The Last Kiss Read Online Free Page A

draped over her body, pulling her closer to him. His soft snore tickled her ear as he drifted deeper into sleep. It was moments like this she missed the most. In pre-dawn hours, when the morning sun awakened, peeking soft rays of golden sunlight through the last of the darkness begging the moon to retreat, she felt at peace. Their heartbeats played like soft music in the quiet of morning hours. Sleep had evaded her, not that she cared much. She had all she needed, wrapped around her at that moment.
    Wishing she could keep him there, locked away from the world, tears pricked at her heart. She knew it was just a matter of a few short days before he had to leave again. She prayed this time wasn’t as long as the last. He had been her high-school love, and years had separated them. Though her love for Aidan had never faltered, she had tried in vain to deny it, but couldn’t and didn’t want to anymore. She had spent too many years away from him, and she wished on every star she could, to take back all the time she had missed with him. It had been her fear separating them, but that didn’t matter now. She had prayed every night for his safety, begging the universe to give her a second chance with the only love she had truly ever known.
    Slowly her thoughts traveled back to the night of their first kiss, thirteen years earlier, when life was full of hope. The coy smiles they had shared, the silent tension that had magnetized them. It had been so obvious to those around them, and yet they had shied away from each other…until that night.
     
     
                                       ***
     
    Raeve walked into the local haunt after having spent the better part of the day tied up at work .She lived and breathed for the animal clinic. So much so, she had forgotten she had a life outside of the clinic. It had been nearly a week since she last stopped by to socialize and shoot pool with her usual crowd. If she wanted to be completely honest with herself, work hadn’t been the only reason she stayed away. No, in truth it was because of him.
    Aidan watched her with a hunter’s eye, every step she took and every move she made. The intensity of his gaze burned a hole straight through her. It was there in the heat of his ocean-blue stare that melted her each time she locked sights with him. Blood coursed through her body, searing hotter when he walked by, leaving the rich scent of dark spices lingering in the air as he passed by. Each time she saw him, her heart raced for dear life, and her breath shuddered from her lips.
    It had been two years since they first met. Two long years of soft conversations, shy glances, and coy smiles. They hadn’t spent much alone-time together, yet the few conversations they had shared only reinforced the burning desire she had for him. It had been as if the world just disappeared around them each time they spoke, leaving them to swim in each other’s longing stares. Just the idea of his eyes caressing her from head to toe had her flushing before she even stepped foot out of her car.
    Pulling into the parking lot, she saw him shooting pool with his friends through the long wall of windows, laughing and talking the night away. Biting her lip she soaked in the view. He looked amazing in his ass-hugging jeans and perfect fitting collared shirt. His impish grin and gentle eyes ignited a flutter of butterflies in her belly. After one final look in the mirror, she fluffed her hair and checked her face for any make-up faux-pas. Her stomach knotted into a tight ball of anxiety, as she tried to fight off the feelings of wanting him. She had no idea if he felt the same way, but she needed to know. She couldn’t keep hiding away at work just so her constant blush wasn’t seen by him.
    She had watched meticulously how he acted with other women, and how they fawned over him without hesitation. Every time she saw him there with another female clinging on to him for dear life,