Rush (Gods #2)(22)

He moves his lips to my ear. "Anyone ever tell you, the longer you wait to have something … someone, the better it will be?"

"I'm pretty sure it's, Great things come to those who don't wait." I smile cheekily.

He chuckles again. Then, he kisses me. One quick, firm kiss that leaves me aching.

"You ready?" he asks, and I nod. He slips his hand into mine. "Let's go  do our date, so we can come back here … and I can make you come. Multiple  times."

Sweet Lord.

He leads me out of my apartment building and to his truck. He opens the  door for me, and I get inside. I've gotten much better at climbing in  this beast, and the high heels definitely help.

I buckle myself in and ask, "So, where are we eating?"

He shifts to look at me. "There's this Thai place in East Village. It's nothing fancy, but-"

"I was sold at Thai. And I don't need fancy."

"You deserve fancy. I just … I know you don't go to bars, for the obvious  reason, and I didn't know if the same went for restaurants because they  all serve fucking alcohol, but this Thai restaurant doesn't have a  liquor license. It's one of those bring-your-own-booze restaurants, so  there will be alcohol there, but they have outdoor seating, and you  can't drink out there, so … "                       
       
           



       

He's babbling. Ares never babbles. And I feel bad that my problem with  alcohol is causing him a problem. But I also love that he cares.

"Ares"-I place my hand over his-"I'm going to love it. I'll be there with you, and that's all I care about."

His eyes meet mine, and I smile at him.

He turns his hand over, palm up, and links his fingers with mine.

Hand-holding. So simple. But so incredibly thrilling.

The touch of that one single part of his body against mine is sending my hormones haywire.

My hand looks tiny compared to his, but I don't care. It makes me feel feminine. And I like the feeling.

He lifts my hand to his lips and presses a kiss to it. "I'm sorry, Ari."  His lips brush my skin as he speaks, "I didn't see you the moment we  met, and I'm so fucking sorry for that."

"I don't understand."

He looks at me, and the look in his eyes … anguished, makes my heart  clench. "Yesterday, when you came to my apartment and told me the truth  and apologized, you were so fucking brave. And I was a coward because I  should have been apologizing to you, too. For all the shit I'd said to  you. The way I'd acted toward you."

"It's in the past, Ares. It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. I judged you. I was a total asshole. And you're this  amazing, talented, incredibly strong, beautiful woman, who fights and  slays her demons every damn day, and I'm a coward, who let my own shit  get in the way of me seeing all of that … seeing who you are. And I'm so  fucking sorry, Ari. But I promise, I will make it up to you. I will  treat you the way you deserve to be treated." Another kiss to my hand.  "I like you for who you are. Baggage and all, babe."

And I'm done for.

This guy. Sweet Jesus, this guy. He slays me.

I can feel my throat starting to close up. "You're going to make me cry  and I really don't want to because I'm not wearing waterproof mascara  and I look really bad when I have panda eyes."

He lifts his eyes to mine, and they're glittering with emotion and some other thing I can't quite put my finger on.

He presses one final kiss to my hand before turning the engine on and putting the car into drive.

But he doesn't let go of my hand the whole ride there.





"I had a really great time tonight." I look across at Ares from the  passenger seat of his darkened truck parked outside my apartment  building, the shadows tracing his gorgeous face.

And I really did. The restaurant was perfect. The food was amazing. The  company even better. We talked about nothing and everything. Then, after  dinner, we went to the cinema and watched The Big Lebowski and laughed  our asses off.

It was the perfect date.

And he was the perfect gentleman.

But, now, we're at the part of the date where I don't want him to be a gentleman anymore.

He reaches over and brushes my hair off my face, tucking it behind my ear. "I did, too. But it's not over yet … is it?"

"Do you want to come in for … coffee?" I bite down on a smile.

His brow lifts. "Do I get sugar this time?"

"Oh, most definitely."

We get out of his truck, and Ares wordlessly follows me up and into my  building. His hand is on my lower back as we walk up the stairs toward  my apartment. That one small place on my body where he's touching,  everything inside of me is focused directly there.

I can't concentrate on anything but the feel of his fingers gently pressing into me.

It takes all my concentration just to get my keys out of my bag and unlock my front door, letting us in.

I close the door behind us. "So, about that coffee-"

The rest of the sentence is sucked right out of my mouth when I'm picked  up and pressed against the door by a hot, hard football player as he  kisses the hell out of me.

And it's the wettest, dirtiest kiss I've ever had in my life.

"I've been wanting to do that all night," he rumbles against my lips.

"Feel free to keep doing it," I say breathlessly.

A deep chuckle thrums through his chest, lighting me up. "Bedroom?"

"That way." I point.

Then, we're moving, and this man mountain is carrying me to my bedroom while I cling to him like a spider monkey to a tree.

We reach my bed, and he lays me down on it. Standing there, one knee resting on the bed, he stares down at me.

"Fucking beautiful," he says.

And my insides glow like I'm filled with a million lightning bugs.

He takes my heels off, one at a time, dropping them to the floor.

I remove my jacket, tossing it aside, and take off my necklace.                       
       
           



       

He holds his hand out for it. I give it to him, and he puts it on my  nightstand. Then, he takes his wallet, cell, and car keys from his  pocket and sets them beside it.

"Just so we're clear, I'm spending the night."

I raise a brow. "And if I don't want you to?" I'm teasing. Of course I  want him to stay over, but I need to exert some authority here.

"Then, we don't fuck tonight."

God, I shiver every time he says that word … fuck. He makes it sound so hot and dirty, all at the same time.

He leans down over me, hands on either side of my body, mouth an inch  from mine, those blues staring right into mine. "Like I told you  yesterday, the first time we have sex, we're doing it right. And right  isn't me picking my clothes up at the end, dressing, and going home."

My heart shimmies in my chest. "Why does it matter so much to you that we do this right?" I ask quietly.

"Because I fucked up with you once before. I won't make the same mistake  again. This … what we're starting here, is too important. You're too  important."

I'm important. I don't think I've ever been important to anyone before.

Tears sting the backs of my eyes, but I refuse to cry and spoil this moment.

I slide my hand around the back of his neck and whisper, "You're  important to me, too." Then, I lift my mouth to his and kiss him.

He groans into my mouth, deepening the kiss, his body settling down onto mine. I part my legs, and he settles between them.

He's hard already.

I love that I can turn him on without even having to remove a scrap of clothing. It's doing awesome things for my ego.

"I can't believe I almost drove you away." He presses his forehead to mine, exhaling.

"You're lucky I'm awesome," I joke. I don't want him feeling bad right  now. The only thing I want him to feel in this moment is good.

"I really am." He kisses me again, his mouth moving a path along my  chin, down my neck. Pressing kisses along my collarbone, down my chest,  to the valley of my breasts.

His fingers slide under the hem of my tank, the silk dragging up my  skin, the rough pad of his fingers driving me to the point of madness.

He slides down my body, pushing my top over my breasts, and starts  pressing hot kisses to my stomach, making me squirm with desire.

I reach down, take hold of my top, and pull it over my head, leaving me in just my bra.

Kind of like the first time I saw him-minus being wet through.

Well, I am wet. In fact, I'm soaking … so I guess it is like last time.

His eyes fasten onto my breasts, pupils dilating. "Nice bra."

He licks a path up to my breasts. One hand covers my right boob, gently  squeezing. The other, he sucks my nipple through the fabric of my bra.  My hands fly to his hair, gripping the strands, my hips jerking up,  seeking him out, needing to feel the press of him against me.

His hand leaves my breast and takes hold of my thigh, bringing my leg  up, opening me to him, as he moves against me, his denim-covered cock  rubbing against the spot where I need him, while he continues to torment  my nipple through my bra with teasing bites and sucks.