6. Este #2
“It’s nice to be able to make your schedule.
” That’s my lame response. Oh well. I climb into bed and pull the covers up as I shiver.
It’s freezing with the air conditioning vent right over the bed.
It’s already ninety degrees outside this morning, and the AC is working overtime.
The unseasonable temperatures outdoors feel more like July—ugh.
“You’re sure this is okay?” Dom climbs into bed and inches closer to me.
“More than okay,” I whisper. I turn onto my side to face him and move my body closer to his. My front brushes against his bare chest. Almost an afterthought, I unhook my bra, pull it out of one of my armholes, and toss it on the floor.
When our chests touch, my puckered nipples press against my soft tank top, the only thing separating them from Dom’s hardened chest. The longing I feel is unreal when I look into his sparkling green eyes, and it’s so surprising, I almost don’t know what to do with the yearning.
I don’t think. I just reach out and touch his bowed top lip, caressing it with my finger, which he kisses.
The scent of his amber aftershave wraps around me, along with the light lavender scent of my linens, as something between us sizzles.
I feel his erection press against my lower abdomen beneath the sheet.
I want to jump back. Part of me thinks I should, given how new this is, but instead, I follow my baser instincts.
I sling my top leg over his hip, holding him even closer, burying my face in his warm neck as my heart pitter-patters and my pulse surges.
“Este,” Dom whispers my name, his hand in my messy hair, fingernails tracing up and down the back of my skull. It feels so good, I gasp and wrap my top arm around Dom’s body to get even closer until there’s no space between us.
“You need to get some sleep before this gets out of hand,” Dom tells me softly. We haven’t even had a formal date, and he’s already in my bed. Talk about skipping steps. But right now, all I see are steps that I very much want to skip.
“Mallory, my best friend that you met at the relay, has a five-date rule,” I gasp as I start grinding my hips against his in a circular motion.
“But we spent so much time together at the relay, that’s gotta count as a couple dates, right?
” I let out an accidental moan as his hand snakes around to my hip.
Dom kisses my neck, and I whimper. His hardness is pressed against me tightly, making me ache between my legs in a way I haven’t in so many years.
“And then yesterday afternoon and last night, wouldn’t you say that counts as two separate dates? Time-wise?” I’m grasping at straws now.
Dom kisses the other side of my neck and laughs lightly. “Oh, honey, I love your math.”
The term of endearment he uses both startles and pleases me. I haven’t heard it in three plus years, and I kind of like the sound of it falling from his lips.
I pull back enough to run my hands up his washboard abs to his chest, then meet his eyes, and we stare intensely at each other. My chest heaves with excitement as he reaches out and cups the back of my head.
“May I kiss you, Este?” Dom’s voice is husky and low, a smile pulling at his perfect peach lips.
I lick my lower lip and bob my head in a nod.
Dom’s body leans over mine until I’m almost on my back against the soft mattress, and his hands surround and cup my cheeks as his face nears mine.
His weight feels great against my chest. I’m trapped, but it’s not like I had been planning on going anywhere.
Tilting my head in the opposite direction of his, I await the kiss I’ve wanted since the moment we met. And when our lips finally meet, my heart lurches with simultaneous terror and excitement.
Dom’s lips are soft, warm, and tentative on mine at first, but downright dizzying.
I let the tip of my tongue push through the seam of his mouth, dying to taste him.
His body above mine holds me down as I sweep my tongue into his mouth and find him minty, sweet, and delicious.
My arms wrap around his neck to hold him closer, a moan rising in my throat I can barely hold back.
It hits me that Dom is the first man I’ve kissed since I fell in love with Cole as a teenager—and he’s now the only man ever to be in my bed other than Colin Coleson.
I let the kiss turn into something more passionate, but a vision of Cole dances in my head.
He’s mouthing something I can’t quite decipher, my lips still on Dom’s.
“You all right?” Dom whispers, his hands in my hair.
“It’s okay,” the picture of Cole in my head tells me softly. Maybe I’m so tired, I’m hallucinating, but he adds , “I’d never want you to live the rest of your life alone.”
“It’s fine if you’re not ready for more than just a kiss,” Dom tells me, inching back out of my grasp. “I’m happy just to kiss you, baby.”
“No, no, I want to. I’m nervous because…” I trail off and groan. “You’re the first man since…”
His gaze on me grows more intent as he stares into my eyes and waits for me to complete the sentence.
“My husband died,” I finally finish.
Dom could react terribly to my admission.
It might freak him out. I don’t even know what I expect him to say to my confession, but it’s not, “I’m honored.
” When he says it, his eyes never leave mine, and it looks like he’s seeing right into my soul.
“Truly, Este. We’ll take this at your pace; I’m completely honored that you’re choosing me. ”
He doesn’t pressure me for more information about Cole’s death, ask how long ago it happened, or anything like that.
He doesn’t look at me differently, with pity in his gaze.
Dom just leans in and kisses my neck sweetly.
As quickly as the heat ratcheted up between us, it cools down, but that’s not a bad thing.
I know Dom’s trying to show me that there’s no pressure for us to go further than I want to.
I snuggle up and use his chest as a pillow, stroking his strong bicep and tracing the veins from his shoulder down his arm, kissing his chest occasionally as I remain dreamy and smile, happiness surging through me.
All I can do is revel in the closeness I feel to him and the pleasurable way Dom’s skin feels beneath my fingertips.
Somewhere in this sweet moment, sleep captures me.