More Than Words: A Novella Read Online Free Page A

plan.”
     
    “Adapt it?”
     
    “Let's change your field of study from quiet observation to participation.”
     
    My eyes widen, and my heart rate quickens at the thought. I can't deny my desire to be an active participant in the real thing. What keeps holding me back is our friendship.
     
    “I want to kiss you.” His eyes are blazing, his gaze piercing me. “You want me to. Admit it.”
     
    He already knows I do. My body language isn't sending mixed signals. But he's my friend and once we cross that line, we can't go back. Yet, what if this moment has already crossed that line? “This isn't a good idea,” I say, standing upright.
     
    “It's just research, right?” His gaze holds mine, his voice serious. “You can only learn so much from the surface study. Sometimes you have to dig deeper. The depth of your research depends entirely on you.”
     
    For Landon, it's only research. He said he didn't mind being used. Did he have an inkling this would happen?
     
    Why didn't I ?
     
    He cocks his head to the side. “We don't have to. However...if you say no, I may have to leave. I'm finding it difficult to touch you and not stop. Just tell me if I'm going too far.”
     
    The hands-on experience would make my words more realistic and I want to be thorough in my research, but... “Kissing would be too far.”
     
    “Why?”
     
    “Too intimate. And it could lead to other things.”
     
    “Not all kissing leads to sex.”
     
    “It would for us.”
     
    Sitting up straighter, he asks, “What makes you so sure about that?”
     
    “Because...you're making me feel things.” I turn my face to the side.
     
    I hear him get off the bed, and then he's in front of me. Cupping my cheek with his hand, he makes me look up at him as he asks, “What kind of things?”
     
    I pause before I answer. “Things I've never felt before.”
     
    “Dana.” His other hand comes up to my other cheek. “Dana, please let me kiss you. Let me show you what you've been missing.”
     
    The sweetness of him is my undoing. My confidence comes forth like I've never experienced with anyone else. “Sit back down on the bed,” I tell him. He complies, and I slowly climb into his lap, my legs on either side of him. I'm just on his lap, nowhere near his erection. As much as I feel the urge to be closer, to feel him pressing up against me, I'm not courageous enough. His hands fall to my waist, and he allows me to be in control of this. Our faces are close. My hand reaches up, fingertips grazing across his lips. My eyes lift to find his. “Show me, Landon.”
     
    And then he kisses me. His lips are soft, gently parting mine as his fingers weave into my hair. I kiss him back, eager for more. He tentatively sweeps his tongue into my mouth in sweet exploration. I moan and he takes that opportunity to deepen the kiss. He devours my lips, tasting me hungrily. I can barely keep up with him. I had no idea of the extent of his kissing talent. None. If this is how he kisses, how would the rest of it...
     
    Well then.
     
    He pulls back, but our mouths are only an inch apart. “Damn it, Dana. Your lips are luscious.”
     
    A shiver runs through me. In all my dating years, nobody has ever said that to me. Then again, I've never been with a man who had a vocabulary and knew how to use it. “I could kiss you all night.”
     
    He runs his fingers through my hair. “Would you?”
     
    “Do you want me to?”
     
    We should slow down. We should quit while we're ahead. Before the clothes come off. We could go back, couldn't we? We're pragmatic enough, right? Trouble is, one taste filled my senses and we've already struck the point of no return before even getting started. Despite the nagging in my head, now that we're here I don't even care. Not one bit.
     
    He grips my hair and brings our foreheads together. “Yes,” he answers.
     
    “Maybe I will,” I whisper, pressing my lips back to his.

 
    Chapter Five
     
    The second my lips touch