“Hey you,” I greet him when he glances at me through his open window. “Is everything okay?”
He holds my gaze for a long moment before looking at Grace. No words leave his mouth, and that combined with the rigid set of his shoulders cause my stomach to twist with concern.
Opening the door, he exits the car. “That was Winter.” He reaches for me. “I have to leave for Melbourne first thing tomorrow.”
Disappointment floods me. Fury thought he’d have at least a week at home before he’d have to go back, and I was looking forward to all that time with him. And with Noah, too. Fury wassupposed to pick him up from Lynette tomorrow and have him until he had to leave.
I don’t express my disappointment; Fury doesn’t need that. Instead, I nod. “Okay.”
His eyes search mine and I hate everything I see in them. The stuff going on with the club is heavy and his eyes hold every ounce of that heaviness. My man is exhausted, physically and mentally. And I know from the things he tells me that he carries guilt over having to leave Noah and me all the time.
Before he can say anything, Grace wiggles in my arms and tries to launch herself at Fury. We both look down at her and he embraces her as she climbs across.
“I told you she was missing you,” I say as I take in his muscular arms holding our tiny fur baby. It hits me how much I want to see him holding our child one day.
He meets my gaze again. “I’m sorry I have to leave so soon. I wanted more time with you.”
I grip his shirt. “I know. And I understand.”
Silence sits between us for a beat before he says, “Fucking hell.” Scrubbing his hand over his face, he adds, “This shit is fucked up.”
I pull him closer, needing the contact. “Yeah, it is, but you need to stop worrying about me and just focus on what you’ve gotta do.”
He turns silent again and from the way he watches me, I know there won’t be any more fun, playful bantering between us before he leaves. I can see him going inward again. To the dark place that lives inside him. I’m okay with that because I love every part of Fury and I knew that place existed before I chose to be with him. What I’ll miss, though, is seeing his eyes light up with the easy happiness that comes when he leaves that place. I’ll miss that for him more than I’ll miss it for me.
Grace refuses to sit still in his arms and drags our attention to her as she puts her paws on his chest and lifts her head so she can lick him. She successfully licks his face, including his lips, and he pulls away to avoid a second round.
Laughing, I reach for her. “We’ve both been dying over here waiting for you to come home so you can kiss us.”
Heat fills his eyes. “We’ve got twelve hours before I have to leave, and I intend to spend most of those hours with my mouth on you.” He jerks his chin at the house. “Get your ass inside and sort Grace out so she won’t bother us for at least an hour. I’ll be in in a minute.”
God. Yes.
Standing on my tiptoes, I brush my lips over his lightly. Just enough for a taste. And just enough to stir his dick. When I pull away, I say, “So long as that mouth of yours spends a good amount of time on my pussy, I’ll be a happy girl.”
“Fuck,” he hisses, curling his hand around my neck and pulling my mouth back to his. This kiss lasts a lot longer than the one before it and I take that as a promise of what’s to come because it’s like Fury is claiming me all over again. Ravaging me completely, with only his mouth.
When he finally lets me go, I’m breathless. With need. With anticipation. With love.
We linger for a moment, catching our breath, and then I leave him without another word. I usually have a lot of words for him, but not now. Now I just want to communicate with our bodies.
I do as he said and get Grace set up with her food, water, and toys in the dog playpen he bought her. I’ve no idea whether she’ll happily play here and leave us alone like he’s hoping. I suspect she won’t, but maybe we’ll get lucky.
Fury comes inside, the garage door closing behind him, and disappears down the other end of the house to our bedroom while I finish setting Grace up in the living room.
Giving her one last kiss, I say, “Be a good girl and play by yourself, okay? Mummy needs some time alone with Daddy. You and I will have all the hours to play when he goes away tomorrow.”
Backing away from the playpen, I miss her already, however if I had to choose, I’d always choose time with my man. So I blow her a kiss and turn to go in search of him.
I don’t have to go far; I practically run into him when I turn.
My hands go to his bare chest to steady myself. Dropping my gaze, I take in that chest and struggle to shift my attention back to his face.
“Fuck I love your eyes on me,” he rasps.
His husky voice draws my gaze back to his face. “I do too. I mean, let’s make some changes around here so I can keep them on you all day every day. That’s pretty much my dream life.”
As expected, he doesn’t banter with me. Instead, he scoops me into his arms and carries me to our bedroom where he drops me on the bed. Not wasting a second, he moves me to where he wants me and strips me of my dress.
