Reconstructing Meredith Read Free Page B

back. As the nearness of her breath warmed my lips, my heart beat faster.
    Just before I kissed her, she stopped me with a gentle hand on my chest. Another cool rush of panic surged through my veins.
    “What? What is it?” I started to pull away, but she held me to her.
    “It’s been a long time, Scott,” she whispered. “A long, long time.”
    I ran an unsteady hand through her hair. “I know. If you want me to stop, I—”
    “No, it’s not that.” She moistened her lips again. “I just want you to know that if you kiss me again, there’s a good chance I won’t want you to stop.” She swallowed hard. “At all.”
    “So you’re saying,” I said, my heart pounding so hard I was surprised it didn’t add a vibrato to my voice, “that if I kiss you again, you won’t want to stop at just a kiss?”
    “No, I won’t.”
    I slid my hand around the back of her neck and drew her to me. “Thanks for the warning.”

     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 2
     
    Meredith had never been a timid kisser. I’d always loved the way she combed her fingers through my hair and explored my mouth with her tongue like it was the first time every time. She’d had no reservations about shoving me up against a wall and getting the passionate, full-body-experience kiss she wanted. Though she was a natural sub and I a natural Dom, the assertive and sometimes aggressive way she’d kissed had always turned me on.
    Those days were gone.
    I couldn’t tell if she held the front of my shirt so she could push me away if she needed to, or if it was so I couldn’t back away. Maybe she just needed something to anchor herself. Her lips moved slowly, almost apologetically against mine, and I didn’t miss the heartbeat’s worth of resistance before she let my tongue part her lips.
    A submissive kisser was one thing. Submission aroused me, but this timid, tentativeness broke my heart. Her ex may as well have punched her, thrown her down the stairs, and sent her to work with sunglasses and extra concealer. He was no less a monster than a run-of-the-mill wife beater. Her spirit was just as broken, her body just as abused. Quite possibly more so.
    I stroked her hair and held her closer. Sighing into my kiss, she melted against me, molding her body to mine as much as our current position would allow.
    One hand released my shirt. A moment later, it came to rest on my thigh. As her palm slowly drifted higher, my pulse soared. This was a small advance, but an advance nonetheless. A flicker of confidence. The farther her hand moved, the more passionate her kiss became, and the hand on my shirt pulled me a little closer.
    Then, just shy of my cock, her hand stopped. For a few seconds, it lingered there. Her touch was lighter now, less certain, as if she might lift it away at any moment. The tentativeness returned to her kiss, and she loosened her grasp on my shirt.
    I put my hand over hers on my leg. I didn’t hold on enough to force her to continue, but gave a firm enough squeeze to ask her not to retreat any farther. I broke the kiss, but stayed close to her.
    “Do you want to stop?” I asked.
    “No. No, I don’t want to stop.” Her voice still shook.
    “I don’t want to push you, Meredith,” I whispered, touching her face. “You’re calling the shots tonight, not me.”
    “But you’re the—”
    “It’s just me tonight. No dominance, no submission. Anything you want from me, it’s yours.” I kissed her again. “All you have to do is ask.” Curling my fingers just slightly, I hoped to coax hers into resuming its dizzying path. Her hand rested more heavily on me now, no longer in danger of pulling away completely, but not yet moving.
    “There is one thing I want.” She spoke so softly, I wouldn’t have heard her if I’d been even an inch farther away.
    “Tell me.”
    She closed her eyes for a moment. Then she took a breath and looked at me. “I just want to feel…” She caught herself and her eyes darted away.
    Running the