Just benefits?

Eight

"We need to talk."

Uh oh.

"About what?" I try to push past him and walk into my room but he pushes me inside his room instead and closes the door behind us. This is not how avoiding him was supposed to go.

He huffs out a breath "About you avoiding me all day." I gulp. "But I haven't been." I lie, tapping my pointer finger and thumb together nervously.

He sits on the bed and motions for me to do the same, which I reluctantly do. "Don't lie to me Cora. we both know you've been avoiding me, so why?" The hurt is evident in his voice even though he is trying to hide it. He continues to stare at me even though I refuse to meet his hurt eyes.

"I'm not sure." I easily lie again, my fingers still clicking. Growing up the way I did you learn to lie easily without any traces of the lie.

He sighs heavily. "Please don't lie to me. If it is the kiss then I'm so sorry Cora. I don't want you to be upset with me over something like that." Has he been dwelling on that too?

"No Clay it isn't that, well I mean it is but ugh I don't know." I slump my shoulders in defeat. My defeated eyes meet his "do you regret it?" he immediately shakes his head no. "No, absolutely not. Kissing you was one of the only things I feel like I actually did right Cora. Do.. Do you?" Do I? Not after hearing that.

"No, I'm not Clay."  A smile takes over his face and slowly I feel all of my worries and doubts fade away. He doesn't regret doing it, he meant to kiss me and to me that is all that matters. I had previously though he had only done it because he had wanted something stupid, a one and done type of thing but he doesnt, I see that now.

He wants me, and I think I want him too.

Before my anxieties can get the better of me I lean in, placing my lips on his and he instantly reacts by kissing me back. Our lips move in sync, dancing with each other. His tongue delicately presses against my lips, silently asking for an entrance which I grant him.

We continue to kiss like that for God only knows how long before he finally pulls away, both of us in desperate need of air. But he doesn't stop there, he continues to kiss from the corner of my lips down my jaw line and onto my neck.

His lips prance across my neck before he suddenly bites down on a certain part of it, causing me to gasp. "No... no marks." I somehow manage to get out and I hear him make a noise of protest.

"Why not? I want to mark what is mine."

Holy fucking shit okay. Hot. With that sentence alone I can feel arousal growing in the pit of my stomach.

"If my brother sees it he will know it is from you. We can't." He groans but obeys my wishes of no marks and goes back to kissing my lips.

"Fine," He barely pulls away, our lips still touching with each word he speaks. "I guess I will have to leave them in places only we can see."

Lord have mercy, I'm about to bust.

He pushes me down onto the bed, getting on top of me in the process and continues to kiss me. One of his hands is on the pillow right next to my head while the other holds my cheek carefully and carelingly. After a few more minutes of our make out session he moves his hand that was on my cheek and starts moving it down to my waist, catching it in the waistband of my leggings.

We can't go any further. As much as I would love to, I am extremely exhausted from my long day and all of this activity, and we have only known each other for such little of an amount of time, we are moving far too fast.

I break away from the kiss. "Stop." I barely even whisper out, but he still hears me and immediately removes his hand, but I also immediately miss his warmth and the feel of it on my side. "We can't go any further. At least not tonight."

He nods and gives me one last short kiss before climbing off of me and plopping himself on his side next to me, pulling me into his arms and engulfing me in his scent and warmth. In return I nuzzle into him, making myself comfortable on his body before I finally close my eyes.

Right before I fall asleep I feel a ghost of a kiss on my cheek and his comforting words of "Goodnight Cora."