demeanor.
Engrossed in a world I didn’t know existed, I licked my lips while I watched the spectacular light show above.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” I began, leaning hard against the eyepiece. “I see them! What are they?”
Dorian chuckled behind me. “It’s the Perseid meteor shower.”
“Wow,” I said, my voice not much more than a whisper. “That’s so incredible.”
Without thinking, I pulled my face away from the telescope and smiled at him. Nothing could have prepared me for being so thrilled after looking through a telescope, but yet I was.
Our eyes met. He looked at me with steadiness in his gaze, like the eons-old stars overhead. I looked away, returning my attention back to the telescope and leaning into it. Soon after, Dorian moved in behind me, pressing his body against my backside.
“Keep looking,” he began, his hot breath beating against my neck. “I’m just making an adjustment.”
His hands weren’t the only thing hard on his body.
While he lingered there, I felt an unmistakable firmness just below his hips. Nothing about his approach was gentle – far from it. I lost my ability to concentrate.
Oh shit. No, no.
My tongue slipped from my lips, gliding across them a subtle flick. The feel of his hard body and pulsating, warm breath against my exposed skin started to take a toll on my resolve.
“Almost there, Tempest. Almost.”
His voice vibrating inside of his chest sent prickles down my arms. I started to feel weak, each breath more difficult to take than the one before it.
What is happening to me? No man has ever had this effect on me before.
Then, I thought about him…
What the hell was he doing? What about Ainsley?
No matter how bad my body might’ve wanted his, I wasn’t about to give him a reason to cheat. Reality came crashing down on me, sharpening my senses and focusing me on what I had to do –– stop him before it was too late. Swallowing hard, I made up my mind to tell him to back off when, at the last instant, he beat me to it.
“All set,” he said, stepping away from me. “Better, right?”
I didn’t even know what the hell he was talking about.
Oh right, the telescope.
Looking into the eyepiece again, I felt lucky to have the distraction. The tension between us, real or imagined, relaxed over the next few minutes. Dorian switched topics with a casual ease, asking me questions about what I was seeing.
While he talked, I detected a genuineness in his tone. Maybe I’d misinterpreted, taking things too far in my own mind. Watching the stars helped. They calmed me. It wasn’t hard to understand why he felt the same way about them.
“A shooting star!” I yelled, seeing the streaking slash in a way I never had before.
Swiveling my head away from the telescope, I looked at him. He smiled.
“Go ahead and take this one. You saw it. It should be your wish.”
Still smiling, I nodded at him and closed my eyes for an instant, making my wish. Of course, I’d been wishing for the same thing for years now but the chances of Dad getting out of jail weren’t any better than the day he went away. We’d exhausted all of our appeals, and in spite of his good behavior, the parole board hadn’t budged.
Assholes.
At this point, all I had left were wishes.
“What was it?” he asked after I opened my eyes.
“Oh no, you know the deal. If I tell you the wish, it won’t come true.”
Dorian leaned away, narrowing his eyes at me.
“What?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” he began, nodding. “This is about your wish.”
“My wish? What about it?”
“I know that your dad was only trying to do the right thing. Even so, wishing won’t get him out of jail -- not now, not ever.”
What the…? How? Was there no end to him digging into my past?
He seemed to already know everything about my life, but the fact he knew about my dad… He must have known how important it was for me to see him. By keeping me there with him, Dorian kept the
Engrossed in a world I didn’t know existed, I licked my lips while I watched the spectacular light show above.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” I began, leaning hard against the eyepiece. “I see them! What are they?”
Dorian chuckled behind me. “It’s the Perseid meteor shower.”
“Wow,” I said, my voice not much more than a whisper. “That’s so incredible.”
Without thinking, I pulled my face away from the telescope and smiled at him. Nothing could have prepared me for being so thrilled after looking through a telescope, but yet I was.
Our eyes met. He looked at me with steadiness in his gaze, like the eons-old stars overhead. I looked away, returning my attention back to the telescope and leaning into it. Soon after, Dorian moved in behind me, pressing his body against my backside.
“Keep looking,” he began, his hot breath beating against my neck. “I’m just making an adjustment.”
His hands weren’t the only thing hard on his body.
While he lingered there, I felt an unmistakable firmness just below his hips. Nothing about his approach was gentle – far from it. I lost my ability to concentrate.
Oh shit. No, no.
My tongue slipped from my lips, gliding across them a subtle flick. The feel of his hard body and pulsating, warm breath against my exposed skin started to take a toll on my resolve.
“Almost there, Tempest. Almost.”
His voice vibrating inside of his chest sent prickles down my arms. I started to feel weak, each breath more difficult to take than the one before it.
What is happening to me? No man has ever had this effect on me before.
Then, I thought about him…
What the hell was he doing? What about Ainsley?
No matter how bad my body might’ve wanted his, I wasn’t about to give him a reason to cheat. Reality came crashing down on me, sharpening my senses and focusing me on what I had to do –– stop him before it was too late. Swallowing hard, I made up my mind to tell him to back off when, at the last instant, he beat me to it.
“All set,” he said, stepping away from me. “Better, right?”
I didn’t even know what the hell he was talking about.
Oh right, the telescope.
Looking into the eyepiece again, I felt lucky to have the distraction. The tension between us, real or imagined, relaxed over the next few minutes. Dorian switched topics with a casual ease, asking me questions about what I was seeing.
While he talked, I detected a genuineness in his tone. Maybe I’d misinterpreted, taking things too far in my own mind. Watching the stars helped. They calmed me. It wasn’t hard to understand why he felt the same way about them.
“A shooting star!” I yelled, seeing the streaking slash in a way I never had before.
Swiveling my head away from the telescope, I looked at him. He smiled.
“Go ahead and take this one. You saw it. It should be your wish.”
Still smiling, I nodded at him and closed my eyes for an instant, making my wish. Of course, I’d been wishing for the same thing for years now but the chances of Dad getting out of jail weren’t any better than the day he went away. We’d exhausted all of our appeals, and in spite of his good behavior, the parole board hadn’t budged.
Assholes.
At this point, all I had left were wishes.
“What was it?” he asked after I opened my eyes.
“Oh no, you know the deal. If I tell you the wish, it won’t come true.”
Dorian leaned away, narrowing his eyes at me.
“What?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” he began, nodding. “This is about your wish.”
“My wish? What about it?”
“I know that your dad was only trying to do the right thing. Even so, wishing won’t get him out of jail -- not now, not ever.”
What the…? How? Was there no end to him digging into my past?
He seemed to already know everything about my life, but the fact he knew about my dad… He must have known how important it was for me to see him. By keeping me there with him, Dorian kept the
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