At Your Most Beautiful by Harper Bliss (book recommendations based on other books .TXT) 📕

her tongue over her lips before she leaned in, met Quinn’s mouth with hers, and gave herself the gift of a reckless adventure.

Chapter 6

Quinn rested her palm against Maya’s neck. She tried to exercise as much as control as she could muster and not let her other hand disappear into Maya’s hair. She’d brazenly taken over Maya’s lead earlier—in her very own arena, no less—but now she wanted Maya to feel as though she was in charge of what came next. Quinn wanted Maya—she’d wanted her from the very first dip in her pool—but that didn’t mean she was hers for the taking. Quinn also knew that the step from dancing with to kissing another woman was a much bigger leap for Maya than it was for her. But Maya was kissing her. The first touch of their lips had been tentative, but Maya’s doubts hadn’t persisted for very long if the ferocity of her kiss was anything to go by.

Quinn had done all the preparatory work and left the road wide open for Maya to take that final step. And she had. As a result, Quinn’s heart was doing a mad dance in her chest. Because she had meant what she’d said earlier. Maya was such a gorgeous woman and the way she moved would make any mere mortal swoon with desire.

Darkness was coming in slowly but it was still hot outside. It was one of those sultry nights that only occurred in the middle of summer and that always felt different outside of the city. The air had a lighter quality here. The openness of the spaces around her somehow left more room for possibility. Or maybe Maya’s beauty had more opportunity to shine in dreary old Milbury. But no, Maya would be equally exquisite in the city— she could easily eclipse the most breathtaking places in the world.

Quinn leaned into Maya more and now she let her hand meander through Maya’s velvety mane of hair. There was a tenderness to Maya that Quinn seemed to crave. A gentleness that was perhaps hard to come by in the city. A quality that Rachel certainly didn’t possess, with her leather jackets, pointy boots, and black sense of humor. Maya was the opposite of Rachel in many ways; although Quinn couldn’t really know for sure, she sensed it. Maya wore her loving and caring heart on her sleeve, and Quinn needed someone like Maya now to offset Rachel’s aloofness and sharp corners. Even Rachel’s angular haircut was harsh. Kissing Maya would go a long way in helping Quinn get over Rachel. And who knew… maybe the stars, which you could actually see here if you stayed up late enough for the sky to go fully dark, had more in store for them tonight.

Maya’s hands seemed stuck to Quinn’s sides, as though she was afraid to make good use of them. Perhaps it was a touch intimidating for Maya to be holding a much younger woman in a scant bikini. Quinn decided to lead by example—the way Maya had done earlier when showing her how to salsa. She let her hand drift down from Maya’s neck to just above the curve of her breast. Quinn stopped herself from flicking her thumb across Maya’s nipple. Even though their kiss was deepening still, and Maya’s hands were moving upward a fraction, Quinn was on very thin ice here. That the spell they were momentarily under could easily be broken—as easily as Maya suddenly coming to her senses.

Maya was the first to pull back from their kiss. Mouth slightly agape, she gazed at Quinn. In Maya’s eyes, Quinn didn’t see any intention to cut this short any time soon, but you never knew.

“Quinn.” Maya gave a slight shake of the head. “I—” she started to say, then paused.

Hard as it was to not pull Maya close again, Quinn gave her the time she needed. She gave her the opportunity to come to her again if she still wanted to. Quinn wasn’t here to convince Maya that kissing her again was a good idea. But she was definitely here for her if Maya decided that was exactly what she wanted to do with the rest of her evening, perhaps even night.

“We shouldn’t—” Maya said, but instead of widening the distance between them, she looked down at Quinn’s breasts, then even farther down. She brought her hand to just above the waistband of Quinn’s shorts. “You have no idea how much I want to know what that tattoo says.” She ran a fingertip over Quinn’s sensitive skin, making every hair on her body rise up in anticipation.

“It’s easy enough to find out,” Quinn said, getting slightly ahead of herself, which she blamed fully on the dangerous position of Maya’s finger.

She watched how Maya swallowed slowly. Even though they’d stopped kissing, the atmosphere between them had intensified.

“I’m not sure I should find out.” Maya contradicted what she’d just said by hooking a fingertip underneath Quinn’s shorts.

Quinn took a sharp inhale of breath. She didn’t know what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything.

Apparently, Maya had lost the need for speaking as well. She peered down at her finger. She pulled Quinn’s shorts down a fraction to reveal the tattoo that ran low across the width of her belly.

The chuckle that followed surprised Quinn, although she’d had all sorts of reactions to her tattoo.

“It’s too small. I need my reading glasses.” Maya’s finger stayed in the same position, holding Quinn’s shorts slightly down.

Quinn’s arousal skyrocketed. “Maya… ” It was Quinn’s turn to only have a breathless whisper left for a voice. “Please.” Although a good distance remained between the tip of Maya’s finger and the throbbing center of Quinn’s body, it didn’t make any difference. Quinn’s desire was about to pass the point of no return. But she had to wait. Maya wanting to see her tattoo could be curiosity of a different kind.

Maya seemed to realize the effect the position of her finger