Chapter 25 Elsie #2
I watched his every move as he set the glasses down, took the wine from me, and uncorked the bottle.
Mesmerized by the movements—and looks—of his large hands, I couldn’t help but stare.
His hands were strong and large, and I loved how the vessels and tendons showed as they moved.
He wore a black ring on the pinky finger of his right hand, and a gold ring on the middle finger of his left.
Why I found that so incredibly attractive, I would never know.
“For you,” he whispered, holding a glass out to me.
I was so wrapped up in thinking about his hands I hadn’t quite realized that he was talking to me again.
Slowly, I took it, allowing my fingertips to brush his hand in the exchange.
There was a dark and curious expression in his eyes when I looked up at him.
He held his glass out and waited for me.
I tapped mine gently against his, never breaking our intense eye contact.
His lips pressed against the rim of his glass, and I watched raptly as he swallowed the first sip, remembering how those lips felt against mine a few days ago.
We would get to that.
I took a swig of the Chianti wine and settled back against the island counter. Lukas returned to finishing the dinner preparations, and when I asked if I could help, he waved me off.
“Let me serve you.”
And those words were enough to make me want to skip the entire dinner part of the evening.
Lukas escorted me to the formal dining room, which he had set up with candles and place settings for both of us.
There was a glass bowl filled with what looked like caprese salad already waiting to be devoured, and Lukas placed the dish of finished pasta in the center.
Cream-colored taper candles decorated the table, flickering with the flames that were already lit.
The room was a dark navy color, and the table was a deep mahogany, creating the perfect moody environment.
Ever the gentleman, Lukas pulled my chair out for me and pushed it in as I sat. Pressing a kiss to the top of my head, he moved to his own seat.
Wordlessly, he began dishing out the caprese onto the small salad plates he’d set.
“This is perfect,” I whispered, watching him again because I couldn’t help it. It seemed as though my eyes were finally open, whereas before they were clouded by too much to truly see him.
“Buon appetito!” Lukas smirked as he picked up his fork and dug into the appetizer. I couldn’t help but laugh as I did the same.
Dinner was absolute perfection. Not only did the food taste like it came from a five-star restaurant, but the conversation flowed between us as though nothing had ever happened.
We kept the conversation away from anything related to my father or Aster’s case, instead swapping stories of our undergraduate education.
I shared how I went to all the sporting events I could to stay involved with the school, though I never learned most of the rules.
I also told him about the great group of friends I had who would stay out studying with me all hours of the night.
Unfortunately, those friends chose different Mastery Academies, and in our busyness we’d all fallen apart.
Lukas told me how he’d always wanted to pursue football, but once he got into his potions mastery, he realized he was much more passionate about that than his sport.
He, of course, teased me about how I’d come to nearly all the football games last year and asked if I’d ever had a crush on him, to which I honestly answered that I had always found him quite attractive yet completely off-limits.
After we’d finished eating and flirting, Lukas refused to let me clean anything up. Instead, he magically vanished all the dishes and extinguished the candles.
Holding a hand out to me, he pulled out my chair. I took the proffered hand and allowed him to lead me into a different room.
It was a den of sorts, decorated in dark greys and antique brass. Dark velvet curtains covered the windows, blocking any late sunshine from coming in. Candles were lit around this room too, and that alone made my heart race.
Lukas pulled out his wand, and with a quick motion, music played. In the corner of the room, an antique gramophone sounded out a slow melody. I wondered if he had always had it here.
“How about we have a redo of the dance that got cut too short?” Lukas murmured, pulling me into the center of the room. We passed a set of sofas and stood in the open space of the rug that rested between them.
My throat tightened as I looked at him, giving him the smallest nod because I couldn’t form words.
Affectionately, he reached for my waist and pulled me closer to him, his other hand lacing our fingers together. I placed my palm on his shoulder, and he led us in a dance.
In all fairness, I was itching for something more. Not because I wasn’t enjoying his romanticism, but because I felt as though I’d waited long enough.
Perhaps only thirty seconds into the dance, I grabbed his face between my palms and pulled it down to mine. His lips met mine in a smile, and then he was pulling my waist even closer to himself.
The kiss was curious and gentle, but also demanding. With the tension between us finally gone, we both poured out our desire for each other in every movement of our lips. I relaxed in his grip, my back dipping as he pushed into me further.
It was magical and exciting to finally kiss this man I’d been falling for. Bit by bit, he had put back the pieces of myself that I’d lost the last few months. This kiss was the glue that would hold everything together.
Lukas broke the kiss, smiling against my mouth. “We were supposed to dance first.”
“Couldn’t wait,” I breathed, giggling into the kiss we began again.
Lukas had planned quite a romantic evening, as he told me later, but we were both too consumed by the fire that had gone unanswered in both of us for too long. We spent the remainder of the evening tangled in each other’s embrace.