AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hang up the phone and drop it on the bed, running a hand through my hair. It’s been a long fucking day.
The men had left the house sometime after seven; we’d gotten Mother to stop crying and go into bed by nine. Daniel and Sedric had returned to the house earlier for Lucian, and I’d had to fight the urge to go with them for my son.
I wanted him in my arms; even Mel had looked longingly at the door as though she was feeling the same way. But she stood by me. Hadn’t moved from my side the entire day.
I don’t know how to feel about her. But I do know how I feel about her words. Her declaration to me just before she’d stepped out of Father’s study and spent the entire evening pretending she hadn’t just made my knee buckle under me.
I sweep her into my arms and walk down the stairs, grateful it’s just the two of us at home tonight, apart from the men standing guard outside. She smiles softly up at me, and I can almost guess the question on her parted lips.
I shake my head no. I’m fine. She’s asked me a thousand times already. But I am as fine as a man can be when he’s received news of his Father’s death and also had the woman whom he loves tell him she loves him. I’m all over the place, but I’ll be okay.
Especially because her words have put me on cloud nine.
I clatter down the steps, and when I reach the kitchen, I let her slide down my body. I tip her head up and blow a stream of air across her lips. She closes her eyes, and I watch her, my pulse spiking. If anything were to happen to this woman, I’d be a caricature of myself.
She opens her eyes. “What are you worried about?”
I quirk an eyebrow and kiss her lips gently. “Who says I’m worried?”
She lifts a hand and wiggles it between us, brushing at my forehead. I realize I’ve bunched my brows together. “This right here.”
I could tell her about the threat by the Russians. Ryder seems to think they’ve got something planned. Alec doesn’t know, and neither does Declan or Knox. Not while they’re mourning Father.
But I’ve had the men prepare for an attack. If the Russians do decide to attack our shipment or our men, we’ll need to immediately retaliate. They can’t ever think our ranks are open to attack.
But I don’t want to think about it tonight. Tonight, I want to sink into Mel’s warmth and let her remind me that there’s life for a living. Death will always hang over every human, but it doesn’t mean we have to live as though we’d die tomorrow.
I shake the somber thought from my head and tune in to find Mel still watching, her fingers gently stroking my forehead. “Nothing’s wrong, Mel. Nothing could be wrong with you here.”
She laughs gently, and I allow myself to seep in her warmth. I allow myself to be here in this moment with a woman I love. I twine my arms around her back and tug her closer. “Tell me again.”
Her brows tip questioningly, and those inviting lips clasped between her teeth. “Tell you what?”
“That you love me. Always will.”
She pulls out of my arms and turns towards the stove. “Are you hungry?” She says, refusing to answer the question.
I walk over to her. “Yes. But not for food.”
She leans against the counter, smiling, her face tipped up. There’s a hungry look in her eyes that I know for a fact is reflected in mine. “What are you hungry for?”
I press my front into her, my erection grazing the junction of her thighs, already dragging the robe she’d thrown on away. “Do you need to ask?”
She puts her arms around my neck and laves at my neck, her wet tongue licking at the pulse at the base of my throat. She sucks at it and then bites down, drawing a hiss from my guts. The air sticks in my chest, refusing to allow me another breath without her lips on mine.
I drag her head up and slam my lips down on hers, slipping my tongue between her lips, tucking her tight into my arms, lifting her hair off her neck, and hitching my hands around her waist to lift her onto the counter. “Have we christened this room yet?”
She wiggles and giggles in the back of my throat, the sound flowing over me like a cold waterfall. Washing away things I don’t want to think of. “I don’t know. Why?”
“I think we’re about to.”
She bites down my lips, sucking at my bottom lip and hissing as I cup her breasts in my hand, hefting it through the robe. She mewls and goes to tilt her head back, but I don’t let her lips go.
I slip my arms around her back and tug her so her ass is on the edge of the counter, pull away and bend my head towards her thighs, pulling the robe off as I go.
I press a kiss to her thighs, spreading them wide so I can step fully between the sleekness of her smooth legs. “Tell me you love me.”
She leans back on her elbows, but her eyes are hot on mine. “I’d much rather you just took me.”
