Maybe Yours

Chapter 17

gasped at the touch, taken completely by surprise, and he took the chance to slip his tongue into my mouth.

I stiffened for just a second before my body took over. My arms automatically reached around his neck and I grabbed his hair with my fingers. He moaned and pulled me closer to him. My skin felt heated and the butterflies in my stomach were going crazy. His hands moved lower and he lifted me up placing me on the counter. He hooked my legs around his waist and moved his hands up my thighs to squeeze my waist. I whimpered against his lips.

I don't know how long we kissed.

It could have been hours or minutes. I lost track of time.

When I pulled back we were both breathing hard.

He held my face in his hands moving his thumbs across my cheeks. " Tell me this was your first time.", he panted.

I nodded and tried to turn away. But his hands were firm.

I looked up at him to see him staring down at me with wonder in his eyes.

I blushed. " I'm sorry. It’s just that.."

"What are you sorry for?", he interrupted.

I averted my gaze. " I'm not that experienced in this", I mumbled.

He threw his head back and laughed.

I scowled and pushed his hands away. He was still laughing and that angered me further. I was humiliated now. I jumped down the counter and headed out of the kitchen. Jerk, I fumed. He had just taken my first kiss and he found it funny.

Before I could step out he grabbed my hand and turned me around pulling me against him. He was still chuckling. " Let me go.", I gritted my teeth.

"Eva."

I struggled against his hold and he just tightened it.

"It’s not what you're thinking.", he said. I huffed and looked away.

He grabbed my face in his hands and made me look up at him.

" You have no idea how elated I am right now. Frankly, if you told me that someone else had beaten me to it, I would have lost my mind."

" I find that hard to believe.", I muttered.

He frowned at me. " I care about you more than you know."

"Why did you kiss me?", I asked him nervously.

" I needed to. You don't know how long I've waited to do that.", he sighed.

Then he cleared his throat and smiled. "So now you are officially my girlfriend."

I scowled at him in mock anger.

"I didn't even agree to go out with you.", I rolled my eyes.

His smile faded.

It was comical.

Then he smirked.

Oh no. I tried to push him away.

But he didn't budge.

" I'm pretty good at persuasion.", he said before he kissed me again.

* * * * * * * * ***** * * *** **

James

I was stretched out on the couch in my apartment. I smiled thinking about yesterday. I was her first kiss. This sentence replayed in my brain every alternate second. Damn. It would be a lie if I said that it didn't matter to me. It did. More than I thought it would.

I hadn’t wanted to kiss her before our first date, afraid of what her reaction might be. But when Eva told me she hadn't been kissed before, all my good intentions went right out the window. Whatever restraint I thought I had disappeared as though it was never there.

I almost expected her to slap me for what I did. Though I'm glad she didn't.

I was stunned at how willingly she responded to my touch. I could see that she wanted me as much as I wanted her. And I couldn't wait to have her in my arms again.

She had her classes today and I hadn't seen her since morning. I had a meeting with Drake in another hour. I had texted her wishing her good morning. But she hadn't replied. I frowned. I had to remind her to check her phone more often. I didn't like being ignored.

I picked myself off the couch and headed into the kitchen. I grabbed an apple from the counter and pocketed my cell phone. I had to make a quick trip to the library before heading over to Drake's place.

When I reached, I knocked at the door. There was a shuffle in the room and I heard Drake curse. Then the door opened, and he stood before me with nothing except a towel around his waist.

I looked at him in amusement and he scowled. " I told you to call before you left.", he accused me.

I laughed. " Sorry man. I was too damn eager to see you.", I replied.

"Asshole.", he muttered and turned away.

Riled-up Drake was fun to watch.

I stepped inside the apartment chuckling to myself.

Finding his laptop, I turned it on and waited for the screen to load.

Drake had left the flash drive on the table top. I attached it to the USB drive and began going through the pictures. Each image had a clear view of the three men. They were seated around a low round table. A pistol lay at the center of it. There were three glasses filled with drinks and a square box that contained a white powder. The Egyptian Rekhyt was carrying a briefcase in the first image. In the third image the briefcase lay open in his lap. It contained a heap of money.

I heard Drake come into the room and glanced at him.

"Did you get the lab results?"

"No. It will take another week. It's being held up. But I tried convincing one of Dad's colleagues. He told me he'll try to get them done earlier if possible.", he answered.

"Once we obtain the proof that this is genuine and not some load of crap, we can let the authorities deal with it", he continued.

"How are we going to get it to them without revealing our identity?"

Drake looked at me. " I know something that might work out.", he said solemnly.

We spent the rest of the afternoon going through Arroh's files. We still couldn't find anything that could link him with any of the operations carried out till now. The information that Hopkins had provided us was the only evidence we had against him. I knew something was going to work out.