Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Ayda
There were times I couldn’t believe how much my life had changed, and in a smaller amount of time than I ever could have imagined.
Then again, that’s the thing when you love someone.
Time ceases to matter because the only indication that it’s passing at all is those moments you find yourself coveting more and more.
My date with Drew was like that. I was oblivious to the ticking of the clock, the darkness stealing the last of the light beyond the dust clogged windows and every eye in the place that seemed to be trained on us.
I was blind to it all because he had my full attention.
My heart, mind and body were attuned to him and him alone.
I was aware of how cliché that sounded. Even as I sat there watching him work on his food, all I could do was steal glances and smile at my plate. I knew how lucky I was to have him, and I didn’t take the love he offered for granted.
Leaning forward with my chin resting on my hand, I gave him my most content smile. “How are the meatballs?”
Drew glanced across the room at the older man he seemed to know, before he looked back at me and pushed more food into his mouth. “S’good.”
I took a sip of my wine, savoring the taste.
The old man that suggested it was right about it being a bold flavor, but I was certain that it had been fermenting for a while before he’d offered it to us.
The stuff was potent as hell. Widening my eyes, I sat the glass back on the table and cut into the lasagne I’d ordered.
The outside had been an illusion; the slow decaying building had been hiding quite a gem inside the walls.
“So, how did you know about this place if you’ve never done this before?”
He swallowed carefully, his eyes falling to his plate as he cleared his throat.
“I used to come here with my old man when I was younger.” Drew shrugged, obviously trying to play it down to me before he looked back up through cautious eyes.
“It was kind of our thing. I haven’t been here in years, though.
That’s probably why Mr. Ferrara is trying to poison us with the wine. ”
Drew didn’t talk about his dad much, if at all.
Most of the time, he tended to change the subject when it came to his childhood.
I never pushed, especially after my short discussion with Deeks.
He’d been as hesitant to talk about Eric Tucker, but Drew actively avoided it if he could.
I wasn’t exactly loquacious when it came to talking about my parents, either.
As much as I lived in the happier memories of my childhood, living them out loud hurt sometimes.
Acknowledging that they were really gone made it more real.
If that was the case for Drew, I certainly didn’t want to bring it up on our date.
“I’m not sure about poisoning us, but I would say for sure he’s trying to get me drunk.
Maybe he thinks you’ll get lucky,” I said, grinning across the table at him before ripping off a piece of bread and popping it in my mouth.
I was actually hoping it would soak up some of the alcohol.
“You should probably let him know I’m a sure thing. ”
“A sure thing, huh?”
“You said the magic words, remember?”
“I remember. I’m just learning to take one second at a time with the two of us. Lot of things I could do or say wrong between now and when I bend you over my bike.” He reached over for his glass, pausing before he took a sip, his eyes focusing on mine.
I felt the flush rise to my cheeks at the image that came to mind.
We’d brought up sex on the bike several times in the past. It seemed as though it was a rite of passage with him, being who he was and all.
Unfortunately, he was right about one thing; something had always come up in the past. Whether it was him or me, or even the club, there was always some kind of distraction getting in the way.
“Maybe we should eat faster then,” I suggested, raising my eyebrows in question. Then I leaned forward and lowered my voice, my smile making my cheeks ache. “Or keep your mouth full.”
The challenge in his eyes was immediate. He barely moved his lips, but I heard the small growl before he spoke. “Eat your food, Ayda, or my old friend over there and a room full of strangers are going to see parts of us no one else has ever seen before.”
It was almost embarrassing how easily he could affect me when he did things like that.
I felt the immediate tightening in my stomach as a rash of goose bumps made the hair on my arms stand to attention.
With the growl, it was only a matter of time before I began to fidget in my seat.
He knew what he was doing to me. It was burning in his eyes as he watched me, his jaw rigid with every chew.
There were times when I questioned whether it was natural to want someone as much as I wanted him.
“Is that a threat or a promise, Mr. Tucker?”
“Both,” he answered quietly. His feet slid out on the floor, hooking around mine before pulling my ankle forward. When it came to doing what he wanted in public, there was little that seemed to scare Drew.
I looked down at my plate. I’d managed to eat half of the food on there, but the serving size was huge. There was no way I could fit more in.
“That was so good, but I’m stuffed. I think I may need some bending and stretching to work some of these carbs off.
” I took his lead, my foot pushing against his jeans and around the bend of his knee to his thigh.
I loved being with him like that, no pressure to entertain those around us, not locked away from the world in our room, but openly spending time together, laughing and flirting in a way we never had.
Our foreplay had literally been cynicism and snide remarks.
Reaching under the table, Drew’s hand found my foot, pulling it farther into him instead of pushing it away.
Casting a quick glance around the restaurant, he slid his other hand under to remove my shoe, discreetly leaning to the side to drop it to the floor as quietly as he could.
There was a change in the look he was wearing and I knew him well enough to see that the only thing he had on his mind now was me.
Slouching farther down in his seat, Drew relaxed his shoulders and began to massage my bare foot, working his thumbs into the sensitive arches while he wore that signature smirk of his and waited.
“Did you say something?”
My body reacted immediately, the tightness in my abdomen fluttering up my spine until I was forced to keep my body in place and not arch from the chair with a quiet moan.
There was something about being in a position with him where I couldn’t react on instinct, knowing I couldn’t just head to our room and hope to God he would follow.
My hands fell from the table and gripped the seat of the chair as I narrowed my eyes at him and tried to come up with something witty, while all I wanted to do was lock him in a room so we could fuck like animals.
Words weren’t an option. I knew if I said anything, it would come out in a moan. So I mouthed it to him. My lips forming the words in an exaggerated movement. “I want you.”
He was unable to hide his smug smile of victory.
Tilting his head to the side, he continued to study me as he pressed and trailed his thumbs up and down the length of my foot.
His grip only got tighter the more uncomfortable I got.
“I think I may have dropped my gentleman gene somewhere next to your shoe.”
My laugh was breathless and shaky, mainly because my fingers were digging into the wood of the chair, and my ass was hovering an inch above it. My eyes closed of their own volition, forcing me to pry them open and stare into his.
“How about you take me for a ride on that bike of yours?” I asked, my voice so husky I barely recognized it.
There was a part of me that was well aware that if this had been anyone else in the world, I would be completely horrified by my own behavior.
This wasn’t anyone though. It was Drew, my Drew, and I knew he understood that it came from a place of love, allowing me to let myself go.
Not to mention the victory he wore like a badge of honor was my reward.
I just hoped he wasn’t going to wind me up to the point where I dragged him somewhere a little more conspicuous than I’d intended.
“But I just got comfy,” he said quietly.
I worked my foot loose from his hand and pressed it against his very obvious erection. “You sure about that?”
It was his turn to close his eyes this time, but his smile only got bigger as he pressed me harder to him and held me there. “Mmmhmm. More sure than ever.”
I watched him with rapt fascination, my foot working the length of him as my eyes inhaled every little flex of muscle and twitch of his jaw. I knew what I would be facing the moment he opened his eyes. I’d seen it so often that I twisted my ass to one cheek as my nails bit into the wood below me.
Then I pulled my foot away.
Drew’s eyes flew open quickly, but he held on to the amusement in his face.
“I was right about you all that time ago, Hanagan.”
I found my shoe with my toes and pulled it closer to me, slipping my foot inside as I bent forward, knowing full well the view he was getting down my sweater.
“I’m going to regret asking, but right about what?”
Clearing his throat as he tried to discreetly adjust himself, he dropped his gaze to my chest and leaned over the table to meet me halfway. “You are a cock tease.”
“Nice try, but a tease doesn’t finish what she started, and I fully intend to.” I grinned, biting the tip of my tongue and tipping my head to the side with what I hoped was a seductive smile.
He seemed to take a moment to let the silence thicken around us, his face studying mine with an intensity I was slowly becoming used to seeing from him.
The way he looked at me sometimes, I could see the disbelief he held within himself.
I knew how hard he found it to accept us as the real deal, because I struggled to believe something so good could be true, too.
“As far as dates go,” he started, running his tongue along his bottom lip for effect. “How has this rated so far?”
“Honestly?” I asked, smiling across the table at him.
“Always.”
“Off the scale good. The best I’ve ever had. Good food. Good company. Epic flirting. What’s not to love?” I gave him a smile and reached across the table, both of my hands palm up. “And all with the man I’m completely and utterly in love with. You can’t beat that.”
He reached out, curling his fingers around both my hands before he carefully guided them up to his lips and spoke against them. “There’s always room to improve on perfect.”
I tugged on his beard playfully before brushing my index finger over his lips. “The only way you could improve this was if you were—”
I was cut off by the arrival of the waiter, my cheeks flaming with the embarrassment of the words he almost heard, not that Drew didn’t know where I was going with that train of thought. I’d been practically begging since I’d finished eating.
“Is there anything else I can get for you?” the waiter asked politely.
God, I hoped Drew said the check. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could rub my thighs together and have it go unnoticed by the other patrons and the staff.
Not pulling away from my hands, he glanced up at the waiter and gave him a sly grin.
“Just the check, thank you.”
I almost sagged in relief. It wasn’t as though I wasn’t having fun. I was, more than I’d ever had on a date before, but I meant what I said. I needed him. The ache I had was like an itch I couldn’t reach and he was the only man that could scratch it.