“I know you didn’t mean to,” he said softly. “I guess there have always been people I’ve known who really care about that kind of stuff, but I just never have. I didn’t know what I should do. I like you so much…”
“I like you, too.” I placed my palm against his cheek. “I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy for me to just forget all that stuff. Who you are inside is what’s important. I know that, but I’ve always been taugh
t that you show who you are by your appearance. The people in my life, they aren’t going to just accept you. In my world, that reflects on me and my father.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes, contemplating.
“I guess I never thought of it that way,” he said. “My parents never made a big deal out of clothes or whatever. I always had nice stuff, but I didn’t want to stand out when it came to the people I cared about, so when they were gone, I always went shopping with Faith at the places she could afford. I don’t want the others to know I have money because…well, because they don’t, and they’d never accept anything from me if I made it obvious.”
“It sounds like the same kind of thing,” I said. “It’s just the opposite end of the spectrum. You’re hiding the fact that you have money for the sake of fitting in with your friends.”
“I guess you have a point there.” Ethan chewed on his lip for a moment, contemplating. “But when I told them about you, and where you were going to work and shit, they all figured out you were pretty well off, and none of them cared. Well, as long as you, um, didn’t do anything that would…shit. I shouldn’t bring that up now.”
“As long as I didn’t hurt you.”
“Yeah.”
“What can I do to take it back?”
“You can’t,” Ethan said stoically. “What’s done is done. You can’t ever take back something you said or did in the past. You just have to go forward. Just don’t do that again. Please.”
“I won’t,” I promised. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
“I know.” Ethan smiled. “And I think I understand that it’s not going to be easy for you—or me either, for that matter. But as long as we stick together, we should be okay, right?”
“Yes, I think we will.”
“Are we all made up now?” he asked. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I think so. What do you think?”
“I think there’s one more thing to do to make it official.” He raised his eyebrows and slid his hand a little lower, past the small of my back, and gripped my backside. He pulled me in close to him, and I could feel his desire pressed up against me.
“I think you might be right,” I replied.
He kissed the underside of my jaw, still holding my hips against his thighs, so I could feel how hard he was as he pressed into my stomach. I reached down and ran my hand over the side of his length, through the denim. He pushed harder against me, and his lips found mine, eagerly sucking and licking. I placed both hands on his hips and brought him even nearer.
With my fingers at the top edge of his jeans, I worked my way to the skin at his sides and then lifted my hands—taking his shirt with me. Ethan obligingly raised his arms so I could take it off altogether, revealing the dragon on his shoulder and the loving flowers on his chest, where my hands had to touch and examine. While I explored the planes of his chest with my fingers, Ethan created a trail of small kisses from my neck to my upper arm and then back again before doing the same on the other side. I dropped one of my hands again, this time snaking between my stomach and his erection, palming him.
All of a sudden, my back was up against the wall next to the couch, and my legs were wrapped tightly around Ethan’s torso. He covered my mouth with his, kissing me frantically—his need as deep as my own.
“Where’s your bedroom?” Ethan’s voice rang through my ears, and for a minute, I was distracted enough to have to think about the answer. “Because if we don’t get there soon, I’m going to take you right here against the wall.”
“Down the hall, on the left,” I said when I came to my senses again. He shifted his grip on my backside and carried me through the apartment, banging open my bedroom door and going straight to the bed. I didn’t know if he tripped right as he got there, or if he just threw us both down, but we ended up in a heap on top of the duvet.
He gripped my hair and covered my mouth again. I ran my fingers up his arms, over his biceps, across his shoulders and into his hair. I felt the silver hoops laced through his earlobe, and the pad of my thumb caressed them slowly.
“Fuck, I’m going to bust right out of my jeans,” Ethan said, panting.
“Then get them off!” I yelled, then realized I was yelling and felt heat rise to my face. Ethan chuckled low and then got up on his knees between my legs, looking into my eyes as he slowly unbuttoned his jeans. I whimpered, and my heart started pounding as that half smile crept over his face just as he finished unfastening the last button and slowly pushed his jeans down over his hips.
He had gone commando.
“My God, Ethan, you are going to kill me,” I mumbled as the fabric slowly revealed his beautiful, thick, hard cock. Holy shit, I was a fucking mess when it came to that dick, and it made me feel like a complete slut, but I didn’t care. I ran my tongue over my lips and glanced up at Ethan. The corners of his mouth twitched, and he swallowed hard. “I want you.”
I lifted my hips to help him remove my skirt and panties and then twisted to the side to yank my shirt up over my head and toss it off the bed.
“I love these,” Ethan remarked as he flicked the hook between my breasts, which caused my bra to fall to my shoulders. I shrugged it off. “Definitely easier to take off than the ones with the hook in the back.”