Free Intaglio: The Snake and the Coins by Danika Stone

watch
your mouth – I don’t like swearing,” Oliver had grumbled irritably.
    “Fine. 
What does it mean, then?”
    “It means you
need to LEARN from the things that happen to you, Ava.”
    “And what if I
don’t learn from them?” she’d cried, her voice breaking in anger . 
“What if I just keep screwing up?”
    Ava scowled, his
voice from the past sending a warning to her present, leaving her anxious about
the decision to take Cole out to paint tonight.
    “Then you’ll be
forced to live the mistakes over and over again until you do...”
    : : : : : : : :
: :
    The sky
lightened to a muddy greyish purple by the time they hit the main roads. 
Cole slowed down to three clicks below the speed limit.  He was smiling;
his body still coursing with adrenaline.  When they reached her apartment,
Ava climbed off the back of his bike, pulling the helmet off sweat-rumpled hair
and offering it back. 
    She leaned
toward him, her wind-whipped face glowing.  Cole thought she might kiss
him – helmet and all – but she just grinned, her face bright with unbridled
joy.
    “How’s it feel
to walk the edge, Cole?” she whispered, her lips moist and parted.  “To
just say fuck it and live out loud?”
    He laughed at
that and then lifted off his own helmet, hanging it off the handlebar but not
stepping off the bike.
    “Is that what we
were doing?”
    She shrugged.
    “Something like
that...”
    The smile that
he’d been fighting down was back.
    “Next date, I
get to choose where we go,” Cole said tartly.
    Ava laughed.
    “So that was a date ,
was it?” she teased, her voice low and enticing.
    He grabbed a
belt loop on either side of her jeans, pulling her forward so that she was half
straddling his knee, half leaning up against his bike, her face inches from
his.
    “Yeah, it was,”
he said in quiet seriousness.  “But next time, we’re going to do something legal .”
    Ava burst into
raucous laughter, the sound echoing loudly off the cement sides of the
building.
    “Spoilsport,”
she taunted with a wink.
    Cole grinned in
response, but he didn’t let go of her.  There was a growing point of heat
between them where her legs rested against his.  It had drawn all of his
attention.  That and her nearness.
    As the moment
stretched out, her eyes flickered up to his face, losing the laughter and
becoming surprised first, and then wary.  For a few seconds, neither
spoke, the two of them just watching one another.  Cole’s expression was
solemn, and he reached out, putting one hand on the back of her neck, urging her
forward.  For the briefest moment she resisted him, her face shifting
anxiously, the clear blue of her eyes growing concerned.  Nervousness held
her still for just long enough that Cole registered the reaction. She eased
into the motion, letting him bring her forward, her sooty eyelashes fluttering
closed. 
    For a moment he
simply brushed her lips.  The barest hint of his mouth moving lightly
against hers.  Ava’s hands moved up to his shoulders, resting there while
he kissed her.  She was trembling; he could feel it through her palms, and
he wondered at her reaction.  How she could be so fierce sometimes
– unabashedly running into danger – and yet terrified at other times. 
Cole forced his body to stay under control, keeping this kiss slow and
suggestive.  He was determined to play this right.  He let go, hands
falling limply to his lap.  She could stay or she could go.  It was
up to her.
    With that single
motion, Ava sighed into his mouth, her body relaxing as the equilibrium
rebalanced.
    Cole felt the
exact moment she stopped letting him kiss her and moved into the
embrace, eagerly participating.  Her lips opened against his and her
tongue flicked into his mouth, testing.  His body was burning to touch and
caress her, wild with desire, but he forced himself to stay motionless, fingers
in fists on his lap, breath coming in sharp gasps.  Ava moved closer,
sliding herself up his