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He presses the car forward and guides us through the city. The sun has already started to set and everything is dim and dreamlike, the street lamps turning on despite the hint of light still lacing the surroundings. It makes me feel like I’m part of a fairytale adventure like I’ve finally found my prince.
The only man I’ll ever want or need.
“So where are we going?” I ask.
“Elysium,” he says.
“Wait a sec…” I search my mind, the name sounding familiar. “Wait. The Elysium?”
“You know it?”
“Yeah, Josephine and Paul went there for their twentieth wedding anniversary. Paul said they had to wait for ten months to get those tables.”
“You deserve the best,” he says passionately. “It’s a special occasion. Our first date.”
“This is too much,” I murmur, suddenly feeling like it’s all going to be snatched away from me any second. “The dress, the shoes, and now this. Are you sure, Ryker?”
His hand comes to rest on my leg, slipping under the hem. He squeezes and hot shivers slide up to my sex, swirling around my hole, making my clit buzz all needy for attention.
“It’s all worth it to see how fucking perfect you look right now.”
He slides his hands higher and higher as he drives, the fabric of my dress rustling and gathering around my hips.
I let out a whimper as his fingers get teasingly close to my sex, his hand firm against me. Like he never wants to let go.
But then he snatches it away with a growl.
“Fuck, it’s so hard to be around you. But even if I’ve got tinted windows, you deserve better than a car. You deserve a four poster bed and silk sheets and all the luxuries a woman can have.”
His words whisper through me just as hot as his touch.
Adjusting my dress, I say, “Sadie’s going to freak out when I tell her where we went for our first date.”
“Sadie’s your adopted sister, isn’t she?”
I’m not sure if I imagine the emphasis he puts on the word adopted, as though he wants to ask me what happened to my parents. His gaze flits to mine in between driving, curiosity gleaming.
“What?” I ask.
He chuckles. “What? I didn’t say anything.”
“You don’t need to. If you’ve got something to say, say it.”
His smirk widens. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are when you get all sassy like that?”
His gruff voice fires into me, diffusing the rising rebellion inside of me.
“I’d like to know what happened to your birth family,” he says in a matter-of-fact voice. “But I won’t force you to tell me.”
I roll my eyes, even as my chest warms with bright light, telling me it’s a good thing he’s curious.
Maybe that means he wants me for more than sex, more than my virginity. Maybe that means he wants what my body so hungrily demands.
Warning myself to calm down, I tell him, “It’s a bit of a downer. This is supposed to be a fun night.”
He shrugs. “I’m ready to talk if you want to, Rosie. But like I said, I won’t force you.”
We drive in silence for a time, the car rumbling beneath us, the world becoming darker as we cross the bridge into the even nicer part of the city. High-rises reach for the sky all around us, and men in suits rush up and down the sidewalks, still busy even this late.
“It’s not this huge deal,” I murmur. “It happened a long time ago.”
He looks at me as we reach another red light, his eyes patient.
“My mom died in childbirth,” I go on. “I never knew her. I never knew what I was missing. And my dad… he tried his best, Ryker. He really did. I have to believe that.”
I clasp my hands together, pressing tightly, as the past clashes into the present.
“But he was a troubled man. He always suffered from anxiety and depression. And I think losing mom broke him. Or at least a part of him.”
“It’s okay,” he says softly at the tremor in my voice.
He reaches across and squeezes onto my clasped hands, his secure touch soothing me, diffusing some of the tension I feel.
I hold onto his hand as he guides the steering wheel one-handed.
“But when I was ten, he couldn’t take it anymore. He… he took his own life.”
“Jesus. Fuck. I’m so sorry, Rosie.”
I nod, forcing the back tears, swallowing them. Otherwise, I’ll break down and I might not be able to stop, and I really don’t want to ruin this lovely evening.
“It was a long time ago now. Sadie’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and I’m so lucky that I had her and her parents. They adopted me and gave me a life, a home. I’m grateful for that.”
He moves his hand to change gears but then takes my hand again, as though he wants to let me know he’s always going to be there for me. In the good times and the tough alike.
