“Come on. How are we supposed to do this if you never let me in?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t realize we were doing much of anything,” I joke. I mean, I know we screw around, but does that mean that we’re together now? Am I in a secret relationship?
He squeezes me. “You know, you’re a lot different than I thought you’d be.”
“How so?”
I shrug. “You’re such a nice, polite guy. I didn’t realize you’d be so demanding in bed.”
He chuckles. “I guess it’s a balance. I don’t speak out normally, so in the bedroom, it’s my only chance.” He laughs. “And I’ve found that the women really like it.”
“Yeah, because we’re expected to be strong all day, every day. In the bed is the only place we can get away from all that and get away from all of that and hand over the reins for a little while.” I smile, wondering if that’s true of most women or just a random few. I shrug. It doesn’t matter. I know it’s the case for me. Many would say that I have daddy issues from losing my father at such a young age. I’ve heard my brother and my mom talk about it on more than one occasion. They say that I seek out assholes, wanting to get their approval. I don’t see it that way. I just like to be tamed by a strong man. If a man is strong enough to tame me, he’s strong enough to love me. He’s strong enough for me to love.
“When are you going to tell me what happened with your mom?”
I shrug. “I don’t know if I can talk about it.”
“Why?” He sounds surprised.
I laugh. “There are some things that I try to avoid, you know.” I can’t hold back my smile. It’s like he thinks I’m the strongest woman out there.
“One of these days?”
I nod, just wanting the conversation to end.
“Promise?”
I giggle. “Promise. When I’m ready.”
He lifts his head slightly and presses a kiss to the top of mine. The kiss is innocent, but it makes me smile and warms my entire body. I’ve never been held like this or kissed like that. Most men will fuck me and then leave, so I guess that’s what I’m used to. This, holding one another and cuddling, is completely foreign to me, but already, I know it’s something I can get used to.
I must drift off to sleep because the next thing I know, Hudson is shaking me awake. My eyes flutter open to see the pitch-black bedroom instead of the one that was just lit up with the setting sun.
“Wake up, Deven. Brad is home.”
I fly up out of bed with those words. “What? Where is he?”
“I think he’s taking a shower. I haven’t seen him yet,” he replies. “But I heard him walk in. You need to get dressed and get the fuck out of here now, or this will be over before it starts.”
I pull my dress on and slide my feet into my shoes. I’m sure my hair and makeup is trashed, but I can always tell him I had a date and am just getting home. I’m sure I’ll get a talking-to about dating these worthless guys he never even bothers meeting. He just assumes they’re all worthless assholes, like I can’t pick them any better.
Once I’m dressed, Hudson opens the door and peeks out. “He’s in the bathroom. Hurry.”
I go to step past him, but he catches me. Our eyes lock and then slowly, he moves in for a kiss. That kiss goes straight to my belly, where a fire lights and makes my toes curl.
“Go,” he says, pulling away.
I rush out of his room and into the living room. I notice the door is locked but not chained. I quickly unlock it, open it, and close it. Brad is walking into the living room as I’m re-locking it, so it looks like I just got in.
“Where you been?”
“Out. Had a date.” I sit on the couch and remove my shoes.
“Where’s Hudson?” he asks, walking into the kitchen.
“How am I supposed to know? It wasn’t my turn to watch him,” I say with a smirk.
Brad shakes his head but doesn’t ask anything else. He grabs a drink from the kitchen, then takes it back to his bedroom. I hear the soft click of his door. I let out a relieved breath. We weren’t caught. But we need to be more careful.