Sunshine Kisses

She greeted them both with a tired smile that made Erik want to scoop her up and tuck her into his bed. Ideally in his pyjamas. With him wrapped around her, keeping her safe and warm. In the real world, her head dropped onto Erik’s shoulder as she snuck her hands around his arm. The contact didn’t help to clear his head or calm his body.

Initially, he was grateful for the church’s crowd of people who crawled out the woodwork for the high holidays. By the time they passed the threshold, it was full enough that their two families couldn’t share a pew. If he was next to Abby, he’d be unable to resist staring at all the places the fabric of her dress stretched around her body. But sitting behind her was its own torture. She kept sweeping her hair from shoulder to shoulder, and he imagined his own hand caught in the golden cloud. The skin of her neck looked gloriously smooth, with a subtle sheen where the low lights from the candelabras caught it.

A hymn book stayed open on his lap for the entirety of Mass.

Chapter 13

2002 – Anne-Marie

‘Y

ou’re not seriously wearing that, are you?’

Abby’s blood red lips curved into a wicked grin.

Erik had given three sharp raps on their adjoining door—‘Now you learn to knock?’ she’d asked—and the second he had opened the door and inhaled slightly, she’d known she’d made the right choice.

Her dress was perhaps slightly inappropriate for church (and yes, maybe technically it was underwear, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him). The tiny hemline left most of the surface area of her legs bare, while the sweetheart neckline and dainty straps made of embroidered daisies exposed her chest and shoulders. Above her lipstick, razor sharp black eyeliner made her eyes look enormous.

She opened them even wider, the picture of innocence. ‘What? It’s white. That’s churchy. Pure. Virginal. All that jazz. It’s literally the Easter colour. And I am wearing stockings.’ At this, she ruched the dress up slightly so he could see the lace trim of her thigh-highs.

Erik’s jaw rolled and his hands tightened into fists in the pockets of his trousers.

Good.

‘But I could use some help with the zip. Do you mind?’ Sugar coated her words, spilling out from a sweet smile before she turned her back to him and twisted her hair into a knot that showed off her neck and the smooth, braless expanse of her back.

Another sharp intake of breath had her pressing her thighs together, desperate to relieve some of the pressure his reactions to her were producing. She’d imagined—of course she’d imagined—a world where Erik was as attracted to her as she was to him. But none of those daydreams compared to him standing behind her, fingers curled tightly around her waist, eyes dark and stormy where they met hers in the mirror, looking like he wanted to devour her.

The open back of her dress still gaping, Erik hooked a thumb into the top of her daisy-covered suspender belt. If he dropped his gaze lower, he’d see the tiny straps of her thong, matching those on her dress. A low groan told her he had, rumbling through her as he pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. She arched into it with a soft whimper.

Locking eyes with her reflection again, he said gruffly, ‘Nothing about this dress is virginal.’

Abby reached behind her, wrapped his tie around her hand and tugged. ‘You’re one to talk. I can’t believe this perfectly tailored suit hasn’t got you laid at least once.’ She was certainly desperate to take it off him, already picturing herself sliding his jacket over those strong arms, fingers making quick work of the buttons of his shirt.

Although taking him from the picture of refined composure and turning that suit into a rumpled mess held its own appeal.

Erik came even closer, his body now flush with hers, and rested his hands on the dressing table, one on either side of her. It left his hips and the growing hardness between his legs pressed firmly against her. She cursed every layer of fabric between them.

‘Are you trying to punish me for being a gentleman last night?’ His voice was low and laced with desire, words separated by light presses of his lips along her back and shoulders as he finally tugged the zip up, knuckles tracing her spine.

‘I’m punishing you for getting me hot and flustered, then leaving me alone and frustrated in a cold, empty bed.’

‘I told you to play,’ he murmured into her skin, one hand ghosting over her hip.

She’d been tempted, but after the glorious moment they’d shared, she hadn’t wanted to risk marring the night with any of the negative feelings it might have borne. It seemed Erik shared none of the same qualms.

‘Did you?’ Surprise bled into her voice.

‘Well, yeah,’ Erik said. His face was sheepish where he met hers in the mirror. ‘Is that a problem?’

It wasn’t. Truly. The image that shot through her mind was extremely pleasing: Erik, naked, so desperate for her that he had to touch himself, moaning her name as he did.

But she couldn’t help wondering how they’d gone through an almost identical upbringing, with the same schooling, the same classes telling them that exploring their bodies was shameful and sinful, and he’d come out unscathed.

Maybe he could help her finally heal from it all.

‘No,’ she breathed, arching her body slightly to move against him.