“What’s wrong?” she says, practically panting.
I don’t respond as I kiss a path up the inside of her leg all the way to her thigh, breathing her in with each touch of my mouth. I pause at the top, looking down at her as she stares up at me, her eyes wide and full of want. It’s dark, but the glow of the moon and the fire outside glimmers in through the screen and open door on the tent. She’s beautiful, flawless skin, full lips, wide, glittering eyes, and her breathing is ravenous, revealing how nervous she is and how much she trusts me to be with her like this, touching her in a way no one else has, because I love her.
I trace my fingers across her collarbone and she sighs, her eyelids fluttering shut. “I want you inside me,” she whispers, her back arching against my touch. “Please, Ethan… I can’t take it anymore.”
I smile as I slowly lower my mouth to her breast. “I want to touch you everywhere… God, I want you…,” I breathe against her skin, savoring the moment before taking her nipple into my mouth. She moans, her breath hitching, and her fingers find my hair again as I suck a little bit harder.
Both of us are sweaty and gasping and finally my mouth leaves her nipple just so I can breathe. I want more, though. Need f**king more. So I make a path of kisses down her stomach, sucking on her skin. When I reach her thighs, I spread them and she grasps on to me as I dip my face between her legs and slide my tongue deep inside her. My eyes slip shut… my fingers tightening around her thighs… God, the taste of her never gets old—never will. None of this will.
I continue to taste her while her hips writhe against my mouth, until I feel like I’m going to explode; then I pull away and kiss my way up her stomach and chest to her mouth. Her lips part as I slide my tongue in for a kiss that makes both of us groan. I work to get the button of my jeans undone as she grips my arms, holding me to her, kissing me fervently. I only pull away to take my jeans and boxers off. Then I get a condom out of my wallet, put it on, and situate back between her legs.
With one hard thrust, I’m sliding deep inside her. Our lips connect somewhere in the middle and I grip her thigh, bending one of her legs up to my side as I rock into her. She rhythmically moves with me, our skin dampening with sweat, until we become lost in each other over and over again. Eventually we cry out together as I give one final thrust inside her, then we lose ourselves completely.
Afterward, I lie still inside her with my head on her chest, feeling her pulse race as she rests against the sleeping bags, running her fingers through my hair. “You have the softest hair,” she whispers with an exhausted sigh.
I push up from her and look her in the eyes. “Is that supposed to be a compliment? Because I’m not sure if a guy’s hair should be soft,” I tease.
She continues to rub her fingers through my hair. “Yeah, it should be. And yours is the softest.”
I chuckle under my breath and then return my head back onto her chest. It gets really quiet as she continues to run her fingers through my hair. I listen to the fire crackling outside, the sound of an owl in the distance, and the river flowing through the trees.
“God, it sucks that we have to head home tomorrow,” I say, letting out a loud breath.
“I know you’re sad,” she says. “And I’m sort of sad that we won’t be spending as much time together, but at the same time I’m really, really excited about taking a real shower.”
I smile, shaking my head. “Not me. If I could, I’d keep doing this forever.” I yawn, feeling exhaustion take me over. “Although, I’ll admit. I do sort of get sick of driving. I’d love to take a break from that.”
“You will,” she says. “As soon as we get home, we can go on a driving strike.”
“Yeah, that sounds nice, but it’ll have to be after I go back home for my mom’s birthday in August.”
Her hand stops moving through my hair. “You’re going back to Star Grove in August?”
I glance up at her. “Yeah… didn’t I tell you?”
I can’t read her expression, but she seems tense. “No, you never mentioned it.”
Shit. I think I might’ve messed up on that one. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I thought I told you about it a while ago.”
She shakes her head, not looking at me but up at the tent roof. “Well, you didn’t.” She pauses, and I can feel that she’s struggling to breathe. “So you’re going in August?”
“Yeah…” I’m not sure what to do to make her feel better. I didn’t mean to not tell her. Sometimes I just sort of f**k up, forgetting that I can’t just do things based upon what I want—that I’m in a relationship now. “I’m only going to be gone for a few days. I promise.”
“Okay.” It’s all she says, which makes the situation way worse, because she’s obviously bothered by this. But I wonder if it’s just because I didn’t tell her about it or because I’m going alone. Or maybe it’s something else entirely—she’s been upset a lot lately. “Lila, I can tell something’s bugging you, so will you please just talk to me?” I skim my finger across her cheekbone, causing her to shudder. “You seem upset and if you’d just tell me why, maybe I could help.”
“I’m fine… I promise.” She closes her eyes and inhales deeply and I think she’s on the verge of crying.
“I wish you’d just talk to me more about stuff,” I say quietly, not just hoping she’ll tell me what’s bothering her now but hoping she’ll finally break and spill what’s been putting her in a downer mood for the last couple of weeks as well. “You usually do.”
But she stays silent and I let her play with my hair for a few more moments before I carefully slip out of her and roll onto my back. She follows me, hitching her leg over my stomach; then she traces a circular pattern across my sweaty chest.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so cranky,” she whispers in a choked voice. “My head’s just been in a really weird place. And I don’t care if you go see your mom on her birthday—you should.”
“It’s okay to be cranky sometimes,” I reply, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her closer to me. “But you should really just talk to me and let me help make you feel better. No matter what’s bugging you, I’m here for you.”