A Moonlight Valentine's Chapter 6 - Shannon

What romance book pages did I fall into? A romantic candlelight dinner at an exclusive French restaurant, complete with a comedic moment between the leads and now this. I’ve been so accustomed to being treated terribly that I don’t believe it when a man treats me well. It’s too much for me to process and accept. I decided these were all worries for later. I didn’t need to sit here and doubt if I deserved a night like tonight, with a man like Byron, or if this was real. I let myself get lost in the music.

I felt Byron watching me throughout the hour-long concert. He caught me by surprise as we stood, and instead of leading me out, he took my hand and pulled me close as if we were going to dance or he was going to kiss me. I haven’t danced since my wedding unless you count with my kids. A small part of me would find kissing him, a vampire, in a candlelit church was somehow sinful.

As the quartet started playing again, Byron took the lead, and we danced in the church aisle. I gasped softly and did my best to follow his lead, blushing as I felt ridiculous. I danced in a church with a vampire during a private candlelight string quartet concert. I’m embarrassed but so happy. Byron makes me happy. In the three years we’d known each other, every text or email I got from him made me smile, even if it was just to point out that rogue and rouge were very different words.

“Should this be the last thing I see? I want you to know it’s enough for me. ’Cause all that you are is all that I’ll ever need.” His breath against my ear sent a shiver through my body and straight to my clit.

It didn’t matter that he was whispering lyrics from Tenerife Sea by Ed Sheeran or reading the ingredients of a cereal box. It would have the same effect. His voice just had that effect on me. This reaction to the man’s voice was something I wrote about, not experience. As the music softly ended, so did our dance, but Byron didn’t let me. Instead, his hand slid up my back to hold the back of my neck just as his lips brushed mine.

Kissing Byron was NOTHING like kissing my ex. Byron’s kiss, his touch wasn’t possessive or controlling. His kiss was slow, gentle, and passionate. It was almost exactly how I described Duke Byron and Lady Grace’s first kiss. I sighed softly into the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting myself give in the moment.

Kissing Byron felt like second nature. It felt right. Again, I’ve written about this emotion, yet I have never felt it. I suppose that makes me a damn good writer if I can write about things I’ve never felt. Everything faded. I forgot we were in a church and that the string quartet and the setup crew may be watching us. It didn’t matter. I didn’t care. Let them see. He more than earned this kiss with this magical night.

“We should go.” Byron sighed, his voice husky as he pulled back from the kiss.

It took me a moment to return to reality. If this was reality. I blushed and glanced over my shoulder to the stage. Thankfully, the quartet was gone. Only the instruments remained. I would have died of embarrassment if they were still watching us. Watching a concert is not the same as strangers watching a couple kissing.

Couple!? Did I refer to Bryon and I as a couple? Are we a couple? Do I want us to be? I don’t even know.

“Okay.” I agreed, nodding softly, and let Byron guide me out of the church. “So… home?” I arched my brow, assuming our night was over after dinner and the concert.

“I still have…” Byron glanced at his watch. “Two more hours before you turn into a pumpkin. And unless you want to go home, I will relish every second I get of you alone.”

I chuckled and slipped into the car. “Is there anything else to do? I don’t exactly stay up late. Bedtime in my house is at the latest ten o’clock.”

“I can think of plenty of things to do that could take two hours. All depends on what you desire.” Byron’s smile offered promises of passion I’d never experienced.

Part of me wanted to give in. To ask him to take me somewhere, anywhere, private. I wanted him to show me a night of passion I could only write about. But of course, that wet blanket of anxiety, self-doubt, and fear after years of being mistreated reared its ugly head, calling me a whore if I’d dare to sleep with a man so soon after my divorce and on the first official date.

“Shannon, I can hear your heart beating wildly. I can practically hear the wheels working overtime in your beautiful mind.” Bryon smiled, stroking his finger gently down my cheek. “I’ll never ask or push you to do anything you aren’t ready for. If you are getting this anxious at the implication of an intimate encounter…”

I silenced him with a kiss, feeling brave as I told my insecurities to fuck off. He was frozen for a moment, only a moment before he started kissing me back. I didn’t care that the driver was waiting for some direction. All I cared about was Byron’s lips against mine.

“I want you, Byron,” I confessed.

“Are you sure?” Byron asked.

“Absolutely.” I nodded.

“The condo,” Byron instructed the driver as we settled back into the seat.

It was a short drive to a striking and modern building on the river. I’d never been to Byron’s place. I’ve been to the old mall the clan lives in, but I assume this condo is his personal space when he wants privacy from the clan. I didn’t ask questions. I was too nervous and eager to get to his condo. He held my hand as he guided me to the elevator. When the doors closed, I was pressed against the wall, and his lips were on mine.

I didn’t feel caged in or held there against my will. I felt cherished in his arms as our tongues danced and his hands roamed freely over my dress. That burning desire between my legs only grew more intense as we made out till the ding of the elevator made us pull apart, gasping for breath. My legs felt weak as I followed him into the hall and his condo. I didn’t take the time to look around. I didn’t have the chance.

Like the elevator, he kissed me again once the door was closed. Unlike the elevator, it was more intense as he gripped my thighs and picked me up. I gasped and tightened my arms around his neck as my legs wrapped around him on their own. So, this is what it feels like to be one of the heroines from my books. I moaned into the kiss as his hands slipped under my dress to grope my ass through my underwear.

Oh, how I wish I could say I was wearing some sexy underwear, but I don’t own any. I should or could die of embarrassment that I was wearing cotton full-coverage panties. Thankfully, he said nothing about my underwear as he carried me expertly through his condo to his bedroom. We left a trail of clothes in our wake. I didn’t feel self-conscious as he laid me on the bed. I blame the endorphins and the misconception that he couldn’t see me clearly in the dark.

“You are absolutely perfect.” He whispered more than once while he explored my body with his hands, lips, and tongue.

For the next hour or so, it was like a sexual game of never have I ever. Never have I ever felt so desired. Never have I ever felt so comfortable in my skin. Never have I ever felt so cherished. Never have I ever had someone go down on me. Never have I ever orgasmed. You heard me. I’m thirty with five kids and never experienced an orgasm. Never have I ever orgasmed THREE times! Byron has officially ruined me. There was no going back to bland and selfish sex.

True to his word, Byron returned me to my doorstep exactly at midnight. My dress was wrinkled, my makeup was smudged, and my hair was a wild mess from the triple orgasm that ended our date. When Byron kissed me goodnight and slipped me a Valentine’s Day card as we parted. Evie chuckled when she saw me but said nothing as I walked past her, opening the card.

I gasped when I saw what was inside the simple card—a reservation card to one of Portland’s best spas. My phone buzzed in my pocket with a text from Byron.

Byron: Evie will watch the kids while my driver will take you to the spa to enjoy a full day of pampering. I’ll be waiting for you after sunset. XOXO

This man was going to ruin me in all the best ways. And I look forward to living a life where I’m cherished.