6. Ron
SIX
RON
“Thanks for cooking,” she said as she sighed with a happy satisfied smile on her face. One I wanted to keep for the rest of my days. Hell, it was one I wanted to put there for a whole other reason.
“It was my pleasure,” I said and meant it.
Watching her eat had been like fucking foreplay.
At my age, I should have better control over my libido than I did.
But who could blame me? Every little moan and eye flutter and sound she made had set my blood on fire and made my cock harder than a pole of rebar, but that wasn’t what I was there for.
Evelyn had been through a lot, and she’d asked me over so she wouldn’t be alone. Though, the way she looked at me made me think maybe we both wanted so much more.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, my voice raspy in my own ears.
“Full?” She giggled and stopped when a deep growl vibrated through my chest.
Full. Full. Full. That little word bounced in my head like a ping pong ball. Fuck, I liked the way that sounded. I wanted to stuff her full in so many other ways. I shook my head, trying to keep my shit together.
“That’s good.” I scratched the back on my neck, trying to keep my hands to myself. I am so fucking tempted to touch her. Kiss her. “Here, let me get that.” I took her plate and mine and hurried to the kitchen.
I needed to get a hold of myself.
My self-control was slipping before my eyes, and a man she hardly knew pawing at her, trying to find out just how sweet her lips tasted, was the last thing she needed.
I turned the water on at the sink, making sure to give it time to heat up while I worked on scrubbing the bowls and the pots and pans I’d used.
But it didn’t matter that I was trying to use up energy and scalding water was burning my hands; it was like my body was awake after the deepest slumber, and now it wouldn’t settle the hell down.
“You know, I have a dishwasher.” I glanced over my shoulder.
Evie stood leaning against the rounded archway that separated the kitchen from the living space.
She was still wearing my clothes, her hair messy and wildly piled up on top of her head, and damn if the sight of her so casual and pretty made my heart beat triple time.
I wanted to see her this way all the time, in the quiet simple moments, just as badly as I wanted to see her all dolled up and ready to go on a date. With me. Only me.
“You should be resting,” I rumbled.
“I’m okay, but seriously, you don’t have to hand wash them.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” I turned back and kept working on scrubbing the lid of the pot I’d used to boil the noodles. I needed to keep busy so I didn’t do anything wild, like pounce on her.
“Hmm…” she sighed, silence filling the space slightly. “Did I do something?”
“Something?” I asked without looking back at her.
“You kinda ran away just now,” she said, calling me out, and damn it, I must have lost my goddamn mind, because I fucking liked that.
I put the lid on the drying rack, turned off the water, and turned around.
Leaning my back against the counter, I wiped my wet hands on my uniform pants I was still wearing.
“I didn’t—“ I started to say but stopped myself. Evelyn might not know it yet, fuck, she hardly knew me, but she was mine. I’d do whatever it took to make it a reality. And I wasn’t going to lie to myself, much less her. “You’re right,” I admitted. “Being close to you is hard for me.”
“Oh.” Her face fell, and I knew she had misunderstood me.
“I wanted to kiss you,” I cleared up and felt my face heat. Shit, I was as smooth as extra chunky peanut butter. “But I, um…” I cleared my throat. “I figured you wouldn’t appreciate some guy you hardly know pawing at you.”
“Pawing at me,” she repeated softly, her pretty, dark eyes dilated as her breathing changed. Her gaze dropped to my hands, and she licked her lips before looking away.
“Yeah.” My hands gripped the edge of the kitchen counter. I tried not to blink. I was deathly afraid I’d miss some kind of expression when she pushed her sweet curvy body off the archway and took two steps forward before she stopped.
Three big steps, and she would be within my reach.
“What if I don’t mind a little pawing?” She chewed on her bottom lip like a little temptress.
“A little pawing, huh?” I swallowed, hardly recognizing the depth of my voice.
Her pretty head bobbed up and down. “Baby girl, that’s the problem.
I don’t know if I could only do a little, and I don’t want to hurt you,” I warned.
I gripped the counter with a white-knuckled hold to stop myself from rushing her, tossing her over my shoulder, and pressing her to the closest flat surface to rut into her like some kind of savage animal.
“You won’t.” The confidence in her voice, believing and trusting so much in me, was fucking humbling.
“Baby.”
“In an attempt to be crystal clear because I don’t do games and I’m not a fan of misunderstandings or wasting time. God’s honest truth, I am the world’s worst dater,” she confessed. “Just letting you know that. And that kissing doesn’t sound bad, either… it’s been a while since… I’ve been kissed.”
“How long?” I asked, my brows bunched.
The idea of any man touching her, kissing her, made me see red. It wasn’t fair or logical.
We were both grown adults with our own pasts, but fuck, I didn’t like the idea of anyone other than me ever tasting her lips or hearing the sounds she’d make in pleasure.
“Two years,” she answered without hesitation. My teeth mashed together. Two years since she’d been kissed or touched.
“It’s been a year for me,” I shared, and she nodded slowly.
“I guess we’re both a little rusty.”
“Rusty?” I chuckled and shook my head, staring at her like a wolf would his next meal.
Rusty? If she thought I didn’t know exactly how to handle her, she had something else coming to her.
“Baby, there is nothing rusty about me,” I warned. She stopped chewing on her bottom lip, and her hands moved to rest at her side.
“Show me,” she said and broke whatever self-control I had left. I pushed off the counter and was tempted to run to her. But I didn’t. Somehow, I managed to keep my steps slow.
Watching her closely. Evie’s breathing changed with every inch I neared.
One more step would bring me right there.
My skin felt like it had been pulled taut all over my body.
The blood rushing southbound felt warmer, trails of heat through my veins and bones.
I would have never guessed a few footsteps could have ever felt like foreplay, but they did.
And when I reached her, standing right in front of her, both of us breathing hard, like we’d been working out, all I wanted to do was take her in my arms.
But I had to set some ground rules first.
“You say stop, and we will.” She licked her lips, leaving them glossy and wet, silently beckoning me to press my own against them. “Do you understand, Evelyn? No hesitation or worries.” She nodded, but I shook my head. “I need the words, beautiful.”
“I understand,” she hoarsely rasped.
“Good.” My hand snaked out and grabbed her waist, pulling her flush up against me. Evie’s small but strong hand rested on my chest between us, clenching the fabric of my uniform.
My head dipped down, and the moment our lips touched, it felt like I was right where I was supposed to be.
For good or bad, everything I had been through, all the highs and seriously deep, dark lows had led me to that moment.
And for the first time, I didn’t feel guilty when I kissed a woman.
Before, in the past, I had tried to avoid kissing in my random hookups.
It had felt too intimate. Like I had somehow been cheating on Sara.
But kissing Evelyn was different.
It felt right.
My hands moved into the loose strand at the back of her hair, and I carefully pulled the tie out and felt the weight of her hair against my fingers.
She sighed happily, pressing her body against mine like she couldn’t get enough.
That makes two of us, baby girl. Her lips parted, and my tongue, with a mind of its own, delved into the wet heat of her mouth.
We moaned, and I couldn’t help myself. My hands moved from holding her head down her torso and under her ass as I bent and lifted her up.
Evie’s legs wrapped around me, and I carried us to the counter of her kitchen, carefully setting her down.
“You’re wearing too much,” she whimpered, and I pulled away.
“You’re playing with fire,” I warned, but my sweet, sexy little temptress just smiled at me.
“I’m pretty sure that’s a whole other first responder department,” she sassed.
“It is, huh?” I asked, smiling at her, loving our banter.
“Yeah.” She nodded while her fingers tugged at my uniform shirt that was still tucked in. “Please,” she asked too sweetly for her own good.
I was in fucking trouble.
I couldn’t see myself ever telling this beautiful creature in front of me no.
Immediately, I helped her tug the material out of my pants, her nimble fingers undid the buttons, and when she had me in nothing but the white tank I wore underneath, I could have sworn her eyes were almost all black, dilated fully as she stared at me.
“You’re like a painting.” She licked her lips.
“Hardly.” I chuckled breathlessly. Fucking hell, it had been a long time since I’d felt this way, since someone had touched me like she was. My eyes shut as her hand stroked my chest, and when I opened them, her attention was on my chest.
“Can I?” she asked, and now I was the one silently nodding, giving her permission without using my words. She pulled the tank top up and over. The moment she had it mid-chest, I helped her pull it off me completely. “Wow,” she whispered. “You’re beautiful.”
“Maybe we should take you back to the ER?” I muttered, a whisper away from her lips.
“Why?”