Inked Armour

20 TENLEY

“Ready to go?” Hayden whispered after gifts had been exchanged.

“Please,” I said, draining what was left of the tea I’d been drinking. Everything was an uncomplicated haze, now that the medication had set in. When we got home, I could lose myself in him. He dropped a lingering kiss on my shoulder, following with his teeth, the promise of intimacy an undeniable lure.

“Tenley and I are gonna roll out.”

“You’re not staying the night?” Cassie asked, clearly disappointed.

“TK’s by herself,” Hayden said, his hands on my waist as I stood. The room shifted with the movement, the medication making me feel weightless.

Hayden packed all the gifts into the box we’d brought. He helped me into my coat, and I used the bench as a seat to put on my shoes, since I was too unsteady to stand. I didn’t track the hugs and good-byes because my mind was elsewhere.

Hayden led me to the car and unlocked the door. “I’m sorry today wasn’t easier.” The words spiraled out in ghostly tendrils, disappearing in the cold air.

“You were with me. That made it better.” I grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him close.

His body came flush against mine as his lips parted, and we took up where we’d left off in the bathroom. His hands went to my hips, his erection insistent against my stomach. “I need to get you home.”

“I want to be home,” I said, feeling for the door handle.

Hayden helped me in and shut me inside the frigid car. He adjusted himself as he strode around the front, his intentions as clear as mine. The presents were unceremoniously tossed in the backseat.

“I should have warmed up the car first,” he said as he turned the engine over.

“It gets warm fast enough.” I pulled my legs up and rubbed them through the thin nylon.

He shifted the car into gear, gunning it as soon as he was on the street. Unable to keep my hands off him, I put my palm on his knee. He glanced down but didn’t say anything. I moved higher, up along his thigh. The muscles in his leg tensed.

Hayden sucked in a breath as I grazed his erection. “What are you doing?”

“Touching you.” I reached for his belt, sliding the leather through the buckle, unclasping it, and flicking the button open.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Can’t you multitask?”

“That depends on the tasks involved.”

I slipped my hand into his pants, fingering the warm steel ball at the head. Hayden gripped the steering wheel tightly.

He whispered a low “Fuck.” His eyes flicked to me. “We should have left earlier.”

The blinker came on and he made several turns, taking us deeper into a subdivision while I freed him from his pants and continued stroking.

“Hold on,” Hayden gritted through clenched teeth as he wrenched the wheel and the car turned sharply. He eased off the gas and pulled into a short driveway before hitting the brakes with a jolt. His labored breathing was drowned out by the loud whir of a garage door opening.

“Where are we?”

“This is the place I’m working on with Nate.”

“No one lives here?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

He pulled into the garage. Once the car was inside, the door closed.

Hayden cut the engine and the headlights died, submerging us in darkness. We groped blindly in the inky black, hands searching each other out, mouths connecting. His tongue pushed past my lips, and I hastily unfastened my seat belt so I could get closer. We were a mass of tangled limbs, pulling and pushing as we tried to bridge the space between us.

I was pressed against the passenger door, legs spread out, one hand on the dash, the other gripping the headrest. Hayden hovered over me, halfway across the center console, contorted in an uncomfortable position he didn’t seem to mind. He sought the edge of my dress, his hand snaking up my thigh, reaching the lace edge of my thigh highs.

Then he stopped. His hand slapped at the ceiling and the interior light came on. I blinked, adjusting to the sudden brightness.

“How the fuck did I miss these?”

“I put them on just before we left, while you were getting the presents together.”

“Sneaky, sexy woman.”

He ran his finger under the pink strap of the garter, all the way up to the satin between my legs. His knuckle grazed my clit. I arched into the touch and threw my head back, slamming it against the window.

“Shit. Are you okay?” His hand stayed between my legs, but he looked conflicted as he scanned my body and his eyes rose to mine. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this here. I don’t have my key to get in the house. I should take you home.”

The day had been too heavy and I wanted Hayden to erase it. “I don’t want to wait until we get home. I want you to fuck me now.”

After a moment’s hesitation he fumbled with the lever on my seat and I went crashing back. The box of presents behind me toppled over, spilling its contents onto the floor.

“Dammit.” He reached out to try to stop them.

“Leave it.” I gripped his chin in my hand, my need gaining urgency.

He sucked on my bottom lip and tried to straddle me, but he couldn’t fit his legs in the space between the seat and the dash. He grunted when he smacked his head on the ceiling.

“There’s not enough room,” he lamented, shoving the skirt of my dress up to my waist.

“Maybe we should use the hood.”

He froze. “Excuse me?”

“There’s plenty of space there.” I gestured toward the broad expanse of black metal, remembering the time he mentioned using the location, before I’d gone back to Arden Hills.

“I was kind of joking about that,” he rasped.

“No, you weren’t.”

He was out of the car before I could react and wrenched opened my door. The interior light cast his face in shadow, making his smile almost sinister as he leaned on the frame.

“Get out of the car, kitten.”