Page 63 of I Think Olive You
It didn’t matter that I’d been concussed, I’d have done it. The space between us disappears. Holding her face in my hands, I tease the pad of my thumb along her bottom lip.
“God, I’ve ached for you.” My confession is whispered against the seam of her lips, waiting.
This time she comes to me, rising just high enough onto her toes for our mouths to meet. It’s as if we’ve both been parched, left out in the sun without relief and this kiss is a thunderstorm. Giuliana fills my lungs with her scent of sweet blossoms, summer, and the earth. Hands roaming over my body, it’s as if she’s been just as starved of my touch as I’ve been of hers, and is eager to reacquaint herself with my planes and angles.
I respond to her kiss in kind, my fingertips trailing along the sun-heated skin of her arms and neck, down her back. I try to content myself with the parts I can reach but it’s not enough. Kissing her will not be enough.
She seems to agree, pulling away from me, panting. Giuliana wastes no time going over to the discarded basket and pulls out the oversized picnic blanket rolled up there, the one intended for the celebration. It will no doubt see a more decadent feast here than over at the big house.
Blanket grasped at the corners, shaken out and laid carefully in place, Giuliana shucks her shoes. Following closely with her breezy overalls, then her thin t-shirt and underwear, and through it all I stare in awe.
Night approaches fast, but the silhouette of her naked body against the scorched sky will follow me into my dreams—branded onto my memory.
“Your turn,” she says, standing there in all her glory, a goddess to be worshiped.
And worship I will.
Ridding myself of my clothing, I’m strangely liberated. We’re out in the open but far enough from the party, in the opposite direction of the celebration. This moment exists only for us.
It’s primal, intrinsic. Standing beside the old tree I can almost believe we’ve been swept to a time long past. Planted in a moment where we weren’t rivals, and there are no secrets… and we’re untouched by the history between us.
We meet on the blanket, tangled limbs and heated mouths. Sampling and testing, we enjoy what we’ve been denied for so long. I trace my fingertips over every lush curve and dip of her body, relishing the feel of goosebumps raising on her skin. Her nipples harden from my touch and the cool breeze that night ushers in.
Intertwined, I clutch her to me and taste her like this will be the last time, because it may well be. Cupping her generous breasts in my hands I kiss down the side of her neck, over her chest and flick my tongue over one of her nipples. Giuliana moans and it’s like daylight through my veins. Marking my way down her body, worshipping as I said I would, I try to express the depth of my feeling for her through every touch of my mouth to her body.
Caught between her thick thighs, I sample her and the sound of her cursing my name will haunt my dreams for many nights to come. Her hands clutch at my hair, scrunching the curls in her fingers as I push her closer to the edge. Pants and hitches, moans and curses, I drive Giuliana to her first peak with pleasure. I will give her this. Tonight is hers.
She tugs me up by the hair and I crawl up over her body, helpless. And when she reaches down to touch my hardness I hiss in a breath, cursing myself for not thinking to slip a condom into my pocket. But we’ve been a little preoccupied with the renovation and the harvest, and the fact that I never imagined I’d be blessed with this again. So, when she urges me onto my back and moves to straddle me, I still her by gripping her hips.
“No condom,” I manage between gritted teeth, wanting nothing more than for her to move down a few inches and envelop me.
“I’m safe.”
“I got tested and I’m safe too, but…”
“I’m on birth control.”
It’s all she needs to say. Skating my hands up to rest against her ribcage, I cup one of her perfect breasts in my palm, tweaking my thumb over her nipple.
Settling herself against me, Giuliana gasps at the contact. She sinks inch by fucking painstaking inch and I swear my chest is going to burst. Her heat grips me and it’s too much and not enough to slake my thirst. I will never drink my fill of her.
Tracing my touch up the ridges of her back, I stroke her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear so that I can trail my fingertips over that devastating face. Expressive eyes, filled with more than I can fathom, stare down at me and we breathe it in. Summer’s final breaths, the sunset, the rich smell of earth, and something that is wholly her.
Tilting her hips, Giuliana tests the friction, and I suck in a desperate breath. There’s no going back from this. There will never be any going back. She’s changed me.
Giuliana’s stuck her calloused little hand into my chest and rearranged it all so slightly I hardly noticed until it was too late. It’s like the way you learn to navigate your space—to the point where you can walk it in the dark—but then the couch gets moved two inches and suddenly you’re lost and aching from an unexpected collision. I reach out for her to steady myself. To guide myself home.
Because that’s what she is to me. Her skin is soft under my hands and I drown in her quiet gasps as we move together. I lose myself in the best thing I’ve ever savored, the essence of life and love and happiness.
Even if there’s never a single moment with her again it will have been worth it.
For once I agree with the voice in my head. In the years to come this will be the memory I cling to. The last light of the day kisses the edges of her hair and brandishes her skin in a warm glow.
Giuliana angles her hips to take me deeper and thought flees my mind, replaced with a keen ache in my chest with the knowledge that this is goodbye. Then I’m lost in the uncoiling low in my abdomen and the exquisite pleasure we take in each other.
Settling her onto her back, I lean over her to stare down at the little freckles on the tip of her nose and her kiss-swollen lips that would tempt a dead man back to life. She’s already done that—pulled me from my half-existence into her brilliant daylight. Giuliana is stronger than any spirit I’ve imbibed, softer than any goodnight.
Surging within her, I relish the feel of her legs wrapped around me to keep me close. Grunts and whines are swallowed in kisses I wish would never end. Cries increase in intensity as she gets closer, her body undulating beneath me.