Chapter 33
“Ready to head back?” I ask.
“Born ready.”
I brush my lips against her ear and whisper, “Anticipation. Let’s keep it going.”
“This was the third date.” She pouts.
“I know, but …” I trail off, wrestling with the truth of it all.
I want her in a way that’s serious, but I’m not sure she’s ready for that kind of commitment.
And with Adam still hanging in the background, it’s impossible not to feel a bit cautious.
Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, I kiss her neck gently. “Tomorrow. I promise.”
As we walk hand in hand back to the hotel, I feel her fingers tighten around mine. After a silent minute, she asks, “Why are we following your arbitrary rules?”
“Because …” I don’t want to derail the weekend, but I’m not comfortable with the Adam situation. “I need … Well, I desperately want to be the only one.”
“You are.”
“What about Adam?”
She hesitates. Exactly.
“I’m not sleeping around.”
“It’s the thought of sharing any of you that has me hesitating.”
She pauses, and we stand on the sidewalk. “After you left me all hot and bothered in his bathroom, I told him that I was done being more than friends with him.”
Hearing that nearly makes me recant my arbitrary demand. Looking down at her, I stare deeply into her eyes. “He proposed to you …. Your relationship … It must have been serious.”
“I didn’t want him to propose to me,” she says firmly. “It was too soon, and he has this timetable that has nothing to do with me. It’s not … It doesn’t matter. I broke up with him, and I’m done being more than friends with him.”
Pulling her in for a hug, I whisper, “I have a feeling you’re going to break my heart, Dani.”
“You’d have to let me in first,” she snaps. Such a brat. A fucking hot little brat.
I kiss the top of her head, loving how much shorter she is than me. “You drive a hard bargain,” I tease, and we continue walking to the hotel.
“I can sleep on the couch tonight,” I say as we enter the room.
“What?” she nearly yells. “I thought we decided …”
I can’t hold back a growing smirk as her expression drops.
“You’re sleeping next to me,” she demands and walks straight for the bed.
“Am I?” I follow, taking a seat on the comforter.
Dani straddles me, and I slowly unbutton her dress, taking in every inch of newly exposed skin. Sliding the material off one shoulder, I tenderly kiss it before sliding it off the other shoulder.
“Gideon,” she whines. “Stop teasing me! I can’t take it.”
“Fuck,” I grumble, and my jaw clenches, looking at her black push-up bra with designed boning and artfully placed lace. “Have you been wearing this the whole time?”
“This?” she teases.
I gently pull one cup down, flicking my tongue over her nipple, feeling her arch against me as I give it a light bite. Flipping us over so her back is on the bed, I admire Dani lying there half-naked. “I guess; it’s part of a set?”
She lifts her hips, and I slide her dress off, tossing it on the floor. I growl, seeing the matching black lace panties. “You’re making it impossible for me …” I kiss her stomach and caress her body.
“Who do you want?” I ask.
“You.”
“No one else?”
There is a slight pause, then, “No.” My heart shatters a little. I would have given in if that pause wasn’t there.
“The next time I ask you that,” I say, getting on top of her. “The pause better be gone.” I crush my lips into hers, and her arms wrap around my neck.
“I want you,” she says between kisses.
“You’ll have to wait.”
Her legs wrap around my hips like she is holding on to me for dear life. With every graze of her tongue, she makes it harder for me to say no. I’m struggling to hold out.
I pull back. “Say my name.”
“Gideon.”
I run my fingers over her lips. “That’s the only fucking name I want on your lips this weekend.” I sit back and strip down to my briefs. “You need more practice screaming it.” I make my way between her legs, ready to give her another reason why I’m the only one she’ll ever need.