The Taming of the Bastard by Lindy Dale

barely audible as he moved
his lips back to mine.
    Yes, I did want
to. And that was what scared me the most. I couldn’t think, my mind
was blurred by desire. His mouth was on my throat, his fingers
tangled through my hair and slid to cup my face.
    “Maybe I do,
maybe I don’t.” Yhis was a dangerous game, but one I found I
couldn’t resist.
    “You have to
make a decision, Mill’. Now.” His voice was earnest. He kissed me
again. Hard and demanding, then long and slow.
    “Why?” I
gasped, my mouth barely able to form words.
    “Because if we
don’t leave in thirty seconds I’m going to have to fuck to you on
the back seat of the car and I think we’re both a bit too old for
that.”
    Nobody, and I
mean nobody, had ever made anything so dirty sound so
appealing.
    *****
     
    On the open
road of the freeway, Sam drove like he was a contestant at the
Australian Grand Prix. The moment between us was gone. He was back
to his old self. I wasn’t game enough to ask if he always drove
like that, or if he was in a hurry to get me to his place fast.
Neither explanation would have appeased my nerves. Worried to the
point of fainting, I gripped the seat with my free hand, wishing
we’d caught a taxi, as any trace of the lust that had consumed me
earlier disappeared into the leather of the seat.
    “You alright?”
Sam yelled through the wind, as we zoomed towards his house,
dodging the traffic. He’d seen my whitened lips and was trying to
show concern. It was sweet but it didn’t help.
    “Fine,” I
grimaced. It must have set off his alarm bells. Thrice in one date
was not a good sign.
    “Want me to
slow down?”
    “Please.”
    Sam swerved in
beside a red BMW and I clutched the seat tighter, hoping they
weren’t going to drag race each other. He looked over to the driver
of the other car and nodded, acknowledging their mutual good taste
in wheels. Then he turned back. “Sorry. It’s not me, it’s the car,
makes you feel like you’re going faster than you are, being so
close to the ground.”
    “I thought it
was because you were auditioning to join the Australian Formula One
team,” I said, peeking at the speedometer. We were only doing the
100kph limit.
    He was telling
the truth. Again.
    After what
seemed like the shortest drive in history, I stood in the middle of
the living room of Sam’s flat. It wasn’t anything like I’d imagined
it would be. It was small and white and well… minimalist was being
kind. There wasn’t a stick of furniture in sight except for a sofa
and a massive plasma TV. Instantly, my heart melted and I felt
sorry for him. I forgot all about the hair-raising ride and the
myriads of women who’d survived it before me. All I saw was a man
who had nothing to sit on but was too proud to say so. Sam had been
in Perth for ten months, give or take and all he could afford was a
TV.
    Sam shut the
door and turned on a lamp. He walked towards to me. He took my hand
in his and touched his lips to the tips of my fingers. He hooked
his arms around my waist and looked into my eyes. His face was so
close I could feel the breath against my cheek and I thought I was
going to explode because his scent was seeping into my head,
invading my bones. The lack of furniture was no longer important.
Nothing existed in that moment except him and me. We were closer
than the air surrounding us.
    “Has anyone
ever told you, you’ve the most amazing eyes, Mill’?” he asked, as
he brushed a stray lock of hair from my face and tucked it behind
my ear. His green eyes were dazzling in their brilliance. They
surely out shone mine.
    “No,” I
replied, trying to ignore the finger tracing along my spine and in
and out of the curve of my lower back. No one had ever told me that
because it was cheesy and I would have laughed them out of the
room. But it didn’t sound cheesy when it came from Sam’s lips. It
sounded heartfelt and sincere and that was the most worrying thing
of all. I didn’t want to fall for it. My