Page 21 of Claimed By the Don

14

BENNY

Daisy says yes. She’ll meet me for a late-night picnic. It’s been two weeks since we’ve had more than an hour together. I miss her, but it’s not just that. I don’t want her to feel like a hook up when she’s far from it.

I order everything from new Korean restaurant near my office. I’ve been there a couple of times and it’s delicious. She’s always been adventurous about food and I want to share the experience with her. If I got all her old favorites and brought them it would send a message—that I was nostalgic and wanted to recapture something from our youth. But I want her as she is now, and she needs to know that. I just can’t tell her out loud, not just yet.

The stricken look on her face when I saw her and called her name in the street—that sticks with me. She wasn’t overjoyed to see me. She didn’t walk back into my life feeling the same way I do. The way I didn’t know I felt until she held out her frozen Coke and I took a drink, and it all came flooding back to me.

I want Daisy to see that every minute we have together is special, a gift I never expected. That it’s not a relic from our past butsomething brand new, made of the bits and pieces we didn’t destroy the first time.

I cut the lights when I turn onto her mom’s street. I text her when I’ve parked down the block. I walk to the house and wait for her. She quickly slips out the back door. She’s silent, perfectly still and listening for a second before she grins and breaks into a run.

I open my arms, lean down a little and catch her as she throws herself against me. It’s a fierce hug, warmth rolling through me like I’ve been frozen until now. With her legs around my hips, I carry her to the truck while she tries to muffle her giggles against my neck. Once I set her down on the passenger seat, I lean in and kiss her.

I feel the curve of her smile against my lips. I have to deepen the kiss now, no more sweet greeting. I part her lips and lick inside with one long stroke. She melts, sagging against me, fingers gripping the front of my shirt as she meets me stroke for stroke. A tidal wave of how much I’ve missed her crashes over me, and I gather her against me, press her close. I bend her head over my arm so I can kiss her more fully, my hand caressing her breast, making her nipple stand up stiff in response. I nip at her lower lip and pull away with a groan.

Unless I want to do this halfway out of the cab of my truck within sight of her mom’s house, I have to drive. Even though walking is difficult with a hard on like I’m currently sporting.

Once I’m in the truck, I make myself drive to the park where I planned to picnic with her, and not turn toward my place and the soft bed that waits there. Special, I tell myself, make new memories. My cock doesn’t want to be persuaded, but I stick with the plan.

At the park, I unload the cooler bag and a basket, and when she offers to carry something, I let her take the blanket. While she spreads it on the ground, I retrieve two lanterns from my truck and light them, so we have candlelight.

“Okay, that’s genius. I love this,” she says appreciatively as she settles on the ground.

I open containers of cucumber salad, bulgogi and bibimbap. Daisy grabs a fork and digs into the BBQ bulgogi. “So good!” she says, “I used to get pork bulgogi from a food truck when I lived out west, but this is better.”

“Everything’s better here, Daze, don’t you know that?” I tease. She flashes me a mischievous smile.

“Is that what you’re trying to convince me?” she asks.

“Always,” I tell her, hoping she’ll think I’m just flirting, that I’m not pushing for more than she might be willing to give.

“Well, I’m starting to believe it,” she falters and then offers me a bite off her fork. I can’t resist, so I don’t even try.

I notice she’s sitting on her knees, then shifts to leaning to the side. She’s not comfortable. I put down my food and move to the other side of the blanket. I lean against a tree trunk and beckon her to join me. She grabs my food and hers, sets it beside my right leg and then scoots up so she’s sitting between my thighs and leans back against my chest.

I no longer want to eat. I want to hold her like this. I shut my eyes and wonder what force in the universe I’d have to persuade to let this be my whole life, right now. This alone would be more than enough.

After we eat, I open the champagne I brought, tell her that I want to make a toast.

“Is it to frozen Coke or mosquito repellent? Because I should’ve brought some.”

“New beginnings,” I say.

“Old friends,” she replies, tapping her glass to mine.

I lean in and kiss her softly. We drink the champagne and she whispers in my ear, “Take me home, Falconari.”

“Your mom’s?” I ask. She shakes her head.

“Take me to your place,” she says.

The glow I feel is insane. In no time we’re in the truck and heading to my home. My hand rides high on her leg as I drive. I want her so much I’m not sure how I’m concentrating on the road.

I hand her the key to my front door. While she unlocks it, I stand close behind her, kiss her neck and wrap my arms around her. She leans back into me for a second and looks up, kisses me.

We don’t even turn on the lights once we get inside. My shoes and shirt and belt, her little green sundress and sandals litter the floor as we peel them off on the way to the bedroom. In the doorway, I catch her around the waist and kiss her. Daisy lifts her arms to drape them over my shoulders and I feel her tits against my chest. The dart of arousal it sends through me is incredible. I dip my head and capture a stiff nipple in my mouth. I suck and lick, scrape my teeth along her sensitive bud. Her fingers clench in my hair, pulling as I nip at her flesh again.

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