Exposed Exposed (Dom Nation #1) - E. Davies Page 0,76
to shut up.
As I joined Slate, the bartender presented our drinks. He smiled and thanked her, taking a glass just as I did. And—as I’d hoped—he didn’t even notice what was in my other hand.
“To us,” I murmured, holding out my glass.
Gently, he tapped the rim against mine. “To us,” he agreed, his smile warm and welcoming.
And my shoulders sank, the stress evaporating at that one easy expression. I knew his answer already, but I had to ask. So, after we’d each sipped, I cleared my throat and shuffled in front of him, blocking his view of the city.
“Slate,” I murmured, holding up the slim bouquet.
He blinked as if he wasn’t sure they were for him, then looked around. “Rex…?” His voice was soft, rising at the end and trailing off.
“Can I call you my boyfriend—my partner?” I asked softly. Should I be down on one knee? No, then everyone would think I was proposing. A thought that ought to scare me more than it does. “Whatever word you like. Nobody else but us. Just you and me, boy.”
Slate beamed at me, his gaze sliding between the flowers and me. He looked dizzy, overwhelmed with emotion, so I had to press them into his hand for him to take them.
“You can call me your boy, and anything else you want,” Slate whispered back, a dusky blush rising over his cheeks. He gulped. “Yes. Yes. Now kiss me before I faint, Rex.”
A rush of relieved laughter escaped, and I crowded up close to him, tilting my chin up. I had to rise onto tiptoe to press our lips together, and the moment I did, I felt like I could keep going—until my feet lifted from the floor, until we flew together.
Under the starlight and over the twinkling lights that stretched behind me, up and up, all the way past the moon. Find ourselves a dark little patch of the universe, a place to nestle together and make our home. Forever.
When we finally pulled away, my heart still hammered in my chest. The relief was an intoxicating rush that made me completely forget about the glass in my hand, the view behind me, or anything else. I was just standing on the spot, staring at Slate and grinning like a loon.
Slate kept gulping, raising the roses to his nose now and then, his gaze fixed on the skyline. Like he wasn’t quite sure what to say. But the smile never left his face, and I knew he was happy.
“Come here,” Slate finally whispered and gently nudged me to turn around. Then he wrapped one arm around my side—the one with the roses—until they nestled against my chest.
We fit perfectly together like this, him and me.
“Are you okay?” Slate finally murmured.
I laughed and shook my head slightly. “Of course. I just spent all night trying to make this perfect, and I haven’t really planned anything after this point. I suppose I was so worried that…” I trailed off and laughed sheepishly.
It wasn’t very Dominant to admit that I’d been scared shitless that he only wanted a Daddy for a little while. Someone to fix him up, sort him out, and send him on his way a newer, better man. Or worse still, take all the best parts of me and make them feel like a curse.
But no—this was Slate. It was crazy, but I’d trust him with anything.
Slate’s voice was very quiet behind my ear. “Never doubt I’ll always say yes, Rex.” He crushed me against his chest for a moment, like he couldn’t find any other way to show me the intensity of his emotions. “Before meeting you, I never imagined this.” His voice turned hesitant, the words dripping from him. “I know you don’t want to hear about him. But… can I tell you something?”
“Anything,” I promised, inwardly bracing myself.
“Isaac never did anything like this with me. And boyfriends before him never did anything like—well, the other things we do. The naughtier things.” My lips twitched as he tried to find a way to refer to kink in public. “I didn’t think I could have both at once. Him and me… we didn’t technically date. I called it dating, but to him, it wasn’t.”
I could imagine. My jaw tightened, and despite my best efforts, I knew I was going stiff in his arms with the adrenaline that flooded me. I ached to make Isaac pay for what he’d done to my sweet boy.