Flutter (The Discover Series) (27 page)

He was still pressed against me; his head was tucked into the hollow of my neck. His warm breath was created shiver bumps along my skin, but the pressure of his body was delicious. His finger hadn’t moved from my lips, and his forearm rested on my chest. I wondered if he could feel the electricity that crackled from the contact.

Other then the shallow sound of our breathing, which had managed to synchronize, there was no other sound. So when the flash went off, I nearly screamed. The noise caught me off guard and I had jumped against him. I heard the small sound, almost growl, inside his throat, and I stiffened. I felt like we had been in the same position for an eternity, before he finally lifted his head and his eyes found mine. I wanted to turn away for the endless blue depths, but I was helpless against their powerful persuasion.

Another flash went off, but this time I didn’t make a sound, and I managed not to move an inch. I was spell bound. My lips parted, the movement brought his attention to my mouth. He seemed to have forgotten that his finger was still there. He slowly let his finger drag down my lips. His fingertip tugged on my bottom lip as it slid down to my chin, curling his fingers into a fist. Reflexively I touched the tip of my tongue to the exact spot he had been touching, pulling my lip between my teeth. The minute I realized what I did, I blushed until my face felt like it was going to combust. The smile that spread across his entire face was gorgeous, and almost smug; but in a sexy kind of way, that made my heart pound out of control. He rested his arm against the wall next to my head, but didn’t lift his weight away from my body and I was thrilled about that.

Flash!

I turned to look at the screen and saw that there were two more pictures left. The count down restarted from ten, and I mentally counted backwards, rolling my head toward him again. His eyes never left my face. He just stood there studying my face, and I was immediately drowning in his eyes again. He stared at me for the longest time, and I wondered exactly what he was thinking. His expression was so powerful, that it made me feel simultaneously shy, nervous, and confident. I was shy because Scott never managed to look at me like this, nervous because I was 100% sure that
no
boy had or would ever look at me like this, and confident because I could make him look at me like this. I didn’t exactly know or understand why I was allowing him to be this close to me, touch me the way he was, or look at me the way he did.

Two minutes ago he has been serenading me, with a song so bitter sweet that it stirred emotions that confused the hell out of me, sending me running in the other direction. He was a stranger to me. Yet there was something oddly familiar about him and not just because I had met him earlier. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but I was positive I had never seen him before in my life; nobody could for get those ice blue eyes, or beautiful face.

I was completely lost, in my own little world, that I hadn’t noticed the expression on his face change. He had pulled his head back, and he was watching me with narrowed eyes. I didn’t know what my own expression looked like, but he looked as if he was having a hard time trying to decipher my reactions. The confusion didn’t last long, and he was distracted by the hair teasing my cheek. His hand came up and he took the strand between his fingers, rubbing them over the silky strands, before tucking it behind my ear. He let his fingers trail down the side of my neck, and then curving his fingers, so the backs of them were moving down my throat. I suppressed the urge to swallow, but I had no doubt that he could feel my pulse racing.

Flash!

He dropped his hand away, squeezing his eyes closed, and I could feel his fist pressing into the wall against my side. He suddenly looked very tired and…guilty maybe. I wanted to touch his face, smooth away the lines that had him looking distressed, but I was afraid to move. Afraid that I would freak him out, and
he
would be the one to bolt this time.

He let out a sigh and rested his forehead against mine. There didn’t seem to be any shortage on the invisible sparks that we produced between us. His face was so close to mine, that I wouldn’t have to tilt my head much, to feel his lips over mine. I realized that I was staring at his mouth and I quickly looked up. My only other option was to look away, and in truth that really wasn’t an option. But the look on his face made my stomach flip and my lips parted on their own.

He was tempting me, and I was losing the battle. I made a weak attempt to move away from him, so I could at least say that I tried, even if I it was a half-hearted attempt. I pushed myself tighter against the wall, but he wasn’t discouraged by my failed effort, and his body adjusted to the shift in position. We were like magnets pulling toward each other, and he seemed to be having some kind of internal struggle with that fact. It was hard wanting to move away from him, it was like being torn in two.

I suddenly had the tiniest bit of doubt. Maybe I was completely wrong about the situation. I didn’t want to be the cause of the frown that was not planted on his face. The tiny booth didn’t seem big enough for the two of us anymore. I opened my mouth, my body already in the process of pulling away, and I hoped to come up with some excuse that wouldn’t cause my voice to quiver.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered avoiding all eye contact. “I-” I dropped my head, not really knowing what to say. I was feeling so many different things right now, but disappointment seemed to overwhelm everything else.

“Sara?”

I knew he was waiting for me too look at him, but I couldn’t.

“Hmmm?” I said, without looking up. My attention was fixed on the fibers of his shirt.

“Look at me…please?” he said softly.

His gentle coaxing was completely unfair!

“I can’t.” I whispered, and closed my eyes.

“Let me help you.” He teased. I felt the soft skin of his fingers as they caressed the curve of my throat, until they were directly under my chin. I swallowed hard as he ran his fingers over my soft skin a few times, before I felt the slight pressure as he lifted my face
toward
his.

My eyes were still closed, and even though they begged me to open, I wrestled over control to keep them shut. I wanted to look at him, I wanted to get lost in his eyes, and I wanted to feel the warmth of his smile over every inch of me, but my intense attraction to him scared the hell out of me. I didn’t have a better plan than to stand there, stubbornly, with my eyes closed until…until what? He gave up and left me alone?

The decision was taken from me.

I felt the feather like touch over the lids of my eyes, and I could feel the trail of sparks down the line of my nose and over my temples. My whole face was tingling, and I didn’t know if the sensations had come from his fingertips or the smooth skin of his lips. The urge to know won over my restraint, and my eyes flickered open. His face was so close to mine, he took my breath away.

“What are you sorry for?” he asked, his breath fanning over my face and I took pleasure in his sent. I took a steady breath before I answered him.

What was I sorry for? 
I thought.
Everything
.

“I have a boyfriend. This isn’t fair to him.” I finally said.

He nodded and seemed to think that over.

“You haven’t done anything,” he said rationally. “Yet.” He added.

I flushed. “Haven’t I?”

“Oh believe me, if you had, you wouldn’t have to ask.” He smiled.

“I don’t know why…” I stopped, not ready to admit to him that I was reacting toward him the way I was.

“What?” He urged.

I shook my head. “I should go.”

“Is that your signature line?” he laughed, and I shivered.

“My friend, we fought, and I know she saw your…performance. I have to find her, and try to explain everything.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ll probably have to lie.” I said bitterly. “It’s my specialty these days.

“What have you had to lie about?” He asked.

Careful Sara
, I warned myself. I could feel myself wanting to give into his soft questioning, and I wanted
so
badly to tell someone what I was going through. I wanted to tell
him.

“I don’t…I don’t want to have to lie to you too.” I answered honestly. “So please don’t ask me to.” I looked at him, hoping he would hear the pleading in my voice and let it go.

“I won’t.” He said simply, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Sometimes lying is in the best interest for those we care about.”

I could feel his muscle tense at his words, and the sparks flew deep inside his eyes. “Your eyes, they’re doing it again.”

He laughed. “What are they doing?”

I leaned in closer to him, to study the blue depths of his eyes, and they ignited. I gasped and pulled back. His body followed mine, like it didn’t have any choice.

“Nothing.” I said, not wanting to ruin the moment with my crazy notions.

“Coward.” He teased.

“Now look who is name-calling.” I gave his chest a little shove, and ignored the burning impression the touch left me with.

I looked up quickly for some sign that he felt it too, but the only evidence was the flash in his eyes.

“My apologies.” He said seriously

I held my breath when I saw him moving in closer
toward
me. I was frozen in place, waiting for the moment I knew was coming.

I thought about what his lips would feel like over mine, what he would taste like against my tongue. I watched as his face got closer, and I could feel the pounding of my heart throughout my entire body. I remembered what the few simple touches between us had felt like, and I wondered if I would be engulfed in blue flames when he finally kissed me. The slow, agonizing anticipation that was building up inside of me was pure torture, and I waited desperately until our lips finally connected.

“Sara.” He whispered my name, and I closed my eyes at the silky sound of his voice. When I opened them again he was inches from my face, and I just wanted to grab him to me to end the agony.

I could hear the sizzle all around us, and I wondered if we could actually generate an electrical fire. The sound got louder, and I could feel the voltaic currents running through the booth. I glanced around franticly. He seemed to catch on too, and we both glanced up in time to see the lights glow brightly before bursting into little pieces.

He was quicker than I was, and he had his body shielding mine, covering my face from the shards of glass that erupted around us. I let out a small scream, as the computer screen began to sizzle and smoke. The screen cracked from the heat, and I knew it was going to go up in flames any minute. Before I knew what was happening, he was pulling me out of the booth as the smoke from the computer surrounded us.

We flew through the curtain just seconds before the screen burst into flames, catching the inside of the booth on fire. The black curtain caught the flames, and the fire began to burn away the fibers of the material.

I was pulled inside the protection of his chest, and I could feel his heart pounding under my ear. He had me wrapped up in the safety of his arms as he stared at the burning photo booth. I was suddenly aware of the curious and shocked crowd that had gathered around us and the flaming booth. There were murmurs all around us, as people tried to speculate what had happened. I could hear the worried chatter as a couple of people asked if we were okay. I realized I was still hidden inside his warmth, and I backed away slowly.

He looked at me for the first time since he had pulled me from the small explosion. He looked almost sad, and disappointed, and I could completely relate those feelings.

Security was there quickly putting out the fire. Three of them had small fire extinguisher, and were frantically trying to pull the pins free. When they finally managed to deploy the extinguishers, the air around us was filled with white powder as it exploded from the cans, slowly putting out the fire.

I felt a delicate caress over the back of my hand. I looked up immediately, but the white fog blurred my vision. I waved at the smoke, but he was already gone. I immediately felt removed from everything that was happening around me, as I searched for his face among the crowd, but I knew it was too late.

Someone was trying to get my attention.

“Miss? Miss? Are you alright?” I blinked a few times, until I realized it was one of the security guys talking to me.

“Uh yeah…yes, I’m fine.” I managed to get out.

“What happened here?”

I tried to pay attention to him. I frowned as I thought about the fire, and wondered if we had actually caused it.

“I don’t know,” I said “I was taking pictures and it…it just started to spark. Before I knew it, it was on fire.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, looking at me doubtfully. “Do I need to call anyone for you? Maybe you should go to the hospital just to make sure you’re okay?”

I was shaking my head before he had finished.

“No, honestly I’m fine.” Now
that
was my signature line. I was anything,
but
fine. “I’m here with a friend. She can get me home.”