Episode 46: Soft Needs
Miles captured her lips in a deep kiss, thrusting his tongue into her mouth to get a taste of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, losing herself in him. Then she leaned her head back to break it, needing to catch her breath. He put his mouth to better use, kissing across her cheek, jawline, and neck.
Sugar squeezed her eyes shut and moaned aloud, gripping the nape of his neck.
“Miles,” she whispered breathlessly, to get his attention.
“I love it when you say my fuckin’ name,” he growled into the crook of her neck before biting a patch of sensitive flesh and drawing it into his mouth with a hard suck.
“Miles,” she said again, louder this time, just before he trailed his lips back up her neck and latched onto her earlobe. She moaned, her eyes rolling back. “We need to stop.”
They needed to stop before she let him fuck her against the entrance door of his restaurant.
“I’m operating on three hours of sleep,” she told him. “I need to go home.”
“Then take me with you,” Miles breathed against her ear.
“You know what would happen if I let you in,” Sugar replied, which earned her a husky chuckle.
“Plus, I have breakfast with my sisters. I need all the rest I can get,” she added. “Don’t be alarmed if your ears start burning. They’re going to interrogate me about you.”
Miles pulled back to look at her face. “You fit to drive yourself?”
“Sir, yes, sir,” Sugar replied with a tired smile.
“Good, ‘cause I’m gonna follow you in my car.”
Sugar’s eyes widened. “That’s not necessary.”
“I just wanna make sure you get home safe,” he said. “Let me do this.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. “Fine.”
Ten minutes later, she drove through quiet streets with Miles’s car tailing her. It was hard not to check her rearview mirror every few seconds, but she managed. She finally eased into her driveway and stepped out of her car, purse slung over her shoulder. She sashayed over to his vehicle parked at the curb. The passenger-side window rolled down, and she leaned in.
“Thank you for escorting me home.”
“My pleasure.”
“Well, now that I’m home safe and sound, you’re free to leave,” she said.
“I’ll leave once you’re inside the house,” Miles replied.
Sugar arched a brow. “Why?”
“’Cause you’ve got a glorious backside, and I want to watch it as you walk away,” he said with a wink.
Sugar snorted, caught between surprise and laughter. “You followed me all the way home just to be a voyeuristic pervert?”
“Half-truth,” he admitted, grinning, then glanced around the neighborhood like he was on the lookout.
She tilted her head, watching him, then a realization hit her. “You followed me home because of Lance, didn’t you?”
“Your ex-husband doesn’t strike me as the type to take an ass-whoopin’ gracefully,” Miles said. “And I’ll be damned if I let him pull some tactical sneak attack on you.”
A genuine smile tugged at her lips. Small, but there.
“Thank you, Miles.”
“No need to thank me,” he replied. “Now, get inside and get some rest, but walk real slow up the driveway so I have ample time to admire the view.”
Sugar rolled her eyes. “Take a picture. It lasts longer.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Is that an invitation?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “Could be. But maybe for another time.”
“Don’t tease me like that, Sugar.”
“Good night, Miles.”
“Night, darlin’.”
She turned and walked up the driveway extra slow, just as requested. She couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder now and then to catch him watching. When she reached the door, she unlocked it, stepped inside, and kicked off her high heels. She started down the hallway to undress and wind down for bed.
Before she even reached her bedroom, three solid knocks echoed from the front door. She arched a brow and retraced her steps to the foyer. Rising onto her toes, she checked the peephole.
It was Miles.
She opened the door. “Did I not walk slow enough for you? Are you filing a complaint?”
He shot her a charming smile. “While I’ll admit you could’ve walked a little slower, I’m here on a different matter.”
“And that is?”
Miles jiggled a set of keys in front of her. “You left these in my car when we were talkin’.”
“Uh-huh, that’s very interesting, because I would’ve needed those to get into my house. And yet, I have a similar set of keys that worked just fine,” Sugar replied, playing along. “Unless those aren’t my keys, and this is some trick to get me to invite you in.”
Miles looked down at the keys. “Well, I’ll be damned. These are my keys,” he said. “Apologies for the mix-up.”
“Apology accepted,” she said, fighting back a smile. “Anything else I can do for you, Mister Thibodeau?”
He cleared his throat, coughed a little.
“Well, I’m mighty thirsty,” Miles said scratchily. “And a nice place to sleep would be wonderful, too.”
She giggled, rolling her eyes.
“It’s very late. I live far away, and I’m tired,” he reasoned slyly. “Now, you wouldn’t forgive yourself if I fell asleep behind the wheel and wrapped my car around a tree, now would you?”
“I suppose,” she replied.
She widened the door and stepped aside.
“Thank you for your kindness and generosity,” Miles said as he sauntered into the dimly lit house. She shut and locked the door behind him.
“I’ll get you something to drink for that dry throat,” she said, starting toward the kitchen.
But Miles caught her by the forearm and gently tugged her back against his chest.
“That’s quite alright,” he murmured, his voice suddenly normal again. “I guess I wasn’t as thirsty as I thought.”
She laughed softly.
His hands moved to her hips and slid up her sides, fingers finding the side zipper of her sheath dress.
“You need any help undressin’ and gettin’ ready for bed?” he asked.
He didn’t wait for her answer. He unzipped her.
“Miles, I really need some sleep,” she whispered.
“Intimacy doesn’t only mean sex, darlin’,” he said. “I just wanna fall asleep and wake up to you. But first, I gotta get you outta this dress.”
Miles then undressed her right there in the foyer, then scooped her up like a bride and carried her to bed. He laid her down gently, undressed himself down to his underwear, and climbed in beside her. He rested on his back, and Sugar curled into him, her cheek on his chest, her ear near his heart.
With her eyelids fluttering shut, she drifted off to the sound of his heartbeat while her own heart wrestled with the truth:
It was going to belong to him.
Sooner than later.
Damn. She was in trouble.
