I started to speak, but his finger landed across my lips. “I will obey you completely, Kate. If you are in charge, you can’t be afraid of me messing up your life, or letting you lose your focus.” He paused, brushing his thumb slowly against my lower lip. “But when you call me to the bedroom, and that door shuts, I’m the one who is completely in
charge, kitten. How do you feel about that?”
In a blink I had straddled him, already kissing him as my arms wrapped around his neck, my fingers curling into the back of his hair. “Yes,” I whimpered against his lips.
For a few seconds, his hands gripped my ass, as he ground against me. I could already feel his thickness through his jeans. If we weren’t on a bench twenty feet from a public street, I know that he would have already ripped off my panties.
“Fuck, kitten, I love you so much.”
Placing my forehead almost against his, I stared into his smoldering eyes. “I love you, Ray. I really do. I just didn’t understand it at first. I’m sorry I was scared, I’m sorry–”
He shut me up with a deep, filthy kiss that made me moan, writhing against him. Then he picked me up, sitting me on the bench beside him. “You’re going to get us arrested,” he growled.
I tried to pout dramatically but dissolved into giggles, snuggling against his shoulder. “You’re very understanding.”
His dark chuckle made me look up at him. “Kate, I don’t understand any of this. The thought of mingling my life with someone else’s had always felt like a major inconvenience. Something to be avoided. Something that would mess me up and make my world smaller. But now that I have you, I understand that we’re just going to grow together.”
“Wow,” I whispered, “For a lumberjack, you have the heart of a poet.”
He picked up my hand, giving the back of it the softest little smack. “Lumberjack? I’ll have you know that three different showrooms were fighting over some of my pieces while I was gone for a month. Now they’re begging me to create a whole new line for them.”
“That’s amazing.” I stood up, taking his hand. “Should we celebrate your success?”
“I was going to ask you out for dinner tomorrow night. But since you are in charge of our schedules now, it’s completely up to you what we do.”
His wicked grin told me that he was absolutely thrilled with the idea of me controlling him. That amused me far more than it should. “I do happen to be free tomorrow, and you could pick me up from work at six.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“But tonight, maybe you could drive me home and tuck me into bed.”
“Anything you want, kitten.”
I loved the way he held my hand as he walked me to his car. I loved the way he opened the door for me, making sure that I was buckled in safely. I loved the way he asked me which route I preferred to take to my apartment, and asked me to be in charge of the music.
As soon as we’d parked in front of my place, Ray ran around to my side to open the door for me, taking my arm. But instead of leading me toward the door, he glanced to see that no one was around, then picked me up, pressing my back against the brick wall as I wrapped my legs around his waist.
His soft lips against mine made my thighs tighten, my heart was already racing as he dug his fingers into my ass, grinding into me. I loved that he was so filthy, so forceful.
When he finally paused so that we could breathe, he placed the tip of his nose against mine. “How am I doing at this whole boyfriend thing so far, kitten? I got you home safe, and I managed to keep my hands off you for at least twelve whole minutes.”
“I think you’re doing a great job of boyfriending so far,” I laughed.
His arms tightened around me as his hungry gaze locked on mine. “I need you to know something. I’m telling you now, so that you don’t panic and run off without a discussion first.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, suddenly choked up. “I promise, I’ll never do that to you again.”
“You scared the shit out of me baby. It’s okay, but I don’t think my heart can take that twice. So I’m warning you now… You’re going to have to help me be a very good boyfriend for you, because I want to move up the ranks as quickly as possible.”
His cocky grin was adorable. “I’m used to being the best at what I do. So I want to be promoted to fiancé, then husband, then father as quickly as possible.”
Using his nose, he tilted my face up and down, making me laugh. In a high-pitched voice, he said, “Yes, Ray, that’s what I want too.”
I began laughing so hard he had to put me back on my feet. “Yes, Ray, that’s what I want too,” I said.
“Good. Then let’s get my sweet girl all tucked in. I bet you have a lot of work to do tomorrow. You certainly wouldn’t want someone keeping you up all night.”
I grabbed his hand, digging for my keys as I headed for the side door. I knew that I would be up half the night, and it would be completely worth it.