off limits, on fire

Chapter 1: The House Wasn't Empty Clara POV "You look surprised to see me." I freeze at the door. That voice. Deep and rough like whiskey. I know it too well. "Oliver." My heart jumps. "Where's Lily?" "Not here." He steps closer. Too close. "Won't be back until tomorrow." I should leave. Right now. But my feet won't move. "I brought her the files," I say. My voice sounds small. Scared. "Leave them on the table." His eyes don't leave mine. "Or stay." "I can't stay." "Why not?" Because you're dangerous. Because I dream about you. Because every time I see you, I forget how to breathe. "Because," I whisper. He laughs. Low and dark. "That's not a reason, Clara." Thunder rolls outside. The lights flicker. "Storm's coming," he says. Still watching me. Still too close. "I should go before it gets bad." "Should you?" He reaches out. His fingers brush my arm. "Or should you stay and wait it out?" My skin burns where he touches me. Three years. Three years I've wanted this and told myself I couldn't have it. "Oliver, we can't." "Can't what?" He moves closer. I can smell his soap. Feel his heat. "Say it, Clara. Tell me what we can't do." The lights go out. Everything is dark except for the fire in the next room. "This," I breathe. "We can't do this." "Do what?" His hand cups my face. "Talk? Stand close? Want each other?" I gasp. "You don't want me." "Don't I?" His thumb traces my lip. "Then why do I think about you every night? Why do I find excuses to be here when you visit? Why do I want to kiss you so badly it hurts?" Lightning flashes. For a second, I see everything in his eyes. The want. The need. The same fire that's been eating me alive. "Lily would hate us," I whisper. "Lily's not here." His other hand finds my waist. Pulls me closer. "It's just us, Clara. Just us and this thing we've been fighting." "I'm scared." "Of me?" "Of wanting you too much." He makes a sound. Low and hungry. "How much is too much?" "So much I can't think. So much I forget everything else. So much it scares me." "Good." His lips brush my ear. "Because I want you more than that." Rain pounds against the windows. The storm is here. "Tell me to stop," he says. His mouth is so close to mine. "Tell me to walk away." "I can't." "Then tell me what you want." "You." The word falls out before I can stop it. "I want you." His mouth crashes into mine. Hot and desperate. I've been kissed before, but not like this. Not like I'm water and he's dying of thirst. My hands grab his shirt. Pull him closer. He tastes like coffee and danger and everything I've ever wanted. "Clara," he groans against my lips. "God, Clara." His hands are in my hair. On my back. Everywhere and not enough. "We should stop," I gasp when we break apart. "Do you want to stop?" "No." "Then don't." He kisses my neck. My shoulder. Each touch makes me shake. "Don't think. Don't worry. Just feel." I'm lost. Completely lost in him. In this. In the way he looks at me like I'm something precious and dangerous at the same time. "Oliver." His name is a prayer on my lips. "Say it again." "Oliver." He lifts me up. Carries me to the couch by the fire. The flames dance on his skin as he lays me down. "Are you sure?" he asks. His hands shake as they frame my face. "Yes." I pull him down to me. "I'm sure." What happens next changes everything. His mouth on mine. His hands learning my body. My fingers tracing muscles I've only dreamed of touching. We move together like we've done this before. Like we were made for this. For each other. "I've wanted this for so long," he whispers against my throat. "How long?" "Since the first day Lily brought you home. You wore that blue dress. You laughed at something she said. And I knew I was in trouble." "Three years," I breathe. "We've both been waiting three years." "Worth it," he says, and kisses me again. The fire crackles. The storm rages. And we lose ourselves in each other. After, we lie tangled together. His fingers trace patterns on my bare shoulder. "What happens now?" I ask. "Now we figure it out." "Lily.” "We'll tell her when we're ready." "What if she hates us?" "Then we'll deal with it." He tilts my chin up. "But I'm not sorry, Clara. Whatever happens, I'm not sorry." "I should be sorry." I touch his face. "But I'm not either." He smiles. The first real smile I've ever seen from him. "Dangerous words." "I'm feeling dangerous." "Good." He kisses me soft and slow. "Because this is just the beginning." My phone buzzes. A text. I reach for it, but Oliver catches my hand. "Leave it." But I can see the screen. See the name. Lily. "Oh no." My blood turns cold. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." "What?" I grab the phone with shaking hands. Read the message. "Flight got cancelled. Coming home tonight. Be there in an hour. Can't wait to see you both! xoxo" Oliver sits up. Read over my shoulder. His face goes hard. "An hour," he says. "An hour." I scramble for my clothes. "Oliver, what do we do?" He stands. Naked and beautiful and completely calm while I'm falling apart. "We get dressed. We act normal. And we figured out how to tell my sister we just blew up her world." I stare at him. "That's your plan?" "You have a better one?" I don't. But as I pull on my dress with shaking hands, I know one thing for sure. Nothing will ever be normal again.