Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
He missed this.
“You know, I don’t think I have any complaints about the rickety bridge. I think it was one of our finer games,” she said.
And for some reason, he couldn’t help but laugh. The moment he laughed, she started to, and for several minutes, neither of them could do anything but laugh, and it felt great. He couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her. Part of him expected her to push him away, but instead she just ran her hand over his. It had been too long since they had felt this right together.
He didn’t know if he was going to be pushing his luck, but he pressed his lips against her neck.
“I missed this,” she said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever held you like this.”
“No, but I’ve missed us, working together as a team.”
It was like she sunk against him.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
He felt her tense up, and he didn’t have to wait long for her to spin around in his arms. “You’re sorry?”
Jaxson reached out, touching her cheek. “Yeah, because I didn’t go to the elder, nor did I even try to make this work between us. I didn’t want to tell him he made a mistake. Elders don’t make mistakes, and the truth is, Calliope, I missed you. When he told us we were destined to be mates and he joined our hands, it was like the world had finally been righted again. I know I don’t deserve you.”
She pressed a finger against his lips. “I want you to stop.”
“But—”
“Shut up,” she said. “We made mistakes. We’re kids, or at least we were kids, and in a way, that is totally acceptable.” She shrugged. “We can’t change what we did, the only thing we can do now is live with what happened. We’ve got to survive this, and to do that, we’ve got to learn to forgive one another, and that is exactly what I am doing now. I’m forgiving you. I’m not going to hold the past against you, but I will warn you. If the past couple of days are anything to go by, we’re going to start hating our younger selves.”
He laughed. She looked into his eyes, but then he noticed her gaze dropped toward his lips.
“You want to kiss me,” he said.
“Shut up.” She went to move as if she was going to sit back between his thighs, and he was more than happy for her to do that. Only, he wanted to kiss her. He didn’t want to let this moment slide.
“No, tell me. Lie to my face that you don’t want to kiss me?” he asked.
She sat back on her heels, folded her arms across her chest, and he found her complete stubbornness so cute.
“Fine, I’ll be the one to say it first. I want to kiss you, Calliope. I want to feel those lips on mine.”
She glared at him and he was about to move into position to take charge of kissing her. Only, she managed to stop him, put a hand against his chest, and then press him up against the tree. Jaxson didn’t put up a fight. What was the point? The kiss was what he was heading toward, and it was what he wanted more than anything.
She leaned in close. He looked into her brown eyes. He missed being this close to her, and he hated his childish self for not speaking up sooner. He nearly messed up one of the best things in his world. Calliope meant everything to him. He loved her. He’d loved her since they were kids.
Her breath fanned across his face, and this time Calliope pressed her lips to his, and it meant everything.
At first, he put his hands on her arms. She wasn’t touching him, and then he placed her hands on his shoulders. He wanted to feel her body against his. The moment she touched him, he was able to slide his hands up, circle them around her back, and just hold onto her. He didn’t want to stop touching her.
The scent of vanilla was heavy in the air, and he felt something else, something that shifted within him. This was his mate. The elders had decided. Calliope was meant to belong to him, and he didn’t want to ever give her up.
Sliding one of his hands up and into her hair, he held her in place and kissed her. Ravishing her lips as he just couldn’t stand to not have her.
Jaxson didn’t know how it happened, but she ended up laid against him on the ground, making out. Touching her was everything he had ever wanted. Kissing her was so damn right. It was like for the past three years, or even longer, a part of him had been missing, and he knew it was his own stupid fault.