Less than Perfect

22. PitterPat {part two}

"You're perfect," she breathed, reaching a hand to touch his face. She hesitated before brushing a finger against his jawline, distracted by the way he was looking at her. "I don't deserve you."

He grabbed her hand in his, shaking his head. "No, Skye," he muttered. "I don't deserve you. It's like you're too good to be true. I've waited my entire life for someone like you, but I'd never expected to really find you. You're...incredible."

Before she could say anything else, his lips were against hers, kissing her with gentle poise. He didn't push harder than she led on, nor did he try to touch her. They lay together, him above her, hands at the sides of her head, kissing with a much less aggressive, reckless attitude, but instead, a gentle, genuine expression of their feelings towards each other.

When they broke away for air, Skye took the opportunity to say three words she'd been aching to speak for what felt like an eternity to her: "I love you."

At the sound of her voice, Jules smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "You don't know long I've wanted to hear you say that." He kissed her forehead. "I could never tire of being with you, listening to the beat of your heart, hearing your voice, seeing you—I could never stop loving you, everything about you. You mean everything to me, Skye. And I mean...everything." He kissed her lips gently, just a simple brush of the lips.

Her heart skipped a beat, body gone rigid with fresh, renewed energy. She was about to say something, but stopped herself short, clumsily seeking his lips instead. There was a jolt of needles that tingled its way through her body, coursing through her veins, so raw and so enchanting she didn't know whether they were pure or impure. All she knew was that she couldn't stop herself from clinging to the man she loved, the man she'd wished for all those times when she'd been lost with Bryan. She couldn't reject the gravitational pull Jules had on her, luring her to push the level of their relationship up a big step.

Maybe even a leap—a leap of courage.

Drawing him down closer to her, she fumbled with his shirt, unbuttoning the buttons and pushing it off of him as she leaned in for another kiss. She gasped as his hands brushed against the bare skin under her shirt, gently. It wasn't fear that caused her heart to race, but desire. There was very little distance between their faces, lips meeting and parting repeatedly as they lay next to each other, deciding where to go next.

Slowly, she moved her hands along his chest in a downward motion, causing him to groan as he gripped her sides, almost roughly, and pulled away from a luscious kiss. She winced as the pressure of his hands at her side caught her off guard. She became restless, torn, by the sudden aggression he had. She didn't want to fear him though; she wouldn't allow herself to go down that road.

He won't hurt me, she chanted in her head. He's not trying to hurt me. We're both simply caught up in the moment. And just as she was about to swallow her fear whole and try for another kiss, she was stopped short. She couldn't stop the inevitable fate that suddenly plummeted into her life, as treacherous as it would seem.

Abruptly, Jules had drawn back, climbing off of the bed quickly enough so that she had no say in the matter before he was on his feet, running a shaky hand through his tousled hair. "No, Skye," he snapped, disoriented. "We can't be doing this."

She sat up, hurt and trembling. "What?" She gasped for air, all of it having suddenly left when he'd spoken such distant, unnerving words. "We can't be doing what, Jules?"

He avoided her gaze, staring at the floor instead. "This," he whispered. Without looking her in the eyes, he pointed to her, eyes terribly distant and dark. "Skye, we can't get that close. You're going to get hurt. I mean look what I had done to you already? You didn't tell me to stop, Skye, and I was that close to crossing a line. You can't tell me you wished I hadn't touched you like that."