14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Rory
Attraction.
Attraction to a man who had blown into my life like a veritable tornado, ripping apart everything I thought I knew about myself.
I was a woman’s man. I appreciated them, loved them, and enjoyed spending time with them. But the more time I spent with Zeke, the more I craved his company.
The motorbike ride to and from work today had aroused feelings I’d not experienced with a woman. Ever.
I wanted him to undress me, to worship every inch of my body, to praise and pet me like the good boy I would be for him.
Right now? I’d do anything to please him. Anything to make him proud of me. What the fuck was going on?
I loved women, and Zeke was definitely not a woman.
He was all man and a little something thrown in for good measure, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on what that was.
He attracted me. Stimulated me. Excited me.
I’d been hard most of the day thinking about him. His muscular thighs next to mine and how I’d fit perfectly behind him on the motorbike. Intense sensations had surged through me. Had I really needed to hold him so tight?
But now, we were here in the apartment, my mind clamouring with things to say to him. Would he be interested in a man like me?
Would he be interested in a man? But hadn’t he already intimated he had been with both? Surely, that was the question I needed to be asking. Somehow, I thought the answer to that would be yes. He certainly seemed okay with the mild flirting earlier.
“Coffee?” I asked. Zeke was sitting on the sofa, hunched over, looking at something on Carlotta’s phone. I smiled as they both laughed.
Carlotta had taken to him, thankfully, and appeared to enjoy him hanging around. He encouraged her to do her homework, even sat and worked through her algebra, something I’d never been able to master.
He was a man of many talents. Where did they end?
“Hmm. What?” He turned to face me, smiling. His piercing eyes held me in place. I hadn’t been able figure out what colour they were. Today they were amber, almost orange, but that couldn’t be right, could it?
“Would you like coffee before dinner? It won’t be much longer.”
“Oh, am I stopping for dinner?” Cheeky fucker. He was here more often than he wasn’t. Not that I minded looking at him or spending time in his company.
“You usually do, and it is your favourite.”
“Is it your infamous carbonara?”
Okay, so I couldn’t cook much, but I was getting better. Carbonara was easy enough to do without testing my culinary skills.
“Yes, and cheesy garlic bread.” I’d never known a man to eat so much garlic bread and still keep trim.
“You know I’m going to say yes. I’ll take a coffee too.”
I busied myself with the coffee machine, setting about making a pot.
“Can I help with anything?” he asked, startling me. He was so close his unique scent drifted towards me.
I fumbled the coffee cup I’d been holding and winced as it hit the ground, breaking into several pieces.
“Damn.” I bent to pick them up. Thankfully, it hadn’t shattered completely.
“Here, let me help. It was totally my fault. I shouldn’t have sneaked up on you.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got this.”
Zeke knelt beside me. His fingers grazed mine, and our eyes met, his lips a hair’s breadth away from mine. If I leant in now….
“What did you drop, Papa?” Carlotta bent down beside us.
We sprang apart, but a sharp pain shot through me. Dammit, I cut my palm on a piece of the broken cup. I closed my eyes and pursed my lips, trying desperately not to swear in front of her.
“Here.” Zeke took a clean cloth and pressed hard, staunching the blood flow. “Carlotta, do you have a first aid box? Go get it for me.”
“Shit, that fucking hurts,” I said as she scurried away. “Please don’t tell me I need stitches. I couldn’t stand to spend another minute in a bloody hospital.”
He pulled the cloth away. It was still bleeding but not as bad. “It’ll be fine. We need to stop the bleeding, then dress it.”
I hissed as he applied pressure again. “That was my favourite mug.” I looked at the broken shards. They’d need to be picked up before someone stepped on them.
As if reading my thoughts, he scooped up the remaining pieces and placed them in the bin, all the while holding my hand.
Carlotta returned, close to tears. “I’m sorry, Papa. It was all my fault.”
“Sweetheart, I dropped the cup. It was no one’s fault.” I glanced over at the pan of pasta boiling over on the stove. “Zeke, can you do something with that?”
“Shit. Sorry.” He turned off the pan. Thankfully, it wasn’t ruined. “Sit. I can finish this off. Keep pressing down.”
My head spun, but I made it to the table and sat with a thud. He and Carlotta finished cooking dinner. A brief image of us doing this every night filled my head. I’d never once imagined being with anyone other than Mia, but something about Zeke felt right. No way to explain my reason.
I peeled the sodden cloth away from my hand, happy to see the bleeding had slowed to barely a trickle. It wasn’t a deep cut and wouldn’t need stitches, but it’d be sore for a few days.
Before I had a chance to put the cloth back, Zeke was there.
“Let’s get that cleaned and put a dressing on it.” He gently cleansed it and wrapped it in a dressing. “There, that should do it.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off him. No, my racing heart had nothing to do with the cut on my hand but everything with him being near.
I dismissed the sudden urge to run my fingers through his hair. As if sensing my hesitation, he looked up, a smirk on his face.
One beat, two, and still he clutched my hand in his. My eyes roamed over every detail of his sculpted face. He held my gaze and let me take my fill.
“See something you like there, Rory?” His husky voice did nothing to break the spell. It only deepened the pull I felt towards him.
I nodded, totally transfixed. What was it about him that drew me?
I closed the gap, intent on kissing him, unable to stop myself.
“Maybe we should carry this on later. I think dinner’s ready.”
I swallowed hard as he walked back to Carlotta. Leather trousers had never looked so good on anyone. Surely, it was illegal to have an arse like that on show.
I shook my head to clear it and made my way to the bathroom. I needed to pee and splash some water on my heated face.
Never in my life had I felt this flustered around a man. I took a steadying breath, held it for five, and blew it out, my heart finally returning to some kind of normal.
“Come on, Rory. You can do this. It’s just a meal with a man. Admittedly, he’s fucking hot wearing leather pants. Nothing I haven’t seen before.”
Except nothing about Zeke was normal. He was extraordinary in every way.
Finally getting myself together, I walked back into the room and took a seat at the table now set for dinner.
Carlotta sat in her usual spot opposite me, and Zeke sat next to her. My stomach growled, and he looked at me, an eyebrow raised.
“Someone is hungry.”
“Me too, Zeke. I’m starving.” Carlotta said. “I’ve had nothing since lunchtime. The food was awful, though. Some kind of curry, and the rice was barely cooked. Do you think I could take some of this tomorrow if there’s any left over?”
I smiled at my daughter, happy she seemed to have forgotten the kidnap attempt. She talked nonstop throughout the meal, occasionally looking to Zeke or me for an answer to a question neither of us had heard, too intent on watching each other.
I wasn’t sure what had happened, but from the moment I’d sat behind him on the motorbike, I’d had the insatiable urge to strip us both naked and roll around on the floor until we could no longer breathe.
I should be alarmed by my thoughts, but they consumed me. Every time I stole a look, he was watching me, that cocky smirk on his face.
Did he know what I was thinking? How could he possibly?
Carlotta’s next question brought us both back to earth.
“Is there a Mrs Zeke? You spend all your time with us. If you had a wife, wouldn’t she be annoyed with you? What’s she like?”
Poor Zeke almost choked on his garlic bread.
He swallowed a mouthful of water before answering her. Had I been braver, I might have asked myself.
“There is no Mrs Zeke or a Mr Zeke. I’m young, free, and single.” His eyes never left mine as he spoke. Was he insinuating something, or was it my imagination?
“So, you could date anyone you wanted to, then?” Carlotta had no filter, but then she was twelve. She didn’t understand that sometimes, you didn’t ask questions like that.
Out of the mouth of babes, as they said.
“I could, yes, but I’ve been waiting for the right person to come along.” He shovelled another forkful of pasta into his mouth and chewed.
“And have they?”
I didn’t stick around to hear his answer.
“Excuse me. I need another drink.”
I walked to the kitchen and turned on the tap, filling my glass to the brim. What I really wanted was a beer. I’d been a fool to think this was anything, and anyway, since when was I interested in men? Fucking ridiculous. I liked women, except I was lying to myself.
I drank deeply, draining the glass, then refilled it.
“You didn’t let me finish.”
Zeke’s voice sounded in my ear and I almost dropped the glass in the sink. Jesus, at this rate, I’d have no mugs or glasses left.
“Finish what?” I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. He was so close the heat radiating from his firm body seared through me. The tight-fitting T-shirt he wore accentuated every muscle, and I’d noticed every single one.
Warm breath ghosted my skin. His hand rested on my hip, and his finger trailed a path up my neck and along my jaw.
Good god, I was about to combust.
“I was about to say I had someone in mind.”
“And who would that be?” My breathing stuttered, and my heart pounded so hard I feared he could hear it.
“I think you know unless I haven’t made myself clear.”
Did I know? I’d certainly felt something, or was I misreading the signs?
“Is..is it me?”
His hand moved from my hip to my stomach and pressed, bringing my body flush with his hardness. I jumped from the touch and inhaled sharply when his teeth grazed my earlobe.
I rested my head on his shoulder, giving him access. He moved lower, as I’d hoped, and pressed gentle kisses to my exposed throat.
“So smooth and so responsive. I love that.”
I’d give him anything at this point.
“Touch me,” I whispered. The hand covering my stomach moved lower. He brushed his hands over the tip of my hard cock. I gasped, but still his lips assaulted my neck, biting and licking.
I’d always been in control, but giving myself to him was a different kind of submission. I wanted to be dominated, needed to be taught how to do this, although I had no clue what this was.
“Hmmm, you like this?” Both hands were now at my groin, stroking and touching. His cock was hard against my body, and I shifted backwards, craving satisfaction. “I could take you here and have you mewling and begging for release. Now isn’t the right time, but it’s coming. I promise you that.”
And just like that, his hands were gone, as was he.
I braced myself on the cold sink. Oh god, Carlotta was close. Had she seen anything? I turned sharply, but she was not in the room.
Zeke sat at the table as if nothing had happened.
“Where did she go?” I’d been so wrapped up in his thrall I’d not given her a thought.
“She went to her room. A friend called. Do you think I’d do that to you if she were around? I don’t like an audience, especially one so young.”
“I…I…” I was so stupid. “You should go.”
How could I’d been taken in so easily? I’d have dropped to my knees and given him whatever he’d wanted. What spell was I under?
“Don’t be ashamed. We did nothing wrong, but next time she’s not around, the outcome will be different. I guarantee you’ll want it.”
He was so fucking cocky, but something about him constantly drew me to him like an invisible cord. When had that happened?
“I’ll be back tomorrow to take her to school.” He grabbed his jacket, and a part of me wanted to beg him to stay.
“There’s no need.”
“There’s every need, and when she’s safely in school, I’ll be back to take you to work.”
I opened my mouth to protest, surprised when he pressed his soft lips to mine. I hadn’t expected that, but I didn’t fight him, sighing into the chaste kiss.
“Sleep well, Rory.”
The door closed quietly behind him, and I stood open-mouthed in the hallway, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
One minute we were having a quiet dinner; the next I was making out with a man in my kitchen, of all places. Not exactly how I’d envisaged my day ending.
“Did Zeke go?” Carlotta’s voice startled me out of my daydream.
“Yes, he’ll be back tomorrow, though, to take you to school.”
“I like him. He’s nice. I think you like him too.”
“What makes you say that?” Thankfully, my erection had subsided, so it couldn’t have been that.
“The way you look at him. It’s like you did with Mamma sometimes.”
“Don’t be so silly. I do not look at him like that.”
“He does it to you too.”
“You should get to bed. First day back and all.” My situation with Zeke was confusing, and I wasn’t ready to discuss it with anyone.
“Whatever, Papa.” She reached up, kissed my cheek, and left me wondering how, in a matter of a few months, my world had been turned on its head.
Nothing I could do but buckle in and be there for the ride.