Caroline

Chapter 19

Stunned, and completely still, she watched as his face came nearer to her own. With the first touch of his lips, her eyes fluttered closed. The kiss was soft, sweet, and warm. It was followed by one more, and then a delicate brushing of his lips across hers. As he pulled away, she opened her eyes to find him looking back, searching for something from her.

Her tears had stopped, and all she knew was the handsome, giving man in front of her. Tentatively, she withdrew one of her hands from his, then reached up to touch his cheek. As he leaned into her touch, she felt the rasp of his unshaven face on her fingers and palm. Slowly, she slid her thumb to his lips, which parted slightly in response, and rubbed against their softness. The contrast was as tantalizing as she had suspected.

"Please," she whispered to him. "Do it again."

She dropped her hand when he placed his palms on either side of her face, entangling his fingers into her hair. This time there was no hesitation as he drew her to him and captured her lips over and over again. She responded from the very first, grasping at his waist to hold on, pressing herself up against him as tightly as she could. The moment she felt his tongue enter her mouth, her knees became weak, and she feared her heart would beat out of her chest. He pushed her backward, pinning her body against the wall with his own, and slid one hand to cup the back of her head.

She whimpered. She couldn't help it. The intensity of feeling at that moment threatened to overwhelm her, though she knew she would willingly drown in it. But as the tiny sound escaped her, Michael stilled, then slowly pulled back again. Through her haze, she could see concern and regret in his expression.

"God.... I'm sorry. That was......"

"Yes," she said, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck and shoulders, pulling him back to her. "It was."

This time, she took the lead in bringing them together, allowing herself to explore his mouth as thoroughly as he had explored hers. As she ran her fingers through his hair, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him as though trying to meld with her. His hands caressed her back and sides as he gradually took control again. As long as he continued to hold her and kiss her that way, she didn't care. The connection to him was all that mattered.

Reluctantly, he did pull away again, as they both needed to breathe. He peppered her face with tiny kisses, removing any lingering tears, then leaned his forehead against hers. "I've wanted to do that for so long...."

She smiled at that. "Three days isn't exactly a long time."

They were so close, she couldn't see, but she felt the change in him. He stood quietly for a moment, then extricated himself from her embrace, taking both of her hands with his. Her concern at this must have registered on her face, because he kissed the knuckles of both her hands and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Come sit on the couch with me," he said, pulling her with him as he walked backward. "I think we need to learn a little more about each other."

She resisted his tug, but only slightly, playfully. "I liked what I was learning over here."

He laughed at that, then tugged harder until she was in his arms again. After giving her another kiss as gentle as the first they'd shared, he said, "As much as I enjoyed that lesson, I want to spend time learning you." He tapped her forehead. "And I really want you to know more about me."

She pressed the side of her face into his neck and gave him a hug. "I want that, too."

She allowed him to guide her onto the sofa. He sat beside her, then lifted her knees, swinging her around so her legs fell over his lap. His arm wrapped around her back.

"What do you want to know first?" she asked, as she snuggled into him a little more. She could tell he was mulling over his first question.

"Tell me something about your childhood," he said, finally.

It was a reasonable request, so she began.

"I grew up in Charlotte... just me, Mamma, and Daddy. No brothers or sisters. I had friends, though... "

"Like... Hannah?" he interrupted.

She drew her head back to look at him and show her smile. "Yeah, exactly like Hannah. You remembered!" He gave her a small smile in return. She continued. "Hannah was my best friend. We used to spend our whole summers together, not too far from here. My family's summer place was close to where her family lived year-round. Hannah was the sister my parents didn't give me."

"You said you lost touch with her. What happened?"

Caroline sighed. "We both went through some things separately. I guess... it just got too hard. Before, one of us was always able to be strong for the other. When neither one of us had any strength left to give...."

"What did you go through?"

The memories of that time now swirled together with what she had learned that afternoon.

"Mamma.... died... in a really ugly head-on collision with another car." She left unsaid that her mother had been responsible, and had also killed Derek's father. She still needed to come to terms with those things, herself.

"I'm so sorry," he said, laying a kiss on her forehead, and hugging her closer.

"I was fourteen. Losing her then was...." She stopped there, unable to find a word that could convey the devastation she'd felt at the time. Michael hugged her again.

"And what about Hannah? What happened to her?"

Caroline took a deep breath and redirected her thoughts back to her friend. "She was having a family crisis of her own... a brother. Something happened to him. I didn't understand it at the time, and I still don't. I liked him, until one summer he pulled this Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde thing. Suddenly, he was just impossible to be around. Hannah and I started spending more time with my family than hers because he'd become such a bully."

"He hurt you?"

"No, not physically. He used to tease us all the time before, but that summer, it was mean."

"How did he tease you before?"

She smiled at those memories. "He was older and bigger, and usually used that fact to lord it over us. He could always win tickle fights. I remember he used to keep lizards and small snakes, and bring them out when he knew he could get a rise out of us. One time, we were making sandwiches and being silly to begin with, when all of a sudden, this little tiny frog came hopping across the kitchen counter. We squealed, and stuff went flying everywhere! Of course, he was the one who'd snuck it up there. We were such a mess after that frog was finally caught! For the longest time after that, he called us...." She stopped suddenly, then pulled away from him and stared, whispering, "...Peanut Butter... and..."

"Jelly," he finished for her, with a small, sad smile.