Free Again by Diana Murdock Page B

finality to Bryce’s tone.   He looked somber, hands shoved in his pockets, head turned downward, with a scowl on his face. 
    She almost felt sorry for him.   Eryn went to him and slid her arms around his waist, lifting her face to say, “Why don’t you help me get this stuff to my car and then I’ll treat you to happy hour?”
    He stared down at her, his expression dark.
    “Come on.   Like old times, remember?”  Stretching up on her tiptoes, she softly kissed his neck and flicked her tongue just below his ear.  She smiled to herself when she heard a catch in his breath and felt his chest beneath her hands tense.
     
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    “Here, let me top that off for you.”  Eryn poised the bottle over Bryce’s cup.
    “No, I’m good.   I have a…”
    “I know, I know, a meeting in the morning.”  She put the bottle down and twisted it into the sand next to the soda.  Like old times, but this time they didn’t have to pilfer the bottles from their parents’ wet bar before sneaking down to the beach to party.
    The evening was perfect, with the sun still high enough above the horizon to warm the shore.  They settled on a spot next to a cliff in a protected cove, shielded from the off-shore breeze, away from wandering eyes.  The seagulls were starting to huddle together on the beach in clusters, having spent the day scavenging for food.  All was quiet, except for the soft lull of the waves.
    Eryn leaned up against Bryce’s shoulder, feeling his body relax against hers, his elbows resting on the blanket that covered their knees.   She traced the line of Bryce’s muscle along his arm and smiled as he flexed it in response.  What would it be like, she thought, if he would just turn to her and kiss her, with no other reason than to show her he loved and wanted her?   What would it be like if he held her face in his hands, pressed his mouth hotly to hers, and tasted her lips?   Was there such a thing as two people so in love, that just being around each other made it impossible to keep hands off one another?
    She closed her eyes against a headiness that started to inch its way up her neck and glide over the top of her head, like millions of tiny fingers kneading through her memory.   She felt strangely detached, stuck somewhere between here and there.   The sound of voices and laughter was suspended somewhere in that space, too.   Her mind was awash with white before his face came into focus.   Her breath caught in her throat.   He was so close.   If only she could reach out and touch him this time…
    His lips came painfully close to hers.   She dared not move.   She so desperately wanted to feel his lips upon hers.  
    He hesitated a moment before he drew closer and softly kissed her cheek.   His fingers traced the softness of her lips, marveling at their fullness. “May I?”
    “ I pray that you will hesitate no longer,” she whispered.   Her breath was lost as his kiss consumed her, the hot silk of his tongue smooth against hers.  Never before had she been kissed so thoroughly, so passionately, and with such abandon.  She discovered she was not a fragile flower that would crush under the weight of such passion, but a woman who could give as much pleasure as she took.  Boldly she threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer, arching her back as his lips traveled down her neck, grazing the edge of her gown ...
    Eryn’s senses screamed.   Both her mind and body were on fire, erasing the boundaries between them, blurring the line between dreams and reality.   Her eyes flew open and her body instantly stiffened.   It was so fast, too blurred… and then it was gone, leaving her heart pounding in her chest.
    Bryce leaned away, his startled, cool gray eyes staring into hers.   “Are you all right?”
    She shivered.   Her dress, perfect for the warmth earlier in the day, gave little protection in the cooling air.   “Uh, yeah.   I’m…I’m okay.”   She ran her