Chapter 23
Rilla
“Can I help you find anything?”
Could you help me locate my marbles? I seem to have lost them recently.
“Hi. Yes, I’m looking for a dress that walks the line between classy and total smokeshow. Something that says I’m sophisticated but also a bit of a slut. Preferably in black.”
If I’ve flustered the saleswoman, she’s doing a great job at hiding it.
“I’ll start a fitting room for you,” she says brightly, seemingly unfazed by my request.
I’m not a big fan of shopping and I absolutely detest trying on clothes at stores. I know that I don’t need to buy something new to wear for my date with Logan. After all, he seems to like me whether I’m in torn jeans or an oversized jersey. But this is my first real date if you don’t count our other three. And if I want to commemorate that milestone with a new outfit, I damn well will.
I’ve had my fair share of interest over the years and not just from patrons at the bars I’ve worked who’ve had too much to drink. I’ve been asked out several times by coworkers, friends from school, and even a sex pal or two that decided they wanted more. They were mostly good guys and I really liked a couple of them, but I never was able to see myself wanting to be in a relationship with them.
I don’t know why it feels different with Logan; it just does. He doesn’t just look at me, but sees me for all I am and everything I’m not. It’s nice being seen and not merely viewed. Besides, the thought of him bickering with anyone else sends me into a jealousy-fueled rage that could level a city block.
Twenty minutes later, I leave the boutique wearing the first of the three dresses I tried on. It’s not overly comfortable. The black lace is kind of itchy and it’s a bit too snug. But it shows off my long legs and it makes my tits look phenomenal.
I can handle a bit of discomfort. Especially considering I don’t plan on wearing it for long.
This day felt like it stretched on for weeks. After spending several hours unpacking the last of my things, I am officially moved into apartment 2C. I had such a strong sense of accomplishment as I broke down the final box and looked around the first space I can call my own. I really like it here. Even if my neighbor can be a major pain in my ass.
Josh came by twice and both times I pretended to not be home. If he intends to apologize to me for what he said at Maggie and Callum’s, I’m not ready to hear it. And if he doesn’t want to apologize, if he wants to continue to criticize my “reckless” life choices, I don’t want to go to prison for manslaughter.
I’m nervous enough about my date with Logan; I don’t need my brother getting in my head and making things worse.
The Uber driver that takes me to Logan’s condo sings along to the radio the entire way there. He’s completely tone-deaf, giving me the confidence to join in on the harmony. We sound like cats getting strangled by larger, meaner cats, but I don’t care; it feels good to blow off some steam. When he drops me at my destination, I’m a bit looser than before.
I’m not one to mince words, so I’ll get right to the point. I’m horny. It turns out already being in a bit of a dry spell, then spending one glorious night with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Stormy has somehow made me more feral.
I need dick the way someone dying of thirst in a desert needs a glass of water.
I bob on the balls of my feet on the elevator ride up. My little dress booties make clicking noises that echo in the small space. By the time the doors open and I walk down the hall to find Logan’s door, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to jump him before or after dinner.
The door opens and my host greets me wearing an apron and a smile. His face should be a national monument. Artists and sculptors should study it for centuries to come. I look at the striped gray apron he’s wearing but my eyes are drawn to what’s underneath it.
This is the second time I’ve seen Logan dressed casually. It should not come as a shock to my system. But here he is, taking up the entire doorway in jeans and a soft blue t-shirt that makes his arms look like cannons, and I am affected.
Before dinner. I’m definitely jumping him before dinner.
I step into the very grown-up looking condo, suddenly feeling unsure of myself. The tastefully decorated living room practically screams “I’ve got my life in order” and makes the apartment I was feeling so proud of resemble a college dorm room.
“You look lovely,” Logan says as he closes the door behind us. I slip my long coat off my shoulders, allowing him to take in my dress in all its glory. He swallows hard. “So lovely.”
Emboldened by his reaction, I kick my boots off my feet, toss the coat unceremoniously on the floor and launch myself at him with enough force that he has to take a step back to steady himself. He recovers quickly, holding me around the waist as our mouths meet.
I kiss him hard and fast, pouring every doubt and insecurity I’ve been feeling into it. He lowers me slowly, but continues to kiss me back, matching my desire, as I slide down his body. When my feet touch the floor I start to walk forward, my mouth still on his, until the back of his legs hit his couch.
I give his chest a firm shove and then he’s sitting before me, hair mussed from my fingers, eyes dark and hazy. I climb on top of him, straddling his lap and he pulls me down for another soul-searing kiss.
He smells like a field after a summer rain, fresh and masculine. I run my hands over his hard torso, eager to touch him anywhere and everywhere at once.
A kitchen timer sounds, making us pull apart, panting for breath. I feel him, hard beneath me and I start to think I may actually die if I have to stop.
“Dinner?” I ask, running his lower lip through my teeth.
“Yes,” he nods, his breathing ragged.
“It smells really good.” I roll my hips against him, causing both of us to moan.
“It’s actually much better reheated.” He grabs my hips, holding them firmly against him. “Fuck, Rilla, do that again.”
I comply, only this time I don’t stop. My hands gripping his shoulders, I grind up and down him, desperate for the friction from the fly of his jeans.
He slips his hands beneath the hem of my dress, pushing the skirt up around my hips. My skin practically sings at his touch.
“Have you been thinking about this all day?” His hands travel up my thighs, reaching around and grabbing my ass as I continue to rock against him.
“Yes.”
“Do you want to take this to the bedroom?”
“Why? Dry humping on the couch isn’t doing it for you?”
The low chuckle that escapes him gives me chills. “I think it’s fairly evident that it is working for me. Although,” he slides the top of his fingers under the seam of my panties and runs them up my center, “there’s nothing dry about it.”
I gasp as two long fingers enter me. My inner muscles tighten and my thighs tremble. I can’t be this close to coming when we’ve barely started.
“I’m..ahhh..” I struggle to form words as he pumps in and out of me. “I’m supposed to be the one seducing you.”
He leans forward, pressing his lips lightly to my chest. “You’re doing so well, believe me,” he murmurs against the exposed skin. The combination of his mouth on my cleavage and his fingers inside me has my vision blurring. He curls his fingers and I moan loudly. “I love that sound, Rilla. All your sounds. I want to learn everything you like, every way to make you feel good so I can keep hearing them. You’re incredible.”
His words, so sweet and so sincere, will be my undoing. I’ve never felt so wanted. So adored. He looks at me like I’m the greatest thing he’s ever witnessed and it’s almost more than I can take. I’m feeling too much, too soon, like my head and my heart can’t absorb everything fast enough.
“I thought you wanted to go to the bedroom.” I almost can’t hear myself the way my heartbeat is pounding in my ears. I’m desperate to regain an ounce of control.
“Later. First I want to see how beautiful you look when you come all over my hand…”
Stars. I see actual stars, exploding flashes of light in my eyes as I come apart on top of him. I tremble on his lap as my release ebbs, his free arm pinning me to him, not letting me go.
My head on his chest, breathing deeply, I’m vaguely aware of him straightening my clothes. Even though I don’t want to leave the comfort of his arms, the sudden need to reciprocate takes over.
I push myself up and immediately reach for the button on his jeans, but he captures my hands in his, looping them around his neck as he leans up to kiss me softly. The tenderness of his lips on mine inspires a feeling close to shyness. Which sounds ridiculous considering what he just did to me.
“Let’s have dinner.”
That’s all it takes for my confidence to slip and the doubts to take over. The man has a raging hard on and he doesn’t want me to do anything about it? Is he having second thoughts? Am I already screwing this up?
I struggle to stand on wobbly legs, pulling my skirt down and looking anywhere but him.
“Sure. Lead the way.”
But he doesn’t move. I look down to see him staring up at me, his face unreadable.
“What?” My tone is sharper than it needs to be.
“Do you want to walk me through what just happened in your head there?”
I inhale deeply, pushing my curls out of my face, before letting out the breath slowly. “I’ve just never had a guy choose pot roast over sex.”
“We’re having chicken.”
I’m out.
I turn away from him and start for the door, but I don’t make it far. His long-legs easily overtake mine before I can reach my discarded boots and coat.
“Hey,” he murmurs into my hair as he wraps his arms around me from behind. “Can we talk about this? I had hoped we’d make it until dessert before you decide to walk out on me.” I let him turn me around, but I still can’t bring myself to look at him. “If you want to go to the bedroom right now, we can do that. But I’m not in a hurry and I don’t want to rush this.”
“I told you I might be bad at this.”
He takes my hands in his, playing with my fingers for a moment before raising one of my palms to his lips. “I think we’re off to a great start.” He tilts my chin up, forcing me to meet his gaze. There is a certainty in his eyes, like he knows something I don’t. Instead of making me want to run, it grounds me. “Let me feed you. If you still want me to take you to bed, you’ll need the energy for what I have in mind.”
Well, when he puts it like that…