26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Six
Juliet
W ith Piper on the mend, I feel relaxed enough to leave her with Lily and Maria while I check on Frank.
Leo has been a huge help doing Frank’s care while I’ve stayed with Piper. I really thought he would be more bothered having to do it, but I haven’t heard a single complaint from him.
I don’t know if I can expect the same thing from his father, though.
“Have you been letting Leo do everything he needs to do?” I ask Frank as I write down his vitals. I keep a record of how he’s doing every day .
It helps me see how quickly he’s declining. Lately, the rate hasn’t been too alarming.
“Yes,” Frank replies, keeping his eyes on the television as an old Western movie in black and white plays.
“He has really helped me out by doing your care routine,” I tell him. “Thank you for letting him do it.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he says gruffly.
I cross my arms as I stand by his bedside. He might not be looking at me, but I can tell his focus isn’t on the movie. “You didn’t tell him for months that you were sick. I’d say letting him take care of you is a big deal.”
“He’s not taking care of me. He’s looking at numbers and handing me pills,” Frank scoffs.
He can put on that tough guy mask all he wants. I see right through it.
“He cares.”
Frank’s eyes dart to mine. “He’s here to sort out affairs and leave.”
“You don’t know that… ”
Frank shakes his head at me. “You’ve always been too optimistic.”
“I don’t see that as a bad thing,” I reply, fixing him with a hard look.
If he said that to me in the past, I’d probably have tears in my eyes. He intimidated me so much.
But now? I can see the damage behind all that armor he piles on.
There’s nothing like dying that brings a person’s weaknesses to light.
Frank glares at me for a few seconds before exhaling heavily and looking back at the television. He doesn’t say another word.
I wish he and Leo would just try to repair their relationship. Now is the time for Frank to make amends, but he’s so damn stubborn that he’ll probably die without making things right with his son. Leo will forever hold onto the image of his harsh, uncaring father.
Disappointment settles in my chest as I leave Frank’s bedroom, feeling too tired and stressed to argue with him. I have a child in the hospital. I don’t have the energy to argue with a dying old man.
“Hey.”
I look down the hallway to see Leo heading toward me. “Oh, hey.”
Leo cocks his head at me. “You okay? How’s Piper?”
I motion for him to follow me away from Frank’s room. Instead of going to the study, I go to a place where I used to go to relax and escape the world.
“This place needs some love. Do you come in here at all?” Leo asks once we step into the library.
The cleaner that I hired to come by keeps the place from getting dusty, but the air is a bit staler in here since the room is barely used anymore. It could certainly use some love.
Two whole walls are covered with shelves full of books.
There’s a floor to ceiling window to the right that allows in plenty of natural light, and there’s also a fireplace for cold nights.
A couch and two lounge seats with a coffee table in the center fill the middle part of the library, and there’s a large desk closer to the window where someone can sit and work.
It’s a perfect home library, but I don’t use it anymore.
I can’t.
“No, I don’t,” I admit.
“Why?” he asks as we take a seat on the leather couch.
I cross my legs, my back remaining stiff and straight. “I don’t have the time to sit and read anymore, and I don’t have homework to do or tests to study for.”
“It’s nice to just sit in here and relax, though,” Leo replies as he leans back, resting his arm on the back of the couch. “Is it…hard being in here?”
I suck my bottom lip between my teeth, unsure if I want to be honest or not. I don’t think I can handle a deep talk right now.
When I don’t reply, he sits up, his shoulder grazing mine. “How’s Piper?”
I’m grateful for the change in topic.
“She’s doing better. Her breathing is improving,” I tell him .
“That’s good,” he says as he gazes at me, his face brightening. “Will they let her go home soon?”
I nod. “When her lungs are clearer.”
“I’ll visit soon.”
“She’d like that.”
Or maybe I shouldn’t let him. She gets more attached to him the more he comes around. That’ll make the heartbreak from him leaving that much more painful.
And I already know how that feels.
Leo’s hand brushes my back, shutting down my mind for a moment. “Relax, Juju. She’s okay. Everything is okay.”
I almost want to close my eyes and try to hide from him, but there’s no point. His hand continues roaming up and down my spine, and my back gradually relaxes.
“The past few days have just been really hard,” I say as my throat tightens.
I’m certainly not going to break down and cry right now.
“I know,” he murmurs in a soft voice. “Whatever you need, I’m right here. ”
When his hand reaches the back of my neck under my hair, my eyes shift to his. He’s so close. Too close.
But I can’t pull away because his touch feels too good. Too familiar. Too intoxicating.
“You’re too pent up,” he tells me, gently massaging my neck. “You need to release all this tension.”
A dry laugh leaves me. “By doing what? Going out in the forest and screaming at the top of my lungs?”
“Well, that’s one way,” he replies before drifting his fingertips along my jaw, coaxing me to turn my head toward him more. “There’s also another way.”
The shift in his tone makes my stomach flip.
Oh .
“Really?” I ask, all of my thoughts of common sense fading to the back of my mind where I can’t hear them.
Leo cups my chin and tilts my head back more. “Really.”
My eyes slide shut just as our lips meet.
Even after all these years, he kisses me the same. Firm but gentle. Passionate but not overbearing .
I’ve had some bad kisses in my life. Not a single one was from him.
Leo’s hand trails down, moving past my jaw and down the base of my throat where a gentle moan rumbles. He curves his hand around to the back of my neck, holding me close as our kiss deepens.
A graze of teeth. A flash of tongue.
Heat rolls through me and intensifies as he coaxes me to lay down on the couch.
Leo grabs the waist of my leggings and panties and tugs them down my legs until they’re a pile on the floor. He grips the underside of my thighs and pushes them apart, making my knees bend on either side of his head.
“Oh…”
My head drops back at the first stroke of his tongue.
Leo’s hand glides up my body under my shirt to squeeze my breast through my bra. His tongue drags over my entrance and slips through my folds, caressing every inch of me that he can reach.
My back arches off the couch when the tip of his tongue flicks against my clit. Electric bliss radiates through my entire body before fading into all-encompassing warmth. Since coming back into town, he hasn’t shaved his face to keep it clean shaven.
His stubble rubs against my inner thighs, and I didn’t expect that to turn me on as much as it does. If he grew out a beard, he’d somehow be even more irresistible than he already is.
I grow wetter and wetter as his mouth continues to work, the inside of my thighs starting to become slick. My fingers tangle in his hair, pulling when the tension low in my stomach intensifies.
Leo groans against me, making my thighs tighten around his head. He pins them apart and doubles down on his efforts, sucking on my clit instead of teasing it with his tongue.
My shoulders come off the couch, my pulse racing. I already feel like I’m close, and he’s mostly just been teasing me and tasting me.
“Leo,” I beg him, not even having to voice exactly what I need.
He knows. He remembers .
An amused smile strays onto his face. “Already?”
My face warms. “Like you said, I’m pretty pent up.”
His eyes lift to mine as he presses a gentle kiss against my inner thigh. “Let me fix that for you.”
He didn’t lie.
The strokes of his tongue are determined and practiced, caressing my clit with the right amount of pressure at the right speed. He knows a light touch can work better than a firm one, and he knows that I need a little bit of a quicker pace toward the end.
My other hand grips the top of the couch cushion, my nails sinking into the expensive leather. I stop breathing. My muscles go rigid. Heat consumes me whole, and pleasure crashes down on me and drags me under.
Leo draws out my orgasm with a few more licks, my wetness coating his lips and chin. He devours me without holding back. Like he’ll starve without me.
I drop back down onto the couch and suck in a deep breath, a warm haze filling my head. That was good . There isn’t an ounce of tension in my body right now .
Leo places his hand on the top of the couch so that he can hover over me. “Better?”
I should tell him no. I should tell him that I feel worse now because we shouldn’t be doing this.
But I don’t feel that way. At least not right now.
“Much better,” I tell him, reveling in the blissful sensation. I miss feeling like this. No one else unravels me like he does.
Leo smiles. “I have to get some business done. If you need anything else, you know where to find me.”
I wonder what type of business. My brain isn’t in the condition to do any critical thinking right now, though, so I just smile back and nod.
He did what he promised.
“Relax in here for a little while. This place needs some love,” Leo tells me before getting off the couch. He strides out of the library and shuts the door behind him, closing me inside a room with so many memories.
We just added one more, and I don’t want to regret it. I don’t want to have any more bad memories between us .
But, knowing what will eventually happen when he’s done doing what he needs to, that might be asking for too much.