Chapter Five

 

The next couple of days were the same routine as always except they were laced with intense longing and more than a healthy dose of distraction. Knowing that Kieran was somewhere around the station was a never-ending source of anticipation.

He’d show up from time to time. Usually to drop off a coffee or a snack and a quick check-in chat before he disappeared again to do goodness knew what with Jeremy.

They’d also shared the last meal of the day and a kiss that was growing longer each time before parting for the night.

Knowing he wasn’t going to be around much longer started to feel like a timer ticking down.

She felt as though she knew everything about him from their conversations. There was no topic too taboo to broach, and they flowed from one to the next as if they couldn’t help themselves from discussing everything that had happened in their lives.

They were so alike in many ways, and yet there were so many differences as well.

She learned he had a big, loving family with three older sisters who all had their own partners and children. He had Scottish roots, though all his travel and lack of time spent there had all but erased the accent, much to Lily’s dismay. Kieran told her he’d always seen himself settling down as well but had been too busy with work to find that special someone. Like her, he’d spent most of his adult life with his head down, making sure the people who counted on him weren’t disappointed. It didn’t help that he’d spent a large portion of his life traveling, but now he was finding it lonely and wanted to share the experience with someone before putting down roots.

She smiled just remembering how he’d held her hand tight when she’d told him about her own family. Not quite as wholesome as his, Lily had grown up an only child of a hyper critical homemaker mother and a physicist father who was more interested in his work than his wife and child. It was from him she’d gotten her fascination with breaking things down and analyzing them until she understood. And it was thanks to her mother that she’d developed a slight inferiority complex which drove her to focus on work and to spend most of her life in the lab rather than back home in Vancouver. At least here she could work in peace and not have to deal with her mother harping on about how she needed to settle down before the looks she did possess, and her mother had plenty to say on that subject, waned and she’d never find herself a husband.

She pushed the thought of her mother to the back of her mind. What she wanted to think about was the man who made her happy. The one she was starting to fall for.

“Hey, you ready to wrap things up?”

Speaking of… Lily peeked over her shoulder at Kieran, who hovered in the door.

“Just give me ten minutes.” Lily scribbled down her last notes of the day. In anticipation of his arrival, she’d already put away the specimens and tidied up.

She carefully put her notebooks away and joined him.

They walked the well-worn path to the cafeteria. “What’s on the menu tonight?”

“You’ll see.”

It wasn’t like Kieran to be secretive.

And that piqued her curiosity. Lily had considered multiple possibilities and summarily dismissed them all before he led them past the cafeteria. Knowing that he wouldn’t answer her question if she asked where they were going, Lily kept it to herself. There weren’t many places they could end up.

He steered her into the game room, where the windows had been covered with blankets to give it a cozy atmosphere. Another was spread on the floor, with the beanbags designating their seats while a candle sat at the middle along with his phone, which played soft music. The small pool of light was enough to illuminate two plates of what looked like grilled chicken breast, steamed vegetables, and two glasses of water.

In the dim lighting she could almost imagine them being at a five-star restaurant. Almost. She took his hand as he helped her into her beanbag.

“Fancy,” was the only comment she could come up with. It was so charming, the amount of work he had gone to for this meal. “How did you get all this?”

“I might have convinced Jeremy to let me into the freezer.”

Letting out a delighted giggle, Lily reached for her water. It was then that a thought dawned on her. All this effort? It could only mean one thing.

In that instant the euphoria fizzled and died.

Kieran was leaving.

He must have caught the expression on her face, because he reached over and took her hand. “I’m guessing you figured out that I have to leave tomorrow.” When Lily tried to reply, he shook his head. “You know I’d rather stay here, but I have to get back to the real world. Meeting and getting to know you has been incredible.”

“I’ve had a great time, too.” Tears welled in her eyes, making her feel ridiculous. He was a man she’d known less than a week, and yet he’d become such an important part of her day. “I wish it didn’t have to end.”

“It doesn’t. I can fly back. You can fly out when you have the time.”

That was just it. She didn’t have the time. Could she expect him to be doing all the leg work when he had his own life to contend with? His interest in her would die in no time.

“Think you can stop coming up with doomsday scenarios and enjoy this meal?”

And just like that the tension building inside her died. “How are you able to do that?”

He sat cross-legged on his bag and took a sip of his drink. “Do what?”

Sighing, she gazed at his handsome face. “Read my mind and calm me down all in one sentence.”

“I guess I just have a knack.”

Lily tried a mouthful of the chicken, but as well-prepared as it was, it tasted like ash.

She only looked up again when he tapped her chin with his finger. “Relax. We’ll figure something out.”

“Will we?” She dropped her fork onto the plate. “Because I’m pretty much stuck here in the middle of nowhere for the duration of my research, and you can’t exactly take off whenever you feel like it.”

“We have plenty of time to sort something out. Just know that, if you’re game, I intend to keep this going.”

As nice as that was to hear, Lily didn’t want to waste the last few hours they had together eating.

Not when they could be doing something else.

She stood up. Gripping his hand, she dragged him to his feet. “Come on.”

Kieran didn’t ask any questions. Instead he kept pace with her to her room. The instant the door closed, she pushed him against it and brought his head down to hers.

As the chemistry that had been simmering the past few days ignited and exploded, the kiss went from zero to a thousand in the space of a breath and nearly blew the top off her head with its intensity.

His arms wrapped around her and lifted her up until she had no choice but to wrap her legs around him to keep herself stabilized.

Lily wanted to melt into him but was torn between prolonging the foreplay or jumping him.

Kieran didn’t give her the chance to try to figure it out.

Easing her out of his arms, he slid her down his solid body and took a half step back. Kieran’s eyes were dark and questioning when he looked at her.

“Remember that I told you I was interested in the physiology of touch?” He gently took her glasses off and put them on her desk before tugging her ponytail loose.

He wanted to talk about that? Now?

Lily tried to calm her mind. “Yes.”

“I want very much to show you what it’s capable of.” He lifted his hand. “May I demonstrate?”

It took a full second to register the question.

At her nod, he skimmed her cheek with the slightest graze of his fingertips. Lily’s breath caught and her skin tingled where he’d touched as she tried to get her head around what he’d just said. And it wasn’t just because it was so unexpected. Contact with Kieran was scrambling her mind in a way she’d never experienced. She only knew that she wanted more.

It wasn’t just the sensation of his skin on hers. The fact that he had brains was the biggest turn on for her. She wanted to hear his thoughts on the topic.

Lily focused on his words and formulating her own. “What makes you so interested in t-touch?”

His voice was like a physical caress in itself. “What sense is more powerful?”

Lily’s trembling increased as he trailed his fingertips down her neck. Every part of her body seemed to leap in response. None at this moment, as far as she was concerned.

“A mother’s first message to her child is through touch. Likewise, a baby’s first exploration of their world.” He traced the neck of her t-shirt to glide up the other side of her neck. “Lovers communicating wants and needs without words…”

The flat of the wall met her back before she even realized she had been moving. Kieran steadied her by closing two big hands on her hips.

“Nothing is more universal. It’s fascinating, isn’t it?”

Lily swallowed as she nodded. Listening to him speak so knowledgeably about the subject in that deep, soothing voice of his was her new aphrodisiac.

Though there was nothing but his finger on her, her breasts ached to be fondled by his big hands. Her skin tingled in anticipation of his exploration. Liquid heat pooled between her thighs. And all from just the graze of his finger and the sound of his voice.

More.

“I find it so remarkable how mechanoreceptors and thermoreceptors work so wonderfully in tandem to send electrical impulses to the brain.”

Needing to hear him speak more, she tilted her head to look at him. “Remind me what those are again?”

“I would have thought you’d be able to deduce what they are from their names,” Kieran teased as he gently pushed her t-shirt out of the way. “You felt that because mechanoreceptors told your brain that there was pressure on your skin.”

The chill of the air reached the heated skin of her midriff, clashing with the heat coursing through her body. Her breath caught when he started to lower himself to his knees.

His cool palm brushed over the sensitive skin of her stomach, leaving a wave of desire and goose bumps in its wake. Kieran smirked at the effect he had on her before looking up at her again. “Strange, isn’t it, that cold and heat can sometimes illicit the same response from a thermoreceptor?”

Lily was going to question that statement when, as he held her gaze, Kieran opened his mouth against her stomach. The blistering heat of his mouth immediately caused even more goose bumps to roughen her flesh.

He gripped her hips as if sensing that her knees were too weak to keep her upright as he pressed wet, open-mouthed kisses against her belly.

She wasn’t going to survive this, but what a way to go.

Kieran pressed her against the wall as he slid back up, taking her shirt and bra as he went. He tore the offending garments off her and tossed them aside. As if he couldn’t help himself any longer, he closed his mouth on the tip of one as soon as it came within reach.

Lily ran her hands over his shoulders and up his neck to tunnel into his hair, holding him to her. He was going to drive her insane with the flicks of his tongue and gentle nips he was giving her.

Kieran growled something she couldn’t make out as he moved to her other breast to give it the same attention.

She keened at the sensation. Everything he did built the pleasure more and more, leaving her greedy, dizzy, and gasping.

All too soon, Kieran lifted his head. “Still with me?”

Lily nodded, sure that the smile she gave him was dazed and more than a little wobbly.

“Good.”

Kieran stared at her mouth for a moment before lifting his hand to lightly brush his fingertips over her bottom lip. “Tactile corpuscles can sense even the lightest touch and are found exactly where you’d expect. The tips of our fingers, our lips…” He brushed his palm over her nipple on his way down to wedge his hand between her thighs.

Lily arched against it, needing more contact. More friction. She was so close to a bone-melting orgasm. The slightest bit of pressure, just right, and she’d explode.

Kieran seemed to sense her predicament. “Yes, most definitely there.”

Apparently, he wasn’t going to give it to her just yet. Kieran started unbuttoning her jeans at an almost leisurely pace.

In direct contrast, she gripped his sweater, dragging him to her so she could tear it off. She’d never hated layers more than when she encountered yet another barrier. Lily ripped at the buttons of the shirt he wore beneath. She wanted him as wild and wanton as she was. It was only fair, after all. She wanted to see what was underneath that control. If she could break it.

The first glimpse of taut skin over hard muscle had her salivating. What would he taste like? Before she could get to that point, however, she wanted to feel him.

Pushing the shirt off his shoulders, she pressed her palms flat against his solid chest, absorbing the warmth and feeling the latent strength there. While he wasn’t massively muscular, Kieran was incredibly well built and undoubtedly masculine. She couldn’t wait to see if the rest of him was just as tantalizing.

She hesitated after running her hands over his ab muscles. Then her fingers reached the waistband of his jeans.

Kieran caught her hands.

Lily tipped her head back to look at him. If he was stopping now…

He ran his finger along her jaw, keeping her eyes on his. “I want you to know that this in no way affects whether or not I decide to fund your research. I had already planned on giving you and everyone else at the facility whatever you need.”

Her heart filled almost to bursting. “Really?”

“Really.” He brushed his lips against hers. “I did my own research. I know what you’re doing here is worthwhile. I’m willing to provide you with anything you want.” Kieran tasted her with a quick dip of his tongue. “And need.”

And what she needed right then was him. Naked.

Yet she couldn’t help but tease him. “I guess I don’t have to go through with this, then, since you’re already giving us the money.”

He reared back, but the shock on his face faded when she giggled.

“You had me there for a second.” Kieran tugged her jeans down. Clearly in more of a hurry than he’d previously been.

She helped him get them off before assisting him with his own and throwing the garments aside.

The instant they were free, he picked her up and pressed her against the wall. “If you’d stopped us, I don’t know if I could stand it.”

“I know what you mean.” She let her gaze rove over his body and wasn’t disappointed by what she saw. Kieran was a very handsome man and perfectly proportional. Except for the very large erection that was prodding her in the stomach. She jerked her attention upward to meet his cocky smile.

Lily let him hook her legs around his hips, giving her intimate knowledge of his cock as he walked them to her bed. It seemed too small and narrow to fit him let alone both their bodies, but he didn’t seem deterred. Carefully laying her on the bed, he stared at her lovingly as he kneeled over her.

Kieran lowered his head. When she expected his lips back on her skin, there was nothing. Then he blew a stream of cold air over her breasts and watched with satisfaction clear on his face when her body reacted accordingly. He opened his mouth wide, then breathed hot air over her stomach just a moment before he slid lower.

Lily couldn’t hold back the gasp when he wedged his shoulders between her thighs and closed his scorching mouth over her. Stars sparked in her eyes when he alternated tasting her arousal with long lashes of his tongue and sucking her clit with devastating skill.

Strong hands gripped her hips, almost as if he knew she was about to fly off the bed.

Then, with a flick of his tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves, pleasure crashed into her. Lily gripped his hair as she keened her delight. Kieran didn’t let up until she tried to push him away from her overstimulated body.

Heart racing and gasping for air, Lily tapped him on the shoulders. When he looked up at her with a hopeful smile, she beckoned him upward until they were face to face and he rested hip to hip with her.

She grinned. “Well, I’ll admit your theoretical knowledge is impressive. But I’m interested in seeing if you can wow me with the practical.”

Kieran chuckled. “Gladly.”