The last part of his comment gave me pause. I wasn’t going to pry about any of Landon’s exes, despite my curiosity and urge to ask Ace to explain exactly who might have been using Landon. Any information on Landon’s past should have come from Landon, not his intoxicated friend.
I simply said, “I couldn’t agree more.”
Landon looked concerned when he arrived back and saw me talking to a drunk Ace. “Everything good?”
Trying to seem unaffected, I smiled. “Great.”
He looked back and forth between Ace and me. “Want to get out of here, Rana?”
“Sure.”
I was actually pretty tired and couldn’t wait to get back to Landon’s place. The whole night while staring at him in his sexy, fitted sweater, I wanted to just curl into his chest like a kitten. More than ready to be alone with him again, I hoped if he didn’t want to have sex with me tonight, that we could at least cuddle.
Landon side hugged Ace. “We’re out. Goodnight, man. Be safe. You letting Dave drive you?”
“Yeah.” Ace then kissed me on the cheek. “Night, Rana.”
“Night, Ace.”
After we said our goodbyes to Dave and Mia, Landon put his arm around me as we exited the bar.
“Was Ace behaving while I was in the bathroom?”
“Yes. He was just slurring his words a little and said how happy he was that you and I reconnected.”
“He gets mouthy when he’s drunk. I just wanted to make sure he didn’t say anything to upset you.”
“No, not at all.”
“You feel like staying out, or you want to go home?”
Home.
“Back to your place, you mean?”
“I certainly didn’t mean Michigan.” He squeezed my arm. “Yes, my home…which is your home here.”
“That sounds good. It’s been a long day.”After arriving back at Landon’s apartment, we stood facing each other in the middle of his living room.
Buzzed and horny, my nipples hardened from merely the lustful way he was looking at me. We were definitely both feeling the effects of the alcohol, and you could smell the want in the air.
Landon inched closer. The feel of his breath on me was making me even weaker.
“You know when you were dancing tonight, I might have been going a little more insane with each movement of your hips. Like you, I, too, have a jealous side. When that guy put his hand on you, it made me momentarily lose my mind, which is kind of crazy because that kind of thing must happen to you all of the time. I’m just not there to see it.”
It felt good to be the recipient of his jealousy. Normally, it was the other way around.
“Yeah, it does happen quite a bit.” Any other answer would’ve been a lie. Men were always hitting on me at work.
“I envy all of those people who get to watch you dance every night.”
That gave me an idea. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
I didn’t answer him, just simply ventured to his room. I knew he had the emerald green belly dancer outfit I’d mailed him hanging in his closet. I took it off the hanger and changed into it.
He was still standing in the same spot waiting for me when I returned.
“What’s happening?” He smiled.
“What’s happening is…I’m giving you a private dance…if you want one.”
“Fuck, yes, I want one.”
There was a certain slow and sensual song I’d been practicing to on my phone. I scrolled to find it and turned the volume up.
Gyrating my hips ever so delicately to the resonant drumbeat of the song, I kept my gaze glued to his. The desire pooling in his eyes was growing with each second. I danced slowly around him as he kept his body still while his head turned to follow my movements. Teasing him with the silk veil, I brushed the material along his body seductively.
At one point, he grabbed the veil and somehow managed to wrap it around my waist before reeling me in and locking me into his body with it. In that moment, he kissed me harder than ever before. I felt his erection. It was rock-solid against my bare stomach through the material of his pants. Our tongues collided in a race to taste each other. Restraint was simply a war we were not going to be able to win for much longer.
The heat of his body pressing against me was making me incredibly wet.
“You are the most beautiful woman in the world,” he whispered gruffly into my mouth, his hands buried in my hair. “Thank you for my private dance.”
“You know, ever since you texted me that first picture of yourself, I haven’t been able to dance at work without seeing you in my mind. Even though this was the first time I’ve ever done it in front of you, I’ve been dancing for you and only you for a while now.”