They held up their fingers, showing maybe a centimeter between them. “Just a little itty bit.”
I snorted, and they chuckled.
With a smile plastered on my face, I covered their mouth with mine, and since we’d both brushed our teeth this time, I coaxed their lips open with my tongue. The second our tongues met, Oakley groaned and melted into me, forcing me to hold them up—I didn’t mind. It meant I could hug them tighter to me.
Their piercing brushed my tongue, and I sort of wanted to play with it. I’d thought it would feel weird or odd having a metal object in the middle of our kiss, but it didn’t. It sent a shiver down my spine, a promise of feeling it on my skin one day. I didn’t remember ever kissing someone with a tongue piercing, and I had to say, I was definitely, absolutely, positively a fan.
I knew they and Tan had replaced the gem on the end since Oak had used the stored spell when we were attacked in the mall parking lot. I’d had no idea how many spells and things they had on themself at any given time, and honestly, I was not only impressed, I was grateful.
So maybe that made me love the feel of their piercing brushing against my tongue even more.
When they sucked on my tongue, I moaned and ran one hand up to their clipped hair, running my palm over it, loving the way it felt soft and prickly at the same time—kind of like Oakley themself.
Their arms came up around my neck as they deepened the kiss, and I was here for it. Every brush of lips, every swipe of their tongue made my heart grow and my body tingle. I felt like I was on fire, like Oakley was the sun, and fuck, I was ready to burn.
After a few minutes of the most intense joy and affection I’d ever felt, Oakley broke the kiss, pulling away to pant heavily and stare up at me with dreamy eyes.
I moved my hand down their back, wanting to push their shirt up so I could feel their skin, but holding back. I would never push them or make them uncomfortable. Ever.
“Roman,” they whispered, their voice soft and sultry. “I swear to the Mother of Scales, if you tickle me right now, I’m going to punch you in the gut, and I swear I won’t hold back this time.”
I couldn’t help the bark of laughter that came out. “Wow. Here I was thinking you were going to say something romantic.”
“And here I was thinking I could see the sneaky look in your eyes, and I knew you were about to do something you’d regret.”
I laughed again and pulled them into a hug. “I’m not going to tickle you.”
“Good.”
I kissed their forehead, still chuckling, and they relaxed against me. I was happy they obviously believed me—which they should. I wouldn’t lie to them, not even for something so silly.
After a few comfortable and quiet minutes, Oak said, “Soooooo about this date… What if we just pick up some food, drive to the outskirts of the city to one of the parks, and watch the stars while we eat on the hood of your car?”
That made me smile. “That sounds perfect, babydoll.” With one more kiss to their forehead, I released them. “Let’s go downstairs to eat breakfast. I’ve been informed that the teens in the house will eat everything if we don’t hurry.”
They snorted. “Then I guess I’ll have to make more.”
That made me roll my eyes. “Yeah, sure. My little sneaky dragon trying to get me to agree to cook for them… again.”
They winked at me, chuckling, then grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room.
They held my hand all the way to the kitchen, making my heart grow even more.
Chapter Thirty
Oakley
Mission: Go on a date without being recognized or having Dad ruin it…
Picking up food for our date with a disguise on was freaking hilarious.
Roman had actually put on a fake mustache that looked absolutely ridiculous. His wig was a different color from his mustache, and the hat on his head didn’t help. I was pretty sure everyone within a ten-mile radius could still tell he was wearing a wig.
But at least the ball cap covered his face, just like mine did.
Neither of us had been in the news for a long time, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t be recognized in our own city.
I had on a lot of dark colors and no makeup, which was the opposite of what I normally wore. And Roman was wearing a pink and blue flowered shirt with a print so bright it was almost blinding. I had no idea where Jed had gotten it from, but I loved it because it was so ridiculous. We’d tried to get him to wear the pink pants that matched, but he’d refused, so he was in regular blue jeans.
