Unclaimed

Chapter Twenty-Three

I stabbed my spoon into the dessert  between us.  "So, do you bring all your girlfriends here?" I teased as I put the ice cream in my mouth.

"Every single one. You're the fourth one this month," he said with a smirk.

I raised my eyebrows. "Ooh. Any repeats?"

"Not yet, but I'm hoping maybe I'll get a second date. What do you think?"

I tapped my lips with my index finger, like I was thinking hard about it. "Hmm. I guess we'll have to see. The food here is good. The wine, too. I wouldn't mind coming back."

"You're very alive tonight," he remarked, breaking us out of our sarcastic banter.

I gave him a wide grin. "I'm tired of crying. I feel like it's all I've done for a long time. I like feeling happy. This is all I ever wanted. I've got ice cream, wine, a pretty dress, and a hot guy sitting across the table from me. What else could a girl want?"

"I think you're right. Ice cream, wine, great dinner, and a downright beautiful woman with me- that's all a man needs."

After the bill was paid, Grady opened the car door for me again. This time, he buckled my seatbelt for me. His face pressed to my cheek, and his hot breath graced my ear. His fingers brushed my hip, and warmth started to build between my thighs. I closed my eyes until he pulled away and took most of his alluring scent with him, so he wouldn't see my eyes shifting to a bright gold. I had it under control by the time he slid into the driver's seat.

Grady's fingers pushed my dress up, before landing on my inner thigh just above my knee. "Don't fight it. Just feel."

I took a deep breath through my nose, blowing it out through my mouth. The feel of his skin against mine made my cheeks heat up.

He met my gaze for a moment as he pulled out of the parking lot, and his jaw nearly dropped. "Damn, your... eyes." He growled as his changed to match mine. "Fuck, we aren't even going to make it home."

My heart pounded against my chest. "You told me to feel it," I mumbled.

"I meant it." He squeezed my thigh.

"You keep telling me I respond strongly to you. You should've known."

He pulled at the collar of his shirt and unbuttoned the top button. "It's hot as fuck in here."

I giggled at the sweat forming on his brow. "Struggling to resist that pull for each right about now, huh? Are you wishing you didn't take me in?"

"I'm wishing I had taken you into my bed instead of out to dinner."

"We would have missed out on dessert," he teased.

"I could've been dessert."

His eyes flashed up to mine as he snarled at me and his hand gripped my thigh a little tighter. "There are ten miles left until we get home. You can be my second dessert."

I reached across the center console, but his hand left my thigh and grabbed my wrist.

"Not until we get home," he muttered.

The last time I had reached for him like that, he gave an entirely different response. "You believe me. You didn't say 'not tonight' you said 'not until we get home.' You believe I'm sure now. Why? What changed?"

He placed my hand in my lap, then wound his fingers through mine."Does it matter?"

"It's because I chose you, isn't it? Because I wanted a future with you more than I wanted to know my own past."