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Only Nate had ever called her that. The pet name made her throat thick. He redressed her in his own, metallic-smelling T-shirt, gathered her clothes, and led her to Jack, who was on his back and tied to a bench.
“Jack, I’m going upstairs with Nate.”
Her friend frowned at Nate, but the full effect of his protective glower probably lost some of its effectiveness seeing as how he was bound and completely helpless. Playing with her in public apparently hadn’t required the same level of concern.
Adam struck up an amiable conversation with Nate who was inspecting his rope work and ignoring Jack’s ocular threats.
“I’ll give him your suite number later, when I let him up,” Adam told Riley. “If he’s not busy, that is.”
“Oh, I’ll make my own way home. No need to cut your night short on my account. I don’t need a safe call with Nate.”
How she’d gone from wanting to avoid Nate’s notice to wanting him to take her upstairs to be alone – all in the span of forty minutes – she’d never know. The fact that he was dominant, ten times hotter than in high school, and single, was far too tempting.
Walks of shame weren’t exactly new to her, but it was very different doing it in a BDSM hotel. As they made their way through the club, no one gave them a second look except to greet Nate and politely check her out. If anything, this wasn’t so much a walk of shame as a walk of anticipation. She had a million vivid recollections of how sex had been with him back when neither of them knew what they were doing, but now that he was older and they both knew more about sex and kink…
It had taken her ages to get over him the first time, but neither of them were the same people anymore. He’d gone from doting and loyal high school boyfriend to a guy who played at clubs and probably had countless submissives vying for his attention. As for her, she’d gone from somewhat dorky band chick in high school to…whatever she was now. In transition, probably.
Lonely. Dissatisfied.
Hell, it had been almost a year since she’d even gotten laid.
Moving back to Vegas had significantly narrowed her social and play circle, and it had been the swift demise of her already pathetic love life.
They got to the eleventh floor and he took her hand and led her to the door marked eleven twelve. He still handled her the way he had when he walked her to every class and carried her books. It wasn’t until after they’d split that she’d realized his reverence and attentiveness wasn’t common in the dating world. A guy giving her flowers couldn’t compare to the look Nate would have in his eyes as she came out of her classes, as though he’d been holding his breath until she reappeared.
He unlocked the door and held it open for her, following her into a bright, airy space that temporarily made her forget where they were.
She stopped dead and he bumped into her, apologizing and righting her before she toppled over.
“Are you…married?” His place wasn’t very bachelor pad-ish at all. Not even a little.
“No.”
“Girlfriend? There’s no way you decorated this. Not unless you’ve gotten fancy in your old age.”
“It was an interior designer. The owners here are friends of mine, and they kept mocking my shitty apartment. Apparently milk crates and a big wooden wire spool aren’t good enough to use as a dining set around here.”
She grinned and turned to look up at him. Again they were too close, but she liked seeing him from this angle. He was taller than she remembered, and definitely broader. His face had lost the babyish roundness and had taken on hard planes and stubble that made him look mean. He narrowed his dark eyes and it triggered a nervous flutter in her belly.
For the second time tonight he buried his hand in her hair, tugging her closer and making her knees feel like they’d liquefied.
“How far are you willing to go with me, Leelee?” His rough voice sank through her.
How was he already lulling her under his spell? She’d almost come just from the reverent way he’d stripped her downstairs – as though he wanted to simultaneously worship her and eat her alive. No one had ever looked at her like that except him, but she’d never guessed his quiet obsession with her would have persisted after so long apart. It was heady. How had she ever left him to go to Julliard?
She shrugged, not knowing how to reply to his question honestly without making it sound weird. “I…don’t know. Finding you here feels…” Like fate?
“Like life is giving us a chance to close a door?”
“Yes,” she admitted. Or maybe to leave it open? She was back in town for a while, at least. She’d managed to block out how much she’d missed him, especially thinking he was vanilla. Now he was just too fucking perfect. “No holds barred. I want to know what I’ve been missing.”
He let go of her hair. “Shit. I need to call down for condoms.”
Her cheeks flamed as she considered things. Well, she had said no holds barred…
“I’m on the pill and I’ve never been with anyone unprotected except you.”
Nate shuffled awkwardly and glanced away. “Same here.”
