With him being significantly taller than me, I shifted as high on my own pillow as I could, then scooted closer to him and snaked my free arm around his middle. His body heat and finally being under the covers made me shudder in contentment.
The man was pretty fit. Drawing my fingers up and down his back made me wanna see him. A little. His body, at least.
He shivered violently as I scratched him along his spine.
Slowly but surely, he relaxed in my embrace and snuck one leg between mine.
“It’s nice, innit?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t my plan,” he replied.
How far could I push it? Would he feel comfortable enough to tell me to pipe down if I talked too much? Or asked too much?
I decided to save the questions.
“We have time.” I pressed my lips to his hair—his soft fucking hair. Jesus Christ. “You set the pace. If you wanna rest, we’ll rest. If you want more, we’ll do more.”
He let out a long breath and nodded once. “Okay.”
Maybe I was the one who was starved for affection.
I woke up several times that night, always when Gideon was squeezing my body closer to his, and it heated me up every time. I squeezed him in return and let my hand roam his back, his arm, and down to his ass. It became our little routine; he responded in kind and touched me too. He kissed my chest and my neck, and he dared to grope my ass for about five seconds before he shifted to safer ground.
It was a bit maddening, but mostly, I just loved the warmth and sharing a bed with another man again.
“You feel good,” he whispered sleepily.
“So do you.” I stifled a yawn and pressed my lower body to his. It was a shame he’d left his boxer briefs on.
He was half hard just like I was, and hey, I was still a red-blooded male. He turned me on. I didn’t have to fake shit.
At some point during the night, he’d moved higher up so we were face-to-face, and I was tempted to ask him if I could remove the mask. But in the end, I didn’t have to, because he removed it for me. I blinked drowsily, both dreading and hoping I’d see him.
I didn’t see squat. Not even the freaking silhouette of him or the contours of his face.
It was probably for the best. Right now, he was a living, breathing fantasy. His body felt amazing next to mine, and I was seriously hooked on his voice.
“You wanna sleep some more?” I combed my fingers through his hair and scratched his scalp lightly. Judging by the hum of pleasure that emanated from his chest, he liked it.
“I think so. Lying next to you is highly distracting, but I don’t want to overwhelm myself.”
“Sleep, it is. There’s no rush.”
He relaxed at that and hitched my leg over his hip.
I wondered if he was planning on spending the whole night here every time or if he’d sometimes leave once he’d done whatever he came for. I guess I’d thought he’d at least wanna get off tonight. We weren’t seeing each other again until Tuesday night. On the other hand, if he’d gone his entire adult life so far without exploring with men, two days was nothing.
Chapter 3
“You seem distracted,” Tina mentioned over the phone.
“Sorry. I’ve been tryna beat this level for a week,” I muttered, making my next move on the board. Whenever I had spare time, I had a minor addiction to games on my phone.
Tina huffed. “You have me on speaker so you can play stupid games while you’re talking to me? I think I’m offended.”
I grinned and scratched my nose, then moved one tomato toward two others. “Anyway. You sure you don’t wanna share some innocent information about my client?”
Gideon was due in a little under an hour, and he’d sent me new instructions. The rule on silence was back; he didn’t want me to speak unless it was absolutely necessary. Sleep mask on, but he’d remove it once we were hidden away in darkness. And I’d been told to be naked and on all fours on the bed upon his arrival.
His quick disappearance after our first night had disgruntled me. No goodbye or anything. He’d snuck out while I’d been asleep, and not a word since then.
I didn’t know why I’d expected any messages, to be honest. He hadn’t done anything wrong.
Either way, I was curious about this man. But to no one’s surprise, Tina didn’t wanna share shit.
Oh, other than our test results being back. We were good to go.
“I think I’m curious about him because he draws out my protective side,” I mused. “I wanna help him, you know?”
“Honey, you’ve been intrigued by the anonymous ones for as long as I’ve known you,” Tina responded.
True to an extent, but there was something more to it when I was with someone who struggled in one way or another. Society’s outcasts, those who couldn’t be themselves without a million layers of bullshit and pretending—I’d always had a soft spot for them.
“I’m having drinks with one of my new girls now, Nicky. Can we chat more tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sure, of course.” I could hear her paying the cab fare in the background, so I waited until she was done before I wrapped up the call.
A glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand told me I had twenty minutes before Gideon got here.
Might as well keep playing my game. I had plenty of other things to do but nothing I’d finish in that short amount of time. Tomorrow I had four students who’d requested a rock song to learn on their instruments, and I was kinda tempted to pick one of mine or Anthony’s. He’d sent me a new one to go through today, a rough recording, and we’d probably rehearse it this Friday when we had access to our local church.
My brother was a lot more involved than I’d ever be, but I freaking loved collaborating with the choir. And there were no better acoustics than in a church.
I should put up a note about the rehearsal on Friday so I didn’t make other plans. Ruby and I were meeting up for happy hour tomorrow, and she often had suggestions. Leaving my phone on the bed, I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed my notebook, flipping past the pages that were riddled with lyrics, thoughts, and doodling, until I found a blank page.
I jotted down the time, the church, the day, and the reminder to ask Anthony to bring my amplifier.
Hopefully there would be time to have a talk with him too, ’cause though I hadn’t listened to his new song yet, the title, “Bottom of a Heartbreak,” made me wanna put my foot down.
He was gonna insist that the lyrics weren’t personal, and I was gonna call bullshit.
After attaching the note to the fridge, I made my way back to the alcove and threw myself on the bed. Everything was ready for Gideon’s arrival. Duvet rolled down, all lights off except for the one on the nightstand, curtains closed, and I was as naked as the day I was born.
At two minutes to ten, I gave up on trying to beat that fucking level. I was gonna see pears and tomatoes and honeycombs in my dreams at this point. One of the students had gotten me hooked on the game, but it just made me pissy.
All right. Blindfold on. Nothing else to do but put my ass in the air for Gideon.
Tonight wasn’t my night. I felt unsettled and antsy. This was work. I’d been mad comfortable this past Saturday, and I’d even wondered if Gideon and I could have some amazing chemistry. It hadn’t felt farfetched at all. Almost like it was right there, crackling, smoldering, waiting for us to act on something that went beyond cuddling. But now I was having doubts. Half my brain was still at the academy in Brooklyn—and with my brother.