Page 181 of Shade
I had no other experiences when it came to dates or dating. . . but everything from the wine to the dessert he fed me, it was the perfect night. I could bore you with all the details, but I think I know what you want to hear.
What happens when we get back to the house, right?
We certainly weren’t going to be playing Mario Brothers.
Looking over, I find him smiling. He’s relaxed, driving with his left hand hanging loosely off the wheel while his right is draped along the back of the bench seat, opening and inviting.
Warming cheeks and nervousness in my chest, I slide across and sit in the middle spot, and his arm curves around my shoulders smooshing me to his side. The closeness comforts me in a way I don’t need to explain.
“Thank you,” Shade murmurs, his nose moving along my jaw, hiding in my curls.
“For what?”
“For tonight. It was nice to get out of the housewith you.”
“I’m glad I was able to help you out.”
His arm tightens around me. “There’s something else you can help me with.”
“What’s that?” Stupid question, isn’t it?
You tell me. Take a look at the hunger in his eyes and the way his breath hitches when I run my hand up his thigh to the junction between his thighs.
Guess who’s hard? Doesn’t take much these days.
My fingers dance along the straining edge of his erection to his piercing. I outline the metal through his shorts; he reacts, his thighs tensing, his breathing increasing. And then maybe I’m not thinking, but I lean my fucking head down and bite it. Honestly, what the fuck has gotten into me?
I don’t bite it hard, but it is enough that Shade jerks the wheel and nearly hits an oncoming car.
“Okay.” He taps my head. “Let’s not do this in the car. . . or the shower.”
I laugh, sitting up and sliding back over to my place in the passenger seat. Do you see me there? Are you looking at my face? Clearly I’m disappointed.
WE MANAGE TO make it back to the house, unscathed, and we’re standing in front of the guest house where I’m going to head inside and in theory, he’ll return to the main house.
That’s how dates usually work, right?
Ha. Not ones where you go out with Shade Sawyer.
“Thanks for walking me home,” I say, smiling.
He winks. “I can’t let you walk home alone.” He motions to the swimming pool, and then the main house where we can see Tiller and about ten other people in the den. “It’s a rough neighborhood.” And then he steps into me. “Okay, here it is. My. . . truth, or whatever.” He pauses and I wait. “You terrify me. Completely,” he admits, dropping his forehead to mine. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve had one experience with love, and it was awful.”
You heard that, right? He mentioned love, didn’t he?
It’s not where I thought the conversation was going, especially not since I bit his dick in the car. Maybe it’s all the built-up fluid in him going to his brain?
“I don’t have any experience with this either,” I admit. Our eyes meet and the confusion in his mirrors mine. “The one relationship I had wasn’t healthy.”
He nods, his hands in his pockets. “Can I come in?”
“Yes.” I pause, smiling. Then a small giggle slips out, and I cover my mouth. “Was that too quick of a response?”
He laughs. “No.”
I unlock the door, and the second it’s open, he moves my hair to the side, he presses his warm lips to the curve of my neck. His chest touches mine, just barely but it’s enough his heat sends a shiver through my entire body.
“We can’t have sex,” I blurt out. “Or. . . I guess we could. We’re adults but I just. . . .” My voice fades when I notice he moves away from me, back toward the bed.
