He reaches out his hand and she takes it cautiously but still willingly, not knowing exactly where this next move was going to take them. On the porch, in the early twilight of a warm country summer evening, the peepers and frogs have begun to serenade, surrounding them with a quiet symphony of nature’s sounds. He steps toward her, never taking his eyes from looking into hers. She doesn’t avert her gaze either and they are locked together, no other visual registers in their minds but what is directly in front of them…each other.
She is the first to move closer, lips just inches apart. She can feel his chest against her, rising and falling with each breath he takes, every move he makes. He slips a hand around her waist, pulling her tight, yet not binding. She responds by putting one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his hip. She can feel the heat that seethes below the surface, the desire for her that oozes out into the space between them. Her ears ache from the pounding of Her heart and She gently loops one ankle around his lower leg and moves her lips closer still. His hand slides up from her waist, and two fingers slowly draws a line up her spine. Even through her tank top, she feels a tenderness behind the motion. He gazes at her, as if he were looking directly into her soul. Not a word is spoken, there is only the sounds of nature and their breathing.
And for a moment, she has this overwhelming fear of vulnerability; totally antithetical to all she strives for. For in this moment, she begins to understand the true meaning of trust and of, dare she say it? Dare she think it? Love? For years she’s been thinking of her own protection that it makes her scared to feel this way. But Love? Isn’t love is an old fashion notion? Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken? She’s been hurt before, betrayed before. And the memory of that is just poison in her veins. She doesn’t want to wake one day, wishing the person she loved had never existed, just so she’d be spared such pain.
She is about to step back, but his lips meet hers first, and in that moment, that sweet moment, all fear is lost, for in it she feels both passion and love; desire and caring. It is like no other she has felt in a long long time. And while she is scared of what hurt might be in the future, during this moment, she responds in kind, meeting his passion with some of her own. The kiss is long and with fervor that holds them together.
Excerpt of DRAFT from an untitled manuscript in progress.