Page 14 of Beneath the Midnight Sky
Before I knew it, we were pulling up outside my building. Rowan turned off the bike and gently tapped my hands that were still latched tightly around his waist.
Oh yeah. Let go, Aspen.
I released and slowly climbed off, my limbs feeling tight from clenching around him, but I unclipped the helmet and handed it back, trying to act like I wasn’t nervous about anything about to happen between us.
He took the helmet back, then reached down, grabbed my chin between his thumb and forefinger, and lifted it so I was staring into his dark eyes. “You did really well for your first ride, little angel.” His voice was gentle, yet it still held that hint of gravel that was all male. The praise, mixed with him holding my face like that, made my thighs clench together.
I cleared my throat. “Thanks. Uhm…my apartment is up there.” I pointed up to the second floor.
He smiled, not releasing the hold on my chin or breaking his gaze from my own. “Oh, I know.” He finally let go but grabbed my hand and pulled me back under his arm as we walked into my building side by side.
I smiled softly to myself and happily walked with his arm wrapped around my shoulders until we arrived at my door. Unlocking it, I let him inside, thankful my place stayed moderately clean with it just being me. The only place that was ever a mess was my little studio corner in the living room.
I flipped a light on, and Rowan walked in, his gaze moving around the room in a leisurely manner. I tried to imagine what he was thinking. I knew it wasn’t much, but it was the first place that had ever been completely mine. The first place I’d ever felt safe to just exist and be myself.
Since it was a studio apartment, everything was an open-concept layout except the bathroom. It was essentially a large rectangle. The kitchen was in the far-left corner. It had the basics—refrigerator, stove, and most of the counter space was the island that broke the kitchen off from the rest of the studio space. There was my love seat couch pushed into the corner closest to the front door, and my drop cloth carpet full of paint supplies for the current project I’d been working on earlier today on the left side.
My bed was in the far-right corner with a three-drawer dresser and a floor-length mirror. Then the bathroom took upthe right corner closest to the door. I had some plants in front of the one window in the apartment that took up the wall space between my kitchen and bedroom area. And of course, plenty of art on the walls.
That was what he took his time looking at the longest. He glanced back at me over his shoulder. “Did you paint all of these?”
I blushed, biting my lower lip. Other people seeing my art had always made me nervous; each piece felt like a small section of my soul, but I nodded, confirming for him.
“They’re beautiful.” There was no humor in his voice—it was actually the most serious he’d sounded all evening while we’d talked.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He walked back over toward me, stopping only a few inches away before reaching up with one hand and cupping the side of my face. “You took a compliment. Proud of you.” The soft smile that graced his face was enough to make me giddy.
“Mmm, yeah. Someone told me I wasn’t very good at it, and I don’t do well not being good at things.”
Rowan laughed before glancing down at my lips. “What else are you good at?” His voice was back to being gravely and way too sexy for his own good. It’d sounded like that a few times this evening, and each time it had my brain going to dangerous places that involved less clothing and more sweat.
“Is this the show and tell part, cowboy?” I asked, already breathless at the thought. It felt like all the sexual tension from the night was about to explode between us.
He shrugged slightly. “I’m more of a show kinda guy, little angel. Not so much on the telling part.”
I tried to come up with a witty reply, but before I could even come up with something mediocre at best, he leaned down, pressing his lips to mine. It was hesitant at first, as if he wasstill confirming I was sure, giving me the chance to take a step back. But when my hand wrapped around the back of his neck, he consumed me, fully and completely.
Kissing Rowan was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. His lips were such a contrast compared to the rest of him. Where the rest of his body was all sculpted muscles and calloused hands from the manual labor of working on his ranch all day, his lips were soft and warm. He tasted like beer, mint, and sinful fun. A combination that shouldn’t be as heavenly as it seemed to be to my brain tonight.
He started slowly kissing down my jawline and then the crook of my neck. “I’ve been thinking about these lips all evening long, little angel. You wore this red lipstick just to drive me insane, didn’t you?” he whispered against my skin, making my body shiver in anticipation.
We’d only just started kissing, and I already felt as if he was everywhere, yet I wanted so much more. Before I could think of a reply, his mouth was pressed back against mine, our lips fusing together so completely that all the rest of the logical thought left my head. Where the first kiss was gentle, this one was all heat. He bit down on my bottom lip, requesting entry that I happily allowed. If the feeling of his tongue swirling around mine was any indication of what was to come, I was in trouble. But trouble was exactly where I was happily diving with this man.
I felt his hands travel down my sides to rest on my hips, before slowly sliding up to the edge of where my fishnets ended and my bare skin lay. Gently squeezing, he pulled away from my mouth long enough to pull my shirt up and over my head. I expected him to come right back and start kissing me again, but he pulled away with a serious expression on his face as he looked down at me.
“You call the shots tonight, Aspen. If you want to stop, just say so. If you don’t like something, just say so,” he whispered, yethis tone had an edge of seriousness that I genuinely appreciated. Rowan knew nothing of my past, and if he did, he’d quickly realize why that one statement almost brought me to tears.
But I wasn’t going to cry tonight. Not here in this space with him. Not in this small slice of heaven we were creating together.
I nodded. “Thank you,” I whispered back before reaching down to the hem of his t-shirt and pulling it off, leaving him bare-chested and stunning. My eyes took a moment to take in the rest of his tattooed chest. They began as mountains and the forest on his forearm, but then artistically transformed into a raven’s body on his bicep. Its wings stretched across half of Rowan’s chest.
I swallow thickly at the sight of him, only to catch him smirking. “Enjoying the view, little angel?” All tones of our previous serious conversation were gone now, he was back to being the cocky and arrogant cowboy.
I shrugged, deciding to attempt nonchalance. “Oh yeah, ya know.” Gently biting my bottom lip, we locked eyes again. But his eyes suddenly narrowed, and he picked me up bridal style, walking us over to my bed.
“Keep biting your lip like that, and see what happens,” he growled before setting me on the edge of the bed.
