I’d been in Liam’s dorm room two weeks ago and we’d been making out and touching.
The touching got a little more involved than I was used to but I was curious so when he slid his hand under my skirt and pushed his fingers under my underwear to touch me there I’d almost come off the bed. I felt it between my legs and I felt it in my breasts. He’d settled a thumb on my clit and played me as my body slowly started to fracture until it eventually broke into this amazingly pleasurable explosion.
Adam didn’t even need to put a hand between my legs. All he needed to do was touch me and those familiar tingles were vibrating throughout me.
“Enjoying your birthday?”
I turned to gaze at him now, my face close to his. I was five foot nine so usually only a couple inches shorter than Adam, but tonight I was wearing four inch heels so I was actually just little bit taller than him. That thought seemed to occur to him too because he gave me a quick once over and grinned, shaking his head as I replied, “Yeah, it’s been good.”
“Have you opened any presents yet?”
“No. I was going to later but I think everyone is a bit too drunk to care. Including you.”
“Pfft, I’m not drunk. I’ve got a buzz going that’s all.” His eyes narrowed. “You’re not drunk are you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Adam, I’m legally allowed to drink now.”
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“I’ve had a couple of shots, that’s it.”
We were quiet a moment and I actually allowed myself to relax against him. That was until he flexed his fingers against my back and an involuntary shiver rippled over me. Adam tensed, as if he’d felt my reaction, and I quickly looked at his face for confirmation. His dark eyes glittered in a way I’d never seen before.
I gulped.
He studied me a moment and I found myself pressed even tighter against him. My fingers curled into his shoulder. His next words almost blew me off my feet. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Els,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
My eyes grew round with shock at his announcement, my heart beginning to thud against my chest. Adam thought I was beautiful? No, not just beautiful… “the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen”.
Wow.
Okay.
My chest began to rise and fall a little rapidly. “Adam…” I replied softly, unsure whether he meant that in a strictly platonic sense or if he was finally opening his eyes up to see I wasn’t a little girl anymore. For a start I had boobs now.
“I worry about you all the time,” he confessed. “You’re so sweet and kind, too kind sometimes. I worry someone will hurt you and I won’t be there to stop it.”
It was true I had a tendency to look for the best in everyone, and I had a bit of a hero-complex (I wonder where I’d picked that up from), but I wasn’t incompetent. And I was a woman now. I could take care of myself, and I told him so.
Adam frowned. “That’s not what I mean. You get a lot of male attention, Ellie, and sometimes it’s difficult to weed out the wankers. For instance the kid you came with tonight.
He flirts a lot… with everything that has tits and a pair of long legs.”
Glowering at the insult to Liam, I tried to press back. “Liam is a nice guy.”
“Liam is after one thing. I should know—”
“Right, you’ve been hogging her enough.” Braden was suddenly standing beside us, grinning. “I want a dance with the birthday girl.”
Adam tightened his hold on me and then as if it occurred to him what he was doing, he threw Braden a grin and let me go. We shared one last look and then he was gone and I was in Braden’s arms.
What the hell had just happened? Had Adam Sutherland… was he… was that more than friendly advice? The way he touched me, the things he’d said, the way he’d looked at me. It had felt different. My heart was racing, a bubble of giddy hope starting to float up inside of me. Poor Liam was forgotten as I got lost in my longing and fantasies.
“I’m proud of you,” Braden told me gruffly, bringing me out of my head where I was already picking wedding dresses and deciding who would be my maid of honor. I guessed it would have to be Allie since I’d known her the longest.
I smiled at my big brother, feeling my chest expand at his declaration. “What for?”