Something in my chest twists, painful and tender. I grab a towel from the shelf behind my desk, the one I keep for coffee spills and whatever else, and toss it to him. He catches it reflexively, his breaths still kicking hard, chest heaving.
“I’m coming over tonight,” I say, I command. The assertion hangs between us, heavy with promise. It wasn’t a question, and it’s not a plea. It is a statement. Because if I let him leave now without more on the line, if I give either of us space to think, he’ll talk himself out of it like always. He will find a rule to throw between us, a barrier to keep things as normal as he can. But I don’t want that, I wantmore, and I won’t let him push it all away. I won’t let him pretend this fire between us doesn’t consume us both every second.
Cade wipes at the spot on his pants, but his eyes never leave mine. There’s vulnerability there, raw and unguarded. I appreciate his vulnerability more than he knows. I appreciate him following me here, too.
“Noah…”
“Don’t.” I tuck myself away, wincing at the sensitivity, and pull up my pants. The plug is still in, still humming faintly now that the timer on the app has wound down. I’ll deal with it later. “Just… tonight. Your place. We need to talk. Or not talk. I don’t know anymore.” That’s the truth.
He nods once, slowly. The towel hangs uselessly in his hand. The locked door feels like both prison and sanctuary. I can see the questions swirling behind his eyes—the same ones that likely keep him up at night.
What are we doing?
And why do I love it?
I turn away first, busying myself with straightening papers on my desk that don’t need straightening. My hands still tremble. The aftershocks of the orgasm mix with the deeper ache in my chest. This thing with Cade started as tension, a spark in our small office that evolved into stolen glances and purposeful brushes of our hands. But it’s more now. So much more. I want him in ways that scare the hell out of me—his steady presence in my daily life, the way he loves rules and staying in the lines, all of it.
Tonight, when the door closes at his place and it’s justus, I know I’ll let him in further, and he’ll let me in, too, in return. And tomorrow? He may regret it. Push me away again. Because Cade is complicated, but I’m up for the task. I want his complications, I want to rattle him and climb inside him, and unspool all of his dreams and make them come true.
But right now, with his cum-soaked pants and my cum on the floor, all I feel is the pull for him. The need to be with him beyond these hidden moments.
I’m already too far gone.
“The meeting's probably ending soon,” I mutter, glancing at the clock. My voice is steady despite the unease that crawls through my veins. “You should go first. Fix that.” I nod at the towel and the cum soaking his trousers.
Fuck he’s so hot. So responsive. Everything I thought he’d be, and I know there’s more of that. More of the careful unravelling I expect, more of the delicious side of him he keeps hidden. I can’t wait to get more of that tonight.
Cade hesitates, but ultimately steps closer. For a second, I think he might kiss me. He lifts his hand, hovering near my arm. The moment is brimming with invisible tension, and so much electric desire I nearly feel it crackling between us.
He doesn’t touch me but instead, exhales shakily and turns toward the door. The lock clicks open. He pauses in the doorway, back to me. “See you tonight.”
The door shuts softly behind him.
I sink into my chair, elbows on the desk, face in myhands. My heart won’t stop racing. The plug shifts as I move, a final teasing reminder of what I just did, the lengths in which I’ve gone to get Cade’s attention. Cum on the floor of the office. And I’d do so much more.
I smile thinking of tonight.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
CADE
Noah arriveson my doorstep just after eight, the porch light catching the sharp lines of his jaw and the subtle confidence in his shoulders. He’s got what appears to be an overnight bag slung over one arm like it’s the most natural thing in the world, as if coming to my house for a tawdry sleepover is completely normal and totally fine.Oh, just got my overnight bag, you know, for Cade’s place.
I stare at that bag for a moment as my stomach does a slow, traitorous flip. I’m still in the button-down I wore to campus, sleeves rolled up, glasses slightly fogged from the steam of the tea I tried to drink to calm my nerves. Tried, but failed, because every time peace finds me, I remember Noah in our office, gripping the side of the desk, warning me to go. I remember the cold lock between my fingers as Itwisted it, and boldly stayed. Stayed to watch, stayed to feel alive. The last few weeks with Noah have entirely rewritten every cell in my body.
He did change my world forever, he was right.
And I want more.
“Hey,” I manage, voice quieter than I want as I pull open the door, double checking with a glance that I did indeed change my slacks. “Come in.”
Noah steps inside, filling the narrow hallway of my redone Victorian with his height and the faint scent of him, and something else, something warm like rain melting into hot skin. He sets the bag down with a soft thud and my eyes drop to it immediately.
“Is that… an overnight bag?” I ask, feeling so incredibly awkward.
Noah’s mouth curves into a slow, devastating smile. “Yes.” He steps nearer, his breath dusting my nose. “We’re having a sleepover, Cade.”
