Timepiece (Hourglass 2)

I pulled into my driveway and parked close to the pool house. When I walked around to help Lily down from the truck, I took her hand again. “Is it okay if I hang on to this?”

“I’d prefer it.”

I held her hand all the way inside, and didn’t let go when everyone looked up from the table. Em and Michael smiled at us. Dune seemed disappointed.

“How did you manage it?” I asked, determined to concentrate on the task at hand, and not think about how smooth Lily’s skin was. “Did you just keep trying?”

“Do or do not, there is no try,” Dune said, looking wise.

Nate entered the living room, so quickly I couldn’t tell from which direction. “Seriously, you’re like … the antithesis of Yoda.”

“Oh, look at you, using the big words.” Dune clapped his hands like a proud parent.

“Okay, y’all,” Em said. “Sheathe your light sabers and let’s get down to business.”

Nate’s eyes grew as big as saucers. “I’m not going to make a ‘that’s what she said’ joke. I’m just telling you. I am not.”

I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t laugh. I didn’t want to give Lily any reason to let go of my hand.

o;You’re always taking care of people. You … I don’t know … observe, and then you give others what they need, by instinct.” Her right knee barely touched my right hip, but it made my skin tingle. “It’s not just an empathy thing. Physical actions go with it.”

I shrugged. “If someone needs something and I can give it to them, why wouldn’t I help?”

“You … are so confusing.” She laughed. “And I’m so tired.”

“Of what?”

“Of being interrupted, waiting for the right time, trying to figure all this out.” She leaned forward and slid her hands into my hair, resting her cheek against mine. “Not getting what I really want.”

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

“What do you really want?”

She placed a gentle kiss on the corner of my eyelid. If I’d closed my eyes, my lashes would have brushed against her lips. Then she leaned over to kiss my left cheek, pressing her body close to mine.

The breathing thing was getting more difficult.

“Lily. You’re messing with me.”

“No. Not yet.” She moved her mouth to my right jaw, then the left side of my neck, then back up to my chin.

As much as I was enjoying the buildup, I was certain that if there was going to be a payoff, it would outweigh it. But whatever happened next needed to be her decision.

“What do you want?” I repeated.

She hesitated for two seconds before I saw the power in her eyes, felt it coming off her in waves. “You.”

Exactly what I was waiting for.

We met halfway. Lips and teeth and the taste of her tongue, the heat of her skin against mine, unexpected through our rain-soaked clothes. Touching her was way more addictive than any substance I’d ever tried.

I wanted to unzip my skin and pull her inside.

Lily twisted her hands in the sleeves of my jacket and pushed back. Her eyes were wide, her voice unsteady. “This is more intense than I thought it would be. And I was banking on intense.”

I unpinned her hair and trailed my fingers over her collarbones, into the hollow of her throat. “How is intense working for you?”

She shuddered and grabbed my wrists. “More, please.”