Erik wasn’t always the best at reading social cues, but even he knew what Jayla was up to. She was giving him time alone with Chloe. That sparkle in her eyes and the twitch of her lips that she couldn’t quite hide were dead giveaways. Not that Erik was going to complain.
“We’ll be fine.”
With a nod, Jayla left, and as he turned to face Chloe, she suddenly blurted, “I’ll tidy up.”
There wasn’t much to tidy. His family had taken everything, even the empty pizza boxes, with them, but she busily fluffed a throw pillow before squaring up the edges of a decorative blanketthat was folded over the top of the couch. Was she nervous? He didn’t know why she would be.
Straightening, she smoothed her hands down the front of her sweatshirt. “I like your family.”
“They like you, too.” All of them had made sure to include Chloe in the conversation. They’d asked about opera, her family, and since they knew she was familiar with General Davies, they’d shared some funny stories about the man who’d been a father figure to all of them, making Chloe laugh.
Her eyes skated around the room, searching for something, and Erik became certain she was nervous. He just wasn’t sure why. She’d been fine alone with him earlier. What had changed? “Chloe?”
Her eyes snapped to his, and he cocked his head. “What’s the matter?”
“I just…” She shifted her weight and swiped her hands on her sweatshirt again. “I haven’t been with anyone since Jackson.”
Been with anyone? Was she talking about…?Oh. Erik hadn’t even been thinking along those lines. That was a dream for the future, maybe after his face was fixed, and Chloe could be proud to be with him. Tonight, he just wanted to talk with her some more, maybe hold her if she’d let him. But now that she’d brought it up, he was the nervous one. He cleared his throat gruffly. “Can I tell you a secret?”
She leaned in slightly. “Of course.”
Maybe his confession would destroy any chance he had with her, but he still admitted, “I’ve never been with anyone, period.”
Her eyes widened. “You haven’t?”
He shook his head. He could have explained the reason why, but since that reason was pretty much staring her right in the face, he didn’t bother to elaborate. “So maybe we could just sit on the couch together and watch a movie?”
He extended a hand in invitation, and when Chloe took it with a shy smile and said, “I’d like that,” he breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t mocked him for his inexperience, nor did she seem put off by it, and he was happy just to be with her. Did he want to kiss her again? Hold her, touch her? Live out his erotic fantasies with her? Abso-fucking-lutely. And after her confession that Savoy had been the last person she’d been with, his baser instincts were on overdrive to erase that son-of-a-bitch from her mind. But he was also man enough to admit that he was scared to death of ruining this. So he would take this slowly. Glacial, if that’s what was needed. And if they never progressed further than where they were now, that was fine, too. Because just the way she looked at him – like he wasn’t a monster – was enough of a gift.
Chloe Powell had become one of the few bright sparks in the darkness, and he wasn’t sure what he’d do if her spark disappeared from his life.
Chapter Fifteen
Chloe awoke slowly andblinked her eyes a few times to clear them. She had no idea what time it was, but she was still on the couch, with only the glow of the TV illuminating the room. Erik was asleep next to her, and at some point during the night, they’d turned toward each other, their faces close and their hands clasped together. Not wanting to disturb him, she didn’t dare move, but she took a moment just to look at him. His eyes were closed, his lashes fanning his cheek, and his face was relaxed in a way she’d never seen while he was awake. He was always on alert, ready for a potential threat, but here, with her, he’d let his guard down enough to fall asleep. Chloe felt the weight of that trust, not as a burden, but as a point of pride.
Carefully, she closed the distance until her lips met his in a soft kiss. Erik jerked slightly in surprise, his eyes flicking open, but he didn’t pull away. With a groan, he reclosed his eyes and kissed her back. Their lips clung, their breaths mingled, and his grip on her hand tightened.
Jayla could have been in the room with them – Chloe hadn’t looked around to see, and if not, she was likely keeping an eyeon things via the feed on her laptop. But as Chloe’s body heated, coming alive with desire, she didn’t care if she was giving the other woman a show. She wanted this, and she wanted more. She wanted to feel Erik’s hands on her body, wanted to touch him in return. She wanted to taste and be tasted.
Breaking the kiss with a shuddering exhale, she pushed up from the couch and straddled Erik’s lap. His hands gripped her hips, and he looked up at her with wonder. “If this is a dream,” he whispered, “I never want to wake up.”
“Me either.” Her mouth returned to his, kissing him hungrily as his hands roamed first over her sweatshirt before they crept underneath. His erection was a thick bulge in his pants that she eagerly ground herself against.
His calloused hands stroked up the smooth skin of her back, hesitating when they reached her shoulder blades. He nipped her bottom lip gently with his teeth and, against her mouth, said with a smile in his voice, “You’re not wearing a bra.”
Chloe’s smile was wide and a little bit wicked. “No, I’m not.”
Leaning back, she grabbed the bottom of her sweatshirt and yanked it over her head.
Erik sucked in a sharp breath as he drank in the sight of her. “You are perfect,” he breathed, and those hands that were so confident and steady with a paint brush, trembled slightly as he reached for her breasts. He hesitated just shy of touching them, and Chloeleaned into his palms, bracing her hands on his strong shoulders. “Touch me, Erik.”
His expression was one of pure awe as his hands gently squeezed and his thumbs stroked over the stiffened peaks of her nipples. Part of her wanted to watch his face, but another, more demanding part, had her closing her eyes as she continued to rub against the ridge of his erection. Her head kicked back, and a quiet gasp left her lips. It felt so good, but she knew it would feel even better without the barrier of clothes between them.
Erik lifted one of her breasts slightly, his hot mouth replacing his thumb as he sucked her nipple, and Chloe cried out softly as he stroked it with his tongue. Her hands gripped his head, smoothing over his closely cropped hair.
It was the worst time for Erik’s phone to ring. His mouth left her breast with an angry snarl, and her body rose with his as he shifted his hips to dig into his pocket for his phone. One glance at the screen, and he closed his eyes with a look of resignation. “I’m sorry. I have to take this.”
Chloe tried not to show how disappointed she was as she slid off his lap back onto the couch cushion and self-consciously grabbed for her sweatshirt. It was one thing to ignore the cameras in the room when she was in the heat of the moment; another thing entirely to just be sitting there, waiting with her boobs out.
