay together quietly for another few moments, and Tilly wished, just for a second, that she could still time, and stay here, in the warm circle of his embrace, without worrying about the encroaching enemy of seconds, minutes and hours, and the precarious position of her heart, ready to tip into his hands, where she might never be able to retrieve it.
She sat up, pushing the soft waterfall of hair back from her face. Too dangerous, too dangerous to lay there with him, when every beat of his heart against hers brought her further and further from simply being his friend.
Jack’s fingertips brushed her arm, sending a delicious little shiver along her naked skin. “Not okay, then.”
“I’m just cold,” she lied.
“Come back and lay down with me, I’ll soon warm you up.”
The invitation warming his sapphire-brilliant blue eyes was almost too much to resist, but Tilly swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I fancy a walk.”
Jack sat up, too, and Tilly couldn’t stop her gaze from caressing the lean line of his torso, lightly furred with coarse dark hair, shades darker than on his head. “Sounds good. We could get some wine. Maybe a snack?”
“I sort of mean a walk… on my own.”
“Oh.” Jack stared at her as if she’d spoken in a foreign language, and Tilly didn’t blame him. This had all been her idea, if anyone deserved to behave oddly now it would be Jack. “Okay, then,” he relented, the hurt sketched all over his handsome face. Even with a frown on his lips, Tilly looked at him and felt the white-hot lance of desire rear its head inside her again. I have to get out of here.
She dressed quickly, feeling Jack’s gaze on her, his confusion almost an elephant in the room.
When she finally left, every muscle of her body tight with fear, she gulped in the night air, felt it knifing down her throat, her heart jackhammering against her ribs like a caged bird long past ready to fly.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She’d thought, foolishly, that one taste of Jack would satisfy her curiosity, put it to rest once and for all.
In fact, touching him, kissing him, feeling the warm flutter of his breath on her neck, had had the opposite effect. Her stomach clenched with the almost tangible desire to touch him again, just to feel the texture of his skin against hers.
And it made her knees weak with uncertainty.
—
To the regular readers, sorry it’s been so long since I updated, much stuff has happened. I also seem to have lost the JPEGs of my lovely header images but I’ll find ‘em again soon. Thanks for reading!
