Page 35 of Keeping Lilith

“Oh, okay.” She summoned up a smile from deep down, but it felt false. “I better get ready.” Lilith dropped her hands and stepped around him. She’d taken two steps when her hand was grabbed, and Julian was standing right behind her. His chest to her back. His breath tickling the strands of her hair that had escaped her ponytail.

“It’s a date, Lil,” he whispered against her ear. “I want to take you out. I want to show you off.”

Everything around Lilith faded, the noise of the bugs in the garden, the birds flying overhead. The wind rustling through the trees. It was as if a glass tube had lowered from the sky and cocooned her and Julian.

He wanted to take her on a date. Show her off. This was all too much to comprehend, but it made her very happy.

They stood so close to each other. If she turned her head a little, his lips would brush against her cheek. If she turned fully, his lips would be on hers.

How she wished she had the courage to do that. Her one encounter with a man had been rushed, and the kisses hadn’t been enjoyable. But she wanted to kiss Julian. Without a doubt, his kiss would be much better than what she’d experienced in the past.

After everything she’d been through, life was meant for taking risks, and this was one risk she was going to take. Lilith turned until they were face to face, their noses almost touching. Her hands landed on Julian’s chest, the muscles jumping beneath her fingers. His heart thrumming steadily against her palm.

Her attention lingered on his mouth before traveling up to connect with his gaze. His blue eyes were dark and intense. The question was there in his eyes, and even as she read it, her mind conjured it up in his voice.

“Can I kiss you?”

It took a second for her to realize that it hadn’t been her imagination, but Julian was asking.

Whenever he wanted something from her, he always asked her, and she loved that about him. He wasn’t trying to take advantage, the way the men she’d grown up around had always done.

“Yes.”

What should she do? Make the move to close the gap between them? Or wait for Julian?

Julian solved the dilemma for her by leaning forward and gently brushing his lips against hers. A featherlight touch, but enough to have her nerve endings yearning for more. Like always, he knew exactly what she needed, and this time, when their lips met, the connection was longer. His arms rubbed overher shoulders before sliding down to rest on either side of her hips. She gripped the fabric of his shirt and shuffled forward so only the thinnest piece of paper could get between them.

Julian’s mouth slid over hers, encouraging her to open beneath his. She did, and he deepened the kiss. Her mind went blank as a swarm of sensations washed over her, enveloping her in a tingly blanket.

The previous kisses she’d shared in the past were gone and forgotten. For her, this was her first kiss. The one that she would always remember.

Julian broke the kiss but rested his cheek against her. A sweet gesture that meant almost as much to her as the kisses they’d shared.

“That was…” How did she tell him the kiss had been amazing? Mind blowing.

“I know,” he responded.

A small chuckled rippled through her. “You always seem to know what I’m thinking. How is that possible?”

“I don’t know.”

Lilith leaned back so she could look him directly at him. “I like it. I like you.”

A few weeks ago, she never would’ve imagined herself saying those words to him, but here they were, standing in his backyard, and she was revealing her feelings for him.

“I like you too.”

“I better go shower.”

“And I should go make that reservation.”

Yet neither one of them seemed ready to walk away from each other, as though the very thought of them not touching would be the end of them.

A second later, their arms were around each other, and they were kissing again. If possible, it was better than the first. Her mouth opened willingly, and as their tongues dueled, warmthpooled between her thighs. She clenched them together to stop herself from grinding against him to soothe the increasingly developing ache.

This time it was her that pulled away. “I think we need to stop,” she said breathlessly.

Immediately, he dropped his arms and put some space between them. He was breathing as hard as she was. “Yeah, because if we don’t, we’ll never leave.”