“It was an interior designer. The owners here are friends of mine, and they kept mocking my shitty apartment. Apparently milk crates and a big wooden wire spool aren’t good enough to use as a dining set around here.”
She grinned and turned to look up at him. Again they were too close, but she liked seeing him from this angle. He was taller than she remembered, and definitely broader. His face had lost the babyish roundness and had taken
on hard planes and stubble that made him look mean. He narrowed his dark eyes and it triggered a nervous flutter in her belly.
For the second time tonight he buried his hand in her hair, tugging her closer and making her knees feel like they’d liquefied.
“How far are you willing to go with me, Leelee?” His rough voice sank through her.
How was he already lulling her under his spell? She’d almost come just from the reverent way he’d stripped her downstairs – as though he wanted to simultaneously worship her and eat her alive. No one had ever looked at her like that except him, but she’d never guessed his quiet obsession with her would have persisted after so long apart. It was heady. How had she ever left him to go to Julliard?
She shrugged, not knowing how to reply to his question honestly without making it sound weird. “I…don’t know. Finding you here feels…” Like fate?
“Like life is giving us a chance to close a door?”
“Yes,” she admitted. Or maybe to leave it open? She was back in town for a while, at least. She’d managed to block out how much she’d missed him, especially thinking he was vanilla. Now he was just too fucking perfect. “No holds barred. I want to know what I’ve been missing.”
He let go of her hair. “Shit. I need to call down for condoms.”
Her cheeks flamed as she considered things. Well, she had said no holds barred…
“I’m on the pill and I’ve never been with anyone unprotected except you.”
Nate shuffled awkwardly and glanced away. “Same here.”
Wow. She never would have guessed that, looking at him. He had to have his pick of women, and most guys bitched about condoms like crazy. It made her feel sort of warm and fuzzy.
“Same for you? You’re on the pill, too?” she asked, teasing, glad to break the seriousness of the moment with some levity. “I thought that was still in the experimental stages.”
He snorted. “Not just a submissive, but a brat.”
“The brattiest.”
“We’ll see about that. So you don’t want condoms?”
“No,” she said, aiming for nonchalance even though heat was pooling in her belly and between her thighs at the thought of taking him bareback. “But hey, things might not even go that far.”
“You never could resist me, Leelee. What makes you think that’s changed?”
“Such a dick.” She sighed.
“You always did like my dick.”
She snorted but didn’t deny it. His dick was the one she’d mentally measured all others against once she’d been able to bring herself to date anyone else.
An awkward silence fell between them where they stood frozen, staring at each other. It had nothing to do with innuendo and comebacks, and everything to do with the complete mindfuck of this moment. At least for her.
For once, she was in the same room as Nathan and had no clue what he was thinking.
“So, you live here?” she asked, hoping to get things back to normal and slow her racing heart.
“I live here.”
“And you work here?”
“Yes, as part of my rent. I also work full time at an auto shop. I’ll be opening my own next year.” His expression grew somehow…colder.
“Wow! Good for you.”