Page 84 of Shadows Of Dusk
Bumping my glass against his, I blow out a breath, “Cheers.”
The liquid goes down smooth and Ilana brings out our steaks. Darian snags her attention as she turns to leave, “Ilana, once we’re done here, we’re going to head downstairs, but before we leave this evening, could we grab two more steaks, medium rare to go?”
Ilana laughs, “You can have whatever you’d like! Just text me about ten minutes before you’re leaving and we’ll have them brought down to you.”
Darian gives her a genuine smile, “Thank you.”
She heads to the other tables, and he takes another sip of his whiskey before starting on his filet. “What else would you like to ask me?”
Placing a forkful of aioli covered steak into my mouth, I groan, leaning my forehead against the back of my hands. My gaze slides to Darian and my thighs clench at the heated look in his eyes.
Traitorous pussy.
Desperate to get the attention off of my visceral reaction to the man in front of me, I change the subject.
“So, how did you get into my house by the lake without being detected? Caspian had set up that security system with Henry and had the app installed on his phone.”
Darian chuckles darkly, “It’s not hard to bypass security systems. One of the first things I learned as years went by on Earth was electronics and computers. The system he set up at your place was areally poor iteration of a security system I created and have marketed for years.”
My jaw drops.
What the fuck.
“So you-” I say and Darian cuts me off to explain.
“Looped the feed for each camera and adjusted which loops were playing depending on where you both were once you got back. I had the loop playing in your room the entire time I was in there. It recorded you sleeping while I was hiding and once I was about to wake you up, I repeated the loop of you sleeping while we discussed your escape.”
Darian’s face is painted with a healthy mixture of mischievousness and smug satisfaction, making me huff and roll my eyes dramatically.
Such an ego on this one.
“Your turn to ask something you’d like to know about me, Mr. Cathorn,” I say playfully.
A dark look returns to Darian’s eyes as he takes a final bite of his steak, chewing thoughtfully.
I swallow as he rubs his thumb along his bottom lip, tracking the movement as he wipes his hand off on his napkin before tossing it to the table and leaning back.
“When was the last time you’ve been with someone?”
My eyes flash to his in surprise and then to the table.
“Are we talking sex, or all intimacy?” I ask, my heart pounding frantically.
“Sex.” He states, the look in his eye unreadable as he tilts his head.
I swallow audibly. “Voluntarily?” I say, trying to force a tone of humor, but the joke dies on my lips.
Darian is silent as I shift my gaze between the table and him, blinking while trying not to sound utterly pathetic. “I’ve never uh, willingly, had sex with anyone.”
My throat tightens, and I shove my final piece of aioli covered steak into my mouth, chewing slowly. Darian’s assessing gaze feels like I’m an ant under a magnifying glass with the sun pointed at me.
I swallow my food and lean back, “Well, this was a delicious meal. Your chef’s really outdid themselves, and the view truly is breathtaking.”
“Indeed.” The look he’s giving me makes me want to squirm in my seat, but I manage to fight the urge.
Ilana returns, sliding us each a fresh glass of whiskey and Darian makes his way to my chair, holding his free hand out, “Come on Ray, the night is still young.”
My body warms as my hand slides into his, and I sway as I push to my feet. Darian tightens his grip on mine as he guides me through the tables of the restaurant, and we soon find ourselves at the main floor of the building.