“Can I help you up?” I finally said, and I stood, reaching down as I did. She took hold of my arm and pulled herself up. Standing, we were even closer, and we kept a hold of each others’ arms. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly. I took a small step forward. “I hope you found what you were looking for up here.”
Her free hand found the shelf behind her, and gripped it, as if she was afraid of falling. “I did,” she breathed, and I took another tiny step toward her, fire spreading throughout my body. I felt like I had fallen into one of my daydreams, yet here she was before me, trembling and leaning forward, just a bit. It was so quiet I could hear the beating of the rain on the faraway windows.
I scanned her face and she licked her lips, and I took that as a cue. I put my free hand over her own on the shelf, moving my body directly in front of her own. I leaned forward until our noses brushed each other, her breath soft on my cheek. Her fingers tightened in panic on my arm, but she tilted her face upward, and I leaned into it and placed my lips on hers.
“I kissed her slowly and deeply, feeling her reciprocate with a sort of desperation, and I slipped my tongue into her mouth.”
She exhaled so heavily it came out as a soft moan, and I pressed my body into hers. Just as I’d imagined so many times, with her back against the shelf, her hips eager but trembling. I ran my hand up from where it had rested near her elbow, up over her shoulder and to the back of her neck, then my other hand to the small of her back, as I concentrated all my attention on her lips. I kissed her slowly and deeply, feeling her reciprocate with a sort of desperation, and I slipped my tongue into her mouth.
Her own hands went to my body, a little fumbling and shy and not knowing where to touch first. She settled on my waist, and then up my back, her fingertips almost urgent. We began to kiss more deeply, more insistently, and I moved my hands down to the hem of her shirt and slid them underneath. She raised her arms as I slid her shirt off over her head. The dim light caught the soft curves of her shoulders and breasts, the books behind her fading into shades of grey.
