Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

Vaughn

I 've lived a lot in my twenty-five years, probably more than I should've, but there have been a lot of things I've learned. One of those things is when a woman wants something from me.

Val is hanging on tightly around my neck, pressing her body against mine. My hands are at her hips, pushing her further away from my body. I'm not sure she wants to know exactly how much she's affecting me right now.

"Do you like me?" She asks, gazing up. Her eyes are glossy, and tomorrow she more than likely won't remember much of this. I kind of hate that, I want her to remember everything having to do with the two of us.

"I do." I answer honestly. There's no reason to play hard to get, we're old enough to not be playing games with one another. I did that enough in high school. "But I also have a feeling you aren't thinking straight right now. That drink Alexis made you is clouding your judgment."

"No it's not." She shakes her head. "It's loosening my tongue, and the strict hold I have on myself."

Now we're getting somewhere. I've always wondered why she holds onto herself so tightly. Every time I look at her, her shoulders are hunched, she's never relaxed, always looking around like she expects a bomb to go off. "Then why don't you tell me whatever you want me to know, Val. I'll listen."

Her eyebrows raise and she tips her chin. "I wish I were different. I want to be one of those girls that you can kiss whenever you feel like it, that you don't have to watch yourself around. You may not think I realize it, but you treat me differently than anyone else."

I do, because I respect her more than most. "You're not like everyone else." I admit, hooking my arm around her waist, pulling her tighter.

"What do you mean by that, Vaughn? Half the words you say, I don't understand."

I don't either. "I don't quite understand either. There's an attraction between us, it's one I've never felt with anyone else, but I know that there's no way you're ready for any of that."

She stops swaying with me, and digs her fingers into my neck. "How do you know if I'm ready for it or not?"

"Have you ever been kissed, Val?" I ask slowly. It's as if the two of us are the only ones out on the dance floor together. Everyone else fades into the background as I wait for her to answer.

"No." She shakes her head, licking her lips. "Never been kissed."

This is the stupidest idea I've ever had, but there's nothing I can do to stop it. I have to satiate my curiosity. The sound of boots hitting against the wooden floor, the voices of others talking and laughing, it's all muted as her words hit me. No one has toucher lips before, they've never experienced her reaction. I'm not the type of man to get all fucked up over what my partners have experienced. I'm not the person to get caught up in numbers or anything, it stands to reason that if we're consenting adults, then we've both previously had experience, but this? It's giving me some type of shuddering in my stomach. The words come before I can halt them. "Can I kiss you?" I'm not normally the type of man to ask for permission, but I don't want to scare her.

Those eyes of hers widen, before she nods. Reaching forward, I take hold of her chin, tipping it so that it'll be easier for our mouths to touch. We creep forward, toward one another.

"I need the words, Val. Not just the nod. I need to know that you realize what happens between us when we kiss will change the way we are together. Once I get a taste, I can't promise I'll be willing to go back to how we are right now."

"What do you mean?" She asks, her breath coming out in short gasps, as if she can't get her heart rate to regulate.

I wish I wasn't so honest, but it's how I've kept myself sane over the past few years. "I'm patient with you because I want to know what you're hiding behind those sad eyes all the time. I really like it when you smile, and I wish you'd do that more." I'm getting so far away from what I actually want to tell her. "I'm not doing this right."

"I'm so confused." She shakes her head.

Setting my jaw, I lick my lips. "Fuck it, I've thought about how you taste more than I should. I've imagined what you look like spread out before me more times than I care to count. It's been difficult to be around you without making a move, but the way you would recoil when someone surprised you, it made me aware that maybe something scared you."

"It did." She answers in an agonized voice as she rolls her lips together, before pulling her bottom one in between her teeth. "I wasn't able to trust anyone. That's why I moved here."

"What do you mean you weren't able to trust anyone?" I have to know the answer before I move any further with her.

"The home I came from wasn't normal. I wasn't supposed to be touched prior to marriage, but someone tried." Her eyes cloud.

I grip her neck, holding her close, wishing I could physically harm the person who tried to hurt her. "I'm sorry that happened. Is that why you left?"

"Yeah. I wasn't sure how much more they would try. It didn't feel safe any longer. I knew if I didn't leave, then something would happen that I wouldn't be able to stop. There was enough of a threat..." she trails off.

Inhaling deeply I shove the feelings of wanting to protect her down. She doesn't need those right now, what she needs is an empathetic ear, and someone to do what she needs them to do. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She tugs on my shirt. "I still want you to kiss me. I've never been kissed before, Vaughn, and I've wanted to be by you. I just didn't know how to ask for it. I want you to be my first."

Those words go right to my cock. It needs to settle down, she didn't just ask me to take her to bed, she invited me to kiss her. "Is that your final answer? I don't want you to regret this, Val."

"Final answer. I trust you, Vaughn. It might not be smart, and who knows, you might end up breaking my heart, but one thing I've learned since I came to Broken Falls is that I've been missing out on a life. I wanna live it, and not with the fear of angering God, or disappointing my family. I want to experience all the things that I've heard others talking about in the line of Get Baked, what people whisper amongst each other when they don't think others are listening. I'm always listening, because I've not experienced anything, Vaughn." She says all these words in a large rush, almost as if she doesn't get this out, she won't be able to.

"I'll take care of you." Little does she know I mean in every single way there is.

"Show me what I've been missing, Vaughn."

Everything around us comes into focus, as if I'm waking up from some muted dream. I don't want to do this right here, with everyone in town watching, our friends having a front row seat. While they've made noises about the two of us liking each other, this is private. They only need to be involved if we want them to be, and right now I don't. Running my hand down her arm, I entwine our fingers and pull her toward the back of the bar. When we get to the door that leads outside, I open it and tug her into the muggy night.

"Is everything okay?" She asks, a worried tone masking her voice.

"It's fine. I just didn't want to do this in front of everyone. Not because I don't want everyone to know I'm about to get up close and personal with you, but because this should be between the two of us. I don't want to share this moment with anyone else."

A smile spreads across her face, one that isn't colored with concern or fear. "Me neither."

When we get to my truck, I go to the back and let the tailgate down. For once I'm glad I got here late so I had to park almost at the end of the lot. No one is around us, when I lift her up on the tailgate. Stepping between her thighs, I reach up, grabbing her chin between my thumb and forefinger. "We're out here, alone. There's no one to interrupt us, but if you feel uncomfortable, tell me. I'll immediately stop if that's what you want me to do. Got it?"

Her chin dips into her chest as she nods. "I'm good. I want this, Vaughn."

My heart pounds as I tilt her mouth toward mine. Lowering my eyes, I watch as I get closer, and then I fuse our lips together. This kiss is slow and coaxing, not the crush of tongues I'm used to. Her fingers dig into my hair, and hold on tight, her thighs press into my hips, and I know with this one small taste, I'm a fucking goner.