Where It All Began (Phoenix Falls Series)
Where It All Began: Chapter 20

She drops her hoodie to the floor and I fall down to my knees.

“Oh Jesus.”

I splay out my haunches so that I can get a real good look at her and then I wrap my fingers around her hips, chest suddenly heaving.

“You put this on for me?” I ask, slipping a digit beneath the waistband of her panties. If you can even call them that. She’s got a barely-there piece of baby pink cotton around her pussy, a matching pink bra that’s only just covering her nipples, and in the centre of each there’s a tiny pink rose.

I look up at her and swallow, then I roam my hands over to her ass.

I groan, feeling that her cheeks are bare for me.

“Kitty,” I say, my voice tormented. I get to my feet and gently turn her around, sucking in a breath when I see her perfect little mounds. I hook two fingers underneath the string that’s sliding between the globes of her ass and I pull it away from her, mesmerised by what the hell she’s wearing.

“When’d you get this?” I ask, my muscles clenching tight. I run my palms up to her chest and slip my fingers beneath the cotton cups, her body shuddering so hard that she has to hold onto the counter in front of her.

“I ordered it… online… after the roses,” she whispers sweetly. Then she begins arching against me as I start rubbing my fingers around her nipples.

“You get this for me?” I ask, thumbs tweaking her lightly.

She sucks in a breath and nods, her head resting backwards against the swell of my pecs.

I kiss the top of her head, too overwhelmed to think straight.

“You didn’t need to do this for me, princess. You didn’t need to…”

I lose track of my sentence as I pull down her straps, pushing the band to her waist so that I can see her budded pink peaks. I look down over her body and bite into my lip, loving every inch so much that I’m not sure where to begin. She tilts her head farther backwards, brow pinched as she looks up at me, and her expression is so innocent that my cock strains against my pants.

I lean into her neck again and take a deep breath.

“My scent smells so good on you,” I murmur, fingers now trailing down to the top of her panties. When I reach the frilly band I run my hands to the centre, and then, when she looks down, watching, I give the pink rose bud a hard little pinch.

She jolts and gasps, her tits bouncing gently.

I grunt and grab a hold of her hips, leashing my fingers through the little ribbons at the sides of her underwear as I rock my crotch roughly against her. Breathing in fast pants, she bends over the countertop and raises herself onto the toes of her cowgirl boots, arching up for me as if she’s about to let me take her right here in the middle of the fucking kitchen.

And the animal inside of me is a-fucking-okay with that.

I rip open my belt and shove down the zipper, quickly pushing them to mid-thigh so that I can get to work on my boxers. She glances at me over her shoulder, a waterfall of onyx hair tumbling down her back, and she attempts to lift herself higher when she sees that her hips haven’t reached the level of my own. Her slender biceps flex as she wriggles upwards and when her gaze catches mine she gives me a nervous lip-biting smile.

It strikes me right through the gut.

What the fuck am I doing?

Enraged by my own lack of self control I give my hair a self-flagellating tug and then, hands encasing her waist, I slip her down from the counter. At first she’s surprised. Then she starts protesting. Ignoring her little fight I turn her gently around to face me and then I hold up her body flush against my own.

I haven’t even kissed her yet today. What the hell was I thinking trying to get into her pants not five seconds after her brother leaves the property?

Kitty doesn’t seem to be having this same moral dilemma.

“What’re you doing?” she complains, giving me her spoiled princess pout. “I thought we were gonna-”

I shut her up with a kiss, rough and warm and hard. A promise of what’s to come. I move my mouth against her firmly and she quickly melts into me, wrapping her arms around my neck and lacing her fingers through my hair. She tries parting her lips a little, begging me to slip inside, but I can’t trust myself to do that without getting past the point of no return. Forcing her lips to stay shut I wrap one arm around her ass, bare and round and softer than sin, and I lift her just enough so that her feet are dangling over the floor. I pull away growling, trying to not get too carried away before I’ve got her on her mattress, and she strokes her fingers nervously up my jaw.

Then she leans into me again and gives my lip-ring a tiny lick.

Jesus Christ. Hoping that I can get us up the stairs without mounting her halfway, I shift her around to the side of my body, quickly swipe up her crumpled hoodie, and then yank open the fridge door so that I can shove her plate of strawberries inside. Then I turn around to start walking us from the kitchen.

“Meaty,” she says quietly, finger jabbing into the swell of my bicep.

I cast her a swift glance, her hands now sliding over my chest.

You haven’t seen any meat yet, princess.

When we start ascending the stairs her body bounces gently with every step that I take. I watch her like a predator, jaw setting harder than steel. She’s small and smooth and soft all over, and she keeps kicking into my legs with her cowgirl boots. She’s trying to rile me the hell up and, for better or worse, it’s working.

Sensing my lowering self-control she swishes her hair away from the side of her neck, humming innocently as she shows me her markings.

Shit. My cock thickens drastically, pushing painfully against the band, and I bare my teeth, so hard that I’m almost snarling.

I look away quickly, brow furrowing low.

“No Kitty,” I say harshly. “Not like that. Not tonight.”

She moans, sweet and sad, and my eyes flutter closed. I can’t wait for her to make that sound when I’m thrusting deep inside of her.

“I don’t wanna make it rough for you on our first time together,” I choke out, so aroused that my vision’s going blurry. “That’s not how it’s supposed to be.”

She rests her head on the swell of my shoulder, fingers trailing down my abs over my shirt.

Lower, princess. Just a little lower.

“But you’ll be leaving soon,” she says sadly. “I need you to give me something that I can feel for the next six months.”

I get to the top step and look her hard in her eyes. “I can give you something that you’ll be feeling for nine.”

Her hand pauses at the top of my unbuttoned jeans, her pupils spiralling into blackness and her body growing limp.

I trail my eyes down her torso, the small curves of her shoulders and the extreme synch of her waist, and I walk the last few steps until we’re just outside of her bedroom door.

When we reach it there aren’t any more words left to say. She brushes the inside of her thigh lightly against my unzipped pants and the swell down there tells her everything that she needs to know.

She squeezes my forearm, silently asking me to release her, so I lower her to the ground and watch as she slowly twists the handle. Positioned right behind her, I cup my hands around her hips and she leans backwards onto me as she pushes the door open.

“I want you to come in,” she whispers, head tilted back.

I groan and my hips cant involuntarily as the images of me coming in her start to sear their way into my mind. Stomach flexing tight, I lean down and press a kiss to her lips, slowly stroking my hand up the column of her throat.

She shivers against me and I hold her tighter.

Keeping one hand around her neck and the other over her belly I stand fully upright again so that I can survey her bedroom.

It’s better than I could have ever imagined.

Her room is tiny and, after just one step inside, it’s already half full. It’s a clusterfuck of things that were most likely bought for her by other people, in no way, shape or form an accurate representation of who she actually is, and it’s probably looked like this since she was five years old.

Doily lace cowgirl curtains and pretty floral bedding, still crumpled from when she rolled out of it this morning. An array of furry little cushions that are both on and off her bed. Wooden walls, wooden bedposts, wooden flooring – the whole damn place is made of wood, which is incredibly fitting all things considered.

Kaleb’s Fender, zipped up in its box, is standing ominously in the corner, and a previously lit Sugar Cookie candle sits atop her carved wooden drawers.

Best of all, next to her softly glowing lamp I see the bouquet of baby pink roses that I got for her, taking pride of place on her bedside table.

I drop my gaze, watching her.

She’s avoiding my eyes now, twiddling with the ribbons of her bra that’s still hanging around her waist. Her long black lashes are casting half-moons beneath her eyes and the apples of her cheeks are burning pink.

I move my fingers over hers so that we can unhook the fastening together and when it slips away from her body I fold it up, propping it on the end of her comforter.

She turns around to face me and I brush my thumb over her flushing cheek.

“Thanks,” she says timidly, pointing vaguely to her folded bra.

I raise an eyebrow. Yeah, I’m one altruistic fucker.

Time to give this girl what she wants.

“I’ve been thinking about taking you in your bedroom since I started coming here in high school,” I tell her, my voice deep with need as I back her up against her bed.

She looks up at me nervously, eyes sparkling and wide.

“I used to think about that too,” she whispers, her tone quivering. My eyes almost roll into the back of my head. “When you used to sleep next door in Kaleb’s room,” she continues, fingers shaking a little as she tries to lift the hem of my shirt. “I used to stay up to hear you talk, or sometimes to hear you practicing. The wall planks… the walls are really thin.”

Her little revelation makes the cords in my neck tighten. She used to listen through the walls to try and hear me talk? She used to stay up to listen to me?

I lift my arm behind my head and, grasping at the neck of my shirt, I rip it off in one quick swoop. Tossing it on the bed I whip my belt through the loops and then I kick off my jeans until I’m only in my boxers.

I watch as Kitty takes it all in, her chest rising and falling fast as she sees what I’ve got for her.

Tentatively she presses her thumb against the stretched cotton of my underwear and her lips part wide when she feels how solid I am.

“I… I wanna…” she begins, not sure of how to ask for it.

I give my lip-ring a sharp pull. Yeah, I bet you do.

But before I can take control, she slips her hand down my boxers, pushing her tits up against my abdomen and panting as she grips my cock.

My brain almost explodes.

“Like this?” she asks breathlessly. She bites into her lip as she squeezes her fist around the thick base of my shaft. She gives it a nervous tug, the gentle, clumsy kind that screams of inexperience, and it’s so damn innocent that I have to grit my teeth together to stop myself coming.

I can’t speak. I’m still vacuum sealed inside my boxers and the need for expansion room is fucking agony. Exquisite indescribable agony.

Mistaking my stunned silence as a form of indifference she tries a different tactic, sliding her fingers further backwards until she’s massaging my sac.

“Ugh,” I groan loudly, unable to take it anymore. I stumble forwards and in a second she’s down on the bed, ass perched perfectly right on the edge. I take my stand between her knees, nudging them wide with my own, and then I take her hands in mine so that she can help free me from my boxers.

Once they’re on the floor I kick them away and stand still, my muscles bunched and heaving as I wait for her to tell me what she wants.

I lace my fingers into her hair, tilting her head up to me, and I stroke my thumbs firmly along her jaw.

“Madden,” she whimpers, and my cock jerks angrily.

Her eyes widen. My cheekbones burn red.

Yeah, princess. That’s what you do to me.

“Madden you’re-”

I swallow thickly and give her a curt nod.

“It’s just so-”

I nod again, closing my eyes for a moment.

I know, princess. I know.

Suddenly my eyes shoot open, expletives ripping from my chest.

“Kitty, what-” I rasp out hoarsely, heart pounding wildly as I take in the sight.

She’s leaning forward between her own spread legs, her cowgirl booties heel-up as she slides my cock slowly into her mouth.

It’s involuntary. My hips thrust forward desperate for relief and suddenly I’m halfway in, her hot curious tongue caressing all around me. I grunt, low and tight, bucking further into her as she moans around my tip.

“Kitty, no,” I grit out, although my fists are still clenched in her hair, and my shaft seems to be determined to slide every last inch inside of her. “Not like this,” I groan. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

I try and pull myself out but she makes a hard determined suck, her brow furrowed angrily as if I’ve pissed her off. I try to raise my eyebrows in question, attempting to understand, but then I’m groaning again as she grazes me with her teeth. She sucks me in tighter and the coil in my abdomen grows heavy, twisting and tensing as she slips up and down.

I grimace as I look down, seeing all of the muscle that she can’t fit inside her mouth. For some reason, the fact that she can’t do it is even hotter than if she could. I wipe one of my hands down my face and then, cautiously gripping my fingers back into her hair, I try and pull her steadily off my cock.

She’s not having any of it.

She mumbles something angrily against my swollen tip, and then sucks me back inside with renewed vigour.

Fine. I do fucking want this.

I give in to my need to claim, to mark, to fuck, and I push her lips down my length as far as her little mouth can go, withdrawing my shaft in long slow drags and then pushing it gruffly back inside. I spread my feet apart so that my weight is evenly distributed and then I use the thick muscles in my thighs to propel my heavy, quickening pumps.

“Ugh, you’re a good girl,” I grunt, hips thrusting into her rough and sloppy. There are still more than four inches that she can’t begin to take but she’s enveloped them with her fingers, rubbing and squeezing me the way that I’ve always wanted. I pull at her hair harder, bucking faster between her lips. When I hit the back of her throat a strangled groan leaves my chest. “You’re a good girl, Kitty. You’re a good fucking girl.”

Eyes locked in with mine and purring sweetly, I realise in this moment that it’s now or never. If I don’t pull out now I’m gonna come down her throat.

“Kitty,” I grit out, trying to still my thrusts. “We gotta… we gotta…”

Knowing that she’s never gonna be the one to end this I grip the base of my shaft and then firmly tug until I’ve slipped it fully out of her mouth. She makes a moan of distress, of emptiness, and I squeeze my eyes shut, needing to block everything out. I’m so hard right now, so ready to come, that I have to restrain Kitty’s hands from touching me, the veins up my length bulging angrily with the need to unload.

No, I think to myself, sparks spitting out of my brain. She’s the one who needs to come. Make her come, and then you can come.

I open my eyes again, this time resolute.

I lean down so that I can reach her flushed face and I press a kiss against her lips.

“You’re too good to me, Kitty. Never try to look after me first like that again, you hear me?” I ask, pulling away a couple of millimetres so that I can be sure that she’s nodding her acquiescence.

She’s giving me that huffed pouty look which I assume translates to no.

I rub my nose against hers, my hands gently massaging her soft thighs.

“Princess,” I murmur, our lips barely touching. “I don’t want you to fight me on this one. It’s my job to take care of you.”

I press my lips to hers and then slowly slant her open, slipping my tongue into her mouth and then rolling it against her gently. I pull it out slightly and then luxuriously sink back in, caressing her nipples with my thumbs as she moans down my throat.

“Okay,” she whispers quickly when I move to pull away, her fingers grappling at the back of my neck in a silent plea for me to continue. A cocky grin pulls at the side of my mouth as I slide my tongue back inside of her, teeth tugging at her lip and hands cupping around her throat.

“Good girl,” I whisper, the smile unable to leave my voice. “Now lie back for me.”

She wriggles her way backwards until she’s fully seated on the bed, and then she twists around so that she can get comfy on the pillows.

Which there are about fucking fifty of. I climb on top of her and start tossing them to the floor, and Kitty covers her face with her hands, laughing uncontrollably. They’re multiplying like Babushka dolls. I bury my face in her neck because now I’m laughing too.

“Princess and the pea,” I murmur, kissing her gently across her collarbone.

“Princess and the pe-nis,” she says but I cover her mouth with my palm, her smile compressed against my hand and her body shaking with laughter. It’s the sexiest thing that I’ve felt in my entire life and I get that sharp arrow in my chest again, a warning that this is more than lust.

I lift myself up and I crowd my arms around her, loving how right it feels to have her lying here beneath me. Safe. Protected. Hotter than hell.

I dip my head down so that I can take her lips with mine, not waiting this time to fill her up with my tongue. My strokes are long and deep, and I work her until she’s slack, her limbs barely able to stay wrapped around me as I slide over and over again in and out of her mouth.

When her pants turn to moans and her hips start grinding desperately against me, I pull slightly away and angle my hips back to hers. I let the length of my shaft knock hard against her belly, a smear of pre-cum rubbing a trail over her skin.

I tangle my fingers in the ribbons at the sides of her panties and tug them away until they’re both undone, leaving the cotton gusset to slip down and expose her heat.

A groan rumbles up my throat.

Rose petal pink.

I give my length a few firm tugs.

“You gonna let me take care of you?” I ask gruffly, rubbing her little bud with the head of my shaft.

“Mhm,” she says, body splayed like she’s already spent.

I watch her pant, her pretty lips parted and swollen from kissing.

“Mhm?” I ask, teasing her a little. I slide my palms beneath her ass, getting ready to ease her backwards so that she can take in the length of me.

She trails her fingers around my biceps, splaying her palms out like she’s trying to measure me, but there’s a little crease knitting between her brows.

“I’m a little nervous is all,” she whispers, so quiet I almost don’t catch it.

I still immediately.

Nervous?

She glances up, reading my concerned expression, and she shakes her head, hands now squeezing at my shoulders.

“I’m just not…” She swallows. “I don’t really get a lot of opportunities like this, being at the ranch 24/7, you know?”

I blink at her, trying to catch up. I’m not sure if she’s saying that she has no experience or if she’s saying that she has very little, but either way it makes my body hunch over her, more determined than ever to give her the best night of her life.

“Where’s my tough girl from the kitchen?” I tease, fitting my tip at her entrance with one hand and gently running my thumb over her cheek with the other.

She crunches her nose up, trying to hide her smile.

God, she’s pretty. I draw my fingers through the back of her hair and tell her, “Anything you want, anything you don’t want, you just give the order and that’s what I’m gonna give you, okay?”

Eyes bright but still squirming a little, she leans up onto her elbows and gives my lip a sharp bite. “Yeah,” she whispers, excitement colouring her cheeks. Then she kicks the heel of her boot hard against my thigh, naughtily whispering, “Okay, I’m ready.”

My hips buck forward and I plunge right in, her back arching off the bed and thighs spreading as she takes it.

“Madden,” she gasps immediately, fingers gripping at my hair.

“That’s it, just like that,” I whisper, easing out to the tip and then sinking back in a little deeper.

I look down, checking how much more we have left to get inside, and I bite hard at my cheek, seeing how many inches are still to go. Shit.

“Princess,” I whisper. “I’m gonna have to push a little harder. You think you can take that?” I ask, lifting my chest upwards so that I can watch her face.

Her lips are right in the centre of my pecs and she kisses me sweetly as she nods her head.

Oh God. I clasp one hand around the back of her head as I slowly slide back out and then, keeping our eyes locked together, I plunge back inside.

Her face is pinched in pain but she whimpers out a sharp, “Yes!”

Holy fuck. I wasn’t expecting that. Growling in pleasure, I wrap her hip with my free hand and force her down my length as I pick up the pace of my thrusts.

“This is what you needed, huh?” I ask as she sinks limply into her pillows.

She flutters her pretty eyes at me, not needing to say a word.

“That’s what I thought,” I grunt. “Such a good girl.”

She squeezes her eyes shut, moaning as I thrust her into the mattress.

I reposition myself on my haunches, hands encasing the backs of her knees, and then gripping the ankles of her cowgirl boots I shove her legs over my shoulders. I lower myself back down over her and then start fucking her with deep, slow pumps.

“This is what you want,” I say gruffly, my face hardening as my sac slaps loudly against her little ass. “This is what you’ve been needing, isn’t it baby?”

She laps her tongue up the centre of my pecs, moaning dreamily as she tastes my sweat. I slip out of her, hot and wet, and grunt as I push back inside.

“You’re a good girl, aren’t you?” I grit out, watching as she locks her eyes in with me and starts biting at her bottom lip. “Jesus baby, you’re gonna let me fill you up, nice and dirty, aren’t you?”

She nods, whimpering, her cowgirl boots crossed over at the back of my neck. My shoulders smack against the backs of her knees and the feel of her soft skin makes every muscle in my body tighten.

I slide out again, possessed by how drenched she is, how perfectly we fit, when a new thought suddenly comes to my head.

“Kitty,” I pant quickly, still filling her with sloppy strokes. “Kitty, I’m not wearing a condom,” I confess, the realisation not fully registering. I’ve never taken a woman raw before and the feel of Kitty’s pussy is so good she’s making me high. Having fantasised about bare-fucking her during every night of my adolescence, condoms hadn’t even crossed my mind when we were both ready to go.

Her pussy clenches tight and she moves her hips a little, the soft cheeks of her ass rubbing against me and making me growl.

“Kitty, baby,” I plea with her again. For some fucking reason, my thrusts aren’t letting up. I’m going to hell. I’m definitely going to hell. “I’m clean, I’ve been tested,” I tell her, fingers rubbing at her cheeks to get her attention. “Are… are you on birth control?”

She looks up at me with big baby-doll eyes, a guilty crease toying between her brows.

I raise my eyebrows. Is that a no?

She chews on her lip and then starts stroking her hands around my ribcage, avoiding my eyes. I slow my movements because I already know her answer.

We’re in purgatory, both shaking in pleasure and pain as we have our silent standoff and try to figure out what to do.

Finally she looks up at me, her hands smoothing over the muscles in my back, and she says nervously, “It’s… it’s almost my time of the month. Which means that I should have, uh, already ovulated. So… even though I’m bare, it, um, it should be fine. If you… if you come.”

I stare down at her flushed face, my eyes burning into her as I try comprehending what she’s saying to me.

I’m bare.

She’s bare.

And she still wants me to…?

I lift up onto my elbows so that I can look down at her belly, her raised thighs, her perfect little tits. When our gazes meet again I’m so conflicted that I have to dip down and press our foreheads together.

“Kitty…” I groan as her hips grind against me. Ah Jesus, what the hell am I supposed to do?

So desperate for a distraction, anything to prevent me from pulling out of her, I reach up behind my head and rip her cowgirl boots off each of her feet, tossing them onto the floor as I try to calm my breathing. The smooth heels of her feet gently thud against my back and she feels so soft, so sweet, that I bite into her pillow, moaning.

“Please,” she whispers up to me, lips moving like silk against my swollen pecs.

I stare down at her, aroused, tortured, and turned the hell on.

She raises her pointer finger and lightly strokes it over my lip-ring. My abs clench tight and my cock jerks inside of her.

Shit. And now she knows that she’s got me.

She pushes herself up so that she can lick at the metal, tiny kitten licks that make me grunt like an animal, and slowly I start pushing in and out of her again.

“Fuck, baby,” I rasp, letting her play with me and loving every second of it. My strokes are slow and deep and it feels fucking filthy. Knowing that we shouldn’t be doing this. Knowing what could happen.

She’s so unbelievably slick that I keep on slipping in and out faster than I mean to. I keep my palms firmly on either side of her whilst she toys with me relentlessly, knowing that, when she asks me for it, I’m not gonna be able to stop myself.

She nips her teeth into my bottom lip and pulls it out in a long, languid tug.

I close my eyes and snarl, shoulders hulking and bunching as my whole body coils in preparation. Getting ready for it. Getting ready to give it to her.

I start pumping her a little faster and she begins whimpering against my lips, still holding herself up on one elbow and using her other hand to palm my muscles. Everywhere. My shoulders, my biceps, my abdominals… then her exploration pauses until she’s reaching right between us, her small palm stroking under me so that she can cup my swinging sac.

“Ugh, yeah,” I grunt, no longer in control. “That’s it, just like that. Keep stroking me, baby. Keep doing that and I’m gonna come for you. I’ll come wherever you want.”

She falls back against the mattress, hand still rubbing me, and she pulls my mouth down to hers, needing my tongue on her.

“Kiss me?” she asks breathlessly.

Yes ma’am.

I lean down, hunching low, and take her lips with mine. I glide my tongue against hers and she’s instantly clenching all around me, thighs splaying further outwards as I wrap my hand around her throat. I keep pumping her, hot and deep, until she finally pulls away gasping, brow arched up to Heaven and limbs so loose that I have to hold her against me with the underside of my forearm.

“That’s it,” I whisper, her body trembling. “Take what you need. Use it for as long as you need.”

She hides her face between my pecs, holding me down against her as she whimpers her way through her orgasm. I pump her right through it until her quivering begins to ease, and then I grasp my hand around her jaw, tilting her up so that I can kiss her again, slow and deep.

I start jerking into her in harder, clumsier thrusts and she tightens her legs around my neck, keeping me in place so that I have to finish inside of her.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I whisper to her, thrusting relentlessly, right on the brink.

“I know,” she whispers back. “Don’t stop.”

Fuck yes. I pull myself up so that I’m raised arms-length over her, and I start pistoning my hips, watching her tits bounce as I get ready to spurt my load.

“You sure?” I ask her, my teeth gritted together.

“Ah, please. Yes, Madden, please.”

My body clenches, suspended.

Then it unleashes what it needs.

“Good girl,” I growl, my body pumping hard. “That’s a good girl, taking my load. Ugh, taking it just like that.”

I thrust into her in loud fast smacks, her lips parted perfectly as I fill her with hot, thick surges. I keep her hips flush against mine until I’ve pumped out the last of the spill, and then, slowly, I cautiously lay her back against her pillows. She gasps, her body so overly sensitised, and I stroke my hands up her cheeks. Her lashes flutter hazily.

“Kitty,” I whisper, encasing her with my biceps so that she’s totally protected. Surrounded. Unfuckingtouchable. “Talk to me, princess. Was that okay?”

It was more than okay. It was the greatest fuck that two people have ever had in the whole history of fucking.

But Kitty just blinks up at me, nods a tiny nod, and then purrs a little as she sinks her flushed face back into the pillows.

I try not to get hard again at the realisation that I’ve fucked the entire English language out of her head. Instead I start stroking at her throat and kissing lightly at her lips. Comatose, she’s completely unresponsive, but then she begins to gently trail her heels up the back of my calf.

My body tenses.

Our eyes meet.

And then we’re back at it again.