19. Rowdy

19

ROWDY

“This feel good, baby?” Kess breathed into my ear as he continued to work me over. “You like it when I fuck you with my hand?”

“Uh-huh,” I whined around his fingers, an entire mess.

I had never once, not ever, been taken apart like this. The most I’d ever gotten from other men were furtive, almost resentful hand jobs after I’d done my best to please them. I couldn’t ever tell if it was because they were selfish or because I was bad at sexy stuff.

I was starting to think it hadn’t been me at all because this was...holy fuck. This was not that. Kess saw that I wanted his hands on me and gave me everything I never knew I always needed. His heat against my back, his hand on my cock with just the right mix of slick and rough.

I had never heard the sounds coming out of my face. There was so much joy in this pleasure. I had zero shame in what he was so freely giving to me, and I couldn’t help but express it.

A part of me wanted to slow down, to make it last a little longer, but it finally occurred to me we were in a parking garage. Austin might be a progressive city, but it wasn’t that progressive.

“I need your lips, beautiful,” Kess whispered, slipping his fingers from my spit-slick mouth.

I looked over my shoulder, and he took me in a kiss. Fuck, I was already there.

I began to buck and shiver against his grip, gasping into his mouth as an orgasm like I’d never experienced gripped my body. He deepened the kiss as he worked my foreskin over my slippery cock head, driving me over that precipice with care and intent. An arc of cum went splat against the concrete wall.

I nearly hyperventilated as he released my mouth, my knees like jelly. I gave my weight over to his steady strength as he cradled me for a few moments, then tugged up my underwear and jeans.

“You okay?” he murmured, his arm a solid bar against my chest.

“Uh-huh,” I answered, still breathless.

“Need to stay like this for a little bit longer?”

“Uh-huh.”

Kess rocked me in that dark corner of the parking garage until the feeling returned to my legs. I finally did a slow turn in his arms, avoiding his eyes as I wrapped my arms around his neck, nuzzling into him.

“Never had someone make me feel so good before,” I confessed as I laid soft kisses on his neck.

He kissed my sweaty forehead. “There’s plenty more where that came from, pretty man.”

I was still swaying from the rush of hormones, but there was no way I was going to be one of those guys who tried to get out of reciprocating.

“Give me a few more seconds and I can return the?—”

“No,” he said, his voice firm.

“You don’t want?—”

He silenced me with a kiss, then leaned back, locking eyes with me. “I just wanna stand here, holding you.”

“Okay,” I said, dropping my chin.

I didn’t know what to make of it. Did he think I couldn’t please him? Had he figured out that I might not know what the fuck I’m doing?

Kess touched my chin, and I reluctantly met his eyes. His expression was like warm caramel. “To be clear, I am completely turned on, but this is about you. We’ll get to me later.”

Oh.

It was as if he’d read my mind and knew I’d be stressed about making it right for him. His focus, however, was about making it right for me. Our gazes were still locked in when my stomach growled, the sound echoing in the concrete space. We both broke, and I pressed my face into his neck, laughing hard enough to make my entire body shake.

“We should feed you,” he said, his chuckle deep and sensual.

“I don’t think I can show my face in that restaurant,” I said, my cheeks heating. “I was not quiet.”

He laughed, rubbing his jawline. “I hadn’t taken you for a loud lover.”

I again hid my face against his neck. “I’ve literally never been that loud before. Like, ever.”

“You’re giving me a big head here, Rowd.”

“Shut up.”

Kess shook his head, then took my mouth in a gentle kiss.

“We can grab something on the way home and maybe come back here another time.”

“Okay.”

My head was spinning from the simple kiss, not to mention the promise of a future date.

“You still look a little spacey. Want me to drive?” he asked, running his fingers through my hair.

I got the feeling he really, really liked my hair.

“Yeah. I’d appreciate that.”

I swear, his sweet looks were going to kill me dead. He stole a few more kisses before finally taking my keys and getting into the driver’s seat. I went around the truck and got into the passenger side, suddenly shy. After pulling on my seat belt, I stared out the window, not sure what to do with myself.

“Nope,” he said, grabbing my hand and kissing it. “Look at me.”

I whined, rubbing my free hand over my chest. The street sounds bounced around the garage as people walked past, and fear took hold of my heart.

“Rowdy.”

His voice was too kind. I slowly looked over at him, then blurted, “I can’t believe we just did that.”

He leaned across the armrest and kissed me. “I’m so fucking glad we did.”

My emotions swung back into joy. “Yeah?” I asked, not sure what the fuck to think about any of this.

Liar. You want to marry him.

Jesus.

Getting way ahead of yourself there, Rowd.

“Yes, Rowdy,” he responded, the warmth in his voice so sincere. “I like everything about you, including your sexuality. Especially your sexuality. Every part of it. Swear.”

I needed to hear that more than I’d realized. I kissed him back.

“ Goddamn ,” he said, pulling away several moments later. “You are so fucking addictive.”

I sat back, a proud smile on my lips. “Damn right I am.”

I loved that I could do this with him and still banter. Still be sassy.

“If I don’t start driving now, I may never leave this garage.”

I made a big show of crossing my arms and legs. “I’ll be good, I promise.”

He chuckled, then started the truck and backed out of the dark space. After navigating us out of downtown, and once we were up to highway speeds, he again took my hand in his.

I thought back to his words. That he liked all of me, including my sexuality. That he was willing to take it slow. Most importantly, though, he acknowledged we wouldn’t have gotten to this point unless I already had feelings for him.

He was right, of course. That he was willing to take his time meant that I could trust him. And it was the trust that set my heart racing. I’d heard of aphrodisiacs, but having never experienced it, I’d always tagged that as a myth. As it turned out, trust was my aphrodisiac. And I knew I could trust him with the most vulnerable parts of myself.

For the first time in my life, the thought of that didn’t scare me.

We drove in comfortable silence until we hit a drive-through on the way out of town.

“So, I was thinking...” Kess started, before stealing one of my fries.

I batted his hand away. “You should’ve gotten your own fries.”

“What if I share some of my chocolate shake with you?”

Hm. I had regretted not ordering a shake for myself.

“Deal.”

He grinned and took a handful of fries while I sucked on the thick shake. He watched me with a funny look.

“What?” I asked, licking the cold cream from my lips.

“Nah,” he said, grinning. “I’m just being dirty.”

I took another slurp, this time maintaining eye contact with him. Who was this hussy?

He cracked up, then refocused on the road. “I’ve unleashed a monster.”

I arched a brow in his direction. “Is that a complaint?”

He maneuvered around traffic with a grin twitching at his lips. “I will never complain about you sucking off my dessert.”

My face heated, and he grew serious.

“Kess?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure about the question. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” he said, then reached for my hand, kissing each knuckle. “You just blushed so violently, I wondered if direct references to sex make you uncomfortable.” Squeezing my hand, he glanced at me. “I never want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t. I liked it.”

My face grew even hotter.

His grin spread across his face, practically ear to ear. “Gotta say, blushing Rowdy is almost as hot as parking-garage-hand-job Rowdy.”

I covered my eyes with my free hand. “I’m never living that down, am I?”

“Nope.”

“I can’t help how noisy you make me.”

“You understand that this encourages me in all the wrong ways, right?”

God, I was going to die of whatever this mix of being turned on and embarrassed was.

“Good,” I said.

He went serious again. “But I want you to be honest with me. If I’m moving too fast, if I say things that make you shrink back, I want to know. I hate that in all this time we’ve gotten to know each other, you’ve never felt comfortable enough to be yourself with me.”

“That’s not true,” I said, my voice going soft all over again. “You’re one of the people I’m most myself with.”

“Your sassy side, maybe. But I want the vulnerable stuff too. I understand I’ve got to earn it, and I will, but I never want you to lie to me. Ever, never again.”

He said it gently, but he meant it. He wanted me to remove the mask. And with him, I knew I could.

While he maintained his focus on the road, I leaned across the console and kissed his cheek. “I promise to tell you the truth. And if I’m too uncomfortable with the truth, I’ll make sure you know that as well.”

We ate, neither of us worried about filling the silence with words. This was new to me, but quiet time with someone you loved had to be one of the most underrated pleasures in life.

A few miles outside of Driftwood, he spoke again. “I really do want to help Jaxon and Sadie.”

“You already helped so much, just by seeing the one thing the rest of us had missed.”

Kess, a confident business lawyer who’d made a ton of money, blushed. “Thanks, Rowdy. It was nice to be able to do that.”

A few minutes later, we rode through Wimberley, then made our way down Devil’s Backbone. He drove up to my cabin and parked. We were still holding hands.

For the first time tonight, the silence got awkward.

“I—”

“Do you think?—”

We spoke at once, and over each other, then laughed.

Grinning, he asked, “What were you going to say?”

I opened my mouth to repeat myself, then suddenly was too nervous to speak.

He kissed my knuckles. “You first, sweet man. I promise you can say whatever it is you need to say.”

I took a deep breath and let it out, then stared at the glove box. “Um...I was going to ask if you wanted to come inside? I know we’ve just spent the entire afternoon and evening together, but...”

Argh. God, I felt so stupid.

“I’d love to come inside, sweetheart.” He brought my hand to his lips, kissing every knuckle. “No funny stuff,” he added.

I buried my face in my hands.

“Unless you wanted some funny stuff?” he asked, and I could hear the amusement in his tone.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

He chuckled. “Not laughing at you, Rowd. I’m just remembering our first meeting, and, as much as I enjoy the version of you that’s hot and sassy, this shy version is...” He let his head fall back on the headrest. “Something else.”

I glanced at him and saw the understanding. Not to mention the heat.

“Invite me in, Rowd. Tell me what you want.”

I groaned into my palms. I decided against telling him he sounded like one of my imaginary vampire lovers, asking me to invite him in like that.

He waited.

“Fine. I want you to hold me. Like, in bed.”

“You want me to sleep with you?”

“Fully clothed,” I said, then spied what he was wearing. “Okay, maybe down to the boxers, but the boxers absolutely stay on.”

“You know I wear boxers?”

“Shut up.”

His laugh was pure sunshine, and I imagined what it would be like to have his arms wrapped around me all night long. I let out a whimper.

He went quiet until I chanced another look in his direction. A smile was playing on his lips.

“I can’t think of anything I want more than to sleep with you.”

“Even though...?”

“There’s no even though , Rowd. I’d love nothing more than to hold you all night long.”

Thank God.