Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1) by Maddie Bennett Page A

just moments before
our first kiss. I turned to Mathis, unwilling to keep the memory to myself.
Maybe this will make him at least act more natural, like his old self, around
me.
     
    “Doesn’t it remind you of that time in the cave?” I asked him. “We
were playing some silly game, right?”
     
    “You were about to fall into an enchanted sleep,” Mathis said, his
mouth settling into a gentle smile as he looked at me, that warmth and spark of
mischief back in his eyes again, making my heart skip a beat.
     
    “Those were fun times,” I said. “We were just kids, acting like
kids, making up stories.”
     
    “As I remember, you were the one who started it,” Mathis remarked.
“You told me I wasn’t allowed in your woods without the protection of the fairy
queen.”
     
    “That’s not quite how I remember it,” I said archly, and Mathis
let out a short laugh which rippled through me.
     
    “How do you remember it, then?” he challenged me.
     
    “I remember that you told me the cave was haunted,” I accused him.
“I couldn’t go in there or I would be cursed and fall into an eternal sleep.
Truthfully, I always thought you just wanted it to yourself while I had to stay
out in the rain.”
     
    Mathis laughed again, and despite the rain, I felt happy, elated
even. It was so good to see this side of him again, the carefree, vivacious man
behind the stone mask he had built for himself.
     
    “And then?” he asked, his expression suddenly more serious again,
his eyes looking intensely into mine. “Do you remember how I saved you from
going into that eternal sleep?”
     
    Mathis’ face was so close to mine that I could feel the warmth of
his breath on my cheek. Against the rushing of the rain, the only other sound I
could make out was my heart, beating like an angry fist inside my chest,
desperate to get out. Slowly, Mathis reached out his hand and gently brushed my
hair behind my ear. For an instant, I was catapulted back in time to our very
first meeting, where he had just as gently repeated the same motion, his entire
being focused on taking in every detail of my face.
     
    My cheeks flooded with color as Mathis withdrew his hand from my
face and placed it on my shoulder. For a moment I couldn’t speak or move. Was
he going to kiss me?
     
    But, just as it had happened back in the cave, Mathis hesitated,
just for a moment, and suddenly the spell of stillness was broken and I pulled
back.
     
    “I should really get going,” I said quickly. “What with all this
rain there will probably be a ton of traffic, and I said I’d call my friend
when I got back, and—”
     
    I was cut off by the sudden impact of soft lips on mine, firm but
gentle, pressing against my mouth with just the right amount of pressure. Heat
flooded through me, and the sound of the rain, the growing dampness and the
coolness of the evening air all disappeared in a flash. There was nothing but
me and Mathis. Part of me wanted to press up against him, feel his warm body
flush against mine. I was tempted to deepen the kiss, pressing our lips
together with as much force as I could muster, seeking entrance into the hot,
delicious cavern of his mouth. Another part of me knew I should pull away, get
out of this dangerous situation – but I couldn’t!
     
    The kiss was over before I could put either of these plans into
motion. Mathis drew away as suddenly as he had swept into me, and I was left
breathless and warm, the ghost of Mathis’ lips still present on my own.
     
    “You always did talk too much,” Mathis said quietly.
     
    I just looked at him, unable to speak. The kiss had been…
incredible. I had never felt so much with one brief kiss from any other man.
Even a hot and heavy make out session couldn’t make me feel this alive. I could
feel the blood rushing through my veins as if it were liquid fire, sending all
my senses into overdrive.
     
    In the next instant, though, I recalled everything that Sharon had
told me,