Temporary Bliss (Bliss #1)(27)
Author: B.J. Harvey

“Promises, promises,” I murmur as he buries his face in my neck, placing soft kisses along my collarbone. Goddammit, if only there was time for a pre-gamer. Then I’d definitely feel more relaxed about where we’re going.

“There’s a beer in the fridge if you want it,” I say, leaning away from him.

“Thanks. How was your day?”

I smile. “It was good. Did the cleaning and the laundry. Even managed to have a nap to recover from being kept up so late last night.”

“I don’t remember you objecting, Mac. In fact, I’m sure there was some begging involved,” he adds with a smirk.

“Nope, not me,” I respond with a grin. “You sure we have to go to this thing tonight? Wouldn’t you rather stay home and stay in me?” I turn around so that I’m facing him.

He stops his fridge mission and turns around. “Stay in you?” he asks with a quirked brow.

“Well, yeah.” I feel my cheeks heat up, realizing I didn’t quite think this plan through.

“I can stay in you all night, and most of tomorrow morning, but tonight we’re going to Noah’s BBQ. He’s okay with it, we’re okay with it, it’s all good,” he states calmly before resuming his beer seeking mission and closing the fridge behind him.

Popping the cap and taking a long first swig, I marvel at the way his adam’s apple bobs up and down with every swallow. What I wouldn’t give to trace my tongue down his neck…

“Mac, stop looking at me like I’m a piece of meat, and you’re a starving animal. I’m sure even you can hold out for a few hours to socialize with friends and eat dinner.”

“I suppose,” I say with a pout. I try hard, but I fail to hold back a cheeky grin.

“Good. Now, I know we’re early, but we should head out soon. Don’t want to be late to our coming out party, now do we?”

Coming out what?

I choke on my wine. “Coming out party?”

“Well, yeah. Most of our friends will be there with their wives and girlfriends. This will be the first time in a long time that I’ve taken someone,” he says nonchalantly, likes it’s an everyday f**king occurrence. I try to appear unaffected on the outside, but inside I’m freaking out.

A f**king coming out party? For Daniel and I? Even though we’re not not dating and aren’t sleeping with other people?

Fuck me dead!

We may be monogamous, but that’s all it is. We spend a lot of time together, we sleep together, and I only agreed to this BBQ outing because I saw the unease on Daniel’s face when he first suggested it and I hated to disappoint him. That look tugs on heart strings I thought I’d severed long ago.

“Right, okay,” I say determinedly, downing the last of my wine and taking my glass back to the kitchen. “I’m ready to get this over with if you are.”

Daniel is frowning. He rubs his face with his spare hand, finishing his beer before stepping towards me. He wraps one hand around my waist and pulls me in flush against him, cupping my cheek with the other and pulling my lips close to his.

“Mac, don’t over think this. It’s just a BBQ with some friends of mine. Nothing more.” He kisses me slowly but surely, taking his time to make sure he clears my head of anything except the way he’s consuming me. He eventually eases back until our lips are barely touching. “But thank you for coming with me. It means a lot.”

“You can make it up to me later. Maybe we can break another record,” I say, trying to break the sudden serious tone of this conversation.

“Well, I’ve always been told that I’m an overachiever.”

And with that, Delicious Daniel is back to his best. He takes my hand in his, entwining our fingers in that way that makes my heart sigh and my body melt, and walks me to the door to lead me out to his waiting car.

Twenty minutes later, we’re parking outside a nice unassuming two story house in the suburbs amongst a number of other cars, indicating that this is more than just a ‘small’ gathering of friends. I look over at Daniel who suddenly looks nervous. He runs his hand through his dark hair before turning towards me.

“I like that you’re here with me, Mac. Thank you for doing this.”

He’s unusually tense, like he’s afraid of something…afraid of my reaction to this. I hate knowing that I’ve done this to him.

I lean over and rest my hand on his jaw, feeling the slight furriness of his stubble. A shudder rushes through me at the thought of other places where that stubble feels just as good. “I’m here to be with you. Let’s go meet your friends and have some fun,” I say, gently brushing my lips against his, trying to reassure him.

He moves into the kiss, wrapping his hand possessively around my neck and sliding his tongue against mine. I whimper into his mouth, spurring him on as his hunger takes over. He nips my bottom lip before tracing his tongue along it, soothing the gentle sting. My other hand rests on his chest, right over his heart which is thudding rapidly under my touch.

This is too much for me. My head is fuzzy as our tongues continue their tangled embrace, our bodies acting like magnets, unable to get close enough. I tear my lips away from him, lowering my head to his shoulder as I try to catch my breath, and regain my senses.

“Tell me you feel this, gorgeous? Tell me I’m not dreaming this,” he rasps against my temple.

“I’m feeling it, and it’s scaring the shit out of me,” I whisper.

I feel rather than hear his sigh of relief, but the tension seeping out of his entire body as the words leave my mouth is unmistakable.

We sit like that for a few minutes, not moving. A blaring horn snaps us out of it, and we pull apart. I look up at Daniel’s beautiful face, relishing in the sly grin on his face.

“What?” I ask with a smile.

“Nothing. You’re just even more beautiful with messed up hair and swollen lips.” Then, he has the audacity to smirk at me.

“Shit,” I mutter before pulling down the overhead mirror and trying to repair the damage. “Lucky I bought emergency supplies then, isn’t it?” I wink at him as I open my purse and proceed to touch up my lip gloss and fix up my hair. “There, just like new.”

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Daniel says opening his door and circling the car before opening mine. He holds his hand out to me and entwines our fingers together as he helps me out, closing the door behind me and walking towards the party…and Noah.