He smiled against her mouth and took both her hands, relaxing them with his. “Relax,” he whispered, then slowly moved her hands until he laced them up around his neck. “Hold on to me.”
She felt so silly, not knowing at all what to do, but he didn’t seem bothered at all. He kissed her bottom lip again, pulling a little harder until she opened her mouth. His lips were soft, full, and nothing like she thought they would be. His tongue entered her mouth, touching hers gently with the tip, as though he was coaxing her to do the same. He felt so wonderful, tasted like winter-mint gum, and she couldn’t resist kissing him back.
He gripped her head on both sides, and her tongue touched his. A growl came from the back of his throat as his body shifted on top of hers. She may have been inexperienced, but she knew the reaction was a good one. She also knew his reaction was caused by her, and that made her feel more powerful than she’d ever felt in her life. His weight sank into her, anchoring her body to this very spot. His kiss grew deeper, more urgent, as his tongue pushed farther into her mouth, pulling out feelings she never even knew existed.
She couldn’t think anymore; his mouth was all-encompassing, his lips soft and firm at the same time, his teeth occasionally clashing against hers, and his tongue softer than any material she’d ever felt in her life.
Tristan Montgomery was kissing her, really kissing her, and she wasn’t holding anything back. The thought never entered her mind until the sounds of laughter and crunching leaves sounded from behind them.
Pushing at his chest, she scrabbled to sit as fast as she could, but it was too late. When she whipped around, the girls from across the lake were making their way through the trees, and weren’t hiding the fact that they’d noticed them. Samantha pulled in a breath, squeezing her eyes shut. Thank God it’s not Renee. Thank God it’s them and not Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery.
The girls continued to laugh, making their way down the path again and back to their cabin. But all Samantha could think about was her and Tristan’s kiss. About how easily it had happened, how quickly it had deepened, and what would have happened had the girls had not come along to stop it.
Samantha sat forward, wrapping her arms around her thighs and resting her chin on her knees. All of a sudden there was a hard pit at the bottom of her stomach. One that was large, and growing rapidly by the second.
Tristan moved beside her. His arm brushing her leg as he pulled himself to sit. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” But her mind kept rolling with fear. What would’ve happened had it been her best friend coming to look for her? What would she have said?
“You?” she asked, trying to push the thoughts to the back of her mind.
“I’m good,” he said. His voice low and textured, but there was something else. Curiosity, or maybe confusion.
She took a deep breath, trying to figure things out. Why had he kissed her? Why now? Why her? The girl he’d never seemed to notice once until tonight. She began playing with the rocks again, because she was too inexperienced to know what was expected after a kiss like that. Too inexperienced to know if the tingles she felt all over her body was a normal reaction. If a kiss between practical strangers was always so mind consuming and passionate.
She’d kissed her best friend’s brother, something she never would’ve expected in a million years. But that wasn’t the worst of it. What bothered her most was that she wanted to do it again. A thousand times over again.
Tristan stood, grabbing her attention as he offered his hand and pulled her up to stand beside him. She wobbled slightly, her legs like soft rubber that refused to hold her. He reached out to wrap his fingers around her waist. To steady her at the small of her back before she fell. She swallowed, not sure what to say. He’d taken a part of her. A precious piece she’d been saving for that special person, but she herself had told him there was nothing owed after a simple kiss. Nothing promised.
“We should get going,” he said softly, exerting the slightest amount of pressure to pull her forward. As though he wanted her next to him. As though he wanted her lips as much as she wanted his. “Before we get into trouble.”
She looked up, knowing he was right. If she stayed out here much longer, she wasn’t sure what would happen. She could feel the pulsing of her body, the blood coursing through her veins in every spot where he’d touched her. She reluctantly moved away and walked steadily toward the dock, taking all her concentration to do so. She fetched her towel from the edge of the platform, only turning when she heard him move behind her. The red-striped towel clutched at her chest, her eyes vulnerable, but she didn’t see the boy she hated any longer. She saw Tristan. A guy who all the girls wanted, and who was misunderstood by the masses. He wasn’t the self-centered heartbreaker she’d always thought him to be. He was kind, he was thoughtful—and he was the first boy who had ever said she was beautiful.