AFTER WE SHOWER, Leo gives me a t-shirt to wear—seeing as how he ripped mine into pieces—and then he takes me to bed. Except, instead of having sex, he stretches out on his back, positioning me along his side—precisely where he wants me. We both fall asleep, me curled up against him. When I wake, a little over an hour later, it’s at my stomach’s insistence. I check the time, noting that it’s almost seven thirty, and try to think back to the last time I ate.
“We need sustenance,” Leo mutters in response to my moaning belly.
I look up at him to find his eyes still closed. Folding my arms across the large span of his chest, I prop myself up against him, looking down at his gorgeous face as I reply, “I could cook.” No sooner are the words out of my mouth, and I remember the mess that was left in the kitchen. I wrinkle my nose, quick to amend my statement. “Or we could go out. Yeah. Going out would be better.”
He opens his eyes just enough to see me, and one look into those blue-green irises makes my stomach clench and my heart race. He stares at me like he never has before—like he’s allowing himself to see me for the first time. It makes me feel beautiful and desired. It almost makes me forget that I’m hungry, but then my stomach growls.
“You need clothes.”
“Yeah,” I murmur with a blush. “We’d have to stop by my apartment. I wouldn’t be but ten minutes.”
“Let’s go,” he says without argument.
From what I could tell, the room he picked to stay in is one of many fully furnished guest rooms available on the upper level of Britton’s huge house. It’s got a warm, cozy feel to it, and it’s not hard to see the appeal of his choice—though, something tells me all the rooms are eye-catching and comfortable. As I watch him climb out of the plush, massive bed, headed for his bag, I think about what it would be like to have him in my space. It’s certainly not anything like this. Also, considering the size of his paycheck, I’m sure what I have to offer isn’t nearly as grand as his living arrangements, but it’s home. It’s a part of me—a part of me that I want to share with him.
He steps into a pair of fitted, dark blue jeans and pulls a black t-shirt over his head before I work up the nerve to ask, “Were you planning on staying here all week? Or, well, I mean—I have work, and it’s closer to my apartment. But if you wanted to stay here, the bed’s probably bigger and…”
My words trail off into nothing as he walks away from me mid-sentence, disappearing into the bathroom. When he comes back out, he carries what looks like a black, leather toiletry bag. He drops it into his duffle, zips it closed, then lifts it from the ground and drapes the strap over his shoulder. Nodding toward the door, he states, “Thought you were hungry.”
Pursing my lips together to hide my smile, I scramble out of bed and hurry past him, headed for the main level. Once I’ve reached the kitchen, I don’t bother with my undergarments, stepping into my previously discarded shorts and shoes before shoving my panties and bra inside of my purse. By the time I’m ready to walk out the door, Leo has his boots on and his bag slung over his shoulder. Just as we start to make our exit, I bite my lip, looking back down the hallway, feeling guilty for leaving this way.
“Baby, let’s go,” he mutters impatiently.
“Okay, but—we—”
“Jill,” he grunts, taking hold of my chin. He twists my face so that I have nowhere to look but up at him, and then he presses a short, hard kiss against my lips. Pulling away slightly, he says, “We’re not done making up. Don’t worry about the house. Let me worry about feeding you. We eat, then we fuck. Then we fuck some more.”
I hum a small laugh when he presses another kiss to my lips. Speaking into his mouth, I mumble, “Lee, I think talking would be—”
“Yeah. That too. But we’re definitely not done fucking.”
Smiling against his lips, I take a step toward him, pressing myself against his chest as I reply, “Never. Never that.”
I PARK NEXT to her in front of her apartment building, looking around the area. The complex looks old but well kept. Stepping out of my vehicle, I hitch my bag over my shoulder, meeting her on the sidewalk where she waits for me. When she takes my hand, I glance down at our connection as I wrap my fingers around hers. I won’t deny that it feels good—not just the act itself, but her willingness to tether herself to me after all we’ve been through—after all that I’ve said and done.
When we cross over the threshold of her small space, I close the door behind me, immediately inspecting the lock situation. Seeing that she’s got no more than a generic deadbolt and handle lock, I make a mental note to install a chain lock before I return home. If I have to leave her in this old building, I sure as fuck am going to do all that I can to ensure that she’s as safe as I can make her.
“Leo?”
I turn my attention in the direction of her voice, and I see that she’s now across the room, at the mouth of the hallway. I take a quick look around, surveying the area, and I’m not at all surprised by what I find. Simple. Clean. Homey and feminine. Her place fits her to a T.
“Lee, are you coming?”
Finally making my way toward her, I mutter, “You’re getting another lock on your door before I leave.”
“Okay,” she says with a small laugh, leading me past the bathroom and into her bedroom.
It’s not much, but it’s more than I’ve got—though, that’s not hard. As she disappears into her walk-in closet, I drop my duffle on the floor at the foot of the bed, taking a seat on the corner. The room is heavy with her scent, and I breathe it in greedily. It’s a smell I wasn’t sure I’d ever get back. It’s a smell I’m sure I still don’t deserve—but one I’ll savor for as long as she’s mine.
When she steps out of the closet, my dick twitches at the sight of her. Her arms and shoulders are bare. The dress she’s got on clings to her small tits before falling loosely all the way to the floor. She walks directly to her dresser, where she picks up a brush and starts running it through her hair. Her head tilted to the side, she turns to me and asks, “I thought we’d go to Finnegan’s. It’s close, and they have a little of everything. Unless you’re hungry for something specific, and then I can recommend something else.”
I stare at her as she sweeps her hair from one shoulder to the other, tilting the opposite direction to brush the other side. The semi in my jeans reminds me that there’s only one thing that I crave. It’s been more than two months since I met this woman. We’ve spent less than a week with each other in all that time, and still, not one other pussy has appealed to me in the slightest. Just thinking about how I fucked this up—how I could have fucked it up for good, all because I’ve gotten so practiced at depriving myself of treasures as fine as her—it ignites my anger.
I don’t register that Jill has made her way toward me until I feel her hand smooth the hair at the back of my head down to my neck. When I shift my focus onto her face, I find her eyeing me with concern. She runs her hand along the back of my head again, and I reach for her waist, pulling her toward me. Following my lead, she bunches up her dress enough to straddle my lap, her knees bent on either side of my hips. Without a word, I grip the side of her neck and pull her toward me, until her mouth is pressed firmly against mine.
I kiss her fervently, needing to taste her—needing to calm down and set aside my anger. I fucked up, but now I’m here. I’m fucked up, but she’s still here. Wrapping both of my arms around her, I pull her flush against me, and she moans in response. Her breaths growing heavy, I know I need to stop before I’m so hard that there’s no turning back.
I pull away from her abruptly, and the look on her face about does me in. Eyes hooded in lust. Lips pink and swollen. It’s all I can do not to throw her on her back right now and take what I want.
Clenching my jaw, I breathe in deeply through my nose before I mutter, “Fuck—we’ve got to get out of here.”
Her lips curve into a smile before she giggles, the sound low and sexy. She then brings her mouth to my ear, her arms giving me a squeeze as she whispers, “I’m so glad you’re here, Lee. I’ve missed you.”
I grunt, thinking back over the day. Since the second I had her alone, she’s done nothing put surrender to me—wholly and completely—with forgiveness and little to no resistance. Nevertheless, I haven’t forgotten what I walked in on, either. I don’t know who that fucker was at the coffee shop, but he was familiar with her, and she didn’t look bothered by it. I know, given the way I treated her, I’m an asshole for bringing it up, so I don’t.
“Food,” I remind her, tapping her ass.
“Okay, caveman,” she says with a laugh, scooting out of my lap and onto her feet. “Let’s go eat.”