Spellbound - Cara Lynn Shultz [76]
“And this,” Brendan said, continuing his lesson, “is a basium.” With that, he pulled my face close to his for the kiss I needed. His lips touched mine, and a thousand years of longing coursed through me, flooding into this one embrace. His hands were strong as they moved up my back and clutched a fistful of hair as I pressed myself closer to him. The kiss was deeper, almost demanding, and when he broke away with a low moan to kiss my neck, the only other sound I could hear was my own breathing.
I fell back on the couch, Brendan’s mouth back on mine as he balanced his weight above me. It felt like he had sparks shooting out of his fingers as they ran down my arm, along my side and finally rested at my hip, where he hooked his thumb into my belt loop, pulling my hip closer. I tugged at his hoodie, pulling it off his shoulder and ran my hand along his arm, feeling the muscles move underneath his T-shirt. This time, I didn’t feel uncomfortable—being with Brendan felt right. I had no intentions of stopping this embrace. But Brendan had other ideas: suddenly, he pulled back, his black locks falling over his eyebrows as he held himself over me. I felt a little lost as he looked at me through those black-fringed eyes.
He pressed his lips against mine softly—but with less passion than before. Then, taking a deep, almost resigned, breath, Brendan pulled himself upright into a sitting position on the leather couch.
“Is something wrong?” I continued lying there, staring at the side of his face, a little puzzled at the halt in what had been the most phenomenal make-out session of my life.
“No, nothing’s wrong,” Brendan replied. He paused, then took my hand, pulling me upright.
“I should, however, behave and get us some dinner. It’s getting late.” I must have still looked confused at the sudden break in our embrace, because Brendan leaned over and kissed me very gently on the cheek.
“Just because you’re my soul mate doesn’t mean I should rush things with you,” he whispered in my ear, softly kissing the spot under my earlobe. Keep going, rush things! my body screamed, but my head nodded in agreement as I tried to pull myself out of his kiss-induced haze. Somewhere in my mind, I knew he was right.
“Actually, because you’re my soul mate, I shouldn’t rush things with you.” His lips tickled my skin as he spoke. “No matter how badly I want to.”
“So,” he continued, pulling his laptop over and opening a food-delivery website. “What are you hungry for?”
What I was hungry for was sitting nonchalantly next to me on the couch. The sudden break in our mood was still sinking in. I generally liked roller coasters, but any more ups and downs tonight, and I’d probably lose whatever dinner we were about to have.
“I should probably call my aunt and make sure she isn’t expecting me,” I said, looking for my cell phone and remembering it was in my purse, all the way downstairs. Brendan handed me his phone—a sleek, expensive-looking one—and I called Aunt Christine. Even though she was well into dinner at Ashley’s family’s house, I owed her the courtesy.
“I’m cool to stay,” I said after talking to her. “I should get home soon after, though. I don’t want to be on the subway too late.”
Brendan rolled his eyes at me. “You’re not taking the subway. I’ll take you home in a car.”
“No!” I exclaimed, embarrassed. “Nothing is going to happen to me on the way to Sixty-eighth Street. I don’t need a sitter.”
“I’m not your sitter,” he said, winding his arms around me and kissing my neck so persuasively, he made my toes curl.
“I’m your boyfriend. So get used to the princess treatment.”
I wasn’t exactly a stranger to feeling like a princess—if you meant the princess in the first half of the fairy tale. Cinderella as a scullery maid. Snow White with the wicked stepmother. But I wasn’t used to what life was like after you meet the prince, after the slipper fits, after the kiss wakes you from your slumber. It would take some getting used to.
Which explains why I was floating, again, when I shut Christine’s apartment door, still a little breathless from Brendan