Ties that Bind (Sunshine & Shadow Book 3) by Alie Williamson Read Free Book Online Page A

often ride to Rainbow Acres
to buy free-range eggs for the ranch.
         Walking onto the farm that night, April slipped
down the steps. She gasped, grabbing Kip’s arm to keep from landing on her
backside on the ice. He steadied her.
         “Easy there. Where’s your mind tonight?”
         They wandered down to the giant bonfire Debbie
always lit by her private lake. People gathered around it, and April and Kip
found a spot at the edge of the group, where two stumps with a wooden board across
served as a bench.
         The fire was warm, and April could feel the chill
lifting off her cheeks. The flames danced amongst the rocks, eating the
blackening wood bit by bit.
         She snuggled into Kips side.
         “Warm enough?” he asked, putting his arm around
her.
         She nodded, smiling at him. Being in Kip’s arms,
having him near, felt like home. She was comfortable with Kip, loved. And she
wasn’t sure why she had denied him before.
         “Let me know when you want to head home,” he said
softly, his lips so close to her ear that his warm breath caressed her neck.
         She turned to him, admiring the way the fire made
his skin look golden. His bright blue eyes were, as usual, partially hidden
behind his long, dark hair, but were alight with something April hadn’t seen in
a while. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was. It seemed to be just for
her.
         Kip’s mouth was open, his full lips framed in
dark stubble. April could hear his breath come and go. She leaned in
automatically. Closing her eyes, she waited.
         Rejection hit her stomach as she counted to three
and Kip was sitting in the same place, stock still, staring at her.
         “I’m sorry,” she said, “I don’t know why I did
that. You don’t have to say anything.”
         Kip didn’t answer, just continued to stare at
her, unmoving.
         April watched him, his eyebrows pulling together
above his confused eyes.
         “Okay,” she said, “Please say something. I just
thought…you’re my best friend and we’re flirty; we always have been, and I’m…”
She stopped herself, sighing. “I’m an idiot.” She stood up.
         “Please don’t go,” Kip said. He grabbed her wrist
and pulled her back onto the makeshift bench.
         “Why not? You don’t want to kiss me, so…”
         “I do!” Kip’s face transformed before her eyes.
“I do want to kiss you. It’s just…” He looked into the fire.
         “What?”
         “I’ve wanted this for so long, and…I don’t know
if I can…”
         April closed the gap between them without being
sure of what she was doing. She wrapped her arms around Kips neck and planted
her lips on his, feeling their softness transfer in a wordless sharing of
emotion.
         After a second, Kip moved, holding her close to
him with his hands on her waist, his fingers digging into her flesh like he
thought it was the first and last time they would ever touch. His lips were
soft, like a rose petal, but firmly pressed against her, in an almost painful
way. April let him pull her closer. Their lips parted, breath merging together
as one, the tip of their noses touching.
         “Wow,” Kip murmured.
         April swallowed. Guilt bubbled up inside her. She
had just kissed Kip, her best friend in the whole world, and he had said he’d
wanted this for a long time. How long was a long time? Years, perhaps? She had
gone to him for advice about Lex, had never known that he felt this way. She
couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been for him.
         “I’d like you to take me home now,” she said. She
knew there had been something about Kip from the moment she met him, something
different from everyone else. They were soul mates, and seeing the fear of
rejection in his eyes made her even more determined to prove it to him.
         Kip’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.