I smile as he plants a kiss on my temple. Tonight, we’ll be home. Alone again. Free to have sex.
I don’t want Lo to think I’ve been obsessing over it, so I don’t say a word about sex. Even though the thought has crossed my mind. I fantasized a little in the shower this morning, but I tried really hard to just wash and step out. No self-love. And that accomplishment feels sort of good, but I know sex would have made me feel even better.
“You know what tonight means?”
He’s bringing it up?
“Lil.”
“Huh?” I turn my head, my eyes wide with anticipation. If he instigates this conversation then I’ll gladly take part in it.
“Tonight,” he says again. His eyes stay on mine, never leaving. I don’t break our gaze, filled with seven days of need and want and tension. I refuse to stare at his lips or his abs or any other part of him. I want Loren Hale. The man, the lover, the guy who fills me with happiness and bliss. Not just the body.
His hand reaches out and cups my cheek, his thumb skimming slowly over my lips. I wonder if he’s testing me.
I want to pass.
His thumb pulls gently on my bottom lip, and I let out a short, ragged breath. His hand slides down to the back of my neck before he whispers, “I’m going to fuck you.” Oh. God.
Now? No, that can’t be right.
He must sense my confusion because his lips quirk. “Tonight, love.”
“Right.” I nod, flushing from the foolish presumption. I don’t think it would go over well with everyone if he took me right here on the couch. Even the image—of Lo on top of me, of his hardness pressing so deep inside of me—steals the air right from my lungs.
He holds me tighter in his arms and lowers his head to murmur dirty things in my ear. My arousal grows, and he must believe I have the strength to last the whole plane ride and the drive to the house. So he’s tempting me little by little. My peak tonight will be so freakin’ intense when we finally do have sex—the walls will not be able to silence my screams.
I squirm a little, the tension a good kind of tension, the kind where I know I can wait to release it. Months ago, I don’t think I could have. But I’m learning restraint.
I flip through the channels while Lo holds me on his lap. I try to find a movie that won’t put me to sleep or a television show that won’t draw my attention back to Lo’s cock or my nefarious thoughts.
Lo rubs my shoulder, and his gaze drifts to his half-brother. “Are you losing?” Lo asks, a smile at the idea. I perk up a little with equal amusement.
Ryke stares at his cards with pinched brows. On the table is a pile of hundred dollar bills, what looks like his Rolex and her hemp bracelet.
“No,” he snaps.
Lo laughs under his breath. “Hey, bro, did you fail remedial math? That watch is worth five times more than that bracelet.”
“Can the peanut gallery please shut the fuck up?” Ryke says. “I’m trying to concentrate here.” He accidentally flashes his cards at Daisy.
She covers her eyes quickly. “I didn’t see anything.”
“Fuck,” he curses, shooting us another glare like we made the fumble. He goes back to concentrating really hard. Brain power must hurt Ryke as much as it does me.
Daisy puts her cards to her lips, trying not to smile too hard. She glances at us. “There’s a diamond in my bracelet, by the way.”
“Well then, I take it back,” Lo says. “Ryke is only half the idiot I thought he was.”
Ryke flips him off.
Daisy says, “You should fold.”
He stares at her for a long moment. “You’re bluffing.”
“I’m not. I saw your cards, remember?”
“You said you didn’t see a fucking thing.”
“I lied.” Oh she is good. I can’t tell if she’s bluffing.
“Fuck it.” Ryke slides off a gold ring from his middle finger and throws it in the pile. “That’s worth two grand.”
Daisy pales a little. She has to match that or fold and then he’ll take what’s in the pot.
“Let me see…hold on a sec.” She searches in her nearby bag.
And Ryke looks a little worried. He thought she was going to fold.
But her face falls. “I don’t have anything worth two thousand, but…” She snatches her journal and scribbles something on a piece of paper. She tosses that into the pile.
“Lo,” Connor calls from the back of the plane, still staring at his laptop. “Can you come here?”