Free Kissed by Ms. Carla Krae Page B

she’d be happy.
    “ You .”  
    “Oh, good morning, Beth. Did you sleep
well?” she replied, still stirring breakfast to completion.   The oats were cooked, only needed seasonings
and the sprinkle of fruit on top.
    He
grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.   “Nice of you to say goodbye .”
    She
rolled her eyes, not planning to rise to his bait.   “One, where else would I go, and two, it was
early and I didn’t want to wake you.”
    “Didn’t plan on waking
me, you mean.”  
    “Potato, po-tah-to . Can I eat my
breakfast, or do you need to impersonate my father some more?”
    He
let go of her robe.   “You can be such a
brat.”
    “Snappy comeback.”   She carried the bowl to the small breakfast table and sat down to eat.
    He
sat across from her, glaring with his arms crossed over his chest.   His hair looked like he rode the bike without
his helmet.
    After
five minutes of him staring at her, she put her spoon down.   “Were you really that worried? Hello, raised
by an Army man. I know how to get myself out of trouble, which I wasn’t in .”
    “You
weren’t there, didn’t leave a note, and Mum hadn’t seen you. Didn’t
know what to think.”
    “I
took a cab here and went to bed. Sorry, I was exhausted .”
    “Not
an excuse to be irresponsible.”
    “There
you go again, talking down to me like I’m a kid. It’s a two year age difference .”   She picked up the bowl to take to her room.
    “Adults
don’t walk out in the middle of a conversation.”
    Scowling,
she turned to him.   “They do when it’s stupid .”
    “Oh, excuse me , Miss Straight A’s. Was I
boring you?”
    “I
didn’t call you stupid. I said this was stupid.”
    He
took another step closer so he looked down his nose at her.   “By all means, go back to America where I’m not wasting your
time.”
    “Maybe
I will ,” she said, poking his chest
on the last syllable.
    They
stared at each other, angry, fired up, and neither willing to be the first to
back down.
    Jacob
grabbing her shoulders and kissing her wasn’t part of the plan.   It wasn’t a nice kiss at all.   Their teeth
clashed.   He scratched her lip.   The stubble on his face chafed her skin.   She dropped the bowl.   It shattered on the tile.   He picked her up and set her butt on the
table, his lips still on hers.   She had
one hand on the back of his neck, her nails leaving soft dents in his
skin.   He set her body on fire, the robe
she was wearing suddenly too hot.
    “Don’t
go,” he said between kisses.
    “Wasn’t gonna.”
    “Good.”   He moved to kissing her throat, nipping her
skin with his teeth.
    She
squeaked when he bit a particularly sensitive spot.   “Why?”
    He
pulled back to look at me.   “Why what?”
    “What
is this? You didn’t want me last night.”
    He
ran a hand through his hair and let out an audible breath.   “Oh, I wanted you. The way you kiss,
Bethie…”   He shivered.
    “Oh.”  
    That
was all—physical lust.   She slid her feet
to the floor, stepped around him, and started cleaning up the mess of oatmeal
and china.
    “What ‘oh’?”
    “I
hope the bowl wasn’t expensive. I’m so clumsy sometimes.”   Keep
him off-guard and he’ll stop arguing .
    He
crouched down in her way.   “Beth, stop
avoiding the question.”
    “I
get it, that’s all.”   She shrugged and
picked up more bits of china.
    “Maybe
you can enlighten me, then, ‘ cause I’m lost.”
    “You
like what I can do, so you’re attracted to me.”
    “Well,
yeah…but—”
    “Jacob,
it’s okay. Can you find some paper towels or something?”
    “Uh,
yeah…”
    He
rose and went to the broom closet and found the towels and a dustpan.   She dumped what was in her hand in the
dustpan and stood to wet a paper towel at the sink.   At least the bowl was almost empty when she
dropped it, so there hadn’t been much splatter.   Once the floor was spotless again, she washed her hands.
    Turning
to where he’d