Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
DEX
Rome is still nervous by the time we get back to my place. I can tell from the way he flicks his eyes from mine to my hands, waiting to see what he gets. But I’m going to make him wait and see.
‘Water?’ I ask, moving to the kitchen and grabbing two bottles from the fridge.
Rome stares at it. ‘That’s what my B+ gets me?’
I bite back a grin and roll my eyes. ‘Yes, just water.’
I crack open a bottle and take a sip, remembering that first time he was here and how I poured it into his mouth and drank from his lips.
He must remember, too, because he shifts on his feet and swallows. I hear that cute little click in the back of his throat, and my cock perks up between my legs.
‘Take off your clothes,’ I tell him after setting my water bottle down and leaning against the kitchen counter.
He blinks at me but doesn’t move fast enough.
‘You want your reward, yes?’
His eyebrows meet in annoyance, but he does as I ask. Does it slowly. He peels his shirt off his head and tosses it aside, nipple rings glinting under the harsh kitchen light, then he undoes the button on his pants. I watch it all with hooded eyes, the strip show he’s giving me turning me on.
I’m fucking burning for him.
He finally kicks off his shoes and pants, leaving him in just his underwear and socks. He pauses a moment, and then his thumb drags the waistband of his boxers down slightly, exposing the V of his hips.
I wet my lips, and his eyes meet mine, lust flickering through their depths.
‘Off,’ I tell him, and his lips part as he drags them down, leaving him only in his socks.
Fuck, what a sight, I think as I take him in. The ridges of his muscles, his pebbled, pierced nipples, his hard dick, the ring in the slit.
It takes everything inside of me to stay where I am. I want to move toward him, spin him around, and eat his ass before I fuck it.
God, the things I want to do to him.
But no. I need to follow the plan. I need to make sure this ends up more than just sex.
‘Touch yourself,’ I tell him, and he huffs, his cheeks red. But he does as I ask, his hand moving around his cock and stroking. I can see the small bead of precum on the tip, catching on the ring, and I want to lean down and taste it.
Instead, I reach behind me and pull my shirt off.
Rome gives a small groan at the sight of my abdomen and the promise of what may come.
He strokes faster as I pull off my shorts and kick off my shoes, leaving me completely naked except for my backward hat.
He groans again, his free hand moving to cup his balls, tugging on them as he watches me.
I reach out and touch myself, just for him, jerking my cock while I watch him in the middle of my living room, getting himself off.
It’s so fucking erotic, the sweet sounds he makes and the way his hips thrust up to meet each of his strokes.
I want to touch him.
I need more than just this.
Without warning, I move toward him, and he freezes, his hand moving from his cock to me, pulling me into him, our legs bumping, our cocks touching.
Everything inside of me ignites as our chests finally meet.
His hands move into my hair, our foreheads rolling against each other as I reach between us and pull him fully against me.
The groan he gives me as I wrap my hand around both of us is almost my undoing, but thankfully, I hold it back. I want to come with him. I want to feel us fall over the edge together.
His desperate little puffs of breath hit my lips as I stroke us, and he glances down, looking at the two of us together. His eyes dart up to meet mine, a little wild and frantic.
‘Kiss?’ he asks, his fingers trembling as he asks that.
I press my lips to his, and he moans into my mouth. Our tongues touch and slide against each other as I continue to work us to the edge, and fuck, we’re both close. The way he’s shaking in my arms, it’s like he hasn’t gotten off since we were last together, and shit, maybe that’s true.
I slant my mouth across his and kiss him deeper, tightening my hold on us.
He’s whimpering now, soft little noises in the back of his throat, unthinking, unchecked.
I slide my free hand around his hip and down his ass, finding his hole and pressing against it.
The small cry he gives me is enough to set me off.
I push inside of him, just enough to let him know I’m thinking about that ass, and his body jerks, and his cum spills from the tip of his dick.
It drips down my fingers, and the feel of it sets me off.
My release is earth-shattering, my moans vibrating off the corners of his mouth as we continue to kiss our way through it.
And when we finally come down and my hand is holding us limply together, he lets out a shaky breath, our lips brushing in the mimic of a kiss.
‘Fuck,’ he fingerspells. I can see it from the corner of my eye, and I nod, our foreheads still pressed together.
‘Hot,’ I reply, and he nods.
I step back slightly, and he stares down at my messy hand for a moment before his gaze flicks back up to mine.
His cheeks are pink when he lifts his hands. ‘I like B+.’
I let out a small laugh. ‘Me too, but…’ I lick up my messy finger, tasting us on my skin, and he lets out a small gasp. ‘A+ so much better.’ He huffs, and I point toward the bathroom. ‘Come. Let’s clean up.’
‘Next date when? Tomorrow?’ I feel a little overeager, but the truth is, I want more than what we did tonight, and I don’t think I give much of a shit about pride anymore.
Rome sighs and shakes his head. ‘No. Sorry.’ I pout, and he growls, leaning in to nip at my lower lip. ‘I have so many meetings over the next three days. I’m doing some changes in the company and need to deal with big contracts.’
That’s fair. He’s not trying to squeeze me in like I’m some busy work task he needs to complete. That earns him a +1 in my mental grade book.
‘Text me,’ I tell him, ‘when you’re ready.’
‘Promise,’ his fingers vow, and then he leans in before hesitating. ‘Kiss?’
I’ve trained him well. And I like it. I dig my fingers into his hair, pulling slightly as I yank him into a wet, hard, messy kiss. He groans and rocks into me, but before he can test my resolve to make him wait until he’s earned everything, I pull back.
He looks frustrated, but he doesn’t fight me when I reach past him and open the door. ‘Drive safe.’
He nods and casts me one more look over his shoulder before heading out toward his car.
When the door is shut, I realize my place is too quiet. Before Rome, I used my condo for somewhere to eat, sleep, shower, and jerk off. It was definitely nothing like a home should be, but that never seemed important before.
But looking around now, I see very little of myself in it.
No one would know anything about me if they visited for the first time.
The furniture is plain, there’s only one piece of art on the walls—a Monet-style cat in a pond that Thom got me as a housewarming gift—and the shelves are covered in fake plants because I can’t be fucked to take care of real ones.
I think about the cat café again. Those cats were a little rough around the edges and a little old, but maybe Milo knows where I can get a younger one. One that can grow up here.
It wouldn’t hurt to stop by tomorrow, so I jump on to the website and see there’s an open appointment right around the time my spin class is over. I’ll be a little late, but I really don’t need the full fifty minutes to pet cats and ask Milo for some tips.
I feel satisfied. Maybe not entirely fulfilled because I still don’t know where this thing with Rome is going. He’s complying with my requests, but I have no idea if he means any of it or if he’s just trying to win.
We both get the prize, but I’m wanting more than a good orgasm. I want him to say he’ll stay and actually mean it this time.
I want him to desire all of me, not just as a guy who gets him off.
God, I need to talk this out. It’s late, but I know one person who will be awake.
“I’m having a crisis,” I tell Lexi when she answers the phone.
“Hm. What kind?”
“The dick and heart kind.”
She sighs, and I hear her cover the phone for a second as she talks to Drew.
When she comes back, she says, “I can be there in ten minutes. Wine?”
I’ve been drinking a little too much lately, and I’m feeling it at work. “Better not.”
“Shit. Big problem, then.”
“I think it might be, yeah.”
“Alright, I’ll be over with listening ears. Give me ten.”
She hangs up with a quick goodbye, and I decide to use that time to shower off what’s left of Rome before she gets here. As much as I enjoy the scent of him lingering on my skin, I don’t think she’ll thank me for it.
I hear her using the door code to come in just as I’m stepping out of the shower, so I tilt my head past the bathroom door. “Give me a second. I need to get dressed.”
“Baby, you have nothing I haven’t already seen,” she calls back.
That makes me snort. It’s true, but out of respect for Drew, I won’t be wandering around naked.
I can hear her rummaging around the kitchen as I grab a pair of tight, soft sweatpants and a T-shirt. My skin still feels a little sensitive after that orgasm with him, and I know it’s going to be ten times worse when I actually get to be inside him again.
Raking my fingers through my hair, I head into the living room, where Lexi has set out tea and some chocolate chip cookies. The tea is a sorry pale brown, which means she didn’t let it steep at all before adding creamer, but I appreciate the thought.
“You know, when I first met you,” she says as I sit and grab a cookie, “I thought you were going to be one of those douche bag gym bros that shames people for eating carbs.”
I shove an entire cookie into my mouth. “You can pry cheap-ass grocery store cookies from my cold, dead hands.”
She laughs, but her expression is serious. “Alright, babe. Spill.”