Temporary

My eyes widened. He couldn’t be serious, right? But I knew he was. “But the driver,” I whispered, embarrassed. I wasn’t exactly an exhibitionist. The only reason I wasn’t dying of mortification knowing that Manny had just watched me get fucked on his VIP table, was because I knew I’d never see him again and I wasn’t aware that Manny had been there when it was happening. This was completely different. The driver was literally feet away from us and he would hear and see everything.

“I didn’t ask you to suck off my driver, Pet,” Gage corrected me with mild censure. “Put your lips on my cock. Now.”

I wanted to beg for forgiveness so he wouldn’t make me but there was something so illicitly hot about being made to comply that I was already almost desperate to taste Gage in my mouth.

It was official; not only was I a whore…I was a dirty, perverted whore as well.

I took his cock into my mouth, the salty head tasting of us both. Our combined juices seasoned his skin, creating instant arousal, my panties nearly soaked as I swallowed his cock.

What the hell was happening to me? I was never this girl.

He was trimmed, not shaved. The scent of his groin, like heaven. I’d always been attracted to a man’s pheromones, the area of the inner thigh my secret weakness. He smelled of sex but still clean. The memories of being savagely fucked in a public place rushing back. Gage’s hand threaded through my hair as he fed his cock down my throat.

“Good girl,” he encouraged as I laved his shaft and cleaned him as I was told. I closed my eyes, losing myself in the task, forgetting that I was likely being watched by the driver.

His cock plumped and hardened in my mouth and I went from cleaning to blowing. I wanted him to lose control like I had.

The sexiest moan erupted from his slack mouth and his grip tightened on my scalp as I intensified my efforts. Sliding my mouth along his shaft, sucking, licking, and using my hands to grip and complement what I was doing with my mouth.

He shouted and came, flooding my throat as I swallowed with greedy gulps until he was done. I gently licked the remaining drops of salty liquid from the tip and he allowed me to rise.

A long sated sigh preceded his, “You did that on purpose,” and I laughed as he tucked his cock away. He grinned, adding, “I like a girl who can keep me on my toes.”

“How many times have you done this?” I asked, curious.

“You are the first.”

Yeah right. “I don’t believe you.”

He shrugged. “Why would I lie? I’m not ashamed nor am I trying to hide anything. When I see something I want…I go after it.”

My cheeks heated. “So…why me?”

“Why question? Isn’t it enough that I wanted you?”

A gentle rebuff. He doesn’t like to talk about himself. That was the second time he’d shied away from revealing anything truly personal. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Obviously, he had some issues and I wasn’t looking to set up house so…his reasons didn’t matter, right?

But when I had questions…I had a hard time letting them go. My mom had always called it a character flaw, not being able to mind my own business.

“Where are we going?”

“My favorite restaurant,” he answered. “Old-world Italian.”

How did he know pasta was my weakness? I wasn’t exactly dressed for a fancy Italian restaurant but just as I thought to mention this fact, we pulled around the back of the building and someone was already there, waiting for us, holding our food in to-go bags.

“You ordered ahead?”

“I like things to go as planned.”

“What happens when things don’t go to plan?” I asked.

He laughed as if that never happened.

Somehow, even though I knew it was impossible, I almost bought into the idea that Gage could control everything in his universe.

One thing was evident, Gage had planned our evening, sharing the plans with everyone but me.

“Where are we going?” I asked, the smell of our food starting to taunt my stomach. I guess wild monkey sex really had a way of ramping up the appetite but I sensed he had some sort of picnic in mind so I would just wait (I guess).

“Small talk?” I ventured when the silence started to feel awkward.

“Never really cared for it.”

“Me either.” More awkward silence ensued until I couldn’t take it any longer. “But here’s the thing, we’ve fucked and yet…here we are, staring into the darkness, awkward as all get out, you know? Maybe we could share a little about ourselves?”

Gage chuckled as if I were cute but said, “When I want to know something about you, I’ll ask. Until then, I prefer silence.”

Oh.

Well, now.

The prick has returned.

8

“The Botanical Gardens?” I said once we arrived at our destination. “But it’s dark and you can’t see anything.”

“It’s also quiet and private,” Gage pointed out, grabbing my hand and setting the pace while our driver lugged our food and a blanket.

“Are we allowed to be here at night?” I asked in a hushed tone, afraid of getting busted.

“I can go wherever I please,” he answered as if permission were a non-issue. I guess when you had enough money to grease any wheel, you could go wherever you liked.

“What’s it like to know that you don’t have to follow anyone’s rules?” I asked with a thin veil of sarcasm. “I mean, must be nice to know that rules don’t apply to you.”

Gage shrugged in answer as we went deeper into the Thain Family Forest area. The darkness was eerie, the light of the stars casting a ghostly glow on the black oaks and hemlock.

Landon and I had come here when we were first dating but I hadn’t been back since.

I drew a deep breath, willing to admit that even though it looked like a murder landscape at night, the smells on the night air were

a welcome change from downtown.

One thing I had to get used to when I moved from the country to the city was the horrid smells that assaulted your nose from morning until night.

From the homeless pissing in the alleys to the street vendors selling their dirty water dogs, the smells were only intensified in the hot, humid air of the summer.

It was a relief to enjoy the clean scent of nature.

We arrived at a small clearing and our driver spread our blanket, arranging our food, then without much word, left.

“Are we totally alone?” I asked, shivering a little. “This looks like the perfect place to be murdered in.”

“True enough. They wouldn’t find our bodies until morning,” he agreed, shocking me with his brief show of humor. “Relax. We are well-protected but we have our privacy as well.”

“Did you hire the Secret Service or something?”

Gage chuckled. “Something like that.”

The questions just kept mounting.

But for now, my stomach didn’t care about mystery — it just wanted food. “So what’s in the bag?” I asked, eager to eat. “I’m starved.”

“Good.” He pulled our trays free and handed mine to me. I wasted no time in seeing what he’d decided I would eat. Please don’t be anything with fish, I prayed. But as I opened my tray, I laughed when I saw what was in it. He grinned at my response. “I hope you like cheeseburgers.”

“You ordered cheeseburgers from an uppity Italian restaurant?”

Gage answered around his bite, “Leonardo’s has the best chef in town. I know he can make Italian, but if he’s really good…he should be able to make anything. And I prefer cheeseburgers.”

His answer tickled my funny bone. “I would give anything to be a fly on the wall when he got your order for a motherfucking cheeseburger. Classic!”

Gage chuckled and enjoyed his burger. Who was this guy? No, seriously. I hated mysteries.

“You’re right…this is pretty damn good,” I agreed, my mouth full but I shook my head as I said, “I still can’t get over the fact that you made a fancy chef make you a cheeseburger.”