Entwine by Rebecca Berto

night.”
    They got to his car, and eaten up by anxiety, she decided she’d at least get him to open up about himself again. She needed details. For the first time that night, she wondered if maybe he’d let her go without asking for her number.
    “So, you never told me your age.”
    “Are you looking for an excuse to run?”
    “No!” Sarah laughed. “You’re underestimating how attracted to you I am.”
    Yes, she said that.
    “Most people are surprised when they hear it,” was his reply.
    “Great, will you allow me that honour?”
    He shook his head, but she could see he was laughing at her interest. He started the car, and reversed out, turning the wheel with one hand and the other half hanging out of the window. He turned back to her with a serious face on. “Thirty-four.”
    “Ah, okay.”
    She didn’t want to say anything else. Should she be turned off? She already knew he was all man, no boy. Someone blind would know that, just by being in his presence. She had to give herself a minute to calm down. For some reason, the thought turned her on. She wanted a man who knew what he was doing. Malik, with all the years of acquired experience to become who he was now, made her yearn for him. Just thinking about it conjured images in her mind.
    “Too old, huh?”
    “Nope, I’m just thinking.”
    “About …”
    “How I should think that maybe you’re too old for me.”
    Stopped at a line at the exit to the car park, Malik turned to her. His eyes were lit up with desire. Since she couldn’t jump on top of him right then, she held out her hand and he took it—and the whole way home she was too scared to say anything else.
    For many minutes he held her hand, and didn’t let go. He’d hold the wheel with his knees and change gears with his free hand when he had to. Around corners, he used that trick again where he only used one hand to turn. Sarah was embarrassed that her panties were a bit damp after checking out every part of him.
    When she directed him to her house, she told him to park on the side of the road. Malik got out and opened the door for her, and she had a stupid big grin on her face that she couldn’t wipe, even after he’d pecked a kiss on her mouth awkwardly.
    “It’s actually a few houses down,” Sarah admitted, looking away, flushed. Did he think she was silly, or did he get why she’d not want for them to be seen saying goodbye in front of her house?
    “Mm,” Malik moaned. He looked into her eyes and asked, “Can I have your number?”
    It happened. She actually had a chance of having some sort of relationship with him. As she typed out the digits, she was glad how things had turned out. No sex, no heavy making out. She’d done a good job at interesting him without giving up everything.
    They exchanged numbers, and as Sarah was digging her phone back in her bag, he surprised her by grabbing her waist and pushing her up onto his car bonnet. She sucked in a breath and looked from his open lips down his shirt buttons that led to his pants. It was then she had to close her eyes.
    Soft, smooth. She felt his lips on her neck. Eyes still shut, she tilted her head up, allowing him better access, and opened her legs wide, so he could stand up against her and his car. Hands on her waist, he leaned far in so his body was flush against hers and the car, and she wrapped her heels around his calves.
    He started trailing kisses down her neck and chest, so she leant back. He was undoing her in every way, even if he didn’t know it. By the time he’d placed his last kiss, he was only an inch away from sucking her nipple, and her lack of strength had left her lain back over the bonnet.
    Malik pulled her up with his hands around the back of her ribs, and she clung to the last hope she could, purposely bending in to his hard erection, which she felt longer than before, as he slid her down his body to the grass nature strip.
    “Need … need to. To go,” he moaned, his lips biting at her neck.