Chapter 17 #2
“I like watching you. I like listening to you talk animatedly about things. And I really like what you’re wearing tonight.”
“You already said that,” I replied, giving him an even bigger grin with probably a bit of a blush on my cheeks.
It felt like an oxymoron of sorts, really—something that defied physics. How could I have heat flowing through my whole face, yet chills running through my entire body at the same time?
“Doesn’t mean I can’t keep appreciating it or admiring you in it.”
Okay, if I wasn’t blushing before, I definitely was now.
Our waiter brought out our food, and we enjoyed pleasant conversation—again, mostly on my end—for the rest of dinner.
“I had a really good time tonight,” I told Hector as we walked out of the restaurant.
His hand was on the small of my back, guiding me out the door. Just as we left, he took a step around, coming to my side and grabbing my hand.
“Me too,” he said quietly, squeezing my hand.
He held my hand the whole way back to his SUV, and I smiled, feeling giddy like a teenager again. Hector may not talk much, but his few comments and small gestures like this spoke volumes.
He walked me to my door and opened it. Wanting to show my appreciation, and also my deep desire to touch him and taste him, I turned and leaned up to kiss him.
It didn’t take long for him to become an active participant.
In fact, within a few seconds, he had all but taken over.
His left hand moved around my hips to my lower back, pulling me closer into him.
His right hand moved to sift through the hair behind my ear, holding my head tightly as he ravished my lips, allowing my tongue to slip inside and taste him.
I moaned as my senses were overwhelmed—the scent of him, his rough hands rubbing along my soft skin, and his taste on my tongue.
He pulled back, and I immediately wanted to complain.
“Let’s go back and let Sarge out before we end up giving people in this parking lot a show,” he said.
As much as I hated to stop what we were doing, he was right. If he hadn’t stopped us, I likely would have let him take me right here up against the passenger door.
I was learning quickly that when Hector’s mouth was on mine, my brain ceased to function. While not a bad problem to have per se, it could definitely get me into trouble.
He rounded the car after closing my door and climbed into the driver’s seat. After pulling out of the lot, he reached over to grab my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine, and placed our joined hands on his thigh.
“Sarge will be happy to see you,” he said. “He’s been camped out just outside the guest bedroom door basically ever since you left.”
That sweet little boy.
“Awww, I missed him too,” I replied and then looked over at Hector’s profile as he drove. “And his owner too.”
He didn’t say anything back, just squeezed my hand and held on tight.
I spent the rest of the drive filling him in on my sister’s visit and our little trip to see Nancy—including the part about how he was invited to her game night so she could show him off to all her friends.
He didn’t say no, so I took that as a win for now—especially since he just grinned as I told him the story.
Pulling up his gravel drive, I felt a sense of peacefulness come over me as his cabin came into view. I wasn’t entirely sure why, because I was a city girl at heart, but there was just something about his place that made me feel comfortable, safe, and at ease.
I heard Sarge’s barks and saw his face in the narrow window by the door as I walked up the front porch.
I could see him jumping up and down in excitement as I waited for Hector to open the door.
The moment he did, Sarge bolted out and came up to me, sniffing and licking me all over in his excitement.
“Sarge, platz,” Hector told him, and he reluctantly listened, moving his body off mine but still staying close by, his tail wiggling so fast in excitement.
“Let me take this beast out, and I’ll be right in,” he said, grabbing Sarge’s leash from the entryway.
I walked in and noticed Hector had reached in and set my overnight bag just inside the door. This set the wheels in motion in my brain—where did I put the bag?
Did I go back to the guest room like I had the other nights I slept here? Was the date essentially over? I’d never had a date like this before, so I didn’t know what the protocol was.
Okay, think about this rationally.
What if we weren’t at his house? What if the night had ended back at my place, like I originally assumed? What would I have done?
I asked myself this and realized I would have invited him in for a drink and hoped that I could convince him to stay the night with me—but not for safety reasons.
Just because the location changed didn’t mean the night couldn’t end the same—us, in the same bed. Right?
I decided to leave my bag resting near the couch in the living room, and went into the bathroom to freshen up while he walked Sarge. I had just made it back into the living room when they both came back in through the front door.
Sarge immediately ran to me and rolled over, begging for belly rubs. Dogs were such simple creatures. There was no shame in just blatantly asking for what they wanted—pride be damned—even if he looked like an idiot on his back, all spread-eagle and demanding belly rubs.
Why couldn’t I do the same? Well, maybe not the belly rub part.
Deciding to be brave—at least on the outside, since on the inside I was a nervous wreck—I walked over to where Hector was in the kitchen, filling up Sarge’s water bowl.
“You okay?” he asked as he set the water bowl down in its place. “You look nervous.”
Damnit, I needed a new face that didn’t give everything away.
I straightened my shoulders to at least give me the look of more confidence. “Where am I sleeping?”
He stared down at me for a few moments. “Where do you want to sleep?”
Ugh. Redirecting…really? Fine. I guess I’ll be the daring one.
“With you,” I told him, standing my ground but also not moving from where I was rooted.
He chose silence again but never broke his gaze from my face.
“I didn’t invite you to stay the night just to get you in my bed and have sex,” he added quickly, as if he needed to underline it and wanted no room for misunderstanding.
“I know that, Hector. But if this had been a normal date, and you had walked me back to my place at the end of the night. I um…would have asked if you wanted to stay the night.”
He didn’t say anything back, so in true awkward and anxious fashion, I just kept babbling like an idiot, waving my hands in front of my face as I talked.
“I’m not saying you had to come in and agree to have a drink, but, um, that’s what I would have offered you. The uh…drink part, I mean…for you. I would have offered you a drink.”
Okay, I needed to shut up.
“I’m trying to be a gentleman here, Iris,” he said, sounding almost pained.
“What if I don’t want you to be a gentleman?” I told him, grabbing the sides of his head and forcing him to look into my eyes. “Hector, you not being a gentleman does not mean the only other option is an asshole…I just want you to be you.”
I took a breath and paused for just a moment. “You don’t have to pretend to be who you think I want or think I need when you’re around me. I like you the way you are.”
I pulled my hands back and moved them to the bow at my waist and began to slowly untie the dress. “Don’t be a gentleman, Hector. Just be you.”
His gaze moved from my eyes, down my body to where my hands were currently undoing my dress. Now untied, I pulled at the fabric slowly to open each side like you would a bathrobe. I heard his quick intake of breath as I opened the dress up to where he could finally see my red teddy underneath.
I watched his chest rise and fall as his breathing picked up. Then, I saw the moment he decided to just say fuck it and give into temptation—me being the temptation.
This time his hands moved to cup my face as he tilted my head back so I was looking straight into his eyes.
“Be sure, Iris,” he said. His voice held a deep timbre and was slightly raw, as if he needed to clear his throat. There was warmth in his gaze, but there was also a raging fire. “I need you to be really fucking sure. We start this, there's no going back. Not for me.”
I thought back to his comment about me being his dream woman, his comments at dinner, and the way he was looking at me at this very moment.
Oh yeah, I was sure.
“Take me to bed, Hector,” I whispered back to him. “I need—”
Before I was able to finish my sentence, I was lifted up. He bent at the waist—his shoulder to my stomach—and I was hoisted onto his shoulder.
I shrieked at the sudden movement. “Hector! Put me down, I’m too heavy!”
“Woman, you are not heavy at all. In fact, you are nothing but perfection from top to bottom.”
I wanted to disagree with him, but the ease with which he was carrying me into the bedroom—as though I was as light as a feather—was impressive…and I liked it.
We arrived in his bedroom, and this was the first time I had really been in this space. Sure, I had peeked through the door, but now I was in here. He closed the door as I tried to gaze around quickly at the large space, but it was hard since I was upside down.
He once again bent at the waist and then slowly lowered me to the ground, the front of my body sliding against the front of his.
Once my feet were securely on the ground, I stared back up at him as he slid his hands over my shoulders, his fingers underneath the fabric of my dress, and began pushing it over and down my body.
I moved my arms slightly behind me so the dress would easily slide off the rest of the way, leaving me with nothing on but my red teddy as I stood in front of him.
His eyes were roaming up and down the lacy fabric, taking it all in.
“My eyes are up here, Hector,” I teased.
“I know, but I can’t look at your eyes right now,” he said seriously.
“Why not?” I flirted and gave him a smile.