Chapter 3 #2
“I’d be the first?” Luc could have purred.
“Pretty much.” Dex grabbed his phone and unlocked it. As he clicked around on the device, he rested his other hand on Luc’s knee, leaning in to show him the screen. As if he’d suddenly remembered himself, Dex stiffened. “Sorry.” He snatched his hand back.
Luc’s lips twitched. “You have my permission to touch me.”
Dex cleared his throat, a slight flush bringing a rosy undertone to his soft brown cheeks.
He refocused on the phone and his hand returned to Luc’s knee, his touch delicate.
“This is my site. I’ve only got a few items listed so far.
Mugs are always popular at Seaside Coffee, so I’m hoping they will be online too. ”
Luc could hardly concentrate on Dex’s words. Another man’s touch had never been this captivating, never called for more the way Dex’s did. “I like the mugs. The earthy colors you’ve chosen are striking.”
Dex chuckled softly. “Thanks.”
“Show me the other items?”
Dex clicked the back button and brought up a bowl, scrolling through the different glazes, his other hand unmoving on Luc’s knee.
Did he feel the tug between them as acutely as Luc? Dex’s touch filled Luc up, proving he wasn’t an empty shell after all. Perhaps he could show Dex who he was without words. They could connect in the most pure sense.
Luc leaned closer. “Can I touch you?”
Dex’s gaze snapped from the phone to him. “Yeah.”
Luc snaked an arm around Dex’s shoulders, and Dex’s breath stuttered. He squeezed Luc’s knee before sliding his hand higher.
Luc swallowed a growl. His little mate was forward. Luc loved that. Not shy in the face of their connection. Dex must feel it too, even if he had no clue what it was.
Dex set the phone on the bar, his lashes fluttering as his fingers stroked Luc’s inner thigh. He angled his face ever so slightly upward as if he couldn’t help being a little needy.
Luc’s voice dropped low. “You have gorgeous lips.”
Dex’s breath caught. “Kiss me?”
Pulling Dex in, Luc slid him off his stool and nestled him between his thighs. After the briefest pause, he covered Dex’s lips with his.
Stubble scratched Luc’s cheeks. Dex didn’t hesitate, meeting Luc motion for motion. He fell into it, licking Dex’s sweet lips, the hint of sour from his beer sharpening his senses.
Dex smelled earthy and rich. Luc breathed deep, then plunged his tongue into Dex’s mouth. Dex’s fingers stroked his thigh, not quite high enough to brush Luc’s growing arousal, and his other hand settled on Luc’s hip.
Luc tangled his fingers in Dex’s short, thick hair, deepening the kiss. He should hoist Dex onto the bar and make a meal of him, show him what the Devil’s wicked lips could really do, then claim him in front of any humans who dared look at them.
My mate. Mine.
Dex pulled back, his lips wet and swollen, gray eyes dark with lust. “Who needs small talk when you can kiss like that?”
Luc let out the ghost of a laugh. “I can be a charmer when I want to be, but it’s refreshing to be real.”
Dex dragged his teeth over his bottom lip. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite like you.”
“Oh?” Pride expanded in Luc’s chest. “I’d say you’re right about that, and I know for a fact that I’ve never met anyone like you, Dex.”
“There’s the charmer.”
“I mean it,” Luc said seriously. “I won’t charm you for the sake of it.”
Fuck, was he killing the mood? It was immaterial. He wanted Dex to know that he wasn’t putting on an act. Screwing up and falling into his old habits was unacceptable.
Forget claiming Dex on the bar. This was his mate. Luc had to do better.
He couldn’t accept Dex’s affection under false pretenses. Nothing but truth for his mate. Nothing that wasn’t real. Dex had to choose Luc, knowing who he was, with nothing clouding his judgment.
Dex ran a hand along Luc’s shirt buttons. Perhaps the mood wasn’t dead after all. “Will you charm me if I ask you to? Say, back at my place? I live less than ten minutes away.”
Luc’s fire raged, his cock fully hard and fangs aching to drop. He burned to go home with Dex and fuck him until neither of them could think. “You want to take me home?”
“I sure do. A little fun is exactly what I need today.”
Luc could grant his wish. He wanted nothing more than to give his mate everything he desired, large and small. But if he had sex with Dex now, and later revealed he was the Devil, that would be its own kind of lie.
Dex had to choose him. He had to climb into bed with him with his eyes open, and Luc couldn’t reveal it all in one afternoon.
Luc ran a finger across Dex’s knuckles. “I’d like to go on a date first.”
“A date? You don’t need to wine and dine me. I’m down.”
Luc reveled in the flush deepening on Dex’s cheeks. “Your willingness is intoxicating, but I’d prefer to get to know you before we’re intimate. I like you. I like talking to you as well as kissing you, and I’d like more than an afternoon with you, if you’re willing to have me.”
“Oh.” Dex paused like he wasn’t sure what to do with this turn of events. “You’re not into casual hookups?”
Luc ran a hand down Dex’s spine, unable to stop touching him. “Not with you.”
Dex’s flush spread to his ears, and he withdrew his hand from Luc’s thigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Um. I don’t usually date, but I like the sound of more than an afternoon.” He made a cute face, lip quirking on one side. “I’d like to get to know you, too.”
Luc prayed Dex wouldn’t regret it once he did.