Becoming Calder (A Sign of Love Novel)(48)

When Calder broke away gently to trail his lips down my throat, I sighed, tilting my head back to give him better access to my skin. I gazed up at the blue sky, clouds floating lazily by.
"The gods created this place for us," I whispered, smiling dreamily.
Calder paused, brushing his lips once more across my throat before responding. "Yes." I felt him smile against my skin. "Why do you think they did that?"
"So we'd have a place to fall in love."
Calder lifted his head, his expression full of intensity. "You're mine, Eden. You always have been, from the very first second I saw you."
I nodded. It seemed like the simplest truth the world had ever known.
Our lips met again. Calder kissed me in a way that made me believe I had not only always been his, but I would be his forever. In this life or any other. In his kiss was the promise that wherever he and I existed, we would belong to each other.
After several minutes, Calder broke away, panting as he looked at me with heavy-lidded eyes.
He looked strained, but conflicted. "Please don't stop," I said, leaning in and kissing his lips again softly.
"I'm afraid if I don't now, I won't be able to later," he said, his voice even more gravelly than it normally was.
I wanted to tell him not to stop now, or later, but the words themselves felt brazen, too bold, even in my mind. My actions would have to speak for me.
I put my fingers on the top button of my shirt and started slowly unbuttoning each one after that, one by one. Calder's eyes jumped between my fingers and my face, his eyes seeming to darken as each button popped open. I watched his throat move as he swallowed heavily.
I opened my shirt to expose the simple white bra beneath and shrugged the wet garment off, letting it fall off my shoulders. I reached behind my back, unhooked my bra, and let it slide down my arms and drop to my lap. A soft moan came from Calder's parted lips, his eyes trained on my breasts. My nipples hardened under his stare and I lowered my eyes. I'd never been naked in front of anyone.
"Eden," Calder whispered reverently, "you're so beautiful."
And then in one swift movement, he pulled off his own wet shirt and sat bare-chested before me. My eyes roamed over his bronzed skin and his sleek muscles, goose bumps popping up in the wake of my stare. I reached out to touch him first, and things seemed to slow down. We both moved our bodies closer at once and my hand reached the warm, smooth skin of his chest. A breath escaped him and my eyes darted to his face. I had seen Calder shirtless before, but never dreamed I would one day get to touch him, feel the strong muscles I had admired for so long. He felt so firm, so masculine, his skin smooth and warm. I could hardly believe this was real.
"Please don't stop," he said, repeating my words from a few minutes before.
I released a breath and let my fingers continue their journey, over one pectoral, and down to one of his nipples where I used my pointer finger to trace around it gently.
"Eden," Calder choked out. "You're killing me. I'm dying."
I smiled, my eyes still watching my fingers as they trailed even farther down his stomach. "No. You're living. We're living. Right here, together. It's been suggested dying would separate us forever, and I refuse to let you go." My eyes met his then and something seemed to spark between us right before he leaned forward and took my mouth again, his tongue thrusting slowly and leisurely. I moved even closer so I could feel his bare skin against my own. Bliss.
I was being bold now, but this moment was ours, no one else's. Never in my whole life had I been given what I wanted, or even asked what that might be, so I was going to take it. Right here under the gods, at our spring, I was going to take what I wanted for myself. And I wanted Calder. And he wanted me. And that couldn't be wrong, could it?
I rubbed my achy nipples against his hard chest and moaned into his mouth at the delicious sensation. Nothing had ever felt so good and I wanted more. I wove my fingers through the short, soft hair at the back of his neck and tangled my tongue with his, exalting at the taste of him, the smell of him: clean water and male skin.
We lay down together, our mouths never breaking contact. It felt like my heart was beating furiously and there was an intense tingly feeling between my legs. I didn't know what I needed, but I was desperate to get whatever it was. I broke away from his mouth. "Are you . . .? Do you . . .?" I asked, breathlessly, not knowing how to verbalize what my body was asking for.
"Yes," he said, seeming to know. "Yes."
I let my eyes move boldly downward and took in the bulge at the front of his loose pants. Keeping my eyes trained there, I said, "I learn things here. Teach me, Calder." My cheeks heated and I waited for him to say something.