The 6 Greatest Errors of All Time | ✓

XXXII. raspberry shots

HIS HANDS GENTLY TRACED down my jaw, neck, chest— until they slid down the curve of my sides and rested firmly on my lower back. It was constantly shifting and stroking the fabric of my cropped tank. The bedcovers twisted tightly around my loose sweatpants when he lowered me down on the mattress in his arm.

In filed a deep, entranced silence. All I could hear was the rhythmic beat in my chest— his chest— and our gentle breaths mixing with each other. I had one hand placed behind his head, lacing it through his soft hair. He'd slow down every time my fingers fell to his back, would shut his eyes and take in my scent, as I tilted my head away to catch my breath.

It'd been the third time I tried pulling away just for a moment of air. But he would enclose me back into his kiss once more, and it was this constant cycle of loving and hating how difficult it was to breathe when you were both so lost in each other.

We started off slow and I had followed his pace hesitantly. Eventually we reversed, and he landed securely on his back against the bed. I pulled away before he could take control again. With hair swept to one shoulder, I gazed down at him in the dark.

Pierce's chest was rising and falling more rapidly than I had expected, considering how calm he was when he lured me into all of this. I leaned in— angled my head just perfectly— and came mere millimeters from his lips. My eyes refocused when I saw the ends of his lips raise into a cheeky, proud grin, like he was anticipating my kiss.

The breath in my chest hitched to a stop like I'd just swallowed a door nail, and I stared wide-eyes into a daze. What was I doing? His eyes. His hands. His lips. They were all trained on me— waiting. What were we doing?

I overloaded. It only took his mocking grin to make my face flush a deep rose. I instantly backed away and covered my mouth, mentally thanking the lords for the lights being turned off. Otherwise, he would've seen my face, and the last thing I wanted to do at the moment was to sacrifice my pride.

Pierce leaned in and placed his lips on the back of my hand, then proceeded to remind me of all the reasons why I couldn't shy away from any of this. Whether it be his hands starting up their circle of strokes again against my bare skin, or his eyes boring into my avoidant ones, it was quite clear who was in control.

"How about..." He began in a warm, tempting tone. "We give that a second try?"

"I can't," I felt my whole chest sink a level as I attempted to push his arms away from my waist. "I'm not like you, this is too... and we just..." Pierce brushed a stray strand of hair behind my ears before it moved over to my chin, and then his thumbs were grazing over my lips, quieting me down.

"Hey, Risa!" Cody's explosive voice boomed throughout the hallways, waking up my dead ancestors along with it. "Is someone in there with you? Are you okay?"

Oh god. I forgot about them.

While my head sprung to the bedroom door like it was magnetically attached, Pierce threw his back with a deep sigh.

"I'm... I'm uh— no, sto.. Pierce.." My body suddenly crumbled inside as I took a steady breath in. My lower half was filled with butterflies that evolved from the small patterns he was writing on my back out of boredom. Pierce found his smirk again. Seeing that I was still faced away from him, he leaned forward and draped his arm around my shoulder and waist— hinting something at a mischief-filled back hug.

I wasn't going to give in. I tilted my head to the side— well aware that we both knew my breathing was accelerating— and whispered through clenched teeth, "What do you think you're doing? I can barely function as it is."