Casing ??

Chapter 35

"Oh." I nodded. I hadn't heard of it, but it sounded even more normal. Ordinary.

Maybe I'd made a mistake when choosing James. My life could've been very different if the man I'd end up with wasn't a Strac. Or an Orlov. Or a Wrecker. Whatever that meant. I wanted to choke my thoughts dead, because I hadn't ever been happier than I was with James.

I hadn't ever had so many mind blowing orgasms either. My own hands and toys couldn't get me remotely close to what James did with his mouth, his large, skilled hands and his cock. So thinking I'd be better off with someone outside of the family was seriously wrong. No one outside would be better equipped to help me should something happen—like that little trip to Durfair.

My thoughts were out of control. I had no idea why I was suddenly doubting the best thing that had ever happened to me, just because Ava had a loving relationship with a decent man—a decent man who didn't smell like gunpowder, or would come home to her, kiss her and she'd have to wash his shirts and get the blood out—

"You saved one!" James pulled me out of that miserable train of thoughts, and I forced a smile. It wasn't hard, because he sat down next to me, put his hand around my neck and pulled me in for a deep kiss.

My doubts were eradicated. James was it, just like he'd said all along. He was mine, and I was his, and there was nothing that could ever change the way I looked at him, or him at me. Especially not when his kisses made my stomach turn over in glee, and my whole body was lit on fire—even out in public.

"It was hard," I told him, sending him a strict look as he pulled back.

He raised a brow. "I know more things that are—"

"This is Gage," I interrupted, clearing my throat before he could reference his cock in front of my friends. I dared to think Gage was a friend too. "He's Ava's boyfriend."

James grinned wildly at me, kissing my heated cheek quickly, before he leaned across the table to shake hands with Gage. "James," he introduced himself, "Elina's future husband."

"Oh, you're engaged?" Gage lifted his eyebrows, and looked to where my hands rested on the table.

"Not yet," James said, "but I've asked a handful of times already."

Gage smiled. "And you're still together, even if she said no?"

"Yeah, it's no big deal." James pulled me closer, letting me sit between his legs where he sat with one leg on either side of the bench-seat. He picked up my last taco and said, "She'll say yes soon enough."

I just rolled my eyes as he winked at me, and took a bite of the food. Gage's smile widened as he looked at Ava, letting his gaze drop down to her hands as if he was considering asking her something too. The difference would be that Ava would jump up and down with joy and say yes, while I'd laugh it off if he asked again.

The question had lost all meaning between James and I. Or maybe I was just being stupid. It wouldn't be the first time, and as I watched my man's chiseled jaw move as he ate and kept talking to Gage and Ava, I wondered why I didn't just say yes the first time he asked. It wasn't rocket science to figure out that he'd been right.

I sighed, leaning against James' chest as I heard it rumble with laughter. His arm went around my waist, holding me close, as I shared a very happy smile with Ava.

After a few more minutes of talking, James and Gage decided we would go see a movie together. I hadn't been to a movie theater my whole life, so the excitement that built up inside me was on another level. Especially when the one we went to looked old on the outside, and new on the inside.

"I vote for a boring movie, so we can flirt and make out on the back row," Gage said as we looked at the scheduled movies on the screens.

"I second that," James agreed, squeezing my hand.

I didn't object, and neither did the giggling girl in Gage's arms, so we ended up going to a movie that our men said would be boring as hell.

With popcorn and soda, we settled on the back row, where I was mesmerized by the view. Seeing a movie theater in real life was something completely different from seeing one in a movie, so I smiled widely and sat back to enjoy the experience.

Not that I saw much of the movie. James had his arm around me, and kept kissing my cheek and neck, until I turned to tell him to slow down, and he captured my lips with his instead.

I felt like a teenager. A rebellious teenager who wasn't allowed to date boys, so I snuck out to the movies where no one would see that I made out with the cutest boy in school. Only I was an adult, and my boyfriend was the cutest boy in the whole damn city.

I made him promise to take me to a movie we'd want to see some time, and he did, albeit a bit breathless and occupied with biting my lower lip. If we didn't go straight home after this, I'd probably end up jumping him in an alley or something, because his hungry kisses were making me into a living, throbbing puddle.

And I loved it.

I loved him.