DESIRE 2

That single word hung in the air like smoke.

“Good.”

Amanda's smile didn't varnish, but her small brown eyes that looked innocent since she was ten now felt like a challenge I didn't want to partake in. She took another bite of toast, chewing slowly as the silence went on for a while.

I set my coffee mug down. “We need to talk about last night.”

“Do we?” She tilted her head, innocent as a little girl, except for the way her tank top strap had slipped off one shoulder, exposing the delicate line of her collarbone. “It was pretty self explanatory.”

“Self explanatory?” My voice low and warning. “You kissed me.”

“I did.” She licked a stray bit of butter from her index finger. “And you kissed me back. For a second though.”

The feel of heat flooded me, anger, shame and something dangerous. “That's not the point. You can't…”

“Can't what?” She leaned forward,her elbows on the table, pushing her chest against the thin fabric of her tank top. “Want you? Say it out loud? Touch you? Yearn for you?” Her voice dropped. “Taste you?”

Every word landed like water on dry grass. I gripped the edge of the table. “I'm your dad's best friend, your guardian. I've been responsible for you since -”

“Since I was a kid. I know.” She stood, circling the table until she stood beside my chair. Close enough that I could smell her warm skin, faintly floral scent and lavender scent from her shampoo. “But I'm not a kid anymore, Xavier. I'm nineteen. I know exactly what I want.”

She reached out, fingertips brushing my chin. “I want you.” The contact was light, almost casual but it burned straight through me

I caught her wrist, stopping her before she could go further. “This is wrong.”

“Is it?” Her pulse fluttered under my thumb. “You carried me to bed last night. Tucked me in. You've taken care of me. Protected me. Loved me.”

She stepped closer between my knees now, forcing me to look up at her. “Tell me you've never thought about it. Not once.”

The lie died in my throat. Because I had. I had.

Late nights when she'd fallen asleep on the couch during movie nights, her head on my shoulder. The way she had started filling out her clothes two summers ago, sun kissed and laughing by the pool. The accidental brushes in the hallway, the lingering hugs that lasted longer than a second.

I had buried it all and told myself it was nothing, I shouldn't engage my mind in such thoughts.

But last night,with her mouth cold and sweet against mine the lock had cracked.

“I'm not going to take advantage of you,” I managed.

“You won't.” She twisted her wrist free and cupped my jaw instead. “I'm offering. Freely, I've wanted this longer than you think.”

Her touch was gentle, almost like nothing and it undid me more than any grab would have. I closed my eyes for a second breathing her in.

“Amanda's if we do this, there's no going back.”

“I don't want to go back.”

She leaned down and kissed me - deliberate and slow. No surprise attack. No running.

Her lips were soft and tasting of buttered toast. When her tongue traced my mouth, I opened for her without thinking. She mad a small sound and deepened the kiss, climbing into my lap like it was the most natural thing in the world.

My hands went to her waist automatically. The thin tank top had ridden up, my palms met her smooth bare skin. She settled against me, thighs bracketing mine, and I felt every inch of her small breasts pressed to my chest, the soft weight of her ass on my thighs, the damp heat between her legs through the flimsy short

I groaned into her mouth.

She rocked once, experimentally and my cock, already half hard from the moment she walked in swelled fully against her. Her breath hitched.

“See?” She whispered against my lips. “You want this too.”

I couldn't deny it. Not with her grinding slowly on my lap, not with my hands sliding up her back, mapping the delicate curve of her spine.

But I still tried one last time.

“Your Father trusted me”

“My father's gone and if you look at it you'll still be keeping your promise.” Her voice cracked on the word, the first real real vulnerability she had shown. “I'm tired of being alone in this house with you, wanting you, pretending I don't. I'm tired of watching you with other ladies who don't see you the way I do.”

She kissed me again, harder. Her fingers threaded through my hair, tugging just enough to Sting.

I broke

With a growl i didn't recognize i stood, lifting her with me. She wrapped her legs around my waist instinctively, arms around my neck and I carried her out of the kitchen down the hall, past the photos of hers as a kid, past the photos of her dad and I headed straight to my bedroom.

I kicked the door shut behind us, I pressed her against it, kissing her like a starving man. She moaned in my mouth, arching into me, as her nails scraped into my shoulders.

“Tell me to stop,” I rasped between kisses, giving her one final out. “Say it now, and I'll stop.”

“Don't you dare,” she breathed heavily.

That was all I needed.

I carried her to the bed and laid her down, following her onto the mattress. She tugged at my shirt, I yanked it over my head. Her tank top followed, tossed somewhere across the room. Her breasts small and perfect, nipples pink and tight, moved with her breathing.

I lowered my mouth to one, sucking gently and she cried out, back bowing off the bed. Her hands fumbled with the drawstring of my pants while I lavished attention on her chest, moving from one breast to the other, learning what made her gasp, what made her whisper.

When I finally slid her shorts off, she was bare underneath once again. Just like last night. Smooth, and ready.

“Naughty Amanda.”

She spread her thighs without hesitation watching me with dark, heavy eyes.

“Touch me. Please.”

I did. One finger traced her slit, gathering wetness, circling her clit until her hips jerked. She was soaked, swollen and trembling.

“More,” she begged.

I slid one finger inside her tight and she clenched around me, moaning my name. Not Uncle Xavier just Xavier.

A second finger joined the first, stretching her gently. I curled them, found the spot that made her sob and worked her slowly while my thumb rubbed her clit in tight circles. She came hard and fast, thighs clamping around my hand, body shaking through it. I watched every second her flushed cheeks, parted lips, the way her back arched like a bow.

Before she could catch her breath I moved down the bed, settling between her legs. She tried to close them suddenly shy.

“Xavier…”

“Let me taste you.”

I parted her with my thumbs and licked her in one long, slow stroke. She tasted sweet, salty and perfect. I devoured her, tongue fucking into her, lapping at her clit, sucking until she was writhing again, her hand fisted in my hair.

Her second orgasmhit even harder, thighs trembling around my head, a broken cry tearing from her throat.

When I finally rose up on my knees, shoving my pants down, she watched me with glazed eyes, lips swollen from biting them.

I rolled on a condom, thank goodness I still had some in the nightstand and settled over her, nudging her entrance.

“Look at me.” I said hoarsely.

Her eyes met mine, wide and burning with want.

I pushed in slowly, inch by inch, watching her face for any sign of pain. She was impossibly tight but wet and ready, taking me with small gasps and fluttering pulses around my cock.

When I was fully seated, we both stayed still breathing hard.

“Okay? I managed.

She nodded, wrapping her legs around my waist. “Move.”

I did slow, deep strokes at first letting her adjust. But soon her hips rose to meet mine, urging me faster, harder. The bed creaked beneath us. Skin slapped skin. She clawed at my back, moaning into my mouth as I kissed her again and again.

“Xavier…I'm “

“Come for me, baby.”

She shattered a third time, clenching around me so hard my vision whited out. I followed seconds later, burying myself deep and coming with a groan that felt dragged from my soul.

We collapsed together, sweaty and breathless. I disposed of the condom and pulled her into my arms, her head on my chest, legs tangled.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke.

Then she whispered, “I love you. I've always loved you.”

My heart cracked wide open.

I pressed a kiss to her temple. “I love you, Amanda. I certainly do.”