She would never get used to the feeling of that big cock stretching her. He was all around her, kissing and fucking and touching. This was what they’d been missing. She wrapped her legs around his waist, taking him deeper. She didn’t want an inch of space between them.
“You feel so good,” he groaned against her lips.
He was the one who felt good. Every thrust brought a spark of pleasure along her spine. She moved her hands along his back, loving the feel of his skin under her palm. His muscles moved as he worked over her. His cheek was against hers, letting her feel the rough stubble there. He was hard everywhere, his body flawed and amazing while the man himself could be so tender.
They were connected in a way they hadn’t been before. She’d enjoyed the sex, but this meant so much more. She gave up trying to figure it out and let herself feel for once.
He shifted his hips and suddenly she couldn’t think anymore. He hit a place deep inside her that made her whole body tighten.
“Eric.” She breathed his name like a mantra as pleasure swept through her for the second time that night. Her body shuddered and she held on to him like he was the only real thing in the world.
He picked up the pace and kissed her while he found his own pleasure. His body shivered over hers and he held himself hard against her, pumping into her body.
Finally he relaxed, not bothering to disconnect their bodies. “That’s what I wanted.”
Deena lay there, her arms wrapped around him and wondered why she’d fought him at all.
CHAPTER NINE
“So do we need tickets to graduation?” Eric looked up from his prep work as Deena walked in. Luckily it was nothing more than cutting veggies. So very often she walked in as he was deboning a fish or prepping a side of beef. He didn’t have to wash up before he touched her and that was a good thing since he found himself catching her as she threw herself into his arms.
Joy rushed through him. Yeah, he was going to need those tickets.
“I passed.” Her arms squeezed him tight.
“All right!” Javi clapped and the line chefs all joined in.
“I’m so proud of you,” he whispered in her ear. She’d done it. She’d pulled herself up and worked her ass off and she’d gotten her degree. Thank god one of them had. He was good at a couple of things, but sitting in a classroom wasn’t one of them.
He settled her on her feet. She smiled at him like he was the only man on earth. It made those extra shifts he’d pulled for her completely worthwhile.
She grinned as she stepped back. “I am going to be a proud graduate of UT Dallas next Saturday. I know that the ceremony is in the middle of lunch service, but I hope a couple of you can make it.”
He knew all about her graduation. He’d already made plans because he’d known damn straight his girl would pass that class. He and Tiffany and Ally were attending. Sean was stepping in when he would normally take the afternoon off and they were going to bring in a new server, who would eventually be replacing Deena. Everything was ready for him to attend and cheer her on. He’d spent a nice chunk of his savings buying her a new laptop. The one she was using had been purchased at a pawnshop and was at least five years out of date. The new one had all the bells and whistles she would need for her new job.
They were both starting new jobs in a few weeks. It worried him. They would be in the same town, but if she still wasn’t willing to move a little on the no business talk edict, he could rapidly find himself playing second fiddle to her new job. She would have to work long hours. How long would it be before she’d made new friends and maybe going all the way into Dallas on club nights wouldn’t be as compelling as it had been?
What happened when she realized he was always going to want her to work with him? That he felt like something would be missing without her?
There was time enough to worry about that later. For now he wanted to be happy. He was spending most nights with her. He’d even convinced her to stay at his place a couple of nights. It was so much easier since he believed in having food in the house and not living off yogurt and coffee. That girl was going to get a complete diet makeover when they moved in together.
He mentally backed away. It was something else to discuss at a later time. If there was a later time.
Tiffany worked her way around the large prep space and gave Deena a hug. “I’m so happy for you. No more classes.”
Deena wrinkled her pretty nose. “Until I go for my MBA.”
“Seriously?” Tiffany looked at her like she was insane.
Was she thinking of that? He could support her while she went to school. It would make sense for them to live together. It wasn’t such a bad idea.
Deena shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not. I do know that I can use some of the money I won’t be using on tuition to go shopping before I start my new job. Maybe not at your namesake, but I want to buy real clothes that no one else has worn before and that can’t double as a work uniform. It’s going to be so weird to have to figure out what to wear to work every day.”
Because she’d worn her Top uniform for the last year, and before that it had been the uniform at whatever restaurant she happened to be working at. She was going to spread her wings and fly after years of being tied down first by a husband and then by debt.
Did he even have a right to try to tether her now?
“Guys, can I borrow the boss for a minute?” Deena asked, stepping close to Eric again.
Javi waved them off. “There’s a nice closet in the front of house. I stash condoms in there and everything.”
“I think we can go outside.” There was no way he was taking Deena into Javier’s broom closet.
Deena nodded. “Yes, I’m not missing graduation because I picked up a venereal disease, Javi.”
“I’m very clean, sweetheart,” Javi protested. “Did you hear about the condoms? I’m all about the glove love.”
Tiffany groaned. “One of these days you’re going to fall in love and she’s going to be so turned off by your skanky reputation.”
Javi shook his head. “Nah, this is too much man for any one woman. I owe it to the world to put this out there.”
Eric took Deena’s hand and led her outside. The sun was low in the sky, the heat of the day warming his skin. The back alley behind Top might contain the garbage bin, but it also had a basketball hoop and a couple of bistro tables and chairs for breaks.
“What did you need, baby?”
She went up on her toes and pressed a kiss against his lips. “To thank you. I don’t know how I would have gotten through the last few weeks without you.” She settled back on her feet.
“I was happy to help.” He was also happy with how easily she touched him these days. “So do you have plans for after graduation or can I take you and Tiff and Ally to dinner?”
“It’s going to be more than me and the girls. I’m going to need you to meet my mom.” A grimace went over her face.
“Of course,” he replied quickly. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“She doesn’t exactly know you exist.”
Yes, that was an issue. “And why is that? Because of the D/s relationship?”
“No, it’s pretty much because you have a penis.”
“Okay, that’s something we’re going to have to deal with. I was going to say we can certainly keep the fact that we’re in a D/s relationship private, but your mom is going to figure out I probably have a penis. Is it my particular penis she’ll take issue with or any penis at all?”
Deena sank into one of the chairs. “She’s kind of a hard-core man-hater. I’ve told you about my father leaving. He took off and it was rough on her. I disappointed her when I got married so young. She’s excited about me graduating. I think finding out that I’ve got a serious boyfriend is going to upset her.”
He sat down across from her. They were serious? He’d always been serious. Hearing the word from her was a revelation. “I’ll handle your mom.”
“She can be difficult, Eric.”
“And I can be charming.”
“She won’t like that one bit.”
“Okay, then I’ll be honest.” He was planning on that anyway. He’d already thawed one frosty Holmes girl’s heart. He could handle a second. Hey, maybe after a few decades, they would both figure out he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Whatever she says, don’t take it too personally,” Deena said with a frown. “She’s spent a lot of years hating my dad. When Eddie and I got divorced, she tried to get me to move back in with her because, as she put it, we didn’t need men. We just needed each other. I wasn’t willing to go back to small town life. We haven’t talked much over the last couple of years. I’m a little surprised she’s willing to come to the graduation.”
“She’s proud of you for rising above it all,” he guessed. He hoped. If she was coming to Dallas to try to talk her daughter into going home, Momma should be prepared for a fight. He wasn’t going to let go of her easily.
Deena nodded. “I’m going with that theory, too. Anyway, she’s staying in a hotel downtown. Another surprise. My mom tends to be super frugal, so I expected her to sleep on my couch.”