A strange sensation hits me, like a hard thump to the chest. No one has struck me, though. This feeling is inside me. When I look into Arden's eyes, the thump turns into pressure, but it doesn't feel bad. I like the sensation.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
"Nothing. I'm fine."
I kiss her, softly at first, savoring the taste of her lips and the slickness of them. She tastes like strawberries, but I know from kissing hera lotthat she likes to use flavored lip balm. Yesterday, it was peach. I take her bottom lip between my teeth and lick it, then slip my tongue between her lips in quick, light strokes until she moans and grasps my head, mashing her mouth to mine.
When I pull my head away, she makes the sweetest frustrated noise.
"Only a minute," I say, standing up, "and then I'll give you what you deserve."
She trails her fingers over her body, from her breasts all the way down to the hairs that mark the part of her I know will be slick and hot and ready for me. Arden gets aroused faster than any woman I've ever known, and I love that about her. I love her body. I love her smile too, and her laugh, her energy, her enthusiasm for everything, and---
I stop in the middle of taking my trousers off and stare at her. The things I've been thinking...
"You look anxious again," she says. "Like you did a few minutes ago. What's wrong, Reese?"
"Nothing."
"Bullshit." She pushes up on her elbows. "Tell me. Please. Have I done something wrong? Something that makes you not want me anymore?"
Christ, she thinks I don't want her? She'd have to be blind not to see exactly how much I crave her, because my cock is stiff and bobbing, all but waving at her to come and get it.
I finish undressing and crawl up the bed to straddle her body, gazing down at the face of the most beautiful woman in the world, the one who thinks I don't want her anymore. I sweep hair away from her eyes and kiss the tip of her nose. "I will always want you, Arden. Always. But I've been having these thoughts that I'm not used to having, and it's... confusing."
"What kind of thoughts?"
How do I explain this without sounding like a moron?
Maybe it doesn't matter if I sound stupid. Maybe she needs to know, even if the thought of telling her makes me slightly nauseous and more anxious than I've ever been. Don't I owe her that much? She gave me her virginity.
I take a deep breath and tell her the truth, though I have no idea what's about to come out of my mouth until it happens. "I love you, Arden."
Her face goes blank. She doesn't blink.
Why did I say that? We've known each other for less than two weeks. She must think I'm insane.
"I know it's awfully soon," I say, "but I---well, I feel---it, uh, well..."
Her lips curve upward millimeter by millimeter, easing into a smile that broadens into a grin so bright it lights me up too. "Relax, baby. I love you too. So you can stop stammering, even though seeing you flustered is completely adorable."
Only five of the words she spoke reach my brain---"baby" and "I love you too." She called me baby. And shelovesme.
"Are you sure it's not too soon to say that?" I ask.
"No, baby, it's not too soon. I believe in love at first sight, so a week is actually kind of slow."
I kiss her and gaze into her eyes like a lovesick fool. And I don't even care. I'm a fool, and it feels good. I keep kissing her while I glide a hand down her body, slipping it between her thighs to caress her, stroking her folds and rubbing her clit with my thumb. Her back arches, and her mouth is torn from mine. I draw her earlobe into my mouth, still rubbing and stroking her, loving the way her breaths shorten and she grips my shoulders.
Her mouth falls open. She closes her eyes, lost to the pleasure that's building inside her.
"Arden," I murmur, then I claim her mouth in a deep kiss, thrusting my tongue in time with the movements of my fingers.
When she whimpers into my mouth, I know she's on the edge.
I am too, ready to explode and I'm not even inside her.
Her entire body goes rigid.