Page 8 of Caged Heat

After wrestling with my dark thoughts all day, the boredom had gotten to me, and I’d trolled HEAT looking for a hookup. It wasn’t a long-term solution, but sex felt good and allowed me to shut off my brain for a few hours.

When I landed on Ella’s picture, a spark fluttered to life inside me. Nervous energy had sizzled up my arms as I debated what to say for the first time in my life. At that precise moment, I realized I had no game whatsoever nor any idea how to flirt or converse with a real woman. It had always been too easy that I hadn’t tried. I could say the dumbest shit, and girls would still want to suck my dick because they saw me as their golden ticket.

Disgust for both of our sakes filled me. We deserved better than one another.

Now, I waited outside a bar for a woman to show up, caring more than I ever had that she liked me. It was exhilarating to feel so unsure, so out of my league. Snorting, I shook my head at my thoughts, glad no one could hear me.

My head snapped up at the sound of a car pulling into the lot, small rocks popping under the tires as they slowed and parked. Sweat coated my back, and I prayed it wasn’t visible through my shirt. Holy shit, I was nervous. Laughing at myself, I shook it off, wiggling my arms as I tried to ground myself.

A car door shut, and I turned in that direction, hoping I’d get a good view of her before she spotted me. I’d told her to meet me inside, so she wouldn’t expect me to be out here now. The moment she came into view, I gripped the wall to keep myself standing. Her head was bowed down as she fiddled with her shirt, her hips swaying with each step in the sexiest pair of shoes I’d ever seen.

Fuck me. I’d been dating the wrong class of women all along. Suddenly I was being exposed to full-size candy bars when I’d believed fun-size was all there was. Mind. Fucking. Blown.

I was half a second away from falling to my knees and worshiping this woman. Ella oozed an awareness about herself that most girls my age lacked. And it wasn’t that she was super confident or anything, but more that she knew who she was, what she wanted, and wouldn’t accept anything less.

The second biggest difference was her sex appeal. It was understated, with most of her body covered. And yet, my dick had never been harder when looking at a woman fully clothed before. The way the skirt hugged her hips and clung to her thighs made me desperate to peek under it. The heels alone would live rent-free in my head as I fantasized about them pressing into me—hot damn.

The pressure to make a good first impression increased tenfold, my heart pumping harder in my chest. I’d do whatever it took to score a second date with this woman. Because there was no way one would be enough.

She glanced up as she neared the door, her hand freezing on her skirt where she’d been brushing something off when she spotted me.

“Um, hi. Jackson, right?”

I thought her voice in the recording was an aphrodisiac; in person, it was downright hypnotic—sultriness personified.

My heart skipped a beat, my breath lodging in my throat as I tried to remember how to speak. Say something, dumbass.

A slow smile spread across my face as I pulled away from the wall and walked closer to her. She stopped, her eyes trailing over me as I neared, assuaging my male ego as she gulped. Her eyes widened marginally around the edges as the pink tip of her tongue poked out. God, I’d give anything to know what she was thinking.

“Ella, you’re more enchanting than I believed possible.” I stopped a few inches before her as the sweetest scent swirled around me—hints of berry paired with something that reminded me of champagne bubbles as it tickled my nose in delight.

“You’re definitely more…” She gulped again, her eyes returning to my face. “You have a very big presence.”

Don’t make a dick joke. Don’t make a dick joke.

I smirked, my face going rogue as I sealed my lips together to stop myself from being inappropriate in front of this Goddess. Her eyes widened, and she giggled, my heart beat skipping again at the sound. Damn, this woman.

“Oh, my goodness. I can’t believe I said that out loud. If my son were here, he would’ve said, ‘That’s what she said.’ And it’s funny because I did.” She chuckled again, covering her mouth like she was embarrassed by the action. “Gah, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I shook my head, stepping forward to move her hand away from her mouth. “I’d like to say I was above that, but I had to forcibly seal my lips to stop myself from saying almost the exact same thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep.” I nodded, squeezing her hand in mine. The urge to touch her was strong, and I barely kept my hand where it was. “How about we head to our date?”

Ella smiled and linked her fingers with mine when I didn’t drop her hand. I turned and pulled her along, using the few seconds I was in front of her to collect myself. I suddenly felt like a middle schooler with his first crush, freaking out when he held a girl’s hand for the first time.

We passed the doors, and my heart rate slowed slightly with each step I took. Her hand was soft against my palm, her fingers sliding between mine perfectly.

“Um, we passed the door.” She tried to sound polite at the perceived blunder, but I could hear the slight scolding in her tone. Shockingly, it turned me on as I envisioned her telling me I needed to work harder as I feasted between her legs.

“No, we didn’t,” I retorted, tossing her a wink over my shoulder. Her cheeks pinked, and I discovered my new obsession with finding ways to make her do that more.

We turned the corner of the bar, the noise of the engines louder now as we neared the racetrack. I slowed my steps, drawing her beside me instead of leading her. Ella tilted her head as she attempted to figure out what we were doing.

“Are we not going into the bar?” she finally asked when she couldn’t take the unknown.

“Nope.” I popped the p, not caring if it made me sound juvenile. I was having too much fun now to stop. “I have something more exciting in store for us.”

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