“Yes,” I replied.
He tilted his head down and pressed a soft, gentle kiss against my lips. He hesitated only a moment before pulling back and granting me his glorious smile, times ten. It lit up his entire face. No, his entire body. No, wait—it lit up the whole fucking room it was so blinding.
“Again?” he asked.
I could only nod.
His lips met mine a second time, and again he was gentle and slow, leaving quiet, closed mouth kisses on my lips. He moved from my top lip to the bottom one, then to one side before the other. The metal from his lip-rings glided smoothly over my skin. I reached out my tongue to taste the rings and quickly found his tongue touching mine, first just the tip, then wrapping around and sucking my tongue into his mouth.
He tasted like warm summer dusk, vanilla ice cream, and Coca-Cola with the slightest lingering hint of his last cigarette. He moaned against my mouth and leaned back in the beanbag chair, pulling me slightly on top of him.
I opened my mouth and let him inside, his tongue reaching up and stroking my lips first before tasting me as well. Despite the desire I felt behind his kiss, he remained gentle, quiet, and completely, incredibly sweet.
I cupped his face in my hands, ran my fingers over the rough stubble on his cheeks, noting the contrast between his rough jaw and his smooth lips, and pushed against him to deepen the kiss. I ran my tongue over his top lip, then the bottom one. The metal loops slipped and slid across the tip of my tongue.
“Does it hurt?” I asked.
“Does what hurt?”
“The rings—the ones in your lip. Does it hurt to kiss?”
“Does this hurt?” Ethan’s teeth gently gripped my lower lip and pulled, biting and sucking it into his mouth before slowly releasing it.
“No…that feels awesome.”
“The rings kind of feel like that,” he said with a half smile. “Suck on them.”
I blinked a couple of times, a little surprised by his bluntness, but my curiosity overcame any hesitation I had. I leaned close to him again and wrapped my lips over the top and bottom of his lower lip, effectively trapping the rings in my mouth. I ran my tongue over the metal, which was warm from our kissing, before I did as he said and sucked a little.
Ethan moaned, and his grip behind my back tightened, crushing my chest to his. I pulled back and let go of his lip, and his eyes flew open.
“Was that too much?” I asked.
“Fuck, no,” Ethan said. “That felt great. Don’t stop!”
I sucked his lower lip into my mouth again, caressing the rings with my tongue and my lips, getting to know the feel of them before my tongue found his mouth. He let me lead for a while, then ran his hand up to the back of my head and pressed harder against me, invading my mouth with his tongue like the Roman army invading Gaul—relentless and all-powerful.
I have no idea how long we sat in a fluorescent pink, bean-bag chair, making out like a couple of high school kids, but I knew my lips were actually starting to get sore, and my bladder desperately needed a break. I pulled back from him.
“I think I need a minute,” I said quietly, trying not to blush.
“Are you okay?” Ethan asked, searching my eyes with his.
“I’m good,” I said. “I just need to, um, use the bathroom.”
“Oh, okay. No problem.” Ethan stood up, taking me with him and helping me turn around so I was facing the hallway. I stepped into the bathroom again and looked over my flushed face. My breaths were still coming in pants, and my heart was still trying to jump right through my ribcage so it could do a little happy dance on the bathroom counter. I tried to calm myself down a bit as I took care of business, washed my hands, and splashed some cold water on my face.
I came out of the bathroom and didn’t see Ethan in the living room any longer. After a quick look around, I felt a light breeze and followed it out to a balcony door where Ethan was leaning against the glass and metal rail, smoking a cigarette.
“Hey,” he said softly, and that half smile crossed his face again as he glanced at me, then looked out over the city. He flicked ash over the side and sighed.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said with a bit of a snicker. “I’m just trying to figure out what to do so I don’t fuck this up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to ask you to spend the night with me,” Ethan said, “but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I just want you to stay and sleep with me.”