Page 51 of Keeping Laryn
“Still good with your decision?” he asked quietly.
“If I said no?” she asked, more curious about his answer than really wanting to change her mind.
“I’d step back, say good night, and see you in the morning,” he said matter-of-factly.
Yup. This man was definitely different than anyone else she’d been with. He was honorable. Rough around the edges, yes. Cocky, definitely. But good down to his core for sure.
“I haven’t changed my mind,” she told him, reaching around him and running her fingers through the hair at his nape.
“Thank fuck,” he breathed before wrapping one arm around her waist and picking her up.
Laryn smiled as he carried her down the hall, her legs tangling with his as he walked. She tried to pull her knees up to make things easier for him, but he hadn’t lifted her high enough and the angle was wrong. Instead, he almost tripped over their legs as he entered her bedroom, and Laryn couldn’t help but laugh.
He chuckled as he finally put her on her feet by the mattress.
“That’s new,” he said casually.
“What?” Laryn asked as she looked up at him.
“Laughing. I don’t think I ever really saw sex as fun before. It was always something I took very seriously.”
“And you aren’t taking this seriously?” she asked, more surprised than upset by his words.
“Oh, this is as serious as it gets,” he told her, making those pesky goose bumps break out on her arms once more. “But it’s also fun. I get to unwrap you. See what you’re hiding under that hideous mechanic’s tent you wear all the time. And I get to see what turns you on. I get to figure out if you’re ticklish, if your tits are sensitive, and if you can come with my mouth on your pussy or if you need a rougher touch.”
Damn. She wasn’t going to survive this.
He grinned once more. “And that look on your face only makes thismorefun for me.”
“Do I get to do the same? Figure out if you like your nipples sucked, how much control you’re willing to give me when I go down on you? If you’re the kind of man who pumps, bumps, and grunts, or if you’ve got more finesse?”
Tate threw back his head and laughed so hard, Laryn might’ve been offended if she couldn’t feel the evidence of how her words affected him. He’d gotten even harder against her belly, if that was possible.
“Pump, bump, and grunt?” he asked, still smiling.
Laryn shrugged. “It’s a thing.”
“I’m sure it is. But I’d like to think I’m not that guy. And if you want control, you can have it. Do you?”
She was tempted to say yes, to test that he wasn’t lying, but truthfully, she didn’t want to be in charge. She had to be in control in every other aspect of her life. She didn’t mind handing over the reins in bed to her partner. As long as he knew what to do with that control, and he didn’t take things too far. She wasn’t exactly submissive, but she wasn’t a Dom either.
“No,” she told him simply.
“Good. Because while I don’t mind you sucking my cock—in fact, that is now one of my biggest fantasies—I’m not sure I can give up all control. I’m kind of type A when it comes to that sort of thing.”
It was Laryn’s turn to chuckle. “Yeah, figured that out, Mr. Night Stalker, always-in-control pilot.”
He smirked. Then sobered. “If at any time you change your mind, everything stops. You decide you want to mess around, but no penetration, that’s cool. I can always stop. Just say the word. I don’t want you to regret anything we do here. This is going to change us. For the better, but different all the same. I’m looking forward to that. I want it. But if you aren’t sure, if youwant to slow things down because we’re moving so fast, I’ll understand.”
Time for some serious honesty here. “I’ve wanted you for three years,” she confessed quietly. “Part of the reason I was looking into leaving was because of you. Because it was so hard to work with you day in and day out, and know that I didn’t have a chance in hell of being with you the way I wanted.”
“Oh, Laryn,” Tate whispered.
“I’m not telling you that to make you feel guilty. I get it, your life was way different than mine. I just want to reassure you that I’m not going to regret tonight. How could I, when it’s everything I’ve ever wanted for so long? I admire you, Tate. Respect you. You’re a good man, pilot, friend. And knowing you take consent so seriously…it’s the icing on the cake for me.”
“I’m sorry I was such an idiot and didn’t recognize what was right there for so long. Thank you for waiting for me.”
He was thanking her for waiting for him?
