Chapter Eight Connor
CHAPTER EIGHT
CONNOR
I didn’t want to leave our home. I didn’t want the storm to clear or the power to come on, but it had. We ate French toast, and I knew we had to return to Laney’s hometown, where she would stay with her parents and I’d wake up alone.
She was giving us a chance, and I wanted every second with her.
But Petra wouldn’t stop calling or texting, and it was better to deal with that alone. It felt too soon, too raw, to talk work while my wife was finally looking at me with joy instead of devastation.
Laney wore my clothes with her cute, messy hair, and my heart swelled.
I wasn’t sure we’d ever get to this place, especially after she had insinuated that I had cheated on her.
That hurt the most out of all of this—that I led her to believe I’d put Petra and my job first. I had to fix that somehow, but that was a problem to brainstorm later.
Right now was about us talking more.
“Honest thought,” I said, waiting for her to face me. She did, her chin tipped up as she stared at me with her stunning light brown eyes. “I wish the storm had lasted longer, and we were stuck here, just us.”
“Honest thought,” she whispered, blushing. “I kinda do too.”
“Do you want to stay another night?”
She blinked, and I instantly regretted asking. Of course she didn’t. She wanted to go back home and have space. I even needed it to regroup, but this was our home. She didn’t answer right away, and I winced.
“Sorry, that was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have asked and put you in this position. Let’s go—”
“Okay.” She nodded.
“Okay… what?”
“Let’s stay here one more night.”
Now it was my turn to blink. She wasn’t trying to run away from me. She wasn’t in a hurry to get back to her parents. I forgot to breathe.
“We do need to head back tomorrow, and I will stay with my parents this month,” she said, her voice soft. “Being here, with you, is confusing. I’m trying to go with my gut instead of overthinking everything, and it’s saying to stay here with you in our home.”
“Trust that gut, baby,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “I have to kiss you.”
“Yeah?” She arched a brow and crouched down. “Then catch me.”
She took off from the kitchen and thundered up the stairs.
Her action caught me so off guard, it took a good ten seconds to catch up.
I laughed. She hadn’t done something like this in years, where she’d run off and I’d find her in a closet or something.
She thought it was funny as hell to stump me, and my God, my heart grew three damn sizes at hearing her giggle again.
I had to find her. I had to fucking kiss her.
“Where is my wife?” I checked the guest room, the closet, the bathroom. Repeated the process in our third room upstairs that wasn’t quite a guest room, not quite an office. She wasn’t there. I moved toward our bedroom when a sound alerted me that she was on the stairs.
That little minx.
I bolted down the stairs, catching her in the kitchen. Her eyes lit up and her face was all laughter as she stood between the island and fridge. I almost had her trapped.
“You won’t get by me.”
“Not so sure about that, big guy.”
She darted right, then left, but I was faster. I caught her by the waist and placed her on the counter, caging her there with an arm on either side. Our faces were inches apart and my heart pounded against my rib cage.
Her breath hit my face, her fingers finding my biceps as she clung to me.
My entire body was tuned to hers. The way her pulse at the base of her neck raced, the way her chest heaved, the way her lips parted, and how she leaned forward.
“Laney, sweetheart,” I whispered, kissing her jawline. She trembled as I brushed my lips near hers. “I caught you,” I teased, then continued down her neck. “So I want my kiss.”
“Then kiss me,” she demanded, wrapping her legs around my waist and tugging me closer. “I need you to kiss me, Connor.”
“Hmm, do you?” I wanted this to last, for us to stay in this moment and live in this bubble forever. I ran my nose along her neck, biting her collarbone lightly.
She let out the sexiest little frustrated groan, and I chuckled against her skin.
“Will you regret it if I kiss you?”
“Not even a little bit. Please, please.”
My hands slid under her sweatshirt, gripping her hips as I leaned back and stared down at her.
“You are fucking perfect,” I said. Then I finally kissed her.
It was an explosion of feelings. Home. Mine. Joy.
Her full lips met mine with the same desperation, but it wasn’t just lust. There was love in the movement. We kissed slowly, taking our time tasting each other. I was in no hurry. I could stay like this for hours, showing her without words how much I loved her. And I would, if she let me.
She nipped at my bottom lip, so I swiped my thumb over her stomach.
She rocked her hips against my growing erection, so I pressed into her, deepening the kiss as she tilted her head back.
I cradled her neck with one hand, leaving the other on her bare skin, and I slowed the kiss down.
I opened my eyes to find her staring right back at me, and my knees weakened at the intensity of her gaze.
Was it possible to fall in love again, twice as strong, from one kiss?
Making out with my wife on the kitchen counter was now a top-ten moment.
She moaned into my mouth, her body squirming as she pleaded. “Connor, I’m burning up. I need… need…”
“Can I touch you?” I loved her sounds, her needy pleas.
“You said—” I sucked the base of her neck. “We shouldn’t…”
“I’m not fucking you against a counter, but I can give you what you need with my hand.” My body trembled with how much I wanted to give this to her. I wanted to have her fall apart on me, with her eyes on mine.
“Honesty,” I rasped out. “I’ll help you if you keep your eyes on me.”
“Connor.” She swallowed. “Yes, touch me, please.”
“Okay, baby.” I licked my lips as I slid the sweatpants down her legs. She still wore those sexy panties, and I bit my lip as I admired how goddamn good they looked on her. I wanted to get on my knees and taste her, make her scream from my tongue, but that wasn’t for today. Not right now.
With my eyes on her, I slid the panties to the side and ran my fingers through her slit.
“So wet for me, Laney. So sexy.”
She panted as she stared at me, all trusting and perfect. “You drive me wild, Connor.”
“Good.” I slid one finger into her, then two. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and I pulled my fingers out.
“No, you keep your eyes on me while I make you feel good. I need your eyes open, sweetheart.”
She moaned when I bent down and kissed her slowly again, pumping in and out of her with my fingers before finding her clit with my thumb. She was so wet, so swollen. I pinched the nerves, and she bucked off the counter.
“Connor, this feels so good.”
“That’s me making my wife feel good,” I said, my pulse racing.
My cock strained against my pants like a damn rod, but this was about her.
I kissed her slowly, and played with her clit just like she liked, and it wasn’t long before she trembled.
Her thighs tensed, and her eyes widened as she arched her back.
“Eyes on me, baby.”
She listened. She rode off the orgasm I gave her, keeping her gaze on mine as she cried out. It was beautiful. Perfect. Maddening.
“Oh my God,” she panted, her cheeks a little red as she stared at me. “Connor, that was… intense.”
“Mm-hmm.” I kissed her mouth, breathing her in before smiling at her. “That was so hot.”
She nodded, her gaze never leaving mine. “You’ve never made me look at you like that before.”
“I should’ve.” I swallowed, hard. “I never want to miss a single part of you, or us, together again. Watching your eyes while you came was… amazing.”
She ran her fingers through my hair. “I won’t regret this. I want you to know that.”
“Thank you.”
My fingers were still near her pussy, and her thighs clenched. I knew my wife, and I teased her slit again. “Do you want another one?”
She sucked in a breath. “I-I…”
“Honesty, Laney. Do you want me to give you another orgasm?”
She nodded, and I almost wept because I didn’t want this to end. I repeated the same process, bringing her to the edge. She grabbed my face, kissing me hard and messily, but she kept her eyes open the whole time as she screamed my name.
“Shit.” She leaned back, her chest heaving. “Those were… I can’t remember having orgasms like that in a while.”
“Good.” I kissed her nose and slid out of her, then pulled up her sweats and smiled. “If you need more, let me know.”
“Connor, what are you doing?”
I washed my hands, dried them with the towel, and faced her. “What do you want to do today?”
“Connor.” She gestured to my erection. “You need release.”
“Sure, but I can hop in the shower.” I waved her off. “I was thinking—”
“No, you’re not going to jack off in the shower.” Laney’s voice had an angry edge to it. “Let me help you.”
“Baby,” I said through gritted teeth. I wanted nothing more than to sink into her, but this was about earning her trust and love again. Didn’t she get that?
“Those orgasms were to help you feel better. It was not reciprocal. I’m playing for your heart, so I’m okay.”
She frowned. “Are you turning me down?”
I nodded and almost laughed. “It’s a not right now. When we’re ready, we’ll know.”
“I don’t like this.”
I chuckled and quickly kissed her. “Let me put you first. Let me choose you first. Now I’m going to shower, but I have an idea for today. Do you trust me?”
“Are you sure they’ll be open?”
“Yup.” I held Laney’s hand as we walked a mile in the cold to try a new coffee shop. Walking here after a snowstorm in this weather was probably a terrible idea, but Laney had laughed the entire walk.
Mainly because we kept slipping on the ice. I had fallen on my ass once already, taking her down with me, and yeah, it was pretty damn funny. It had been weeks since I laughed this hard.
“Connor!” she screeched, waving her arms in the air for a solid ten seconds before I caught up to her. Wrapping my arms around her, I steadied her with a huge smile on my face.
“Oh God, thank you.”
“Can’t have you hurt yourself.”
“Speaking of that, how’s your ass?”
“Hmm, it’s kinda throbbing.” I kept an arm around her shoulders as I rubbed my sore glute with the other.
“Worth it though. This place just opened last month and keeps posting about their pastries and drip coffee.”
“I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it. I’m online way more than you and always take walks this way.”
I kept my mouth closed. She didn’t need to know that I’d worked out a deal with the owner to reserve one of the walls to showcase and sell her artwork.
I’d thought about it for years but only acted a couple of months ago.
They didn’t have much of her photography because I wanted to surprise her instead of promising originals she didn’t want to sell.
“What’s your favorite memory of visiting coffee shops? The best memory?” I asked as we neared the entrance. It was called Espresso SnapShot.
“I loved the one attached to a bed-and-breakfast where they had two cats that lived there. Mittens and Whiskers, and they named those menu items after them. It was precious.”
I snorted. “It was a little unsafe to have cats in the café.”
“The café was in a house, Connor. They had every right to be there.”
I disagreed, but I wanted her in a positive mindset before walking into the café.
“Why is that one your favorite?”
“Because it was just us. We weren’t dependent on our phones or our jobs, and we were so wrapped up in each other, I just… fell so hard for you.”
I frowned, the math not mathing. “We were already married.”
She let out a cute huff, half laugh, half disbelief.
“Sure, but Connor, love is… It goes through seasons and ebbs and flows. There’s all sorts of love.
Infatuation, lust, friendship, deep love, familiarity, safety.
I had all that with you, but that day, that weekend, took us to a deeper place.
You told me your biggest fears that day, and I’ve never once forgotten them. ”
It took all my power to ask her what she thought of our love.
“I was raised with the very real feeling that sharing insecurities led to loss of love. I felt like, three years in, you’d stick around, and I could share them with you.”
“Hey.” She stilled, faced me, and touched my cheek. Her attention moved from my eyes to my mouth, then back. Puffs of condensation formed around her lips as she sighed. “Thank you for sharing those with me.”
“Thanks for always listening.”
She chewed her lip, and I bent down and kissed her quickly before jutting my chin toward the café. So many unsaid words lingered in the air.
Would she still stick around?
Did she still love me that way?
We arrived at the entrance, and I stopped her from going inside.
“Laney—”
“What is it?” Her tone was worried, her eyes wide.
“This was supposed to be a surprise for Christmas, and I know, somehow, I messed it up. It’s probably too soon to share this with you.”
“Connor.” Her gaze softened. “You were going to surprise me at Christmas?” she whispered.
I nodded, but shame clawed up my neck. I had forgotten our fucking anniversary, but at least I had planned this.
“It doesn’t make up for anything, and this should’ve been a conversation instead of me making a choice for you.”
A line formed between her brows as she tilted her head. “I’m very confused right now.”
“Okay, let’s head inside.” I swallowed, my stomach an absolute mess. “I hope you… Tell me what you think.”