23. Lynne （Now）
Lynne (Now)
The silence hit first—comforting and almost alive.
Her heart thudded like it was trying to fill the space between them.
And then he touched her waist again, and she remembered what it felt like to want him there.
For the first time in weeks, there was no audience, no scrolling words, no reason to keep her guard up.
She’d built her whole life around not needing anyone.
It had kept her upright, kept the bar open, kept the grief from drowning her.
But somewhere between Fred, the kittens, and Leo’s stupid fire extinguishers, she’d realized surviving wasn’t the same as living—and she was tired of pretending it was.
Leo’s eyes were still searching hers like he wasn’t sure if he could believe this was really happening. He smiled shyly, those goddamn dimples doing things to her again.
“So,” she murmured. “Where were we?”
He pulled her close, and she climbed onto his lap, legs hugging against his muscular thighs. When their foreheads met, their lips a breath apart, he said, “Ah, yes. That’s just about right.”
She huffed out a laugh. But she caught his hesitation. That flicker of the old caution that used to live between them. And suddenly she didn’t want any of it—the pauses, the almosts, the years of wanting him but pretending not to.
She kissed him, long and hard enough to erase every other version of her he’d known. To leave him doubtless about how much she wanted to be here right now, in his arms.
They melted into each other—mouths weaving together, hands pressed then gliding over shoulders and down backs, hips grinding.
She tilted her head, and Leo found that spot on her neck that always undid her and sucked it lightly.
A moan escaped her. “Uhh. Every time you do that, it makes me weak.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled against her skin. Then his hands traveled over her thighs and along the band of her sweatpants. He slipped them inside, exploring. “Mmm,” he said. “Lace. Just like the ones you had on the other night?”
“You saw that? When I was changing?”
“Yep.” He leaned in to kiss along her neck. “Haven’t been able to get it out of my goddamn mind.”
She giggled. “Well, you’re welcome, too.”
The feel of his breath was sending shivers down her spine. “So were you thinking of me while you were showering that night? I noticed you were in there a long time.”
“Honestly? It wouldn’t be the first time I thought of you while I was in the shower, Lynne.”
“Naughty. I like it.”
His mouth traced kisses along her jawline.
“Hey now, wait a minute,” she said. Her mouth pulled up at the corner. “Why do we still have on all these clothes?”
“Good point. Let’s remedy that.”
She grabbed his shirt hem and pulled it over his head. Then she lightly dragged her nails from his pecs to his lower abdomen, savoring his irresistibly soft skin, while the muscles firmed and flexed against her fingertips.
“Mmmm.” She bit her lower lip. “That’s better.”
His stiff cock bulged from his pants, begging to be freed from the layers of underwear and fleece.
She lifted her gaze back to his. His mouth parted, breath shallow, eyes hungry.
“Bedroom. Now,” she instructed.
He lifted them both from the couch as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. They both broke out in laughter as he shuffled across the living room, her bouncing in his hands. His bare skin felt deliciously warm pressed up against her.
He closed the door and she released him, feet finding the floor, but Leo kept her wrapped up in his arms. The room was dark except for a sliver of sunlight spilling through the seam of the blackout curtains. As he drew her lips to his, she felt him slip his hands under her shirt.
“Turn on the light,” he whispered. “I want to see you. I want to hear you. I want everything.”
Damn. He was good.
She padded over to the nightstand, clicked on the light, and bathed them both in its warm yellow glow.
Leo was beside her again in an instant, slipping off her shirt then smoothing strands of hair onto her chest. He eyed her lacy, black bra like it was a belated birthday present. The best one he’d had in years.
“Wait,” she said softly, fingers combing through his thick hair. “Before we do this, I need to tell you while you’re awake.”
His brow furrowed. “Hmm? Tell me what?”
“I love you,” she said, steady and confident now. No longer whispered in the dark. “I did then. I do now. I just … I needed you to know that before you kissed me again.”
For a second, he didn’t move, didn’t breathe. Then he rubbed his nose against hers and let out a long sigh, like he’d finally come home.
“Good,” he said, voice rough. “Because I was going to tell you the same damn thing.”
And this time, when they kissed, there was nothing left unspoken. He’d been waiting for her to come to her senses, to see him for the man he was now.
She saw it now. She felt it.
She unlatched her bra, and she watched him take off his pants. They both slipped out of their underwear. And then they paused, fingers tracing, his jaw clenched from want, her own breath coming in ragged.
“You don’t realize how beautiful you are, Lynne,” he whispered.
“I do when I’m with you.”
Relief spilled across his face. “Come here.”
He picked her up and laid her on her back then climbed into the bed with her.
“I love literally everything about you.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “I love your hair,” he said, “and these.” He gently kissed each of her eyelids, and when she opened them, they held each other’s gaze and smiled.
“And this,” he whispered, as his mouth pressed into hers, every new kiss deeper and better than the last.
His lips traveled down her neck to her collarbone, and she shivered, a wave of goosebumps forming on her arms. “Oh, and this part especially. So sensitive. It’s the most beautiful sound in the world when you moan.”
As if on command, he pulled an “uhhh” right out of her.
“I love these, too,” he said before taking his time to lavish her breasts with short nips and long licks, coaxing out her nipples until they were swollen stiff and pinched between his soft lips.
Her legs reflexively coiled around his torso.
Her body ached like it might burst, her center already so wet just from this.
So he slowed his pace and chartered down the long line of her abdomen then planted a kiss on each of her hipbones. Her knees parted, and he settled between them.
“I love this, too,” he said, brushing the narrow strip of softness she kept there, as if he understood the care behind it. “Always have.”
He buried his nose into it and inhaled, his breath tickling, the vibrations from his mouth as he spoke making her ache. “The way you smell, Lynne. God, I love it.”
He slipped his hands under her thighs and pulled her down toward his face, widening her legs even more.
His warm breath lit her skin on fire, one sharp “oh god” slipping out of her mouth.
The kind of “oh god” she’d say at the top of a rollercoaster.
The kind of “oh god” she hadn’t said for five long years.
“And this.” His tongue delivered one delicious, wide, flat lick from the bottom to the top of her slit. “There isn’t anything I love more than making you come.”
She arched up as his tongue stroked her clit. Rhythmic, relentless, and filling her with heat. His hands dragged from her ribcage down to her belly as her hips writhed, pinned between the tussled bedsheet and his inviting mouth.
“Fuck,” she whimpered. “Leo. I—” Her hand reached down and gripped his hair, her hips bucking a little against his face. She wanted his name to be the only word she said the rest of the day. “If you keep doing that, I’m gonna come.”
He lifted his head, and for a moment their eyes locked. His hands reached for hers and their fingers laced together and rested against her hips. A devious grin spread across his face, and his voice lowered. “Then come for me, Lynne.”
He bent his head so his tongue could work her clit, slow at first, then faster.
Her thighs hugged his head as she tried to control the quiver.
Her pulse climbed and her hands gripped tighter around his, until she was seeing stars.
When she came, she cried out and babbled his name at the ceiling as she came back down from the high.
He paused to let her catch her breath, but when their eyes met, and she could tell he was far from done with her.
“Come here,” he said.
He repositioned them so he was seated on the edge of the bed, her on his lap, all her limbs wrapped around him in a hug. “Tell me to stop if you need to.”
His cock throbbed against her belly, and although he’d just sent her over the edge, the feel of his body pressed against hers—so close there was nowhere to hide—just made her want more.
“Don’t hold back,” she whispered. “You’re exactly what I want.”
She lifted her hips and guided Leo inside her. His breath caught, his hands tightening on her hips before they slid up her spine. He exhaled deeply as she combed her fingers through his hair.
“Still think we’re not a team?” she asked, biting at his lower lip and rocking her hips in a slow, tortuous motion.
“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you? Careful. I can still flip you over.”
“Mmm,” she said, grinding until she felt him shudder beneath her. “I love when you take control.”
He buried his face in her neck and gripped her ass, speeding them up and slowing them down as he pleased. And she let him, that hot breath against her neck sending her into a tizzy all over again. “Fuck,” she whispered.
“God, Lynne … you feel so fucking good right now. So perfect.” He lifted his brown eyes to hers, and his gaze softened—not with hunger but something steadier. “I want every morning to be like this. And every night,” he said quietly. “I don’t ever want to lose you again.”
“I’m yours, Leo,” she repeated against his cheek. “For good this time.”
When the world finally narrowed to breath and heat and the way he said her name, she clung to him, riding it out until they both went still in each other’s arms.
For once, nothing crashed in behind it. No alarms. No bad news. Just the steady thump of his heart against hers and the soft weight of his hands at her back.
Maybe timing hadn’t been on their side before. But this—this she was choosing. She let herself feel all of it. The love, the want, the terrifying relief of being known. And she didn’t long for an escape route.
She was done pretending Leo March was anything less than home.