Page 111 of Give & Take

We gorge ourselves on food and cider—well, I do. Raph stops with the one goblet since he’s driving us home. Then Raph lies on his back, his head in my lap, as we talk about everything. Places we’ve been, places we want to go. Music, books, favorite movies. Luckily Raph has old soul taste, so I know all his favorites.

It’s the most incredible thing, how easy it is for me to talk to Raphael LaForest. I spent so long keeping myself contained and measured, and in the end, it was the man I felt I needed to guard myself against the most who released the dam keeping me from being myself. I know part of it’s just him and the charming way he finds even the most mundane thing a beautiful, philosophical discussion point. But I also know it’s how he is withme, specifically. He’s just…relentlessly interested in what I have to say. He has me sharing things I didn’t even know I knew about myself.

After a while, we fall into an easy silence, me stroking his thick hair, him purring like a giant cat. My head is tipped back on the rock, the last of the sun dripping warmth into my very soul. When I open my eyes. Raph’s looking at me. “You okay?” he asks.

I nod. “You?”

“Hungry.”

“You said you were stuffed!”

He rises up, resting his hands on my thighs, his chin on top of them. “I haven’t had dessert.”

My stomach plunges deliciously, and it’s then I take in my dress. It’s bunched up my legs where he’s been lying. At my shoulders, the straps have fallen loose onto my arms.

Raph’s looking like a snack himself, with his hair flopping over his forehead, his pupils flaring wide as he inches the fabric higher up my legs.

“What about the teenagers?” I ask.

“Haven’t seen a single one.”

The dress slips higher, his rough fingers moving with tantalizing slowness across my skin.

“See, this is the third reason I didn’t want to have this date at a restaurant,” Raph says.

“Oh yeah?” My breath snags in my chest as he approaches the apex of my thighs. “What was that?”

“Because I wouldn’t be able to eat you out at the table, obviously.”

I let out a choked sound. Of course he just says it.

Raphael grins, licking his lips.

“You really want to do this for me here?” I ask, still a little nervous at how exposed we are. Though rationally, I’m pretty sure we’d be able to hear anyone coming through that dense trail.

“Oh, I’m not doing this for you,” Raph says, gently nudging my knee sideways. “This is a very selfish move on my part.”

I groan, tipping my face back as he draws his tongueup the inside of my thigh. Of course Raphael doesn’t see this as a favor. He loves it. He eats it up, so to speak.

The only thing between us is the drape of my dress between my legs, and as he nudges the fabric up, he freezes.

I bite my lip. I was waiting for him to discover my surprise.

“Lana Bloor,” Raph says. He pushes my dress all the way up and off my hips, exposing my bare flesh. “Do you mean to tell me you’ve been this close to naked all night?”

I smile. “You never asked.”

“Fuck me.”

“Okay,” I say.

Raph lets out a low, growling sound and hooks his arms under my thighs, dragging me down onto the blanket. “You’ll pay for this, Sunshine.”

“How’s that?”

“I’m going to almost make you come.”

“That’s not—” I freeze as I catch his meaning. “You wouldn’t.”

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