Chapter Twenty-Four
Jaimie
Outside, the wind continued to rattle the loose window-frame. Gina, startled by a sudden peal of thunder, darted under the couch.
“Don’t mind her,” I told Braxton. “Although come to think of it, I should probably bring my plants in. Do you mind?”
He shook his head, although I could sense hesitation in his eyes. Breaking away, I ran outside onto the porch and came back in a moment later bearing a couple of pink-potted aloe vera plants, which I placed near the foot of the stairs.
Braxton, meanwhile, continued to stand shyly by the couch.
“I was just thinking,” he said. “Would you like go back to my house tonight?”
I held his gaze for slightly too long. “Yeah, why?”
“You’ve just never been over there, and I thought you might like to see the place.” When I continued to stare at him, he added, “And we haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time together, and I want to make up for the time we’ve lost. If we stayed up all night talking, I wouldn’t be upset.”
“Well, I do have work in the morning, so it would be a little inconvenient.” Nevertheless, I was warmed by his directness. Striding up to him and taking his calloused hands in mine, I asked, “What do you want to do until then?”
“I don’t know…” he said, smiling. “When you ran outside just now to save the plants, I thought maybe you were trying to escape being intimate.”
I flinched as though having been struck by an electric rod. “You know, sometimes it’s annoying how well you see through me.”
“Were you?”
“I mean, I guess I hadn’t thought about it before you pointed it out. It wasn’t conscious, I promise.”
“It makes sense,” said Braxton. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said, and I think maybe you’re still afraid of pleasuring me because you would feel I was using you.”
“I can’t help how I feel,” I said defensively, my eyes on the ground. I knew he didn’t intend it that way, but it still felt like a personal attack.
We stood by the couch for a moment, only inches apart. He looked as lost as I felt.
“So,” I said finally, feeling like the date had gone badly off-course. “What’s the solution?”
“I had an idea,” said Braxton slowly. “But I don’t know what you’re going to think of it.”
“Tell me.”
“I was thinking maybe tonight I could concentrate on pleasuring you. And you wouldn’t have to worry about giving anything back. Tonight would just be about you and making love to you and showing you how much I like you.”
When I didn’t respond, he added, “Would you like that?”
I nodded slowly. I wished my heart wouldn’t beat so fast and loud, but I couldn’t stop it. “Yeah,” I said quietly. “I’d like that.”
For the first time since I had returned from outside, Braxton smiled.
“Is it selfish of me to want that?” I asked. “It feels very selfish.”
He shook his head, a light of assurance ablaze in his eyes. “You deserve someone who will love you like that.”
Maybe it was the tone of his voice as he said it, a tone of utter conviction. Whatever it was, I felt utterly given over to him at that moment. Stomach churning, heart racing, knees weak, it was all I could do to stay standing as he came toward me and wrapped his hands around my waist.
He shut his eyes, breathing in the vanilla scent of my hair. “I missed this. After last weekend, I didn’t think we would get to do this again.”
“I missed it, too,” I said weakly. “I was so mad at you after I left Vegas, and yet I couldn’t get you out of my head. I think Ren got sick of hearing about you.”
“She probably did.”
“She’s had to hear about all my boys,” I said. “I should probably pay her for all the time she’s put in.”
“Well, hopefully things will begin to settle down now, and there won’t be as much drama.” He brushed his thumbs lightly over my belly. “If we’re going to be together…”
“Are we together?” I asked him in a tone of mild surprise.
“Do you want to be together?”
I didn’t have to think hard about it. “I do. I do!”
“Good. Then we’re agreed.” Deftly unzipping my fleece jacket, he began to kiss me fervently just under my jade necklace, slowly moving lower until he had reached my breasts. I let out an involuntary gasp. Wrapping one arm around his back, I brought the other arm up over his shoulders and gripped the top of his head.
“I feel like there should be a crime against enjoying someone this much.” He kissed me on one side of the neck and then the other, gently caressing me with his cheek. “Being with you is a greater high than anything I’ve experienced in the octagon.”
“I’m glad you think so,” I said, feeling both warmed and amused by his eloquence. It was a strange feeling, just standing there and letting him lavish me with his affections. I wasn’t yet sure if I liked it.
“It’s just a fact. You are the smartest—” he mussed my left cheek—“sexiest”—my right—“most thoughtful, most sensitive woman I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet.” He ran his lips along my lower jawbone, his kisses hungry and grateful. A sense of appreciation for my existence seemed to radiate through him, and he held on to me tightly as though afraid I might disappear if given half the chance.
“I have no idea where we’re headed or whether we’ll even last,” he said, his cheek pressed firm against mine, “but at least we have this. At least we have now.”
I was silent. I wanted to say that we would last, that he didn’t have to worry about us, but I couldn’t honestly say that. We had only just met, and the future was too uncertain.
“Whatever happens between us, Braxton,” I told him, taking his stubbly face in my hands, “I want you to know that I will always, always be grateful for what we’ve done tonight. I’ll never forget it.”
“Promise?”
I linked my right hand in his, fingers between fingers. “Promise.”