Leveled (Saints of Denver #0.5)(21)
His anxiousness was cute. He was cute, and I was really glad he was here. I never really had anyone else to lean on when shit went south. I was usually the pillar that held everyone else up.
“You and I are fine, Lando. In fact, you and I might be the only thing I can honestly say is A-OK at this point.” I reached out a hand and put it on the side of his neck. A thrill shot through me as his pulse immediately leapt up to kiss my fingertips.
“It’s been a pretty shitty day, so if you don’t have to go back to work, why don’t you come upstairs with me and we can get naked and do really fun and dirty things to one another?” I said it jokingly, but the way his light eyes sparked at the suggestion made me think there was nothing funny about the two of us getting naked together.
He hissed out a breath between his teeth and closed his eyes briefly. When they snapped open, I knew he was coming upstairs with me.
“I’ve got a few hours.”
I chuckled. “That might be enough time. Let’s find out.”
Chapter 8
Lando
It felt like the most natural thing in the world to follow those wide shoulders up the stairs and into the darkened apartment. There was no doubt, no second thoughts, and I found myself wishing I didn’t have to go back to work for my final client of the day.
When Dom had been a no-show for his appointment, all manner of the worst things that could have happened to him started running through my mind. I wondered if he had hurt himself again, if maybe our liaison hadn’t left him as twisted up and anxious for a repeat as it had left me. He was assertive and flirty, but there was a chance that things had gone further than either of us intended and that made me panic on a personal and professional level. The last thing I wanted was my rampaging hormones where the hot cop was concerned to taint my reputation. The world was more open-minded than it had ever been, but I could only imagine the way some of my clients would react if they thought they were going to have to fend off my advances during a session.
My relief that there was a totally logical reason why Dom hadn’t shown was palpable and probably part of the reason I offered no resistance when he took my almost empty coffee cup from me and took my hand to guide me through the run-of-the-mill apartment towards what I assumed was his bedroom. The décor was very typical single-dude style. Heavy black furniture and lots of sleek electronics. There were pictures on the wall of him and two young women that looked so much like him that I knew they had to be his sisters. There was also pictures of him in his uniform with an attractive older woman that I assumed was his mom.
The sight of him dressed in his patrol uniform sent a surprising jolt of desire blasting through my system. I liked boys in uniform, but those uniforms usually involved bulky pads and tight football pants. I had no clue how sexy a man with a badge could be, not to mention the handcuffs.
He tugged on my hand when I stalled and turned to see what I was staring at. I tapped the picture that showed him a few years younger and actually smiling with his mother on one side and Royal on the other dressed exactly the same.
“You look good in uniform.”
Both of his dark eyebrows winged up and a smile slashed across his face. “I look better out of it. Come on we’ve got a ticking clock working against us.”
It was typically a few weeks or even months into dating before I found myself in a guy’s room or welcomed them into mine. Before I got to this point there was usually the period of getting to know someone and learning what they liked, what they disliked and if we were on equal footing when it came to expectations in the bedroom. Some guys were all about giving, some guys all about receiving and then there were the few that considered sex a team sport and could get on board with either/or. Dominic and I hadn’t even been close to that kind of conversation, and yet I went willingly as he pulled me closer to him by the front of my shirt and placed a bruising kiss on my mouth. It was obvious he was on edge, as rough as he was, normally whenever he touched me he did so with care and this time there was none of that present.
I let him devour my mouth, nip at my lips and pull my shirt up and over my head. He was impatient and his hands were everywhere. His rush made me feel like I could actually hear the ticking of a clock as he put a hand in the center of my now bare chest and walked me backwards towards his unmade bed in the center of the room. All the while he continued to ravage my mouth like he was starving and I was the only way he could get any kind of sustenance.
I wrapped my hands around his rock-hard biceps to try and stall him and pulled back a little as my lungs started to burn with the need for oxygen. I’d never been kissed like my lips were the answer to everything that was wrong in the world before and I had to admit it was a pretty intoxicating feeling.
I ran my hand over the curve of his shoulder and clasped the side of his face as he attacked my belt buckle and started to pull my hips towards him since I wasn’t bending and sitting on the edge of the bed like he obviously wanted me to.
“Dom.” I evaded his wicked and tempting lips as he leaned in for another kiss. “We should take a minute and talk.”
His eyebrows slashed down over his celadon-colored eyes. Impatience made every line of his strong body tense as he pulled back and gave me a dark look. “A talk about what?”
I just stared at him because I thought it was obvious. I put my free hand on the other side of his face and leaned forward until our foreheads were touching. “About how we do this. I like you, Dom, and I think you like me. It would be a shame if we screwed that all up by not taking the time this thing between us feels like it deserves.”