Page 70 of Rivals
He smirks and leans against the counter while he takes a sip of his coffee. I open the bag to grab my muffin. He sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “I was waiting for you, but I haven’t come up with anything, either.”
“I mean, do we need to right now? I was kind of hoping something would come to us when we get there,” I say around my muffin.
“I guess not, but…I want us to be prepared.”
“You mean to tell me you didn’t just use this as an excuse to get me here?” I ask, calling his bluff. The corner of his mouth tips up, and he grabs his bagel and tears a bite out of it.
“So what if I did?” he says. I can’t help the smile that builds on my face.
“Does that mean we’re friends?” He drops his coffee and stares at me.
“We are so much more than that, Revna, and you know it.” Blood rushes in my ears, and my heart pounds so hard it makes my chest hurt. I force myself to swallow the muffin down my tight throat. He’s said those words in so many ways before, and I didn’t believe them. Now, I’m beginning to feel every word he says to me, which means he’s almost behind my walls.
I don’t respond to his comment, but I take it and tuck it into the gaping hole in my heart that my mother decided to tear open. I almost tell him what I found out, but then I stop myself. I might be able to trust him now, but the past has a funny way of coming back to bite you, hang on, and make you feel the pain. So, I keep it to myself.
We start talking about different ideas. If we’re going to stick with paint, or if we’re going to try something different. I don’t particularly want to use another medium, and I don’t think it would go over well for both of us.
Before I know it, it’s one in the morning and very dark outside. I lay back on the couch and look out the window, trying to decide what to do. I shouldn’t spend money on a cab, not right now. “Are you going to stay tonight, or do you want me to walk you home?” My eyebrows tick up. I swear the man reads my mind.
“Oh, did you think I brought more than just food today?” He shrugs and scoots himself closer to me on the couch. “I have to be at work in three hours.”
“Then it would make sense for you to stay here, right?” I bite my lip to hide the smile. Lachlan takes that as his yes. He grips my chin and kisses me with so much fervor and longing that I almost spill my guts right then and there. I don’t think he can do something with the information to hurt me. I just don’t want his pity. That’s what I got when I told him I was a foster kid.
We don’t go through things in life and hope someone feels bad for us because we had no control over the situation to begin with. No, we go through them because for some reason, they can be used. It doesn’t mean they needed to happen, but they did. What I went through is not something to justify. It’s something to accept. I accepted it in my way, and I decided to use it. I’ve used it to get to where I am today. Maybe, just maybe, it will get me to a place that has only felt like a pipe dream, a beautiful picture but unattainable. With Lachlan, it might be just that—attainable.
Lachlan pulls away because I’m not reciprocating like I usually do. “What aren’t you telling me?” He looks me in the eyes, and I have nowhere to go and nothing to say to avoid him. So, I keep my vault sealed tight.
“We all have our secrets, Lachlan, and in this case, this is one I’m not going to tell you.”
“I don’t know why,” he says quietly.
“Yes, you do. You just refuse to believe there is any other way except your own.”
“You’ve liked my way in the past,” he grins smugly.
“Is that right?” I say. He chucks my chin and kisses me again. This time, there’s a little bite to it, only I bite right back. He groans as I tug on his lip.
Before I know it, he has me lying back on the couch with his body between my legs, and his hands are already under my hoodie. “I’m pretty sure you like this now.”
“You’re right, I do.” I kiss him again. His tongue slips past mine, and I brace myself around his body. I flip us to the floor, so I land on top, straddling him. “But right now, I like this more.”
“So then take what you want, Revna. I’ll give you control now, but I know you will give it right back to me.”
“We’ll see about that,” I murmur against his lips. His hand clasps around my neck, holding me hostage to his beautifully infuriating mouth, and I give in. His other hand slides back up my shirt and pulls it off of me while I work on his. Clothes fly everywhere, and I roll my hips on him. He groans and sits up.
“Revna, I want you, I want all of you.” He kisses me gently with slow, delicate nips. I know that wall is crumbling even more. My heart pounds in my chest, and my legs tingle. Then he grabs my hips and helps me to move against him.
His fingers slip between my thighs, and he grins. I could be embarrassed that I’ve been ready for him, but what’s the point? I know he has been, too. We like argumentative foreplay, I guess.
He squeezes my outer thighs, and I brace myself on his chest as he watches me lift myself onto him. His head tips back with a long groan. I like that I can do that to him. I love the sounds he makes for me. His barriers and walls lower, and I see the man giving himself to me whenever we are like this. I revel in it.
“Baby, you have got to move, or this will end before it begins,” he says. I tease him, and he groans, his long neck extending for me again. I take my tongue and draw it up to his ear, biting the top of it while I roll my hips.
“Teasing you is so much fun.” He chuckles, and I swallow it with my mouth.
His hips match my rhythm, and time slows. It’s just him and I. Our eyes are locked together, and what seems to flow effortlessly between us is not something I can name. He takes us, flips over on the rug, and pushes into me. “I know you feel that, muse.”
I nod, and he thrusts again. I don’t want him to talk anymore, so I push my hips up and grab his hair, tugging him to kiss me. Our bodies move together like we’ve been doing this for lifetimes. I’ll never understand it, but I’ll never get enough of it. He makes me feel like I am not the past that has followed me.
