Page 33 of Charming But Reckless

His voice had dropped even more, the tone suggesting his feelings matched mine. Could he be attracted to me too? Was this some type of trauma bonding thing we were doing? How could I trust that a relationship with him would work once we were past the initial relief of being reunited?

“You’re overthinking everything right now. I can see it will take time to convince you.”

I shook my head, unsure how to explain what I was thinking. “While I want to believe what you’re saying, I don’t know that I can. This all feels like a dream.”

My eyes closed, the need to avoid his stare too strong to resist. I couldn’t keep looking him in the eye when all I wanted was to kiss him, to hold him, to give him all of me.

I’d never been a passionate person. My relationships were all mediocre. Even the one with Sol’s mother wasn’t all that great.

Somehow, I knew Orion would be different. Being with him would change everything.

The idea terrified me. I couldn’t imagine what the reality would be like.

With my eyes closed, everything could disappear. I wasn’t hurtling towards unknown feelings or fighting to keep my cool.

I could pretend everything was fine.

Except —

“Arick, look at me.”

I was helpless to do anything but follow his words.

When I opened my eyes, I found him watching me with an intense stare. His hands moved towards me slowly, as if he were giving me space to stop him.

There was no chance of that happening.

As he cupped my cheeks, my heart kicked into overdrive. The touch didn’t feel platonic.

“This isn’t a dream, my love. I’m really here. So is your son. We both care about you and want what’s best. I merely want the chance to get to know this version of you. And I’ll be honest, I’m extremely attracted to what I’ve seen so far. That doesn’t mean anything has to happen. You are not beholden to me in any way. Nothing about your living situation will change if you decide you don’t want anything to do with me. That I can promise.”

Was it foolish to believe him? Probably so.

I would have to be called a fool then.

CHAPTER 12

ORION

I sawit the moment he accepted what I was saying. His entire body deflated, like he was letting out everything he’d been using to support his doubt.

Taking the moment as a green light, I leaned forward slowly. I kept our eyes locked together. If he even hinted at not wanting this, I would stop.

Either he gave enthusiastic consent or nothing. There was no gray here.

He gave no indication he didn’t want me to kiss him. In fact, he closed his eyes the closer I got. His body also sank deeper into my touch, like he trusted me to take care of him.

It gave me a sick amount of pleasure to have his submission.

I wasn’t really a kinky guy. I’d tried the scene in the past and played with enough people to know it wasn’t really for me. If my partners wanted to play a bit, I had enough training to make it through a night. It was just never something I wanted long term.

But the way Arick melted for me had me rethinking every interaction I’d had. What if the reason it never worked before was due to the person and not the act itself?

I pushed those thoughts away as I sunk into the moment with him. Each pass of his lips over mine had me eager for more ofhim. I already knew I’d never get enough, no matter how much he gave me.

He was my new obsession.

This is what it meant to fall into something so completely, you couldn’t see your way out. It was how it felt when things went so far beyond your wildest dreams.

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