Dinner was amazing. The restaurant was a cozy Italian place, with red and white checkered table cloths, a candlelight atmosphere, and complimentary olives and bread. Free appetizers are always a win if you ask me.

The food was delicious enough to elicit a small moan from me after the first bite and I was instantly confronted with a warning yet lust-induced glaze from Eli. I only smirked at him and continued to dig into my food. The mood between Eli and I was carefree and light all night, he was right to talk before dinner about our fight. He can actually be a funny guy when he wants and I laughed quite a lot during our first 'real' date. He let out a few laughs as well and since they are rare with him I soaked those up like the first sunlight after a cold and dark winter. He told me a bit more about his childhood and his parents and when he mentioned that he would be sure they'd love me, I swear my heart stuttered a little. I kept my excitement at bay though, not wanting to freak him out.

The mood dampened for a minute when he asked me things about my parents and I told him that they never really seemed to care about me, that they think of me more as a burden than anything else. He looked at me with empathy and a little anger, too, probably toward my parents. I took his hand and assured him not to worry about it. I learned to deal with it and I turned it into something good, my incredible cooking skills. Luckily, my self-flattery got him to crack a smile and I quickly changed the topic.

Now we are on our way back home, Eli's truck racing down the street. Our hands entwined, just like on our way to the restaurant, resting on my lap. My thumb absentmindedly strokes the rough skin on his hands, calloused from work. I watch the trees go by on the side of the road for a while before I turn to my left to look at Eli. His muscles look less tense and his hand is relaxed on the steering wheel. My eyes roam his face, admiring his handsome features, my lips wanting to kiss them all over. Get a fucking grip, Romy.

"It's rude to stare, you know?" his tone one of amusement.

"I'm not staring, I'm merely admiring," I shrug with a smile.

"Hm," he grumbles and makes a noise in the back of his throat.

"The name I put you under in my phone suits you perfectly, you know?" I smugly let him know.

"Is that so?" he feigns disinterest.

"Yup," I pop the 'p'.

I wait but he doesn't say anything further.

"You don't want to know what it is?" I question.

He shrugs his shoulders in response.

"It starts with 'big'," I coax him and it works. His eyebrows raise for a second before he composes himself again.

"Nice try," he laughs. "You haven't seen it yet so I know that that's not what you're talking about."

I huff. "I've felt it, though," I mumble. My hand leaves his in order to cross my arms in front of my chest.

Eli laughs again and squeezes my thigh with his now free hand, moving it upward on my leg. The tips of his fingers disappearing under the hem of my skirt.

"Tell me, darling. What name did you give me?" he now inquires.

"I'm not sure if you still deserve to know," I snip and slap at his hand.

He doesn't seem to care as his hand crawls even higher, his fingers almost touching my white lace thong. I can feel the heat seeping from his skin into mine and my breathing hitches when he gives my thigh another, firmer squeeze.

"Pretty please?" he murmurs, his eyes not straying from the road.

"It's 'big ol' grump'," I mumble and he smirks.

"I think right now, that would be a more fitting name for you, no?" he teases.

"Ha ha, you're so funny," I deadpan. "I might just change it to 'big ol' meanie'."

"Aww," he cooes and lifts his hand from my thigh to my cheek, his fingers stroking the skin there. "Don't be mad, I'll make it up to you later, I promise."

"Oh yeah, how?" I ask with genuine curiosity.

"You'll see."

Back home, I go to sit with Tess who is lounging on the front porch while Eli goes to find Bennett. Apparently, he has something to discuss with him. Before he slips inside, he stops, grabs my neck, and pulls me in for a delicious and too short kiss.

"I want you in my room in an hour," he orders in a whisper and disappears inside. I don't even have to wait for Tess to start laughing at me to know that I am blushing like crazy.

"What the hell did he say?" she manages to ask between laughs.

"Nothing," I murmur, plopping down next to her on the porch swing.

"What?! No no no, don't be mean like that, you have to tell me," she demands.

"He just wants me to come to his room in an hour," I say, trying to stop the blushing.

"Oh shit, are you gonna sleep with him?" Tess nearly yells, the excitement clear on her face.

"Shhhhh, shut the hell up," I shush her. "Do you have to yell like that?"

"Okay, sorry," she mutters. "But are you?"

I hesitate. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm ready for it."

"That's alright, if you're not sure then you shouldn't do it. But that doesn't stop you from doing other stuff." She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

"We'll see."

"Prude." That comment earns her a slap. "I hate when you do that," she complains, rubbing her upper arm. "So, tell me about your date."

A smile instantly appears on my face. "It was perfect, Tess. He was a gentleman and we laughed a lot and talked a lot and the restaurant was so cozy. And the best part, they had complimentary olives," I gush.

"Ew," Tess cringes.

"You have no taste, you know that? Olives are the best thing that happened to this world," I defend the delicious treat.

"Uh, I am the best thing that happened to this world," she sasses and I just shake my head at her, chuckling.

"So you two talked it out then?" she continues her questioning.

"Yeah, we talked before going to dinner. It's all good now, we both apologized and understand why the other was acting like that. Thank you again, by the way, what you said earlier was really helpful," I smile at her.

"No problemo," she clicks her tongue and inspects her nails before getting more serious again. "I'm glad you figured it out, it would've been a shame otherwise. You are hot together."

"Speaking about being hot together, what about you and Simon?"

"I told him that I like him a lot and that I miss him," Tess confesses.

"Bitch," I yell. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I was going to, calm down."

"Okay, go on then," I urge her.

"Well, he told me that he can't stop thinking about me and that he will come by next weekend and stay for a while," she tells me and I can't help but match her smile. I'm happy for her. So I tell her that.

"I'm so happy for you, Tessy. That's great! See, sometimes you just have to say how you feel." I nudge her with my shoulder.

"I know. Oh! We can go on a double date," she suggests, her eyes wide and shining.

"I can certainly ask Eli, but I can't promise anything. I think double dates might not be his thing."

"Can't hurt to ask," she quips.

Teeth brushed, face washed, hair in a ponytail, and clad in some cotton shorts and a thin tank top, I slip out of the bathroom and make my way over to Eli's room. The nerves are starting to get the better of me and it also doesn't help that Tess insisted on letting me know what guys like in a blow job. A lot, apparently. 'And one cannot forget about the balls, never forget about the balls', she told me with a pointed finger and then started to laugh at my, with no doubt, very disturbed expression.

My inner voice tries to calm me down. You have slept in his room before, don't panic. And he said you don't have to do anything you're not ready for, you are safe with him, so calm down.

What if he's not safe with me, though? Damnit, there goes my sane inner voice, taken over by the insane horny inner voice.

Eli's door is halfway open and I lean in the doorway instead of walking into his room straight away. He's laying on the bed, dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, and he is reading the book I gave him. I have to bite my lip to stop the joyous laughter from slipping past my lips. I didn't think he would actually read it. His hair looks slightly disheveled making him look almost cute. Almost.

I watch him for another minute before I start feeling like a creep and make myself known by softly clearing my throat. He looks up at me and puts the book on the bedside table while he moves to the edge of the bed and sits up. I push away from the door frame and move towards Eli and the bed. His voice stops me after two steps.

"Close the door, darling."

"Oh, uh yes, of course, sorry," I mumble and walk back to close the door. "Do you like the book?" I ask as I turn back around, trying to shake the nervousness from my body. I only stop walking when I am standing about a foot away from Eli.

"Yeah, I'm not that deep into it yet but I like what I read so far," his deep voice answers my question.

"I'm glad." I smile at him.

"Come here," he beckons with his hand and I walk forward, his legs parting a little wider for me to step in between them. His hands go around my legs and grip my thighs from behind, pulling me even closer. My breathing becomes more shallow and I can feel the blood rushing to my face and neck. His nose finds the strip of skin between my tank top and shorts. He pushes my shirt up with his straight nose, exposing more of my skin. Then, he places a single kiss below my belly button before looking up at me through thick dark lashes.

"I'm sorry for being mean to you," he apologizes.

"You should be," I giggle, letting him know I'm not serious.

His hooded eyes blink a few times before he speaks again. "I'm going to make it up to you now, okay?" he asks, his voice a deep rumble.

"Mhm," I nod.

"What do you say if you don't like or want something I'm doing?" he inquires.

"Stop," I tell him.

"That's it," he nods before kissing my belly again.

His grip on my thighs tightens and he pulls my legs down on the bed next to his hips one by one, making me straddle him. His hands move to my lower back, pushing my flush against his taught body. A shaky breath escapes me and I feel the muscles ripple under his shirt where we touch, which is nearly everywhere. My hands settle on his broad shoulders and I meet his gaze. Lust swirls in his eyes and I am sure he can see the same in mine. One of his hands leaves my back and grabs the front of my neck to pull me in for a kiss. Our tongues are quick to explore and I pull back with a gasp as his hard bulge comes into contact with my throbbing core.

"Eli," I moan, throwing my head back and not knowing what else to say, not wanting to beg yet.

"I know, baby," he chuckles and in one swift movement I am thrown back on the bed, and the giant man hovers above my panting body.

He kisses his way down my neck, across my décolleté before his hands push up my shirt until my breasts are on full display. My nipples are hard from the cold air in his room and from my arousal. I get self-conscious for a short second before I compose myself. I actually like my body and even though my breasts are anything but big, he has held them before and hasn't complained so I shouldn't worry. And he gives me no reason to.

Eli continues his kissing, planting butterfly kisses all over my breasts before going lower and lower. When he reaches the waistband of my shorts, he lightly tucks them down to expose my hipbones. He gives a soft kiss to each one and looks up at me as he further tugs down my shorts. He's giving me a chance to stop him but I don't. I don't want him to stop.

"Lift up for me," he murmurs, talking about my butt. I do as he says.

Slowly, almost too slow, he pulls my shorts and panties down my legs, over my feet, and throws them into the dimness of his room. I am fully exposed to him now, the first time a man has seen me naked and the nerves rush back into my body. I can feel my hands starting to shake so I ball them into tight fists. It doesn't go unnoticed by Eli, who grabs my fingers and pries them apart again.

"Do you want to stop?" he asks.

I shake my head. As nervous as I am, stopping is the last thing I want to do right now. I am so turned on, I can feel the wetness between my legs spreading onto my inner thighs.

"Use your words, Romy," he urges.

"No, I don't want to stop," I tell him.

He grabs my left calf and lifts my leg up to his face. I am confused for a minute but that feeling is replaced by warmth and butterflies and lust as soon as his lips start caressing my leg from my ankle all the way to my inner thighs. The closer he gets to my center, the wetter I get. He starts using his teeth. They nibble and carefully bite into my soft flesh and I squeal at the sudden sensation, wriggling my hips.

"Shhh, darling. We don't want to wake the house," he chuckles.

"I don't care," I pant, fully knowing that after this, I would be mortified to know that someone heard me.

"Oh, really?" he questions, mischieve clear in his voice.

Before I can change my answer, he dives between my legs without a warning and licks my glistening core from top to bottom before taking my clit between his teeth and gently biting down. A shock of pleasure ripples through my body and an embarrassingly loud mix between a moan and a mewl spills from me. As soon as I register what just happened, I slap my hand over my mouth and stare at a smirking Eli with wide eyes.

"I thought you didn't care?" he muses and lowers his mouth right back down.

"Okay okay, wait. Please!" I beg, panting hard and snapping my knees shut.

Eli pulls his head back just in time, avoiding my knees. He quirks an eyebrow at me and pries my legs apart with his hands. To make sure it won't happen again, he grabs my upper thighs and holds them in place in a crushing grip. I'm sure I will see the evidence of that for a while after this.

"I wasn't done," he growls out like a starved man.

"I do care, though. I don't want to wake anyone," I rush out, panic lacing my voice.

"Alright, I will keep the surprises to a minimum but the amount of noise you make depends mainly on you, darlin'," he answers and wastes no time to continue his tongue's assault on my pussy.

He suckles, bites, licks, and kisses and it's driving me crazy. I can feel my orgasm approaching fast and even though I try to keep the noises inside, I can't stop every moan from coming out.

"Fuck, you're so wet, baby. I love how your pussy weeps for me," he groans in between licks and I didn't know it but hearing him talk so dirty made me even wetter. God, this man is gonna drive me crazy. His tongue picks up speed and he sucks my throbbing clit into his hot mouth.

"Oooh shit, Eli. Eli, Eli..." I chant his name, consumed by the lust and thoughts of him.

"Come for me, Romy," he orders and my body listens on command. I start shaking and squirming in his hold and a scream threatens to rip out of me. I quickly turn my head to the side and bite into the pillow to keep quiet. I grind my hips against his mouth and ride out my high, not wanting it to end so soon. A whimper leaves me when my teeth finally let go of the pillow and I suck in some much-needed air.

Eli turns his head to the right, kissing my inner thigh, then does the same on the left before he plants on kiss on my still pulsating vagina.

"Do you have any idea how good you taste?" he asks, coming up to my face.

I shake my head, my whole body flushed and bathed in post-orgasmic bliss.

"Let me show you," he grunts and crashes his lips on mine, his tongue still coated in my juices finding its way onto my own, making me taste myself.