Page 43 of Inside Silence
Chapter 13
Savvy
* * *
Surprise registers on his face when he sees me standing on his doorstep.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing here either.
I left the pub not long after him and went straight home. I took a quick shower to wash the day’s grunge off before putting on my pj’s and slipping into bed. But it was clear to me twenty minutes later that sleep wouldn’t come. Not with my mind refusing to quiet down.
So I pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a hoodie, fully intending to try and get some work done, but once my feet were moving, I walked right past my laptop and the case files I’d dumped on the coffee table and out the door.
And now here I am, without a clue what to say to Nate when he looks at me questioningly.
Then his expression softens and he steps aside, motioning me in. As I pass by, he gently grabs hold of my wrist as he closes the front door. Then he pulls me toward him, sliding his other hand under the loose curls at the back of my neck where his long fingers cup the back of my head. When his lips hit mine, I’m ready, already experiencing the inevitable charge surging through me from his touch.
It’s surreal how well the body remembers what the mind worked so hard to forget.
I willingly give up control, letting myself float on the wave of sensations.
His kiss so achingly familiar but also provocatively new. The taste richer and his tongue bolder as he claims my mouth.
I’m floating, held in place by an arm pinned behind my back and a hand cradling my head, while his mouth devours me, leaving no room for any coherent thought in my mind.
This. This is what I was looking for.
I manage to slide one of my hands between us, and rub the heel firmly along the hard ridge of his cock. I can feel his responding moan in my mouth all the way down to my core. I’m instantly wet, or maybe I was already when I knocked on his door.
Not that it matters. The only thing that matters right now is the slide of his callused palm into my waistband and down the curve of my ass. My fingers curl around his length, as his brush my crease, slipping into the wet of my arousal.
All I can think of is having this man inside me. Clearing my mind and filling that void I’ve been living with for too long.
I’m so focused on reaching that goal, it startles me when Nate abruptly stops kissing me. Next, he pulls his hand from my pants.
“Wait,” he whispers.
The first word spoken between us.
We’re both breathing heavy as he leans his forehead against mine. I’m starting to feel a little self-conscious with my hand still wrapped around the outline of his dick through his sweats, so I drop it to my side.
“I’m sorry,” I start apologizing automatically. After all, I’m the one who showed up on his doorstep unannounced with need in my eyes. “I shouldn’t have?—”
“Stop.” He grabs hold of my chin and tilts my face up. “I’m not sorry about anything. But…I have a teenage daughter who is right up those stairs, and as much as I’d love to strip those yoga pants off you and fuck you up against the front door, it doesn’t seem like a good idea with her in the house.”
His crass words do little to settle the wobble in my knees and, in fact, make my heart race a little faster.
I’d forgotten how direct he could be, or how much I liked that about him. But the point he makes gives me pause. The mention of his daughter is a good reminder life isn’t as simple as it used to be when it was just him and me.
I’m not quite sure what—probably need— drove me to his door at almost eleven at night, but I’m positive Tatum was not part of the equation. It’s a bit embarrassing, and a lot sobering, making me realize perhaps getting involved with Nate in any way deserves a bit more thorough consideration.
“Maybe I should go,” I offer, trying to slip from his arms I’m wrapped in.
“No.” He buries his face in my neck and holds on tight. “Stay a bit. Come out on the back deck with me. It’s a beautiful night.”
“It’s a little chilly, don’t you think?”
I know I was cold coming here just in a hoodie.
