Page 301 of Every Almost

When Charlie kissed her, the wanting rose again, whole and immediate, as though it had only been waiting for Reyna to stop standing in its own way.

Reyna desperately pulled Charlie closer.

Charlie’s hand pressed into her, the other caught at the front of Reyna’s coat, fingers searching blindly for the first button while their mouths moved together.

She missed it.

“Hold on,” Charlie breathed against her lips.

“No.”

Charlie gave a helpless sound that might’ve been a laugh if Reyna hadn’t kissed it out of her.

Her fingers found the button on the second try, opening between them.

Charlie kissed her again before moving to the next. Her knuckles brushed Reyna’s skin where the coat had parted, and the rose brightened beneath the touch.

The second button came free.

Then the third.

Each one let Charlie closer, and that was all Reyna could think about. Every fastening opened another inch between Charlie’s hands and her body, and every inch made the rest of the coat feel suddenly and completely intolerable.

Charlie’s mouth left hers long enough to follow the line of Reyna’s jaw. Reyna tipped her head back as Charlie's lips blazed a scorching trail across her skin.

“Charlie...”

“I know.”

Her breath was warm against Reyna’s neck, her fingers still working down the coat with less success now that Reyna’s hands had found the skin beneath the back of Charlie's shirt.

Charlie shivered.

Reyna did it again.

“That’s cheating,” Charlie murmured.

“You didn’t establish rules.”

“I’m beginning to see the flaw in that.”

Reyna laughed softly before scraping her nails gently across the skin this time.

"You're not being fair..." Charlie whispered.

"You're right, I'm not."

Reyna did it again.

The last button slipped open.

Charlie pushed the coat apart, and her palms moved beneath it, sliding over Reyna’s sides through the thin fabric of her tank.

Reyna’s breath caught.

Charlie stopped, her eyes searching Reyna’s face.

“Still good?”