Page 49 of Quake

***

I finish loading the dishes into the washer as Gianni passes them to me from the sink. Not only is he sexy as hell, but he can cook too.

While I enjoy cooking, I don’t often have the time to do so, and it’s become just another thing to do when I get home, already exhausted from work.

“Want to watch a movie or something? Unless you’ve got plans, of course,” I ask, hoping like hell he stays.

“I don’t,” is all he says as he heads over to the couch.

Gianni takes a seat on the same end he sat on the other day, except now he’s reaching under his ass for something.

My heart drops to my toes, and my skin feels flushed when I realize what’s happening.

My vibrator!

He holds it up. The blush-pink silicone looks so small in his massive, tattooed hands.

His expression is concrete as he stares at it, rolling it around in his hand to inspect it. My pulse races as his thumb glides over the power button, and before he can press it, I’m jumping into action.

I rush over to him, snatch it out of his hand, and sprint toward my bedroom. Sweat beads on my brow as panic and embarrassment seize me. I’m not sure what my plan is, but hiding in my room until he leaves sounds like a definite option.

Maybe even the best option.

I finally toss the toy in my nightstand, slamming it shut. Apparently, I’d forgotten it in my orgasm-induced bliss after getting home late from work last night. One hand drops to the top of the nightstand, and I lean over it, smacking my other hand over my face, sucking in a ragged breath.

Get it together, Lark. That man is still out there. You’ve gotta own this.

I spin around to deal with the embarrassment but find him leaning against my doorframe.

I REPEAT.

The man is leaning against my fucking doorframe.

Does he know just how fucking sexy he looks? Is he purposefully trying to get me to spread my legs for him right here and now? Because I’ve got to be honest, I’m losing any ounce of the little willpower I had left to keep him at arm’s length. I mean, I don’t really have a good reason to push him away, and frankly, I have no desire to. The only thing that maybeshouldstop me would be the fact that I don’t really know him very well and that I just broke up with my longtime boyfriend.

But as it seems, I didn’t knowhimvery well either.

“I’m sorry,” he tells me, leaving me a little confused for a moment until a smile quirks either end of his lips into analmostfull smile. He looks fucking delicious.

“Sorry for what?” I ask, dazed as my whole body flushes with warmth.

“For breaking up your solo party. Did I come back too soon?” His brows climb his forehead in question.

Oh, so hedoeshave a sense of humor?

I’m not so sure I like it as much when it’s directed at me.

I match his smirk and roll my eyes, deciding to take back some of the power in this dynamic. I approach him, planting my hands on his chest, and the cocky look on his face instantly disappears. His jaw twitches, and those icy-blue eyes warm. They look like turquoise waters from some hidden gem in the tropics, and instead of wanting to swim away in them,I want to drown in them.

I try not to think about the hard muscles beneath my fingers as I put on a mask of confidence. Confidence that I most certainly do not feel in this particular moment, but I’ve gone this far, so may as well take it one step further. Standing up on my tippy toes, I lean as far into him as I can, but he still has to duck his head for me to getanywhere near his ear. Thankfully, he seems to feel the same pull to be near me as I do him, so he lowers his head until I’m able to run my lips across the shell of his ear. I revel in the way his body quakes at the feeling before whispering, “It doesn’t have to be a solo party with you here.”

I fully expect him to pull away from me or tell me to stop messing around, or at least, that’s what my intention was. I had no plans to follow through with the statement, but when this man runs those huge hands of his around my hips, clutching my ass to him, my intentions officially change.

I roll my hips the best I can while still on my tiptoes, and he groans so low that I feel it vibrate through his chest and against mine.

Heat floods my core as he hovers his lips over mine, just a breath away. My eyes start to flutter closed, but he snakes a hand back up my body, over my shoulder. The rough pads of his fingers cup my jaw, and my eyes meet his. “If this is what you want, you’re gonna have to take it because I’m willing to give you whatever it is you need, but I’ve gotta see those pretty eyes in return,” he says, and all the air has officially left my lungs.

“Okay?” he asks when I still haven’t responded, but my lips part as my brainvery slowlystarts to catch up. I nod, and his lip quirks, giving me a peek at one of his cute dimples.