intimate

Dropping his arm from my shoulders, he reached down and folded his hand around mine. It wasn__ the first time he__ held my hand, but there was an intimacy there that hadn__ been present before. A tight shiver curled its way down my spine as his thumb moved along my palm while we walked down to class.He had not done that before.Rider let go of my hand when we entered speech, and I stepped in front of him, walking toward my seat. I dropped my bag on the floor and started to sit when Rider swooped down, kissing my cheek once more.I flushed as I glanced over at him.He grinned as he sat. __ouldn__ help myself. Your cheek looked like it was missing my kiss.

I feel something on my chest. Ivy's resting her head on me. In fact, she's pulled herself so close that we're touching everywhere. My heart picks up speed again, but I'm surprisingly calm, seeing her beautiful face close to mine, her eyes closed in an expression of content bliss, and__he best part__eeling her own heart pound in time with mine. She's feeling what I'm feeling.That is when I know for sure."Ivy?" I know what I have to do."Mm?" Her songbird voice is a calm purr."I think...no. I really, really like you."Like moving through molasses, Ivy raises her head. Her eyes are enormous with bewilderment. But there's no fright, no dislike, no anything that discourages me, With that in mind, I don't hesitate as I move my face and my lips to her lips.Ivy's lips are cool like water but delicate and velvety and smooth like round pebbles. She smells like wildflowers, wet earth, and freshly cut grass, which only makes me want her more. I press my lips harder against hers, and a shiver of delight snakes through me when I feel her press back. Daring myself, I open my mouth. So does she, and the kiss deepens. My hand slides upward to caress her satin cheek, and the back of my neck tingles as her fingers play with my hair.This is it. Ivy's and my first kiss. I wouldn't have it any other way.Unhurriedly we pull our faces away, though we leave our foreheads touching."Ivy?" I peer into her eyes. She doesn't look upset, but more calm and curious.She meets my eyes and asks, "What was that?""A kiss. You do it with people you like."To my amazement Ivy leans forward and kisses me again. It's incredible as the first time."That is my feeling towards you," she tells me as she leans back. She meets my eyes, her face flushed but determined. "I...am...really liking you, too."I smile and pull her to me, and we grasp each other like we never want to let go.She likes me. I like her.This can't get any better.

Claire started to follow, but Shane's grip on her arm had tightened, and he was holding her back."What?" she asked, and turned to face him. God, he looked amazing. He needed to let Eve dress him all the time."Before we go in," he said, and bent and kissed her. Claire distantly heard the whistles and catcalls of the shot drinkers -- distantly, because the kiss was sweet and hot and wild, and there was something crazy in it that made her just quiver i

He spins us both, wrapping us in his wings until I__ dazed and gig

Aren__ you coming with us?__ feel his hand on my cheek. I know what this means and I slap his hand away.__ou__e coming with us, Evan,_ I say.__here__ something I have to do.___hat__ right._ My hand flails for his in the dark. I find it and pull hard. __ou have to come with us._____l find you, Cassie. Don__ I always find you? I____on__, Evan. You don__ know you__l be able to find me.___assie._ I don__ like the way he says my name. His voice is too soft, too sad, too much like a good-bye voice. __ was wrong when I said I was both and neither. I can__ be; I know that now. I have to choose.___ait a minute,_ Ben says. __assie, this guy is one of them?___t__ complicated,_ I answer. __e__l go over it later._ I grab Evan__ hand in both of mine and press it against my chest. __on__ leave me aga

Sam was stiff and tired. He crept onto the houseboat, careful not to wake anyone, and sidled down the narrow passage to his bunk. The shades were drawn and of course there were no lights, so he felt his way to the edge of his bed and crawled across it on hands and knees to find his pillow.He collapsed on his back.But even at the edge of sleep he was aware of something different about the bed.Then he felt soft breath on his cheek.He turned and her lips were on his. Not gentle. Not soft. She kissed him hard, and it was like he__ been awakened by an electric power line.She kissed him and slid on top of him.Their bodies did the rest.At some point in the hours that followed he said, __strid?___on__ you think you should have made sure of that about three times ago?_ Astrid said in her familiar, slightly condescending tone.They said many things to each other after that, but nothing that involved words.

I reached up to touch his mask. It was so cold, despite how flushed his skin was just beyond it. My hand shook, and my breathing became shallow as I grazed the skin of his jaw. It was smooth__nd hot.He wet his lips, his breathing as uneven as my own. His fingers contracted against the plane of my lower back, and I let him tug me closer to him__ntil our bodies were touching, and the warmth of him seeped into me.I had to tilt my head back to see his face. His mouth was caught somewhere between a smile and a wince.__hat?_ I asked, and put a hand on his chest, preparing to shove myself back. But his other hand slipped under my hair, resting at the base of my neck.____ thinking I might kiss you,_ he said quietly, intently.__hen do it._ I blushed at my own boldness.But Tamlin only gave that breathy laugh, and leaned in.His lips brushed mine__esting, soft and warm. He pulled back a little. He was still staring at me, and I stared right back as he kissed me again, harder, but nothing like the way he__ kissed my neck. He withdrew more fully this time and watched me.__hat__ it?_ I demanded, and he laughed and kissed me fiercely.My hands went around his neck, pulling him closer, crushing myself against him. His hands roved my back, playing in my hair, grasping my waist, as if he couldn__ touch enough of me at once.

...you have me,_ Astrid said.__o I?___es.__hat drained the anger and frustration from him like someone had pulled a plug. For a long moment he was lost, gazing into her eyes. She was very close. His heart shifted to a deeper rhythm that vibrated his whole body.There were just inches between them. He closed the distance by half, stopped.__ can__ kiss you with your little brother watching,_ he said.Astrid stepped back, took Little Pete by the shoulders, and turned him so he was facing away.__ow about now?

The moment Noah came up behind me and kissed the side of my neck, I was torn between leaning into him and skirting away. Every muscle in my body screamed to fall into him.

She felt as wild and free as a little kid, running up the steps with Shane in hot pursuit, and when he grabbed her around the waist and spun her around into his room and kicked the door shut, she squealed in delight. And wiggled to fit herself against his warm, hard body as she kissed him again, breathless and flying.He kissed like their lives depended on it. Like it was an Olympic event and he intended to earn a medal. Somewhere in the back of her head she was chattering to herself, warning that this was going to go too far, that she was just making things worse for both of them, but she couldn't help it. Before long they were stretched out together on Shane's bed, and his big, warm hands were teasing under the hem of her shirt, stroking the fluttering skin of her stomach and stealing her breath. She lost it all when he spread his fingers out, pressing his palm flat against her, and she felt an almost irresistible impulse to feel those hands all over. Everywhere. Her heart was hammering hard enough to make her dizzy, and it was all just so ...Perfect.

Before I can even ask what he means, he skims his licorice-scented lips across my forehead__ust shy of touching__is warm breath dragging across my left eye patch, then down a cheek, toward my mouth. The corner of my mouth tickles as he passes over it; then his breath stops to hover across my chin.His palms rest against the wall on either side of my head. He lets the web serve as his hands, his breath serve as his lips, holding me immobile and kissing me without ever touching me.

Is it true?_ I ask him.__s what true?_ His eyes are the color of honey. These are the eyes I remember from my dreams.__hat you still love me,_ I say, breathless. __ need to know.__lex nods. He reaches out and touches my face__arely skimming my cheekbone and brushing away a bit of my hair. __t__ true.___ut . . . I__e changed,_ I say. __nd you__e changed.___hat__ true too,_ he says quietly. I look at the scar on his face, stretching from his left eye to his jawline, and something hitches in my chest.__o what now?_ I ask him. The light is too bright; the day feels as though it__ merging into dream.__o you love me?_ Alex asks. And I could cry; I could press my face into his chest and breathe in, and pretend that nothing has changed, that everything will be perfect and whole and healed again.But I can__. I know I can__.__ never stopped._ I look away from him. I look at Grace, and the high grass littered with the wounded and the dead. I think of Julian, and his clear blue eyes, his patience and goodness. I think of all the fighting we__e done, and all the fighting we have yet to do. I take a deep breath. __ut it__ more complicated than that.__lex reaches out and places his hands on my shoulders. ____ not going to run away again,_ he says.__ don__ want you to,_ I tell him.His fingers find my cheek, and I rest for a second against his palm, letting the pain of the past few months flow out of me, letting him turn my head toward his. Then he bends down and kisses me: light and perfect, his lips just barely meeting mine, a kiss that promises renewal.

Claire tipped her head back, and this time he found her lips. It was, she thought, supposed to be a fast and sweet little kiss, but somehow it slowed down, got warmer and deeper. His lips were damp and soft as silk, and that was such a contrast to the hard lines of his body pressed against her. The strength of his hands sliding around her waist and pulling her even closer. She heard him growl low in his throat, a wild and hungry sound that made her go weak and faint.He broke the kiss and leaned against her, breathing hard. "Good morning to you too. Man, I just can't stay mad when you do that.""Do what?" she asked innocently. She didn't feel innocent. She also didn't feel sixteen-nearly-seventeen, not at all. Shane always made her feel older. Much older. Ready for anything. It was a good thing Shane wasn't as dumb as her hormones seemed to be."Unless you want to stay home and cut class, we don't really have time to talk about it," he said, and waggled his eyebrows. "So. Wanna cut class and make out?

Rider made this sound in the back of his throat. It was deep and masculine, part groan and growl, and it made me shiver. He folded one hand along my cheek and lowered his head to mine, but he didn__ kiss me.No.His warm breath glided over my forehead as his hand slid across my cheek, his fingers spreading into my hair at the base. His other hand landed low on my back, and the weight did insane things to my insides. He drew it up my back, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. My eyes fluttered shut as his lips brushed over the curve of my cheek. It was the craziest torture. My entire body tensed, prepared for the moment when his lips met mine.And it was the sweetest pressure, a feather-light brush of his lips over mine. Once. Then twice. I felt the touch everywhere, a jolt to the system that zipped through my veins, and then the pressure increased.Rider kissed me then.It was a real one, soft and beautiful, and when the kiss deepened, it wasn__ a shy one. He knew what he was doing, and even though I didn__, an innate knowledge told me it didn__ matter. His lips mapped out mine, and my insides were in tight coils.Kissing was awesome. Amazing. Astonishing. I could probably think of a couple of more words to describe it. Kissing blew me away, and when he lifted his mouth, both of us were breathing hard. He rested his forehead against mine. Neither of us spoke for several moments.I still wasn__ thinking. I had no idea how my hands had gotten to Rider__ chest, but his heart pounded under my palm as fast as mine did. My mind was blissfully blank as I breathed in his scent, a mix of his citrusy cologne and the faint trace of paint.__id you like that?_ he asked, dragging his fingers out of my hair and over the line of my jaw.Screaming yes, oh, God, yes, would__e probably been a little too excessive, so I managed a somewhat subdued, __es.__s Rider grinned, his lips brushed mine. __ood. Because I really liked it.

Before I could protest, which wouldn__ be wise even though I did want him to hang out longer, he placed his hands on my cheeks. My breath stalled out somewhere between my throat and chest. Leaning in, he pressed his lips against my forehead, dropping a kiss that squeezed my heart into slush. My eyes drifted shut as his lips lingered against my skin. Knocked off-kilter, I didn__ move when he pulled back and stood.

I__ glad...you texted.__ider tilted his head to the side. __eah?__ nodded, probably a little too eagerly, but as the dimple in his right cheek took shape, it was like being rewarded. Our eyes met for a moment, and I didn__ want him to leave. An urge took me like it had during lunch, and I all but bounced forward. Gripping his arms, I stretched up and kissed his cheek. It was pretty much just a peck, so I figured it wasn__ crossing any lines, but the feel of his skin under my lips was still unnerving and unexpected.__e careful,_ I whispered, backing off.Rider__ grin faded from his handsome face. A moment passed before he spoke. __lways, Mouse.

The drawings make you smile,_ he replied with a grin. __orking on the speech doesn__ do anything.__hat...that was so sweet, I wanted to hug him tight, kiss him, too. __orking on your speech will make me smile, too.__is brows lifted and then he flipped his notebook closed. __ know what else will make you smile.___hat? You actually doing some homework?___ope._ He glanced at the door again and then rose. __ think me sitting closer to you will make you smile.__he boy knew me well.He took a step closer. __ think holding your hand will make you smile.__ straightened as I watched him.__nd I think..._ He sat on the edge of the bed and twisted his body toward mine. __ think kissing you will make you smile, too.

They closed the door on the cabin. There wasn__ room enough for them to stand, so they fell into each other__ arms on the bunk.Sam kissed her and tried not to think that it was for the last time.He was happy. That was the hell of it. He was finally happy. Right here, right now, in this place, with this girl in his arms, he was happy. Was that why he felt the hammer about to fall on him? No, that was crazy. He was happy. Happiness didn__ mean that tragedy was coming around the corner. Did it?