32. Cleansing and Warm
THIRTY-TWO
Cleansing and Warm
Harry
T he next morning, Harry came out of the bathroom wearing jeans, a long-sleeved tee, his hair wet and combed back, his feet bare.
He hit Lillian’s great room to see Linus and Lucy flat out on their beds, but Smokey was sprawled on the floor next to the chair Lillian was sitting in at the kitchen table.
Not a surprise. He and his pups had run five miles that morning.
Lillian was wearing sleep shorts, a tight cami, a slouchy cardigan, with equally slouchy big socks on her feet.
She had one heel up to the seat, the other foot on the floor, and her finger was through the handle of a mug of coffee. Her eyes were drowsy, her hair a sleep-tangled mess, and she was a mix of totally adorable and imminently fuckable.
Her somnolent green gaze came to him, then it went to the kitchen counter.
Harry looked there and saw a steaming mug of coffee by the Nespresso.
She’d timed it to have it hot and ready for him when he got out of the shower.
Christ, he wanted to go right to her.
But he knew that wasn’t wise. They were fresh off the memorial. They had plans in about an hour to meet up with everyone (including his family and hers) at the Double D for brunch, and as such, yet again, the time wasn’t right.
So Harry took her invitation of coffee as his excuse not to drag her back to her bedroom.
He was hips against the counter, heel of one palm on it, sipping her kickass coffee, when she said, “Caroline called. They checked and they’ve got openings for facials and massages at the Pinetop. She asked if Ronetta, Sherise and I want to join them this afternoon. I called Ronnie, and they were all in. I hope it’s okay that I said yes.”
“Of course it’s okay, baby,” he murmured.
“I’ve never been to the Pinetop spa,” she told him. Then she mumbled, “I’ve never actually been to a spa.”
Harry could see that. In spite of it all, she’d made a beautiful life, but it wasn’t a surprise it didn’t include regular spa visits, or any at all.
But it was high time she added those kinds of things to her busy schedule.
“You gonna get a facial or a massage?” he asked.
“Massage,” she told him.
Perfect , he thought.
“Good,” he said.
They both took sips.
“You feeling okay?” he asked.
“Are you asking if I’m hungover?” she returned.
Ronetta and George had hosted Lillian’s extended crew, including all her best girls, their men, and Harry’s family. She served up baked beans and potato salad, with George wrapped up in a fleece manning the grill out back and filling burger orders. Ronetta had jam cake and ice cream for dessert.
And the wine, beer and cocktails had flowed freely.
Everyone had changed into something comfortable before going over, and it got to be like a party. There was laughter. Phone numbers were exchanged. Future plans were made.
And Ronetta gave Harry a tour of her sunroom, which rested across the entire back of their house. This meant he walked through the length of it, seeing they might have cut their long backyard in half, but they’d doubled the footprint of the house, giving everyone their own space—including their kids when they’d been at home—and then some.
It gave Harry food for thought.
“Yes,” he answered Lillian’s question.
“Nothing the Double D’s French toast won’t fix,” she told him. Her lips quirked and she remarked, “Your dad seemed really excited to tuck into their biscuits and gravy.”
“When he comes up, we usually meet at Josh and Amanda’s. He hasn’t been back to MP in…” Harry thought about it, “since I won the election.”
“I’m glad he’s taking advantage of being home.”
Harry smiled at her.
Her eyes warmed when he did.
Then they wandered.
They caught on something, and she noted, “I’ve been forgetting to turn down the furnace.”
He glanced where her eyes were aimed, saw nothing, and asked, “Sorry?”
She sipped again and shared, “I like to turn down the furnace at night. Sleep snuggly.” She gave him a look he felt in his crotch on the word “snuggly,” before she continued, “It also helps with the gas bill. But I’ve been forgetting.”
He turned again to the wall, and it was then he saw an old dial thermostat he was shocked as shit still worked, considering it had to have been installed in the seventies.
“While you’re at the spa, I’ll go by Mackey’s.” Mackey’s was the local hardware store. “Get you a thermostat you can program and control on your phone. I’ll set it up, have that taken care of before you get back from the Pinetop.”
She said nothing. Didn’t protest. There was no you don’t have to do that or that’s too much , and when Harry returned his attention to her, his body locked.
Lillian had rested her cheek on her knee, but her gaze was on him, a look on her face he’d seen nuances of since he’d met her, but the feeling behind it was full force now, nothing buried, nothing hidden, nothing restrained, and it hit him like a rocket.
There was gratitude, and such depth of affection, it felt like it filled the room, he was swimming in it, and the waters were cleansing and warm.
And he’d been reborn.
Harry’s mug crashed on the counter, and in two long strides, his swift movements making Smokey jerk up, he was at Lillian.
She’d lifted her head, and he pulled her mug out of her hold, set it on the kitchen table, caught her at the back of the neck and bent to take her mouth.
She opened immediately at the insistence of his tongue, and on his first stroke, she mewed into his mouth. The sound and feel sent a shock of heat through his body straight to his dick, and he sliced an arm around her back and yanked her out of her chair.
But it was Lillian who wrapped her arms tight around his neck and plastered her body to his.
It wasn’t the time.
Though, it was.
They both knew it.
They hungered for this, needed to feed from it, the effort at keeping it at bay had drained both of them, and they had to fill up, doing it taking from the other.
Which was why Harry and Lillian both angled their heads, and the kiss became carnal.
She pulled his tee up at the back, and when her nails scored along the skin there, Harry grunted and grasped her waist.
He picked her up, turned her, put her on her ass on the edge of the kitchen table, then bent over her so her back was to it.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, and fuck…
Fuck …
That felt so goddamned good, he grunted into her mouth and slid his hands up her sides to her tits, where he used both thumbs to drag hard at her nipples.
She dug her feet in as leverage and rubbed herself against his stiff cock.
Jesus, he needed inside her.
And she needed him inside her.
Her drapes and blinds were open. He had to get her to her room.
This was happening.
His phone vibrated at his ass.
They both stilled, but Harry did it while groaning.
He couldn’t ignore it.
It wasn’t about his job. For Lillian, right now, that could wait.
It was that it could be something about her parents’ case.
He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, their heavy breaths mingling.
When he opened his eyes and lifted away, he saw loss in hers for a moment, but her gaze moved over his face, and something entirely feminine, exquisitely possessive and excruciatingly satisfied entered her expression.
And then she smirked, and that burned through his cock too.
She knew exactly what she did to him, and she liked it.
It was safe to say, Harry not only liked it too, he liked that she did.
“Better get that, honey,” she purred.
His dick twitched at the tone of her voice.
Fuck.
He didn’t move other than to pull the phone out of his pocket and look at the screen.
It was his father.
That wouldn’t have anything to do with Sonny and Avery, but his dad had no reason to call, and Harry was a cop. Something souring in his gut told him to take it.
“Hey, Dad,” he greeted.
“Harry. Son,” his father replied.
Harry straightened, taking Lillian with him so she was sitting on the edge of the table, but his attention drifted over her head as he focused on his father.
“Everything cool?” he asked hesitantly, because he could already tell it was not.
“Harry, I brought Caro around to the house to show it to her, and, son, you need to come out here.” His father paused, then, “Don’t bring Lillian.”
Shit.
“But call one of your deputies to come with you,” his dad finished.
Shit .