Rough: Daunting Temptation (Coral Gables Series Book 1) (15 page)

"You've told me over and over again that you don't want anything steady," I remind him.

He comes close again and caresses my cheek with his fingertips. "With you, I would give it a shot," he whispers.

"Why do you feel different now?" I want to hear from him that he has fallen in love with me. I need to hear it from him.

The sigh he utters seems unnaturally loud. He pulls his hand free and puts both hands on my shoulders. Again, his gaze holds mine intently. "Honest?"

I nod.

"I don't know," he admits. "But you're probably right. It should remain a one-time thing."

Now I feel as if he had hit me. "I see," I force out and feel the tears sting my eyes. I lower my eyes so he doesn't see them. I don't want to cry in front of him. "I think I won't come to the party tonight, and I guess we should not see each other anymore," I whisper, my voice now choked.

"Oh, please, Camille. Why are you hurt now?" he wants to know.

"Because I just don't know what to think anymore. You slept with me, you want to give us a chance, and the next moment, you're fine with letting it go. Why don't you decide what you want, you jerk," I say hoarsely. With a sniffle, I punch his chest in helpless frustration. Then I leave the kitchen and go pack my bag.

"Camille, wait." He follows me and pulls me towards him.

"Let go of me, Delsin," I demand, but he doesn't listen.

"Do you really want to give us a chance? Do you want to risk it? That I could hurt you?" he suddenly yells at me.

I flinch, but I won't look at him. Instead, I nod. "Yes. Hell, yes! I take that risk," I cry.

He pulls me close, holds me and caresses my neck. "You're going to have to be very patient with me. I don't know if I can change my ways completely. I fear I'm going to screw it up eventually, but I need you to promise me that we'll remain friends, even if it doesn't work out," Delsin whispers in a mad rush.

"Okay. I promise," I sniffle.

He hugs me tighter. "So we're giving it a shot."

"Yes." I nod against his chest.

He suddenly lifts me up and carries me to the bed. He lays me down and slips in next to me. He studies me as I wipe the tears from my eyes. I still avoid meeting his eyes. "So you're my girlfriend now. That is ... frightening somehow."

I know I don't love him. I have a major crush on him, but that is not love yet. "Why?" I want to know.

"Because you are my first girlfriend in years, and I feel like I don't know at all what it means to be in a relationship," he admits.

I turn my head to finally look at him and slip into his arms. "I think we'll do fine if we just try."

"We will," he nods.

For a while we just lie there, without taking or kissing. We enjoy the silence together.

***

Delsin turns on his side and looks at me. "I can't believe you're really ready to commit to me."

"Why not?" I say, confused.

"I still think you deserve a better man, but I am glad that we are giving it a try, because ..." He stops himself.

"Because?"

Delsin shakes his head and kisses me tenderly. I cup his cheek as I return the kiss. When his hand slips underneath my t-shirt, I grab it and stop him. "What's wrong?" he asks when we break the kiss.

"Nothing. I ... just don't want to have sex every time we start kissing," I say softly.

He grins. "And here I thought there was a lot of sex involved in the early days of a relationship."

I smirk and kiss him, pushing my tongue into his mouth. He seems overwhelmed and opens up, then changes from defense to attack, and our tongues fight an erotic battle. Now my fingers slip underneath his sweaty running shirt and touch his steely abs. He starts nestling at my jeans, opens the button and zipper, and pulls them down. I break the intensive kiss and sit up to pull my top over my head. Delsin stares at me for a moment, before he proceeds to take of his own t-shirt. We throw our clothes aside and roll across the bed in our underwear.

When he has freed my body from bra and panties, he all but rips off his boxers. He quickly puts on a condom and enters me without further ado. As I feel the stretch inside, a loud moan escapes me. We don't stop kissing as he thrusts inside me, and pulls back again. Delsins thrusts are not hard, but still forceful. He moans into my mouth. My own moans are softer as I revel in the sensations with my eyes closed.

"God, I cannot last much longer, Caramel," he gasps.

I put my hands on his cheeks and stare into his eyes. The kiss I breathe against the corner of his mouth is soft, because now I concentrate on the pulsing sensation in my lap. I know I'm going to come any moment now, for it feels the same way as yesterday. My hands roam down his neck and shoulders, and then the fireworks explode before my eyes, and I cry out with joy.

Delsin reaches his climax a moment later. He growls as he comes inside me. After a few moments, he braces himself on his elbows and smiles down at me. "No sex, huh?" he grins.

I giggle. "That was the plan."

"And despicable me has thwarted your plan," he laughs.

"There are lots of worse things," I smile and kiss the tip of his nose.

"Yes, like my smell for example. I really ought to take a shower," he chuckles.

I laugh loudly. "And I ought to go home."

"No. I want to spend the day with you," Delsin says.

"Then let's drive to my place together and I'll change. It is far too warm for my jeans," I decide, feeling happy, and just a little amused.

"Okay." Delsin pulls away from me. "I'm going to take a quick shower."

"You do that."

He leans in close one last time, kisses me and then gets up.

***

I'm sitting in my car, looking into the rearview mirror. Delsin is following me in his silver sports car. I turn into the parking lot next to the building I live in, and he parks his car right next to mine.

When I want to get out, he is already at my door and opens it for me. I smile up at him. "You're fast."

"I know," he grins and holds out his hand.

I get out and we walk up to my apartment together, holding hands.

Thally crosses the hallway as we walk in, and her jaw drops. "I don't believe it!"

"What?" I say.

She points to our intertwined fingers. "Are you two ... a couple?"

Delsin utters a soft laugh. "Looks like it."

"Hailey!" she yells. "You're not going to believe this." Thally runs into Hailey's room.

"Let's go and hide in my room, come quickly," I whisper to him and drag him down the hallway.

I can hear Hailey cry out: "What?! Are you kidding me?"

Then we close the door to my room behind us. "What do you want to do today?"

"My original plan was to spend the day at the skate park, but we can do whatever you like. I want to spend time with you and don't care about anything else right now," Delsin admits.

"The skate park sounds good. Maybe you can teach me how to do it," I smile and open my closet.

"Then don't wear a skirt. It would only be blown by the wind, and we don’t want all of Miami to see your sweet ass."

I look at him. "But shorts are okay, aren't they?"

"If you fall and scrape your knees, I'm going to feel guilty," he says.

"Delsin, I have all those protectors from my inline skating days. I can put those on my knees and elbows, if that makes you feel better," I offer patiently. It's sweet of him to worry so much.

"That would make me feel better, yes," he nods.

"Alright then." I undress and put on my very short jeans and a white top. Then I reach up to the highest shelf and take down the backpack that contains the protectors. "Ready?"

"Yes. But we're taking my car. Yours is ... too slow," he decides.

"Hey, I drive a classic, not a penis enlargement," I counter with a grin. "Plus, mine is a convertible, and yours is not."

"You want us to take your car?"

"No. I just felt I needed to defend my baby," I giggle.

"With teeth and claws," he chuckles and comes close. "Today you're wearing sneakers. Skating on high heels is only for pros, or madwomen."

"Yes, sir." I raise my hand to my temple like a saluting soldier. Then I slip into my old sneakers: "Are those okay?"

"If they're comfortable and you feel you have a good grip in them, they're perfect."

"Fine. Ready now?" I ask.

"Sure."

After I have transferred my stuff from my handbag to the backpack, we leave my room again. Delsin carries the backpack. "You know what? We're going to get you your own board first."

"How much is a skateboard?" I want to know.

"That depends. The simplest ones cost only about twenty bucks, while the better ones start at a hundred. If you want to get one like mine, we're going to have to spend a bit more," he explains.

"I think that a cheap board will be perfectly okay. I don't think I will skate often enough to warrant spending a lot of money."

"We'll see, Caramel." When Delsin opens the passenger door for me, I get in and pull it shut.

He walks around the car, gets in and off we go. "We're going to the skate park at the beach. There'll be lots of people I know, and they're all cool."

"Okay. Then I hope I won't make a fool of myself," I murmur.

He places his hand on my thigh and pats it. "You're not going to make a fool of yourself, sweet Caramel. It'll be your fist time on a board, and we all remember what it was like when we started. Don't worry about it."

"I'll try."

***

Delsin is crazy! He chose a three hundred dollar board for me. His exact words were that this was the best I could get for so little money. It sounds like a lot of money to me, which is why I am still looking at the cheaper models. I don't want him to buy a board for me.

"What are you looking at? We've found the perfect board for you," he says when he comes to stand next to me.

I sigh. "I cannot afford that board," I admit, feeling dorky.

"And you're embarrassed to say so?" he asks, eyebrows raised.

I give a curt nod.

Delsin pulls me into an embrace. "It'll be my present, okay? And don't you dare feel embarrassed about that," he murmurs into my ear.

"Delsin, I ... I don't want you to give such an expensive present."

He takes my face into his hands. "But I want to give it to you, Caramel."

Have I mentioned how much his endearment is starting to get on my nerves? No? Well, now I have. I let out a frustrated breath. "I'm going to pay you back."

"No. It'll be my birthday present, even if that makes it a few weeks early," he insists. "Can you live with that?"

"Not really, but I feel I cannot change your mind anyway," I whisper.

He bends his head, kisses me on the lips and then breaks away to call over to the owner of the store: "Dustin, we're taking the board you showed us. Can you ready it so we can go try it out, please?"

"Ready in five minutes, Delsin."

We watch as Dustin fixes the axes and wheels on the bottom of the board. Finally, he hands Delsin the board and winks at me: "Have fun with that, Honey."

"Honey?" I ask Delsin, confused.

"That's what he calls all the girls who come into his store," Delsin says with a shake of his head.

I nod slowly and smile at Dustin. The board is already paid, so we leave the store and walk around the corner to the skate park Delsin had mentioned. It's rather busy, and most people are dressed like Delsin, but some are wearing those unsexy baggy pants.

"Alright, now we only have to go get my board and your protectors, then we can finally hit the park," Delsin grins and leads me back to his car.

"Right now I'm feeling stupid I agreed to try this," I murmur so he can't hear.

He fetches his board and my backpack from the trunk, hands me the protectors and says: "I think we had better leave the valuables in the car."

"Okay." I smile up at him as I wrap the protectors around my knees and elbows. Then we stroll over to the skate park, or rather, I stroll and Delsin glides along on his board next to me. "You could start trying right here," he suggests.

I put the board on the ground and look at him. He holds my hand as I step onto it and push myself forward with my other foot. "Like that?" I ask.

"You're a natural," he says, but keeps holding on to my hand. "Don't let go, okay?"

I nod at him and he speeds up, pulling me along at his side. It's not easy to maintain my balance when he increases the speed.

We enter the park, which is really busy.

"Rough!" someone shouts, and I flinch at the sound.

Delsin raises his head and searches the crowd. "Coop! Great to see you here," he calls.

A young man with close-cropped hair comes over. He looks nice. "Hi. Who's that girl?" he asks.