Page 78 of Take A Number
I thought it would be a playful kiss. Something light and silly…good for a show. But it’s anything but a show.
It’s fierce and possessive with a need so intense, tears prick the back of my eyes. When he finally releases me, we’re both gasping for breath, and his voice is thick when he says, “I missed you this week.”
My brows lift as that comment causes serious tummy flipping action. I chew my raw lip and attempt to come off as casual. “Did you fake miss me or real miss me?”
“Real,” he recalls, pain creasing his features with that admission.
“Okay then,” I huff, my heart thumping with hope that I scarcely allowed myself to have before.
“Okay then.”
I pull back for some fresh air, staring into his dark eyes. I want to confess everything to him right here, right now. Can he see how badly I want to be with him? How much I want to make this more? I clear those thoughts out of my head because I don’t need to plan right now. I need to be in the moment.
A smile teases my lips as I grab his hand and pull him back toward the reception. “Let’s go have some fun.”
Kate and Miles know how to throw a party. We drink, we eat, we laugh. Between Miles’s fellow mechanics doing beer chugging competitions by the creek and a few of Kate’s smutty romance author friends singing karaoke, I manage to have the best time I’ve ever had at a wedding.
And I forgot how much I love to dance with Dean. The two of us dance like no one is watching when, in fact, everyone is watching. There are at least a dozen people who drunkenly stumble up to us and slur, “You two are next.”
And instead of it completely freaking either of us out, we just laugh and roll with it because it feels good. On the surface, I suppose we are faking, but deep down, we’re as real as it gets. The more fun I have with Dean, the more I don’t know if Dean and I were ever truly faking it these past few weeks. You can’t fake chemistry like this, right?
Dean even drives my car from the reception hall to his place like we’re a real couple. And when we park, he opens my door, grabs my hand in a waffle hold, and pulls me into his house.
The second we’re inside, his lips are on mine, tasting, teasing, and stirring me into a frenzy of desire. My purse thuds as it drops to the floor, the sound of him undoing the zipper of my dress as he kisses my shoulders is the best aphrodisiac of my life.
I shimmy out of the dress and move in to kiss him again, but he stops me, holding me by my shoulders as he reverently stares at my black lace lingerie set. He swallows slowly before picking me up, wrapping my legs tightly around his waist, and carries me upstairs to his bed.
My lingerie and his clothes end up on his bedroom floor. When we’re both completely naked, he lays me down in his bed that smells like him and kisses me everywhere. He whispers my name against my skin, over and over, like he’s trying to commit this moment to memory.
So am I.
It was a great night after our little spat, which says a lot about us as a couple. We could hear each other in the moment, voice our concerns, and move past it. To this.
“I’m on the pill,” I croak, sitting up to stop his hand as he kneels between my legs and prepares to unwrap a condom.
He pauses and looks at me seriously. “Okay?”
I shrug nervously. “We could…go without…if you want. I trust you. Do you trust me?”
He takes a deep breath and bites his lip, nodding once like it hurt him to admit it.
“Okay then…no condom,” I confirm and reach out to take the rubber from his hands and toss it to the floor.
Dean slowly moves over me, his bare tip gliding against my wet slit as he groans a needful sound and positions himself at my entrance. “Are you sure?”
I cradle his face in my hands, pull his glasses off, and set them on the nightstand so I can see his eyes more clearly. “I’m sure.”
He stares directly into my eyes as he slowly pushes inside me. So slow, so tender, so sweet. The lack of a barrier is something we both have to adjust to…it feels different. Exposed. Bare. Honest.
“Dean,” I gasp, my hips undulating beneath him with need for more.
“Norah,” he says, pulling back and thrusting slowly inside again. “You feel so good.”
“Oh God,” I cry, my hands wrapping around his body as my fingers dig into his back. He feels so good up against me. Like he fits. Like we fit. It’s a bizarre feeling because for years I’ve only cared about my work and the bakeries and being successful. I never wanted to be tied down to anyone because I wanted to take over the world. Dean makes me feel like I want to stay in this moment with him, forever. It’s too much. It’s all too much.
“I’m close,” I exclaim, my thoughts racing along with the sensations in my body.
His grip tightens on my hip as he stares into my eyes. “I’ve never done this with anyone before.”
