Lying in Cedric’s arms felt like home. He was cradling me as we both tried to process what had happened with Nate. I had expected to get close to him in some way tonight, but the circumstances that got us here, were far from what I could have ever predicted. His saving me from Nate’s advances forced a quicker and more intense connection.
As he held me in his arms, I thought about how much this man’s mere existence had consumed my mind over the last two months.
I had imagined being touched by him for so long, but never could have predicted exactly how amazing it felt actually being this close to him. I couldn’t quite understand my unusual obsession with him that began from that very first time I laid eyes on him
at the diner. We haven’t even been together for any significant amount of time, but I feel so attached to him, like he was always mine in some way. But that’s the problem…he isn’t.
I wanted so badly to kiss him, but couldn’t muster the courage to make the first move. I closed my eyes and prayed that he wasn’t turned off by what happened tonight and that he understood that Nate was a distant part of my past and not a reflection of me.
His heart was beating against mine and I looked up at him. I didn’t say anything, but the voice in my head silently willed him to kiss me.
Please kiss me.
We stared at each other for what seemed like minutes and then he gently put his warm hand on my cheek. I thought he might pull me close to him again, but this time he pulled my face into his and our lips smashed together.
I immediately opened my mouth and let his warm tongue slide into my mouth, blasted by the heat of his intense breathing.
At first, he kissed me slow, alternating between burying his tongue into my mouth and kissing me softly on the lips, his teeth gently brushing against my chin.
I wanted more.
I opened my mouth wider and kissed him harder and fast. He immediately reacted and grabbed my face and kissed me harder too, plunging his tongue as far in my mouth as it would reach. Our tongues danced roughly and when he moaned, the vibration sent shivers throughout my body.
He stopped kissing my mouth abruptly and moved his lips down to my neck kissing me gently, but stopping just short of my cleavage. This felt so good, but I licked my lips missing the feel of his mouth on them. I wanted his mouth everywhere and closed my eyes, relishing every warm breath on my body.
I wanted him to go lower onto my breasts, but he immediately worked his way up my neck again but this time his kiss was rougher. Our lips met again and I returned his kiss feverishly, grabbing his shiny, thick hair running my fingers through it as I pressed my mouth firmly into his.
As our tongues circled one another, his hot mouth tasted like sugar and wine. The taste mixed with his musky scent was driving me mad. The heat of his chest pressed against mine was too much to bear. I sighed into his mouth as we continued to kiss hard and he responded with a louder moan that I felt at the back of my throat.
I had never wanted anyone more in my entire life and felt like I was about to lose it.
I pulled back never turning away from his electric blue eyes, which were now darker with want. Breathing heavily, he continued to hold my face and stare at me.
My feelings were too strong. I had to do this. I had to know. It was killing me.
“Cedric,” I said, my voice raspy. I could feel my armpits sweating.
“Yes?” he whispered, smiling softly at me.
“Your girlfriend…where is she?” I asked, clearing my throat.
Cedric’s face turned beet red, but his eyes never moved from mine. He shook his head back and forth as if to snap himself out of a trance. “What? What do you mean?”
“Your girlfriend. Karyn. Karyn Keller.”
Cedric moved back suddenly as if taken aback by my knowledge of her name. The sudden absence of his touch and the seriousness of his expression scared me.
Was he mad at me for asking?
“What? How…how…what about Karyn?” he asked, looking confused and a little furious at the mention of her name.
“I saw a picture of you with her in the newspaper,” I said.
“The paper? What?” His eyes squinted in confusion.
I nodded. “Yes…in the gossip section. It was taken a few days before Thanksgiving at some fundraiser.”
He turned away from me as if to process something and then closed his eyes for a moment, opening them and looking back up at me.