The Vessel - Jenika Snow Page 0,34

silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, not with the feel of Lucius holding my hand, or of his thumb moving along my wrist, right where my pulse point was. It was soothing, relaxing, and I found myself resting my head back on the seat, feeling this lulling sensation move over me.

Although I was content in that moment, my body was on fire. I glanced over at him, the lights from the dashboard mixing with the shadows that cast over his profile. He looked so masculine, with his square-cut jaw, his full lips, and his straight nose. His short blond hair looked darker in the shadowy interior of the car.

He must’ve felt my stare, because he looked over at me then, giving me a small smile before he lifted our joined hands and brought them to his lips, kissing my knuckles. All I could feel was Lucius. All I could smell was the intoxicating, masculine cologne he wore. My body was on fire, every erogenous zone in me heightened, tingling. I knew what I wanted, and that wasn’t to go back to my house and spend the night alone.

We were halfway between his house and mine, and I felt a surge of desire move through me so strongly I was about to do something I never envisioned myself doing before.

“Everything okay?” he asked and gave my hand a light squeeze.

I licked my lips and nodded slowly. Everything was more than okay, and I hoped the next sequence of events made it even better.

“I’m not ready to go home yet, Lucius.” He slowed to a stop at a red light and glanced over at me.

“Okay,” he said softly and gave me a smile. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go. I’m never ready for the night to be over when I’m with you.”

My heart raced double time at hearing him say those words. How did I get so lucky? It took me a moment to answer, because I wasn’t quite sure if I had the courage to actually go through with it, but I didn’t want to wait another moment. I didn’t want to prolong this. I just wanted Lucius.

“Take me back to your house.” I felt his hand tighten around mine momentarily before he looked over at me again. Although he kept his expression pretty neutral, I saw a spark of surprise on his face, watched the way his nostrils flared slightly from his rising arousal. He parted his lips slightly, his breath coming out faster. He knew what I meant. I could see it written on his face. “I want to go back to your place, Lucius.”

I heard this low sound leave him. He wanted this just as much as I did.

He nodded slowly. “Okay,” he finally whispered.

My heart was pounding in my chest as he started driving again and went the way that would take us east. And the closer we got, the more anticipation moved through me, the more I became hot, aroused. My pussy was wet, my nipples hard.

Maybe this was too fast, getting in bed with him when I should have waited, should have gotten to know him better. But I felt like I knew Lucius as well as I knew myself, and that’s why this felt so right.

This was going to happen, and I wasn’t about to stop it.

22

Lucius

We’d been at my place for the last thirty minutes. I poured us each a glass of wine, and we were now sitting on the veranda. I loved hearing her talk. She could talk about paint drying and it would be the most interesting conversation I ever had, all because she’d be the one telling me.

I was pleased that Elise enjoyed herself so much tonight. I realized I strived, yearned for that, was addicted to her happiness.

The image, memory of just an hour ago of her telling me she wanted to go back to my place had pleasure and satisfaction consuming me. The fact that she wanted me as desperately as I wanted her had the very male part of me roaring. I didn’t want to rush this, and we were doing things on her terms, her timeline, but fuck, I was so hard for her.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t so damn aroused for her that my balls ached, and I sported a constant hard-on. The need to be with her was so powerful it drove me insane. And if things naturally progressed the way I knew we both wanted, it would just bring