I turned towards her, and she was already reaching towards my shoulder. I ducked slightly to help her, watching in the mirror as she tied the small strings into pretty little bows, tweaking until she stepped back and patted them, seeming happy.
I turned to look at my full reflection, shocked at how badass I looked. With a pair of high boots and a fake weapon of some sort, maybe a bit of stubble along my chin, I’d look right at home.
I’d never understood cosplay before. I loved gaming as much as the next nerd, but part of the fun was it being in your imagination, right? But standing here in these clothes, I felt like a completely different person. One who might do things differently. Be a little wiser; a little bolder, even.
“Not bad,” Morgan said. I turned back to face her and was struck yet again by how amazing she looked.
“Thanks,” I said. “We make quite a pair.”
I didn’t mean it as a loaded comment – I just meant that we both looked so different than usual, and like we came from the same storybook – but as soon as the words left my mouth, I knew they held weight.
“Jack,” Morgan said, stepping towards me so she was just a few inches away, “I know we talked about this already, but I really hated how everything went down at yours. I wasn’t trying to reveal some escape plan I had, and I’m sorry that I didn’t realise how you might take that.”
“Well, like I said on Monday, I don’t want you to go. But that’s no excuse for me overreacting.”
Morgan smirked. “You did kind of overreact,” she said. “But it’s okay. And thank you for the list. There were some good options on there.”
“You’re welcome,” I muttered, meeting her gaze. I didn’t want to think about the list right now; not with how close she was to me, or how heavy her gaze was.
“Also, I have to admit…” she trailed off, and I could tell that whatever was going to come next was going to be important. New information that could change the course of my life forever, even. A pregnant pause hung between us, and it felt like we were about to step around a corner. Through a doorway that would lock behind us.
“What?” I urged, ready to step through.
“I … I had very different hopes for that night than what happened.”
My heart dropped out of my body. Was this it? Was this really – finally – happening? Morgan dropped my gaze and looked at the ground again. Without thinking, I put a finger under her chin and angled her back to me, catching her eye again, holding the side of her face. I wanted her looking at me for this. I needed to see her eyes when she said it; to know that she meant it. To finally put an end to all the wondering; all the wishing; all thewant.
“What did you want?” I asked, my voice a low rasp now. “What did you hope?”
She didn’t look away this time, not that I would have let her. She let out a sharp breath through her nose, her shoulders falling. I felt her chin lift slightly away from my finger. She was steeling herself.
And then she raised herself up on her tiptoes and closed the distance between us, her mouth crashing into mine.
My lips parted in response, and my body took over immediately, one hand finding the small of her back to pull her closer, the other sliding through her curls and tugging at them at the base of her neck, tilting her head up further to deepen the kiss. Our breaths were hot and fast against one another’s faces, and almost immediately I started to go a bit lightheaded.
I dipped down to wrap an arm around her back, pulling her towards me as I backed up, stepping until the hard wood of something – the door, I was pretty sure – hit my back. I slumped down slightly against it so I was closer to her height. She leaned into me, bending one leg to bring her hips closer in to mine. Fragile fabric be damned, I bunched up the skirt of her dress, desperate to find that leg, that hip; to run my hands over it. Finally I found the bottom of the dress with one fist, pulling it up until my knuckles brushed against the bare skin of her thigh, making her shudder and push her hips fully against mine. I was already rock hard, which I was almost certain she could feel, even with so many layers of tulle between us. I moved my mouth along her jaw to her ear, clawing at her thigh as I sucked gently on her ear, and she let out a soft moan.
Morgan’s hands began to roam, too, tracing my jaw with her fingers as I kissed down her neck, smoothing along my chest with her palms, slipping under the thick fabric of the jacket to unbutton the top of my shirt. She grabbed me by the lapels and pulled away, making me groan at the lack of her, but she pulled me with her back across the room. As she did, she unbuckled my jacket and then pushed it off over my shoulders.
Holy shit, was this really happening? Five minutes ago I’d been desperate to get a moment alone with her, and now she was in my arms in a fucking ballgown, biting at my lip and pressing herself against me. I thought I might pass out from happiness already, but then she pushed me back to sit on the edge of the bed, and when she planted a knee on either side of my hips and straddled me, I knew for sure this would be the end of me. And I’d die a very, very happy man.
“Should we stop?” I asked, my mouth pressed against hers again, sharing hot breaths between us. I was begging her in my mind not to take the out I was giving her, but I forced myself to pause before lifting her gown any further.
She smiled against me, and I thought I might melt. But before she could answer, another voice interrupted.
“Yes you should!” Phil stage-whispered from the doorway, and Morgan practically jumped off me, backing up until she knocked into the chest of drawers, her hand over her mouth. I quickly grabbed a pillow from behind me and placed it over my lap, certain the tight trousers would give away just how hot and heavy things had got.
“What were you thinking?” Phil asked, still in a whisper, pulling the door shut behind him and walking over to Morgan. He smoothed out the skirt of the dress and checked it over as Morgan stood frozen in horror.
Seemingly satisfied that I hadn’t actually ripped the dress, Phil stood and turned to face me. “You know that I am a fan of this,” he said, gesturing back and forth between Morgan and me. “But please, for the love of all things holy, not in the costumes, yeah?”
Morgan burst out laughing, and I couldn’t help but join her.
“I’m serious! Those flowers took me a full week on their own,” he said, his best angry face on, though I could tell he was trying to hold back a smile. “Don’t make me take it back,” he added, turning to Morgan.
Morgan’s face went suddenly deadpan as she clutched the skirt of her dress in her fists. “Please don’t.”
“Then no more funny business in the dress. After the Ren Faire, you can get railed in a ballgown all you want. But until then, get naked first like normal people. Andgently, please.”
