Lily’s POV
4:55 a.m.
It’sdark when I wake, which means it’s far too early for me to be awake. I know, though, that I won’t be able to go back to sleep. Not when my husband has his hands on my body and his mouth on my neck already.
“King, it’s early,” I half grumble, half don’t grumble because while I love my sleep, I love time with King more.
He presses his erection against my ass and continues kissing my neck before lifting his mouth and saying, “I got thirty fucking minutes with you last night, Lily. I’m taking my time with you this morning.” With that, his mouth finds my skin again while his hand reaches for my underwear.
Hedidonly get half an hour with me last night. That was because I spent most of the night on the phone with Birdie going over plans for Meredith’s birthday party. Our daughter is turning sixteen tomorrow, and King and I are throwing her a party. It was supposed to be just her friends coming, but now it seems everyone we’ve ever known has been invited. My stresslevels are beginning to reach new heights because I’m now not only planning a massive party, but I’m also handling my mother who is so out of touch with what a party for a sixteen-year-old looks like these days. Birdie spent two hours on the phone with me last night calming me down after I had an argument with my mother over the games she thinks Meredith and her friends will want to play.Games? Jesus. No. They’re sixteen for god’s sake.
I roll onto my back as King’s fingers find my clit. He continues kissing my neck, and between that and his fingers on my pussy, he’s managed to wake me right up. However, when my mind is as busy with other thoughts as it is now, even King has trouble getting all my attention in the way he wants it.
I curl a hand around his bicep. “I think I need you to run interference with my mother.”
He doesn’t respond to that, but rather, moves on top of me, kissing his way down my body.
“King,” I say, my tone growing insistent.
He lifts his head and meets my gaze. “I already run interference with your mother 24/7.” That’s all he says before he goes back to my body.
I grip his hair. “King.”
“Fuck,” he growls, looking up at me again. “Can we get into this after I fuck you?”
“No. I know you too well. You’ll take your time fucking me and then you’ll have to leave. And you’ll be too busy today for a conversation, and then tonight, it’ll be too late.” My eyes widen. “The party’s tomorrow.Tomorrow. I need your helptoday.”
King’s eyes search mine before finally, he releases a long breath and pushes up off the bed. Jerking his chin, he says, “Get your ass in the shower with me.”
I frown. “What? No.” I sit up. “I’m not having sex until we discuss this.”
“Trust me when I tell you that I know I’ll be fucking lucky if I get my dick anywhere near you this morning.” He gives me the look that says he both loves me and doesn’t know what to do with me at times. “We’ll talk in the shower.”
I watch him stride into the ensuite, wondering (and not for the first time) how his ass gets better with age while mine doesn’t. I also wonder (and definitelynotfor the first time) how I’ve survived nineteen years married to him.
“So,” I say as I step into the shower a minute later, “I just realised the next big party we’ll be throwing will be for our twentieth wedding anniversary.”
King’s eyes come to mine. “I’m taking you away for that. We’re not throwing a party for it.”
I move in front of him while he angles his head back under the shower and lets the water wash over his face and hair. Reaching for the soap, I say, “Where are you taking me? And why am I only just hearing about this now?”
He runs his hands down his face, clearing water from his eyes before looking at me again. “I just decided.”
I lather soap over the hard muscles of his chest and stomach. “Okay, I’m adding New Zealand to the list of possibilities.” I give him a pointed look. One that lets him know that list should only have one option on it.
King ignores my look and changes the conversation. “What’s the deal with the party?”
I continue soaping him. “With my mother you mean.”
“No, I mean with the party. What’s going on?”
“My mother is what’s going on. She’ll be the death of me. She’s?—”
King wraps his hand around my wrist and stops what I’m doing. “Whatever this is, it’s got nothing to do with your mother, Lily. It never does when you’re this worked up. Your mother’s just the loudest problem, so you think you’re stressed over her.”
I stare at him with wide eyes. “I can assure you it haseverythingto do with her.”
“And I can assure you it fucking doesn’t,” he says gruffly. “What else is going on?”
