“Okay. I’ll go left. You go right.” It sounds like a solid plan when it leaves my mouth, but I guess I forgot that my left is her right.
So, we both step. Together. And bam.
The head-on collision I thought could be avoided hasn’t been avoided at all. It happens with a bump, then a bang. Elbows and knees, lips and teeth…and what? Why am I suddenly bracing Ellis’ arm with my hand, bracketing her cheek with the other, and tugging her closer than she already is? Why is she leaning into me, her face tilted up, her lips parting, and meeting mine? Why am I kissing her so eagerly that our teeth clash just a little before we finally get our faces at the right angle, which I assume is both our right, but who knows because so far, I’ve made a mess of trying to give directions, and our tongues get the right-right, the left-left, and the right-left? They clash, too, although that clashing is more of a pleasant war.
“Oh god,” Ellis pants. “This is really bad.”
“It’s the curse.”
“The curse of the curse. Now it’s making it so we can’t avoid each other. Wait, are you…why are you grinning like that?”
My stomach constricts, and the blood leaves my brain, rushing south of the border. Am I grinning? No. I’m not grinning. She’s grinning. Well, I guess that’s not really how it goes.
“You’re smiling so hard that you have dimples. Oh my god!” Ellis clutches at her towel. “Holy crap. You never showed those off before. Now you’re bringing out the big guns, and how am I supposed to resist a charming smile with dimples?” She hikes her towel, pulling it up under her armpits and folding her arms tightly over the top. She’s utterly adorable, and all I want to do is take her in my arms—towel and all, though it would be more fun without it—and kiss her until she can’t breathe.
“Are you saying my smile is charming?”
“Argh! When you want to be, I’m sure you can be.” Then, she frowns. “Now, you go this way, and I’ll go that way.” She points, and her towel slips an inch. My mouth goes dry, and I think I just felt my dimples deepen.
“Alright.”
“Okay. One, two, three.” We step together and end up walking right into each other again.
“Oh, for the love of farge,” Ellis curses. Her arms wrap around my neck, mine slip around her waist, and the towel gets jammed between us. “Why fight it?”
Her breasts are pressed into my chest, and her nipples are so hard that they’re cutting through the towel and my t-shirt. I might be hard enough in other parts too. Maybe my nipples, boy berries, and boy-stick joystick, or perhaps all three. Or, well, technically five if we’re counting individually here. Her hips wriggle beneath the towel, and I know she can feel all the hard bits.
My heart pounds as hard as my dick, which is saying a lot as there happens to be a lot of blood surging in that direction. I stare into Ellis’ face, waiting for her to retract the last statement, but her full lips open in invitation, and shit, she’s right. We’re both directionally challenged and cursed. How can we stand up against that? This really isn’t our fault.
Ellis is complicated, but I mean, I am too. Everyone is. What I mean to say is she astounds me. She’s equal parts firecracker, sassy, mouthy, loving, and gentle.
“If I kiss you, is it going to make you want to run the other direction?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not the one who is love challenged here.”
“Love challenged?”
“You had a pact against falling in love.”
“It was to prevent the curse and I didn’t— don’t believe in the forever love bullshit.”
“Yeah, well…”
“Am I going to scare you off if we do this?”
“Define this.”
I groan. She throws her head back and laughs, and honestly, the sound is so beautiful that I can’t begrudge her one bit. “I’m not running. Just so you know.”
“It’s kind of hard to run when you’re cursed to be together.”
I bend my head and kiss the curve of Ellis’ neck. Her skin is still damp from her wet hair, and a volley of goosebumps blossom on her skin when my lips meet that sensitive place. She doesn’t pull away, and I don’t know if it is me or us or the curse, but I want to do more. Ellis starts trembling when I rain kisses over the beautiful curl of her shoulder. She has extremely nice shoulders, and she’s flawless, her skin pale and creamy. She’s slightly cold against my lips, which is a wonderful contrast since I feel like I’m on fire.
Now my cock isn’t just aching as my balls are booming. Like cannonballs.
“If I scoop you up in my arms and take you to my room, would you run?”