He shrugged. “It was a first date. Things were going really well and everything. She’s attractive. But…”
She waited but the man seemed to still be considering what to say next. Layla fought the urge to tap her toe. “But what?”
“I wasn’t interested in sex with her.”
She suppressed a smile. “Did she take that well?”
The corner of his lips lifted in a half smile. “Better than I expected. She took a call from another guy and made plans to go have sex with him.”
Layla stepped back and held up a hand. “Wait? She did what now?”
“You heard me,” he said chuckling. “Some guy named Carlos. She says they meet up routinely. Something she wouldn’t stop if we started seeing each other. Which is why I’m asking you if you’re interested in polyamory?”
“Are you suddenly interested?” After years of being single was he about to try and date multiple people now?
He shook his head. “I’m not, but I realize I never asked you about that. I think it’s something I need to know.”
“Why would you need to know that?”
Elijah took a few slow steps toward her. His dark gaze intense and direct. “Because, I’m done testing the waters. I want you.”
Her heart had the nerve to skip a beat. His confident claim sent heat pooling through her veins. “It’s only been three dates?” Why in the hell was she saying that?
He held up a three fingers and took several more steps in her direction. “Three strikes, and I’m out.”
His slow approach and deep voice made her feel hunted in the best way. “But you wanted to try this.”
He nodded. “I did, but that was only because you thought I wasn’t really interested in you. Now I know without a doubt that I don’t want anyone else.” He pointed at her chest. “I want you.”
His words stole the breath from her lungs. No, not his words, it was the way he looked at her as he said the words. With eyes blazing with barely concealed desire and certainty. Delicious tingles sprang across her skin, intensifying at the peaks of her breasts and between her thighs. Damn this man and the way he turned her into a woman in heat with just a glance.
“You’re no longer worried about your rule against us dating,” she asked.
He closed the distance between them. His voice lowered as his gaze ran over her face with the intimacy of an actual touch. “You have to know and understand the rules before you can break them?”
If he lowered his head right now and kiss her she’d spontaneously combust. Maybe he realized that because his head dipped lower. Her heart jumped nearly to her throat. Not just with desire, but with a trace of unease. She could lose herself in this man. Her reaction to him was so quick and intense.
She turned away as the rush of multiple emotions washed over her. “Elijah, I don’t know what to do with you. Early on you said that you never wanted things to turn weird between us. Then you say you want me. Then you decide you need to go out and meet other women. Now I’m supposed to believe that you—”
His fingers wrapped around her wrist and he spun her to face him. The momentum pushed her against his chest. His other arm wrapped around her waist. He held her close against the hardness of his body. His fingers firm around her wrist and his touch confident on her waist. “Yes, Layla, believe me when I say that I want to break my own damn rule and be with you.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips at the corner of her mouth. The sensation rippled through her as the steady heat of his body held her up. “I only went on those dates to prove whatI already knew was true. You are the person I want. I haven’t dated in years and I may have handled this whole thing in a fucked up way, and I take responsibility for that. But what I will tell you is that I’ve fought back not holding you like this.” He pressed her tighter against him. “Not kissing you.” He brushed his lips across hers. “Not thinking about how much I want to make love to you from the moment you said hello while wearing that sexy as fuck yellow sundress.”
She sucked in a breath and his fingers flexed at her waist. Elijah pressed his forehead against hers. “Tell me to let you go. Tell me that you don’t want me, too.” His thumb brushed over the pulse pounding at her wrist and her eyes fluttered closed. “Or do you want me just as much as I want you? So we can finally stop tap dancing around this?”
She was done fighting. She could only have faith that what happened next didn’t turn into a mistake. The care in Elijah’s dark eyes gave her that faith. She nodded shakily and his mouth was over hers. The kiss was hot and wild with the tension pulsing between them. His tongue danced across hers and she followed his lead. Elijah pushed forward, moving her backward until she was pressed against the coolness of the wall. She didn’t even care, she was so damn hot for him that’s all that mattered. His big hands roamed over her body, caressing her breast with enough pressure to make her moan low and deep. Elijah brushed a finger across her hard nipple and she arched her back. His mouth left hers to decadently latch onto the side of her neck. Layla had to touch him, needed to feel more of him. She ran a hand across the soft hair on his head, her other lowered to cup his hard ass. She squeezed and imagined doing the same thing as he pumped inside of her. A flood of heat and wetness pooled between her legs with the mental image.
Elijah groaned before jerking her tank up. “You knew what you were doing wearing this with no bra.” he grumbled before his lips closed over one of her nipples. The pull of his lips across the hardened tip pierced through her soul. Her sex clenched and she gasped wanting more.
“I can be braless at home,” she gasped. Her hand pushed his head further into her breast. Her hand left his ass and worked around to the front of his pants, she couldn’t get the button open so she palmed the hard length of his dick through the material.
Elijah’s teeth gently scraped her nipple. “Fuck, Layla, do you see what you do to me.”
“What I do to you? Sir, you have me ready to come up against the wall.”
Her nipple slipped between his lips and he raised up to kiss the side of her neck. “How ready?”
His hand left her breast and slipped past the waistband of her pajamas bottoms. Layla spread her legs, eager to feel his fingers against her clit. When the blunt tip slid over the throbbing nub her body shuddered.
“Yes, do that again,” she gasped
