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?”
“Deal,” Eden huffed. “The school would kill to see me like this, wouldn’t it?”
“Probably,” Sterling hummed in agreement, kissing her temple again. “But they don’t need to know that you’re such a softy when you want to be. They can remain thinking that you’re deadly. And they can now think that I am just as deadly, especially if someone hurts my girlfriend.”
“I think it would be better if they keep thinking I’m horrendous. It keeps them from bothering me,” she mumbled before smiling at his last statement. It became a sad smile just as quickly. “Your girlfriend gets hurt a lot, though.”
“Well, if you go asking for it, then that’s on you,” Sterling teased, pecking her on the lips. “But if they fight you for no reason, then I’ll fight them.”
“I ask for it all the time. I provoke them,” Eden kissed his cheek, “But you don’t need to fight for me, Sterling. They’re my battles.”
“I know, E… I just don’t like seeing you hurt,” Sterling reminded her with a sigh. “But of someone seriously hurts you, for seemingly no reason, then I’m going to hurt them back.”
“Okay. Accepted,” Eden mumbled. “But what if I hurt them worse? Are you still going to fight?”
“Yes because they still hurt you,” Sterling muttered. He kissed her again, soft and short. “Should we play a game? Watch a movie? Keep kissing and cuddling?”
“A game sounds fun,” Eden gave a soft sound at the light kisses he was giving her. “Which one do you want to play?”
“What do you have?” Sterling murmured against her lips, having connected them again shortly before.