Eden curled up against him, humming softly. She couldn’t imagine Sterling smothering her. At least, not in the way she’d been oppressed before. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. One abusive relationship had been enough for her. Another one would be…
“I will,” Eden rubbed slow circles on his chest, eyes slightly closed. “How was the math test? I haven’t had the chance to take it. I’m supposed to after school.”
“It was… all right. I think I did fairly well. I’m hoping for an ‘A’ or course, but I think it might be a ‘B’,” Sterling answered with a shrug, rubbing her back.
“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Eden stifled a yawn, his actions making her too peaceful. She shifted a little, moving so she was sitting on his lap sideways. “Tell me about yourself.”
“What do you want to know? My favorite things?” Sterling asked, kissing her temple.
“That would be a good start,” Eden looked up him. “Your favorite things.”
Sterling hummed and leaned back with a sigh. “Well… Can I list you as one of them? Because that’s an easy one,” he chuckled softly. “Otherwise, I guess my favorite color is dark blue. I like winter, and….. Okay, you can’t tell anyone this, but I actually really like red pandas…”
As he talked, Eden lifted her hand and traced his features again. From his jawline to his nose to his lips and anywhere her fingers could touch. When he reached the part about the red pandas, she chuckled.
“I figured that, actually,” she lightly scratched his cheek with her nail. “At the zoo. You wanted to see them first.”
Sterling closed his eyes at her touches, breathing out slowly between barely-parted lips. He leaned into her touch and shifted to kiss her finger.
“Yeah, well… They’re cute, okay?” he muttered. “Like you’re cute. They’re just less deadly.”
Eden leaned up until their mouths were barely brushing. She knew he’d close the distance, but she just wanted to see what he would do. It wasn’t like she was teasing him, either.
“Are you saying I’m deadly?” She murmured, caressing his cheek.
Sterling slowly opened his eyes to peer down into hers. He brushed his lips across hers lightly before closing the distance for barely a moment. “You certainly can be of you want to be. And you’re the death of me, so yes. I’m saying you’re deadly.”
Eden shivered at the look in his eyes, and then at his actions and words.
“You think I’m the death of you?” She murmured, their mouths brushing against each other.
Sterling hummed in affirmation. “Yes, you are. And now I’m going to kiss you, so shh,” he murmured, pressing their lips together.
Fireworks exploded in Eden's stomach when Sterling pressed their lips together. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself upward a little to kiss him better.
Eden decided she really, really liked doing this with Sterling. She liked the way his lips molded in hers. She loved how they moved against each other. Gathering her courage and pushing away the fear, Eden pressed their lips together harder, fingers lacing through his hair.
Sterling let the kiss remain gentle for a while, simply lips moving against lips slowly. And then Eden pressed hers harder against his, so he deepened it a little. What would she do if he let her lead? Would she take it further or let it stay soft?
A small sound erupted from Eden's throat when Sterling deepened the kiss a little. Her toes curled, warmth flooding through her at his action. She liked the gentle way their lips moved against each other. She liked how she could feel his mouth against hers and taste him. She shifted a little, mouths still attached and adjusted herself so her legs were on either side of him. Her hands left his hair and cupped his face, the kiss at the same pace.
Sterling hummed against her lips when she shifted in his lap. He smirked a little at the sound she made, which had sent a shiver up his spine. His hands found her waist, and he held her gently to himself. She didn’t deepen the kiss any further, but that was okay. If she wanted to, though, he wouldn’t object to it.
Eden shivered when his hands gripped her waist and held her gently to himself. She positioned herself higher on her knees, wanting to deepen the kiss but being afraid of remembering and then offending Sterling. His hands on her felt as gentle as his kiss. He didn't hold her possessively. He held her like she was something precious, something that needed to be treated right and Eden loved it.
She pulled away from his mouth, breathing heavily, eyes still closed, lips tingling and burning.
"I like it when you kiss me like that," she murmured, keeping her eyes shut.
Sterling smiled and bumped their noses together. “Yeah? Well, so do I. I like kissing you no matter how I’m doing it. I like it a lot.”
Eden smiled, opening her eyes to see his swollen lips. Were hers as swollen as his, or were they more?
"Again?" she looked at him hopefully. "Kiss me again?"
“I’ll kiss you whenever you want me to,” Sterling murmured with a grin before leaning back down. He pressed their lips together tightly, this kiss a little harder than the last.
Eden immediately kissed him back with the same force as he kissed her with. This time, it was harder than the last. Eden wasn't complaining. She liked it. It was soothing, this feeling. She knew she couldn't handle a tongue in her mouth–not yet, at least–so she was glad he hadn't taken that turn.
Sterling’s hands tightened around her waist, and he slowly released her from his grip. He wanted to run his hands over her side, but she had asked him not to do that. If he wanted to touch her, he would have to wait, and he was okay with that. For now, he set one hand on the couch beside him and used the other to cup her cheek.
Finally, Eden pulled away from Sterling and rested her head on his shoulder. She took both his hands and wrapped them around her as best as she could, making herself comfortable in the position she was in.
"This is nice," she swallowed. "Extremely nice."
Sterling hummed and kept his eyes closed, rubbing gentle circles on her back as he tightened his grip slightly. “It is, yeah… When do you want to go back to school? After lunch?”
Eden relaxed in his hold, exhaling through her nose. “How about never?” She muttered. “Really don’t want to go back.”
“Yeah, neither do I… But we should. We can go back to school after lunch, okay? That’s still plenty of time to spend together and away from school,” Sterling murmured, kissing the top of her head.
“After lunch,” Eden finally repeated, sinking in his embrace. Her fingers reached to his hair to play with it, twirling short strands. “But that would be missing three classes. And I think we have PE last block.”
“We could go back now and come back for lunch, then skip PE if you want,” Sterling suggested with a shrug. “Whatever you want, E.”
“I need to take the test after school, remember?” Eden sighed. “I’ll need to go back, anyway. And I’m not terrible at sports. I just don’t care.”
Sterling chuckled softly and kissed her forehead. “Okay. After lunch, then, and no later. Deal?”