27. Chapter 27
twenty-seven
Diesel
Ididn’t want to rush her or push her, but I wanted her. So bad I ached with it, now that I had had a taste of her. Sweeter than any of the pastries she’s fed me over these last few weeks.
She leaned in, kissing me again and I nearly lost it. I held back, I didn’t want to make her feel like she had to do something she wasn’t ready for.
My hands stayed in safe zones.
My lips just on hers and her neck.
“Diesel.” She panted, and I pulled back just for a second.
“I kind of liked it when you called me Daniel.” Then I huffed. “Don’t tell anyone else, ok?”
She grinned like I had given her a shiny new Christmas present.
Sadie’s fingers slid into my hair, tugging just enough to make me feel it—make me know she was right there with me.
“Daniel,” she whispered again, like she was trying it on, rolling it around in her mouth. Like it was something special. Just for her.
Fuck.
My whole chest tightened. No one said my name like that. Not even when they were supposed to. She made it sound like something worth saying.
I kissed her again—slow, reverent, a little rough at the edges. I let my hands drift to her waist, gripping gently. She moved with me, no hesitation, no second-guessing.
It undid me.
And I realized I was done waiting.
Not for sex. Not for permission. But for this moment. For a reason to believe that I didn’t have to keep everything locked down tight. That someone could see all of me and still pull me closer.
Her lips brushed my jaw. “You staying the night or what?”
“I’m staying,” I rasped. “Unless you kick me out.”
“Not tonight.” Her hand ran down my chest, slow and sweet and confident. “Tonight, you’re mine.”
I swallowed hard. “Yours.”
Then she kissed me again and there wasn’t anything safe about it anymore.
I followed her lead. I let her make the moves she wanted to make and I enjoyed them. Her hands moved up under my shirt, and I could feel them shaking a little
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” I told her and meant it. “We don’t have to.”
Her breath fanned across my throat as she nuzzled close, her body curled against mine like she’d always belonged there. My shirt was half-unbuttoned from her earlier wandering hands, but she hadn’t rushed anything, and neither had I.
We weren’t rushing.
We were reveling.
“I didn’t expect pink walls,” I murmured against her temple, letting my fingers trace idle patterns along her arm. “Or the glittery heart pillow that’s now lodged in my spine.”
She giggled, soft and sleepy, like she’d never felt safer. “I almost warned you. But I wanted to see your face.”
“I should’ve guessed.” I tugged the pillow out from under me and tossed it across the room. “You’re full of surprises, Sadie May.”
She tilted her head back so our eyes met, that teasing spark in hers. “Think you can handle them?”
“I’m trying to be a gentleman,” I muttered, my voice lower now, rougher. “But you’re not making it easy.”
“You’re doing great.” Her voice was honey-sweet, thick with affection. “Besides, I like this version of you. The real one. Not the grump who barely says ten words at a time.”
“Don’t get used to it,” I warned, only half serious.
“Too late.”
Sadie
I take in this version of Diesel–Daniel and wonder just how someone tells him he’s not enough. He’s warm, he can’t stop touching me, and he’s more than enough.
Because he’s accepting me. Heart pillows and all.
That means more to me than anything.
That and calling him Daniel. Like it's just for me.
I kissed him again, this time slowly, sweetly, but there was still that heat there. It was like slow-moving lava in my veins.
“I don’t know if I am fully ready,” I started, but he cut me off with a kiss.
“You don’t have to be. I have learned over the past thirty-nine years to be a patient man.”
I widen my eyes. “You’re thirty-nine!”
He gave me a look. A slow blink and a subtle tilt of his head, like I’d just accused him of murder instead of being older than I thought. “You say that like I’m ancient.”
“I just figured…” I trailed off, biting my lip. “You’ve got that whole broody bad boy thing going. I thought thirty-five, tops.”
He grunted. “Well, don’t tell me how to wear my trauma.”
That made me laugh, full and real, and when I kissed him again, it was through a grin.
His arms tightened around me, like he didn’t want to let go. “Sadie,” he said softly, brushing his nose against mine. “You never have to be anything you’re not ready for. I’m not here to take anything from you. I just want to be with you.”
And just like that, I was molten again.
I pushed him back onto the bed and straddled him, my hands on his chest, my lips on his mouth.
He caught my hips as I leaned in, kissing me like he’d been starving for it. Maybe he had been. I knew I had.
Then I shifted, just a little.
Oh.
Oh boy.
There was… definitely something. Something very present. Very hard. Very much pressing up through those slacks I had thought looked too good on him earlier.
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. My eyes went wide. His hands stilled on my waist.
“Sadie,” he said low, his voice wrecked and rough. “We can stop. Right now. No pressure.”
But all I could do was blink down at him and say, very eloquently, “Um. So that’s… huh.”
A slow, wicked smile curved his lips. “Yeah.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You think this is funny?”
“I think you’re funny,” he said, his voice like gravel and velvet. “And perfect. And sitting in a dangerous situation.”
“Well,” I said, cheeks burning but refusing to move. “I guess we’ll just have to be very careful, then.”
He groaned, as if I was actually torturing him. I might’ve been.
And I wasn’t even sorry.
I wiggled my hips, just a little, and he hissed through his teeth.
“Sadie…” It came out like a warning and a prayer.
I grinned down at him. “You said you were patient.”
“I am,” he ground out, gripping my waist like it was the only thing keeping him tethered to earth. “But sweetheart, you keep doing that, and I’m gonna need a damn medal.”
“Well,” I said, tilting my head, “if you behave…” I dragged my nails lightly down his chest. “Maybe I’ll let you stay tomorrow night again.”
His eyes flared, hands tightening on me. “That’s cruel.”
“That’s incentive,” I corrected, leaning down until my lips barely brushed his. “You said it yourself, it’s a dangerous situation. I’m just giving you a reason to be on your best behavior.”
He let out a strangled laugh, his eyes glued to mine like I was the only thing he could see. “You are so lucky I like you.”
“Mm. I am lucky,” I said, and kissed him again. Soft, sweet, slow until he groaned and flipped us, settling over me with careful, aching control. His forehead pressed to mine.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered. “Even if I have to sleep next to you fully clothed for the next year.”
My heart clenched. “I really hope it doesn’t take that long.”
He smiled, and it was this rare, soft thing. “Me too.”