Before she could think of a comeback, he crawled across the small space and tackled her to the ground. He straddled his legs over her and her hands quickly moved up to his sides, as if they remembered his weak spots.
“No tickling,” he warned.
But her fingers began to move faster, inching its way up closer to his underarms.
“No tickling!” His laughter was infectious, almost squeaky as he tried to push her hands off his body. “Fight fair, Danny! Stop! Stop! No tickling!”
It took a few tries but he finally managed to clasp both her wrists and with minimal effort, he pinned them to the floor. “You fight dirty,” he said, his ragged breathing warm against her lips.
It was only then that he seemed to realize the position they were in and suddenly all playfulness vanished from his face. This was her undoing. With the unconcealed hunger in his eyes and his succulent mouth within her reach, she couldn’t resist.
She lifted her head and their lips touched for a brief, fleeting instant. With a quick jerk of his head, he pulled back; his breathing unsteady, his fingers tightening around her wrists. His eyes locked on hers, asking questions she didn’t know the answer to. A few more silent seconds. A few more shaky breaths…
“Fuck it!” he whispered and then he came crashing down, taking possession of her lips like he had never wanted anything more in his entire life. He drove his tongue into her mouth, kissing her with a desperation she couldn’t even fathom.
His hands moved up from her wrists, interlinking with her fingers, squeezing so tight she thought he was trying to trap her in that moment. Heat coursed through her entire body. Her tongue played with his. A groan rumbled in his throat, reverberating on her lips and all she wanted to do was bury her hands in his hair, pull him closer so she could feel more of his body on hers. But with her hands restrained, the most she could do was lift her chest up to his, her breasts aching to feel any part of him. This caused another groan and more pulsing heat erupted within her.
He was submersed in the kiss, not even coming up for air for a single second if it meant their lips would part. She lost herself in his hunger, giving as much as she took. Then without warning, he suddenly pulled away, ending the kiss as quickly as he had started it.
“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” The breath came out of him in short puffs. “I don’t…I…I don’t know what came over me.”
She gave his fingers a gentle squeeze, unable to speak as she tried to slow down her own breathing.
“I don’t think we’ve ever kissed before,” she said after some time.
Something that resembled nervousness twitched on his face. “What makes you say that?”
“If this was anything to go by, I definitely would have remembered it.”
He smiled, his adorable dimple deepening on his left cheek.
“Was our first kiss anything like that?” she asked.
His grin widened. “Danny, our first kiss was exactly like that.”
June
Anytime now, Danny thought. At any second Max was going to rip his mouth away from hers and all the hormones raging inside her would come to a screeching halt. It happened every time. The months had moved from May to June, but they had not moved from first base to second and it was frustrating the hell out of her.
Three weeks of making out – just making out – and it happened every single time. He would kiss her, the way he was right now, and every fiber of her being would come to life. Whether it was slow and easy, or fast and hungry, he would kiss her until she felt like she was going to burst if he didn’t touch her, and then he would abruptly pull away. The minute he felt like they might lose control, he ended it.
But not tonight. She wasn’t having any of that tonight. Not with the way she was feeling. Not with his tongue working its magic in her mouth. Not with his rock hard erection throbbing between her legs like that. Tonight she wanted to lose control.
He was on top of her, his chest crushing against her breasts; his hot, sexy mouth almost ravenous on hers. They were fully clothed, as they always were, yet tonight she was desperate for some kind of contact. She didn’t know what exactly her body was craving for, but there was an urge growing inside her. Every inch of her skin begged for his attention and so far her mouth was the only place that got any action.
She moved hips against the hard length beneath his jeans and he groaned, a groan that made every womanly part of her tighten. Her nipples hardened against him.
He broke the kiss. “Danny,” he whispered raggedly.
“No!” She buried her hands his hair, pulling him back down to her.
He lifted his head again. “I think…I really think…”
“Don’t think! Just shut up and kiss me.” She brought his mouth down hard on hers. She bucked her hips up again, the most sensitive part of her rubbing against the most sensitive part of him. The thin pair of cotton pajamas she wore was barely a barrier. She felt everything. It was thrilling, ecstatic, euphoric. But it wasn’t enough. Something was happening inside her. Something so exquisitely excruciating and she knew he could feel it, too.
He twisted his hand in the bed sheet, wrapping it tightly around his knuckles. “Danny…”
The constricted moan of her name only made her want more. More of what, she didn’t know, but she wanted it. The pressure built inside her and his kisses were having the most drugging effect on her brain. A breathless whimper escaped her lips. She moved her hips again and again, thrusting faster, pressing harder.
“Fuck, Danny!”
The choked whisper was the last thing she heard before everything stopped. Max pulled fiercely out of her grip and moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
He placed his elbows on his knees and dropped his head as he tried to catch his breath. “We can’t…we can’t do this…” He inhaled deeply a few more times as he pushed both hands through his hair and clasped his fingers together at the back of his head.
“Why…why won’t you touch me?” Danny asked, still sounding breathless. She couldn’t hide the bite of frustration in her voice, because that was exactly how she felt. Frustrated! Like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water on her. He would turn her on until every inch of her was an aching, hot mess and then nothing! She hated this part the most. The cool down. It was almost painful. The point where her body had to accept that it had just been teased and tormented and there was nothing more to come. “Why won’t you touch me?” she asked again, almost shouting this this time.
He tilted his head slightly to look back at her. “I just…I think we should wait for you to regain your memory before…before we do anything more.”
“That may never happen,” she said from between clenched teeth. She was angry now, tears stinging the back of her eyes. “Max, if you’re looking for excuses…If you’re not attracted to me, just say so.”
His eyebrows creased as if he had never heard anything more absurd. “Danny, I’m sitting here with a fucking hard-on,” he said, using both hands to point to the bulge in his pants. “I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m attracted to you.”
“Then, why won’t you touch me?”
A low, exasperated groan escaped him. “If you remembered everything…I don’t think you’d be doing this with me right now.”
“What are you hiding from me, Max?”
“Nothing.” The answer came out as quickly as her question. “Danny, your body is sacred to you. You’ve never let anyone touch you…and…and…I don’t want you to regret anything we’ve done when you get your memory back.”
“But I want you to touch me. I wouldn’t regret it, not with you.”
He looked almost agonized at her response. “It’s not just you, it’s me.” He shifted his brown eyes from her to the floor. “I’ve only ever been with one woman,” he admitted softly. “And that was three years ago…a whole two times. I don’t…know what to do. I’m just a skinny nerd…and you’re…so beautiful, completely out of my league. You saved yourself for so long…I’m just going to end up disappointing you.”
Danny was taken aback by the honest confession. It was refreshing. They were finally talking openly and it was clear that he was as insecure as she was. She crawled across the bed and slipped onto the floor. Moving between his legs on her knees, she looked up at him. “Max, if you knew what you do to me, you’d know that I only feel disappointment when you pull away.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what to do either, but we can learn from each other…teach each other. I’m not asking for sex. I’m just asking you to touch me.”
His eyes met hers then and with all the words and insecurities that hung in the air, a simple touch seemed less daunting for both of them. The silence stretched on for some time before he finally spoke again. “Okay,” he whispered.
She lifted herself off the floor and sat down beside him on the bed with her legs crossed. “I want you to kiss me…” She tilted her head to the side and pointed to the hallow spot at the base of her neck. “…here.”