"Then what are we supposed to do?" he asked, his voice not as worn down anymore. The fact that he wasn't outright dismissing what was between us had hope unfurling deep inside of me.
"For starters, you could stay," I said softly. "And we'll go from there."
The silence loomed between us for so long that I was sure he wasn't going to agree. But when he finally nodded, I wanted to do a victory dance.
"I'll go tell the cab driver … "
"I can do it," I offered. Dante stiffened when I grabbed his wrist as he turned to go and I immediately released him.
"Magnus, I can't do this if you don't trust me."
I debated how to answer and then settled for the truth since it had gotten me this far. "I do trust you, Dante. But you need to understand that I'm not going to walk on eggshells around you. I offered to send the cab away because you're wet and cold and I really just want to get you warmed up as soon as possible. I know you can take care of yourself, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop putting your needs above my own."
Dante didn't move or respond for several long seconds and his expression was unreadable. He finally reached out and took one of my hands in his. He played with my fingers as he whispered, "I'm telling you now that I'm gonna be really bad at this relationship shit."
"Did you miss the part where my ex slapped me at my daughter's wake, blamed me for her death and then set me up in a courtroom full of people?" I asked mildly.
A small smile spread across Dante's mouth and he pulled my hand up to his lips and settled a kiss on my knuckles which were bruised from punching Colton the day before. "Can I use your shower?"
I nodded even as the flame of need inside me sparked to life.
"Will you get rid of the cab?" Dante asked as he pulled me forward until our bodies were pressed together. The flame changed to a full-on inferno and I wasn't sure if I managed to get out an answer. But I must have because Dante curled his hand around the back of my head and pulled me down for a kiss.
"Will you come join me in the shower when you're done?"
I answered him by thrusting my tongue into his mouth. Dante was the one to break the kiss a few seconds later. He began heading towards the stairs as I patted down my pockets for my wallet.
"Shit," I muttered as I realized it was sitting up on my nightstand.
"My wallet is in my bag on the porch," Dante said over his shoulder. "In the front pocket … next to the condoms and lube."
I smiled at the unspoken hint and hurried out to get rid of the waiting cab. I just hoped like hell it wouldn't be coming back anytime soon … or ever.
Chapter Fifteen
Dante
"Cock," I murmured drowsily.
Magnus chuckled, his warm breath fanning over the back of my neck. "No," he said and then his fingers were moving over my bare back in the same pattern.
"Isn't this a game that twelve-year-old girls play?" I asked.
"You want me to stop?" Magnus asked.
"Fuck, no," I declared which made Magnus laugh and then his lips pressed against the back of my shoulder.
I had no idea how the fuck I'd ended up here … and what the hell I'd finally done right in my life to deserve any of it. One minute I'd been standing on the porch ready to get in the cab, the next I'd been in Magnus's kitchen trying to convince him I wasn't worth the effort he was making.
I'd expected him to fuck me when he'd joined me in the shower a few minutes later, but he'd done something I hadn't been prepared for.
He'd held me.
That was it.
He'd just wrapped his strong arms around me from behind and stood under the spray of hot water with me as he'd bathed me in soft kisses. His erection had been nudging my ass, but he hadn't pinned me to the wall and shoved into me or maneuvered me to the floor and mounted me from behind. Those were the things I'd wanted him to do because I could deal with sex. I was good at sex … it was my primary language, after all.
But all he'd done was hold me for the longest time and then he'd washed me. While sex may not have been his motive for joining me, by the time he'd finished showering his attention on me, I'd been so hard that it had been painful and I'd jerked us both off as Magnus's body had forced me back against the wall and he'd planted his hands on either side of my head. And all the while as I'd been fisting our cocks with one hand, he'd been murmuring praise in my ear … how good it felt, how beautiful I was.
It had terrified me.
And I'd wanted to run again.
I'd managed to keep it together long enough to get dried off, but watching Magnus work the towel over his own hard, muscled body had become a much more effective distraction. He'd noticed me watching him, but hadn't commented. Probably because he'd been watching me in much the same way. I'd been about to drop to my knees to take his beautiful cock in my mouth, but Magnus had brushed a kiss over my mouth and told me to get in bed. He hadn't bothered with any clothes as he'd swept my wet clothes off the floor and left the bathroom, giving me a glorious view of his ass. I'd managed to dig a pair of briefs out of my bag and pull them on before getting into bed like he'd told me. Excitement had filtered through me as I'd waited for him to return because I'd been sure he was finally going to fuck me again. But it wasn't just my body that had been teeming with need; I'd needed the pleasure to chase away the fear.
Because I'd been sure Magnus would come to his senses at any moment. Sex would have bought me a little more time with him and it would have given me back some of the control he'd so effectively stripped from me.
He might have said he wanted the real me, but I didn't want anything to do with the real me.
When Magnus had returned to the room, his cock semi-hard, I'd been beyond ready and when he'd gotten in bed with me and told me to turn on my stomach, I'd happily complied. But he hadn't stripped my underwear off and pushed into me. Hell, he hadn't even touched my ass.
He'd kissed me.
Everywhere.
Softly, reverently.
And then his fingers had followed.
It was the strangest fucking foreplay I'd never known.
And I'd loved it.
"Dante," Magnus murmured and I felt him tap on my back impatiently. He'd been writing words on my back with his finger for several minutes now and I had yet to get one right. Not that I cared because I was trapped in a haze of sensual pleasure.
"Dick," I suggested.
Magnus laughed and I turned my head so I was looking at him instead of the window on the opposite side of the bedroom.
"I never said it was a dirty word," he said.
"Maybe I'm trying to tell you something," I responded as I flexed my ass. The move definitely caught his attention because his nostrils flared and his eyes filled with heat. He was lying on his side and using one arm to support his head so he could watch what he was doing to me.
"Get this word right, and maybe I'll accommodate you," he said huskily.
"Fine," I groused. "If a relationship means it always takes this much work to get laid, no thanks."
I jumped when Magnus's big hand gently slapped my ass. He rubbed the sting away as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, "I promise to make it worth your while." He punctuated his words by pressing his finger into my crease. I wished like hell I hadn't put the damn briefs on before getting into bed.
"Magnus," I growled when he continued to tease me with his hand and his tongue which was tracing the shell of my ear.
"My poor Dante," he murmured, his lips skimming over the back of my neck and along my shoulder as he removed his hand from my backside. "I'll make it easy on you, okay? One letter at a time."
"And then you fuck me," I said grouchily.
Magnus ignored my comment and traced a letter on my back. My painfully hard cock had me concentrating this time around.
"P."
Another swipe of Magnus's fingers.
"E."
Shivers were electrifying my skin with every pass of his calloused finger over my back.
"R," I said quietly as I began to realize where Magnus was going with this.
When I didn't answer after the next letter, Magnus settled his hand on my waist and began rubbing it up and down my side.
"What was the letter, Dante?" he asked, all humor gone now.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked as all the pleasure fled my body and I turned my head back towards the window so I wouldn't have to look at him anymore.
"What was the letter?"
"F, damn it. It was an F. Perfect," I snapped.
"Do you know why I chose that word?" Magnus asked as he moved his hand up to my shoulder and began massaging it.
"Because you think I'm perfect," I bit out as I tried to control my anger. Why the fuck had he gone and ruined everything?
"I do think that, but that isn't why I picked the word."
"Fine. Then why?" I asked, though I didn't really care.
"Because that's what this moment is," he answered. "You here like this," he continued, his voice soft. I felt his fingers sift through my hair and couldn't deny how good it felt. I felt him shift and then his arm curled around my shoulders. "Sex with you is unbelievable, Dante. No argument there. But this," – he urged me to my side and then shifted until his body was pressed flush against mine, our lips just millimeters apart – "is what I want." He kissed me softly before saying, "You are the main course, Dante. Sex with you is just dessert."