Page 120 of Lured By Shadows

My body went still as embarrassment washed over me.

I realized how quickly I’d thrown my pride out the window for the promise of a nice meal. Images of dropping to my knees for Culver kept flooding my head, making me feel like I was already halfway there.

“Oh.” I gulped and tried to lean away from his hand, but he insistently kept me there.

“No need to fret.” He slid a strand of hair through his fingers. “I promise not to bite off more than I can chew.”

Was that his way of letting me know he wasn’t pushing for sex?

A strange disappointment still settled over me.

“If…” I paused, gathering myself. Yeah, he deserved a little something after all the back and forth. Honestly, I figured giving him a real reason to stick around might be worth it in the long run. “If you want, I can give you a blowjob while driving.”

My mouth dried at the idea.

I hadn’t been into giving head since my first awkward experience, but the thought of wrapping my lips around Culver and feeling him lose it sent a thrill through me. My hips shifted restlessly against the seat on their own.

His eyes bore into mine.

“You are such a mischievous little lamb,” he ground out. “It takes all of my restraint to hold back in your presence. You ask me to show you that I am here with my actions, and yet you tempt me time and time again.”

I bit my lip, trying to follow his line of thought.

“Culv.” I leaned forward, uncertainty threading through my tone. But I needed to push through this. I knew guys lied, but I felt like I could at least drag the truth out of Culver if I asked directly.

I inhaled, held my breath, and gave in. “If I fuck you, will you leave me?”

By now we had parked somewhere. I had no idea where, but I knew we’d stopped because his eyes locked onto mine and never left.

There was a quiet intensity in them.

Then he grabbed my chin and brought me closer. It wasn’t rough, but he made it clear I was in his space.

“Ira,” he exhaled, his voice quieter and steadier than before, “your mind does exhaust me at times, though I believe I understand your hesitation. You have been disappointed before by boys who were never worth the space they occupied in your life, and now their failures linger where they ought not, convincing you I might become another wound to carry.”

His thumb brushed slowly along my jaw.

“But I am not them. If I did not want you near me, I would never have allowed this at all. You would never have come close enough to matter. Yet here you are, because from the moment you entered my life, there was nothing ordinary left in it.” His eyes darkened. “You are not something I tolerate, Ira. You are everything that has meaning to me, everything that has made restraint feel impossible.”

My chest tightened painfully.

“And I can tell you with certainty,” he continued softly, “I have no intention of letting you go. If anything, it has always been your leaving that I feared.”

I inhaled shakily, feeling as though everything around me was spinning too fast.

One second I was drawing firm lines in my head about not doing anything reckless or impulsive, and the next I was laying my heart bare for him and getting his right back in return.

“Why would I run?” My brows knitted together as I tried to understand. “Because people say you’re a killer?”

He paused, giving me that familiar I’m not telling you look, and honestly, I should’ve expected it from him. Still, I had to try.

Instead of answering, he stepped out of the vehicle. When he opened my door, he held his hand out for me to take. I hesitated. Then I took it.

He lifted me up against him before I’d even properly looked around at our surroundings. Somehow it always went that way with him.

His fingers slid around my waist, electrifying me and making me ache for more.

“Because,” he responded breathily, “…I have a rather dull personality.”