“Uncle Leo, as we came to call him, came into some money after a few years from some inheritance,” Dane continues. “He was a humble man. Didn’t want much. Didn’t need much. He was an old bachelor who never settled or had kids. Leo decided to give the money to Beck and I, but only if we promised to invest it.”
I nod my head side to side. “Makes sense.”
“Beck had all these grand ideas,” he says. “But I suggested that we invest it in ourselves first. We got our G.E.D.s and attended a local community college, studying alternative and renewable energy. Within three years, we bought out a fledgling solar panel company based out of Salt Lake City, expanded it, and renamed it Townsend Energy Holdings.”
“And now here you are.” A smile resides in my tone. I’m sure there’s more to his story, but he’s never opened up to me like this before, so I won’t dare go prying just yet.
“I don’t enjoy discussing my past,” he says. “It’s difficult at times, and I tend to give the condensed version.”
“Understandable.”
“But now that I’ve opened up to you,” he says. “Common courtesy would suggest you should return the favor.”
Wow. All that just so he could get me to tell him my deep, dark secret.
“It’s not dark,” I say. I’m not sure how I can listen to him pour his heart out about his younger years and then deliver some silly fantasy of mine. It’s certainly not an equal exchange.
“Okay.” His fingers slip between my thighs again, massaging me with quick, steady circles as he moves closer to me. “Tell.”
“You’re going to laugh.”
“I promise I will not laugh.”
His hands slide around my hips, grabbing a handful of flesh and rolling me over top of him where the girth of his hardness presses through his satin pajama bottoms. He rocks my hips over his, teasing me the way he does so well.
“What is it, Bellamy? What is the one thing you desire more than anything in the world?”
My hips grind against him, and I gather my hair at the nap of my neck, dragging it over my shoulder as our eyes lock.
“Sex with love.”
He stops, his hands locked on my outer thighs, and his jaw firming.
“See, I knew this would happen. I knew you’d look at me like that.” My face burns. I try to climb off of him, but he refuses to release me. “It’s not something you can give me. I know that. I tried to tell you–”
“Look at me.”
I stop squirming and flick my gaze his way, bracing myself for some speech about how he’s not capable of love and how this was never supposed to be an emotional arrangement.
And he would be correct.
It wasn’t supposed to be an emotional arrangement.
“I told you it’s not something you could give me,” I say. “Because that’s not something you can just do for someone. It has to happen naturally. And you may have given me everything I could possibly ever dream of, but that’s the one thing you can’t.”
We’re locked in a gaze, and I wish he’d say something.
“I’m okay with that,” I lie, wishing this conversation had never happened.
“Are you? Or are you just saying that?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes,” he sits up, keeping me in his lap. “It does matter.”
I wait, straddling him and feeling his bulge between my legs. He should be tying me up now, flipping me over, and plunging inside me until we collapse. That’s what we do. That’s what he likes.
Dane says nothing as his fingers drag beneath the waistband of my panties as he sits up and presses his mouth onto mine. My eyes close, and I focus on the softness of his lips and the slow, gentle exchange. He slides my robe off my shoulders and unfastens my bra, taking his time. With his hands sliding down my bare back, he grabs my hips and slides me underneath him.
Our lips fuse even still. Soft, tender kisses I haven’t got the courage to question.
He reaches to his nightstand and clicks off the lamp before pulling the drawer. I assume he’s reaching for a toy or something, but instead, I heard the rustling of a foil packet in the dark. He pulls his engorged cock out in one fluid movement then sheaths himself before returning to cover me.
And that’s what he’s doing.
He’s covering me.
The cocoon between his arms feels safe, protective, and warm. My legs spread, widening for him as he readies himself at my entrance. He captures my bottom lip in his as he plunges inside me, releasing a soft groan that reverberates through his chest and onto mine. My hands slide up his back.
This is the first time I’ve ever actually touched him during sex. My hands are free, and he’s not scolding me. His skin is soft and smooth, and his muscles ripple beneath my palms as his entire body moves in rhythm with mine. Dane’s hands curl into fists, gripping the sheets behind my head as he pushes himself deeper inside me.