ONCE THEY were on the road in his small black sports car, Sienna remembered Carson didn’t know where she lived, so she gave him directions. It only took them about fifteen minutes to get to her place this time of night, with Carson shifting and driving like a bat out of hell through very little traffic. They turned in front of Asher’s house and pulled down the driveway toward the back, where Sienna’s small carriage house was located.
When Carson pulled the car to a stop and cut the engine, the air grew heavy with silence.
Sienna didn’t know what to do. Say good night? Wait for Carson to say it? Was he going to kiss her? It was as though they had been on an epic date since lunch, but she had actually worked a shift in between.
“May I walk you in?” was all Carson asked.
“Yes.” She said it so softly, she wasn’t even certain she heard herself. Sienna forced herself out of the car, wary of what would happen next.
The two of them walked up the tiny path leading to her house. She opened the door and switched on the light, flooding the entryway in an amber hue. She put her bag down on the bench to the left of the door and turned around, meaning to thank him for the ride, when Carson pulled her in for a kiss.
Feather-light and closed-mouthed at first, Carson broke away for a second, smoothing the hair down Sienna’s back while looking straight into her eyes and asking, “Is this okay?” before moving forward.
Sienna didn’t answer with words. She couldn’t. She just nodded once and leaned back in for more.
This time, Carson deepened the kiss. He parted her lips, slid his tongue inside, and took her to a place she had never been with his mouth, his hands, his body, and everything else. The pair stood in the middle of the entry, the golden light shining down on them, the rest of the house pitch-black, and the real world falling into oblivion.
The kiss went on and on, no end in sight, and Sienna was more than fine with it never ending. Carson held her tightly, almost supporting her weight, which was a good thing. Her body felt boneless, she was so shamefully overpowered by the kiss.
Carson kept Sienna steady as they explored each other’s mouths, and she thought to herself with some amazement that this was her first real kiss. There were a few chaste ones on her honeymoon night with Elon, but that was it for kissing during her marriage.
Disturbed by the direction her thoughts were taking, Sienna shoved them from her mind. She was consumed with Carson at the moment, and she wanted him to take over all her brain space, devour her body, and inhabit her soul.
Carson’s mouth was warm and soft, and he kept nibbling at her lower lip like he could do it all night. And she wanted him to.
After a few moments, Sienna talked herself into pulling away so she could invite Carson inside her place.
And my heart?
“I guess I should ask you to come in and offer you a drink, but we got sidetracked.”
“Not sidetracked,” Carson said as he traced her lips with his thumb.
They were eye to eye, and he didn’t take his gaze off her, as if they were having a silent conversation. It seemed he was allowing her time to digest what just happened. Somehow he seemed to know that it was more than just a kiss to her, and that perhaps they were both trying to figure out what it was.
Finally, Carson asked, “Can I stay and make you a cocktail? If I’m totally honest, I don’t want to leave you yet.”
She bought herself a few seconds by stepping away and turning on the lights, shining a glow on the rest of her own personal safe house. “Yes.” It was all Sienna could get out. It appeared “yes” was the only answer she knew when it came to Carson.
“Why don’t you sit down and tell me what you want, where you keep it, and let me do the work.” He gently nudged her toward the navy sofa, right next to the chair Petal had occupied earlier in the day, which somehow felt like a lifetime ago.
“Umm, just a club soda with a splash of cranberry for me. Everything is in the fridge. If you want something stronger, I have a little bar behind that table,” she said, pointing to the far end of the room as though she had male company over all the time.
Sienna sank a little deeper into the couch and closed her eyes, willing herself not to obsess over the kiss while Carson poured the drinks. She still had her eyes shut when she felt the couch dip as he sat down next to her. She would have known he was near even if the couch didn’t dip, because tiny electric sparks were set off in her body whenever he got close.
Logically, she knew this was a bad idea. Lila had a plan. The same Lila who never had been fully kissed, hadn’t once had a man’s mouth make love to her, but oh she wanted that more than a little bit. She actually craved that and more like a hot shower after a long day.