Chapter 13 #2
Following a stretch of silence, neither one of us having pulled away from the other, I said, “I have to get the delivery truck back to the furniture store before Joyce and Dale think I took off with it.”
Chloe laughed. “I don’t think that’d ever cross their minds.”
I smiled at her. “Want to walk me to the door?”
She shook her head. “I know you have to go, but part of me wants to keep you here.”
“I can come back,” I blurted. The words had spilled out of me without a second thought, surprising both of us.
“Really?” Chloe bounced on her toes. “You’d come back?”
A rush of warmth flooded me. Nobody had ever been so eager to spend time with me like this. Seeing it, I felt a profound sense of obligation to do anything and everything I could to make Chloe happy.
“If you want me to,” I nodded. “Absolutely.”
“I want you to.”
“Then I’ll be back.”
With my promise, Chloe stepped out of my hold and took me by the hand. “I’ll walk you to the door now.”
It was such a simple thing—and I’d already had my hands on her hips and ass, my tongue in her mouth—but there was something about having her hand in mine that felt far more intimate than anything else I’d experienced with her.
We made it to the front door, where Chloe turned to face me. “Hawk?”
“Yeah?”
“I have a question.”
My lips twitched. “Just ask. Whatever it is.”
She hesitated for just a moment before she said, “I know you want to take things slow, and I completely respect that. But I was wondering if… Well, it’s just that I enjoyed kissing you. And I was wondering if that was off the table for now.”
Okay.
So, maybe I should’ve clarified precisely what I meant when I said I wanted to take things slow.
Instead of responding with words, I reached out my hand and curled my fingers around the side of her neck. I tugged her toward me, and Chloe’s hands flew to my chest as my mouth descended on her.
If she thought I was giving this up now that I’d experienced it with her, she was crazy. As it was, I didn’t quite understand how I’d lasted this long since tearing my mouth from hers the first time.
Standing just inside her front door, the kiss was anything but innocent. Chloe leaned her weight into me, her nails digging in at my chest as my back hit the wall.
My hands roamed again, one gliding up her side from her hip toward her ribs. With that hand splayed there, my thumb just beneath the curve of her breast, temptation became a very real thing.
And for Chloe, so did need. Because the moan that slid up her throat as she squirmed in front of me was enough to tell me what she wanted.
I might’ve had my reasons for wanting to take things slow, and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to resist. But I got the feeling that we were going to have a good time working ourselves up to being ready, to being sure that we wanted to take that next step.
When Chloe’s hands journeyed down my torso, to my sides, and around to my ass, I groaned into her mouth. Feeling a woman’s hands on me like this was something that I still hadn’t quite gotten used to.
Chloe swallowed my groan before separating her mouth a touch from mine and using her teeth to nibble on my lip.
If this was an indication of what it’d be like if we took things further and eventually wound up naked with one another, I suspected there wouldn’t be anything that I didn’t enjoy with her.
With just a little bit of kissing, my blood was rushing in my veins, hot and fast. My heart had been racing since about the second she first opened the door to me. Having my tongue in her mouth, Chloe exploring mine the same, wasn’t doing anything to quell that.
And my cock.
Fuck, it ached and throbbed with need.
If we did make it to that place we were both hoping to go, I prayed I wouldn’t embarrass myself completely. Would she be as understanding then as she’d been this whole time?
The moment Chloe rolled her hips against my length, I couldn’t take it any longer. I gave her hair a gentle tug and gave her hip a squeeze to stop the movement. If she kept that up, I’d come in my pants right before needing to head back to work to return that damn truck.
“Okay, we’ve got to stop now,” I said. “But I hope that answers your question.”
Her eyes were shining so brightly. “Kissing is still on the table.”
I smiled at her. “It’s definitely still on the table.”
“So, you’re coming back?”
I nodded.
“Can I make dinner for us?” she asked. “Perhaps we could do some talking before we do more kissing.”
A wave of disappointment washed over me.
I didn’t mind having her cook for us tonight.
No doubt it’d be wonderful. But I wondered if I’d ever be able to take her out on a proper date.
Already, I was seeing the things that could put a damper on what we were hoping to build.
But that would have to be a conversation for later.
I squeezed her hip again. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”
Chloe gave me a peck on the lips. “Okay, Hawk. I’ll freshen up, tidy up, and see you soon.”
I kissed her cheek. “Sounds good. Be back shortly, sweetness.”
At that endearment, her cheeks pinkened.
God, she was adorable.
Realizing I’d never leave if I didn’t go now, I yanked open the door. Then I walked out feeling the best I had in twelve years. Maybe even longer.