* * *

Present:

The minute Petal moves into my arms and presses her lips against mine, the chaos and worry of today fades away. Everything but the two of use cease to exist, and my world is filled with hope. Maybe it’s just one more sign that things might be better this time around. I’m holding onto that as I take back control and deepen the kiss. There’s a part of me that says I should pull back and think about this more, especially considering the conversation with Petal’s brothers and Jansen earlier. But holding back with Petal in my arms takes a stronger man than I will ever be.

“God, I’ve missed you today,” she admits, and I smile. I fucking smile.

“I’ve missed you too, Lo’.” I lean down to kiss the side of her neck and breathe in her scent. Her fingers bite into my back as she pushes her body into me. Was she always this responsive? I don’t think so.

“I don’t know what we’re doing here, Luka,” she whispers, her head going back to give me better access. I push her shirt up, and she helps me pull it over her head, revealing her breasts to me. They’re encased in a silky red bra, and the tits themselves are overfilling the straining cups of her bra. Christ.

“That’s easy, Lo’. We’re fucking,” I growl, but I’m not being truthful. It’s not fucking with Petal. With Petal, it’s always been making love.

I reach down and grab her thighs as she pulls my head down to her and kisses me again. Our breathing is out of control, but who needs air when you have a kiss so hot it brands your soul? The hunger between us burns like an out of control forest fire and is just as hot. Our time apart has done nothing to quench that; if anything, it’s made that part of our relationship stronger.

I pull her up my body, she hooks her legs around me, never letting go of my mouth. I force myself to pull back just enough to look around. There’s a sofa at the front of the store, but it’s not ideal because the store has too many damned windows. It might be dark outside, or on the verge of getting dark, but the streetlights still shine bright, and looking into the shop with the lights on is easy.

“Luka?” Petal questions, her voice pleading and confused all at the same time.

“Don’t you have somewhere private in here, Lo’?” I mutter out in my frustration. I’m torn between letting her go and fucking her against the wall. I’m not sure I care who sees us at this point.

“The room in the back, but it’s tiny,” she whispers while slowly undoing my pants. When her sweet little hand wraps around my cock, I know I’m done for. I sit down in one of the salon chairs, bringing Petal with me. The sides of the chair come up too high, and there’s very little room to move let alone get her knees where I need them so she can ride me.

“Fuck,” I growl in frustration. Petal’s hands still, and I look up at her in regret—only to find her smiling at me. “I didn’t really plan this through,” I admit to her, and the annoyance in my voice is thick. “You got time to come by the house?” I add, hoping against hope.

Her smile dims instantly, and I read the regret on her face at once.

“I can’t. I’ll have to get home to River. By the time we drive out to the house and then back here, I’d be really late getting back, and—”

“He needs you,” I finish for her, knowing it’s true and hating this whole situation even more. I should have my family under my roof. I should be able to make love to my woman anytime I want. Old anger is pushing at me, and I have to fight the urge to give in to it. Arguing with Petal is the last thing I want. I made her promise to take it day by day, and I need to do the same.

“Yeah, but…” she whispers, and she’s smiling again.

“But?” I ask, praying I’m reading the look on her face correctly.

She slides off my lap, stands up, then reaches her hand out to me. I stand up, curious as to what she has on her mind. She turns us so my back is to the front of the shop, and then slowly begins unbuttoning my uniform shirt.

“What do you think you’re doing, Lo’?” I ask, shrugging out of my shirt when she finishes. She ignores me for a moment, choosing instead to let her hand travel over my chest and down over my abdomen.

“I’ve always loved your body, Luka. Always. I have to admit though that there’s one part I’ve always been fascinated with,” she murmurs, her gaze following the path her hand makes.

I grab her hand and bring it down to my cock which is straining against my pants. “He’s always been fascinated with you, too,” I tell her. She laughs, and the sound is free, giving, and warm—everything I’d loved about Petal in the early days of our relationship before all of the lies, secrets, and families got in our way.

“Cute, but that’s not the part I meant,” she laughs.

“Honey—”

“It’s this little trail of hair you keep right here,” she whispers, going down to her knees in front of me.

“Lo’,” I warn her right before she flattens her tongue out against my navel and uses her tongue to follow alongside the small strip of hair. “Christ, honey,” I groan, my eyes closing. My hands go to her hair, needing that connection with my fingers as she tortures me.

“It does make me… happy, Luka,” she whispers, her tongue flicking into my navel. She begins working on my belt, unlatching it along with my pants. I take the belt from her, being careful with the gun and holster, and place them on the chair beside me. “And I can’t lie,” she whispers, pulling my pants down easily. “I do like the path it takes me on.”

She says those words in her soft voice just as her hand wraps around my cock again. I should stop her. Essentially, my ass is hanging out for anyone that passes the shop to see. Main Street isn’t really busy in our town at this time of night, but that doesn’t mean it’s deserted either.

“Lo’, I don’t think this is a good idea,” I warn her.

“I really like that you still go commando,” she says, her eyes glued to my dick as she strokes it tightly in her fist. Maybe she didn’t hear me. Hell, right now, I’m not sure I care.

“Lo’, honey, right now that means my ass is on display to anyone passing down the street.”

The word “street” comes out as a growl because Petal chooses that moment to drag her tongue up the side of my cock. She twirls her tongue on the head, gathering up my pre-cum which is covering not only the head, but running down the sides. Shit. I can’t help but watch as she gathers it on her tongue. I may come just like this.

“Do you want me to stop?” she asks before sliding that fucking mouth of hers down on my shaft and taking me all the way to the back of her throat. She comes off of me so slowly that I can literally feel each jerk of my cock against her tongue. She releases me with a loud pop of a sound and looks up at me, begging me to say no.

Her hair is mussed around her flushed face, her lips are wet and swollen from what we’ve done, and I can see a little of my pre-cum on her chin. Her breasts are bare to me, the nipples hardened and pointing up toward me. Every fucking fantasy I’ve ever had. That’s Petal.

“Finish me, Lo’,” I growl, and the joy that spreads over her face is my reward. I close my eyes and lose myself in my woman. I tangle my fingers deeper in her hair and fuck her mouth with a hunger and a need I’ve kept hidden for years.

When I shoot her mouth full of my cum—so fucking full that it leaks from her mouth and drips back down the shaft that she’s still eagerly sucking—it’s her name I cry out. As I watch my cum drip down onto her breasts, I vow that whatever I do, I will find a way to put my family back together.

I don’t care what I have to do; it’s happening. Our families can go to hell. The only ones that matter are me, Petal and River.

Which is ironic, since if I had been watching out the front window, I might have seen disaster approaching us way before it arrived. I was occupied, however—delightfully so—and I didn’t notice the person standing in front of the door taking in the show Petal and I were unknowingly providing. I didn’t see the anger on their face and I didn’t see them walk away.

Thankfully I saw none of that. I only saw the woman I love.