Chapter 23 – Violet
My tongue itched to tell Lee I never wanted to leave. But, in reality, I needed time. We needed time. Moving in with him now would feel too much like circumstances forced us together, his injury leading us, not genuine conviction.
I wanted it to be an actual choice, made clear-eyed.
Not in the afterglow of our night together.
Not something he’d regret once he remembered how much he liked his solitude.
I’d put aspects of my life on hold to help him heal.
I needed to know that when the blush of first lust wore off, he still wanted me as much as I wanted him.
I’d gone long enough being the one people left behind when something better came along. I couldn’t fault any of my roommates for choosing love. But I wanted to make sure Lee wasn’t choosing convenience.
“I think it’s time for me to spend a night at my place.”
His crestfallen expression made me want to call the words back. I wasn’t trying to wound him; I just needed to protect myself. Old fears whispered that I was only convenient. Temporary. With Lee, the risk of being wrong felt terrifying.
“But I want to host a game night with the gang. Why don’t you bring a bag and stay?”
“Be careful, Cupcake.”
I stilled. His tone was more promise than warning. “About what?”
“I might never leave.” He held my gaze.
His voice was so quiet, so certain, something inside me cracked. I’d dreamed of words like that before, but he sounded like he meant them.
“That doesn’t sound like a problem.” Lee had lived this long without me, but the way he looked at me now made me believe maybe he didn’t want to anymore. “I’ll be back late this afternoon to pack up my things. I can drive you to my place at the same time if you’re done with work for the day.”
“Deal.”
Lee shuffled inside, and I left the car parked at his place, walking down the hill to the Salty Pantry to relieve Gran, who’d covered for me and opened the shop.
Things were slow all afternoon, leaving me too much time to think.
I’d barely been home in days, and my offer to bring Lee with me tonight meant I’d have no time to perk up the house.
He’d see it in all its messy glory. Without Anya, I’d become a bit of a pig, more lax than usual with my housekeeping standards.
If Lee’s office was any sign, he wouldn’t care.
But the rest of his house was spotless when I moved in.
The dichotomies in the man I’d known forever intrigued me.
I could only hope my chaotic side was more appealing than deal-breaking for him.
I texted a game night invite to the group chat, offering to make a potato soup, and Anya, Rae, and Lucy all volunteered to bring dishes to turn it into a potluck.
As much as I wanted to hang out with my friends and enjoy a low-key night, I also wanted to share what Lee and I learned at Dr. Underwood’s.
Lee wasn’t the only one with a Spidey sense for hinky behavior.
No matter what the authorities believed, Dr. Underwood seemed to be involved in her husband’s shady business up to her perfectly arched eyebrows.
Chatting up Dr. Underwood’s receptionist was more revealing than I’d expected.
I rushed through a trip to the grocery store after work, picking up ingredients for dinner.
Swinging by Lee’s for the last of my things only took a few minutes.
The door to his office was closed, and I used it as an excuse not to disturb him.
He’d lost a lot of work time thanks to my laptop ransom.
I could give him a few extra hours to focus.
Now that Dr. Underwood had released him to drive, he could join me in his own time.
My phone buzzed as I finished pulling the potatoes, broth, and cheese from my shopping bag. I tugged my phone from my back pocket.
Lee: Interested in some kitchen help?
The offer was pure Lee – gruff on the outside, soft beneath. He wanted to be part of my world, even in something as ordinary as dinner.
Vi: If you’re up for it.
Dr. Underwood didn’t want him overdoing it on his ankle. But selfishly, I didn’t want to cook alone tonight. I wanted him beside me, even if all he did was supervise.
His kitchen offered ample evidence that he rarely cooked.
Mostly protein bars and quick-fix meals.
While it was the opposite of how I’d been raised, part of me could understand.
It was too much effort to cook just for me.
I loved cooking for others. It was one reason I kept replacing roommates.
Living alone was never for me. Not after growing up surrounded by love, my siblings, and my Gran.
Lee knocked on the sliding door before poking his head in. “It’s just me. If you’re cooking naked, don’t cover up for my sake.”
“Wishful thinking, Murphy.”
He leaned against the entryway between the kitchen and living room, arms crossed over his broad chest. No boot and bare feet.
He’d showered and changed since I saw him this morning, neatly trimming his beard.
The scent of his soap wafted toward me. Only the overpowering aroma of the bacon in my frying pan kept me from floating toward him like a besotted cartoon. Lee Murphy could get it.
His blue eyes crinkled at the corners. Maybe he saw the edge of lust in my eyes.
I cleared my throat. “Did you come here to stare or to work?”
“Honestly? To stare. But at the risk of getting booted from your kitchen if I don’t make myself useful, I’m happy to help.”
“Charmer.”
“Tell me where you want me.” A hint of challenge broadened his smile. He knew exactly what he was doing. Tempting me. Good kitchen hygiene kept me from asking for what I really wanted: him on his knees. I cleared my throat again, reaching for a glass of water at my elbow.
“If you want to take over for me at the stove, I can start cutting potatoes.”
He prowled forward, his gaze locked on mine. Each step deliberate. A buzz like a drunken bee zoomed around haphazardly, knocking against my ribs, filling my chest as I stood my ground. In the kitchen, I was Queen.
He slid around me, his bulk caging me against the stove.
His body just brushed mine, but it was enough to make me feel like he’d kicked the hive inside.
Flicking off the stove and tugging him back to my bedroom sounded much better than finishing dinner.
His hands landed on my hips, his thumbs rubbing into the tight muscles in my lower back.
He leaned down and whispered, “Just tell me what you need.”
Dammit. If I gave in to what I really needed, dinner would be late.
“We don’t have time.”
He seemed to catch the direction of my thoughts. Maybe because he’d already stroked his hands from my hips over my thighs with gentle pressure, his fingers dangerously close to my center.
“I can be quick,” he offered quietly, dropping a lingering kiss on my neck. Heat raced down my spine. My fingers fumbled, dropping the knife onto the cutting board.
His lips against my soft skin melted me like butter in a hot pan. I could feel the will to finish dinner before our friends arrived dissolve into a puddle. Fuck it.
I stepped to the stove, turning it off before shoving Lee gently backward toward my bedroom. “You have ten minutes.”
Lee’s grin broadened, the sheer delight in every line of his handsome face making want to give twenty. “Challenge accepted.”
He scooped me up, tossing me over one big shoulder with a soft slap to my ass. A laugh burst from me, cut off abruptly as he kicked my bedroom door closed behind us and dropped me onto my bed.
“Your ankle,” I chided, concerned that carrying me was too much for his still-healing body.
“I’m fine,” he said.
Wasting no time, he unsnapped and shucked my jeans off, removing my underwear in one rough motion before dropping his own in a puddle around his ankles. Naked from the waist down should have been awkward, but any thoughts of how silly we looked fled as he dove for my thighs, urging them apart.
“Do we need to set a timer?” he muttered, stroking soft hands from my knees over my quads. He pinned me in place with the heat in his gaze. Greedy and sure. His confidence only made me more eager to take everything he was offering. I quivered, already wet.
“I trust you,” I bit out, arching toward him.
He tested my readiness, dipping his fingers along the inside of my thigh, murmuring soft words of encouragement that were difficult to make out.
“Fuck, you’re hot.” His eyes gleamed with a desire that mirrored my own. I was more than ready.
“You’re on the clock, Murphy.”
His rough chuckle vibrated against me, sending a fresh surge of heated excitement trickling between my thighs.
Lee seemed awed by the moisture seeping from my opening, stroking with his thumb to spread the slickness over my clit, massaging me until my eyelids fluttered.
Every muscle drew tight, and I strained toward him, fire threatening to consume me with just one more touch. But I wanted more than his fingers.
“I want you.”
It came out more vulnerable than I intended. Raw with need. But something about the answering light in his eyes spoke of his own longing, reassuring me I wasn’t alone.
His gaze pinned me, not just to the bed but to the moment. To a future I didn’t dare believe in. The danger wasn’t his size or his strength; it was how easily he stripped me bare.
He fumbled behind him, pulling away. I whimpered, annoyed by the loss of his heat. His touch. He covered me a moment later, sheathed in a condom, nudging at my opening. Stretching and pushing, watching me carefully for any signs of discomfort.
I arched, taking him in a single thrust. Triumph in my broad smile, I took him all, letting him fill me to the brim, my eyelids fluttering as his stroke reached my depths. The warmth of his body pressed against mine like a brand. He collapsed to his forearms, our faces close.
Maintaining eye contact with him inside me was new. It was a claiming of sorts. Not in words, but in the way his touch lingered, echoing the unspoken pull that neither of us was willing to fight anymore.
Lee captured my mouth in a punishing kiss that left me raw on the inside.
Devastating me with its intensity, his urgency driving my own.
It unraveled something inside me, leaving me raw and exposed, as if he were peeling back the last layers of my restraint.
My chest burned as we drew apart, his eyes molten.
Raw hunger warred with tenderness in his expression, echoed by the ache in my body.
Tender, needy, and wholly his for the taking.
Gripping his hips, letting my nails sink in just a bit, I urged him forward.
He thrust with an urgency that left me breathless and hovering on the precipice in minutes, my heart thumping.
I strained toward him, as if I could get closer, close enough to meld us together into a single person.
He grasped my hands, threading our fingers above my head, his blue eyes all I could see as we slid together.
I reveled in the dangerous glitter of possessiveness there.
Ten strokes and I went into free fall, electrical impulses firing behind my lids as pleasure took over in delicious ripples. Lee called out, a guttural shout as he found his own release.
Razor wire wrapped around my heart as I watched him catch his breath. Lee was everything I wanted. But could I keep him? He could easily break me if he ever walked away.
“Yoo-hoo!” a familiar voice called from the kitchen. “Vi, you here?”
I groaned. Of course it had to be Anya. Since she used to live with me, she had no qualms about letting herself in.
“Best ten minutes of my life.” Lee’s words were a rumbled whisper. He cupped my chin in his palm, eyes soft.
Cheeks on fire, I struggled into my jeans and panties. They’d be a destroyed mess in seconds. I was already wrecked. And no doubt, I had sex hair for days. I probably looked like I’d been put through the blender.
“You stay here,” I whispered furiously to Lee. “Pretend to come out of the bathroom in five.”
I speed-walked to my bedroom door, grateful he’d thought to close it. Where Anya went, Drew followed. The last thing I needed was my brother catching me naked with one of his best friends. My older brother might annoy me, but I wasn’t about to scar him for life.
I slipped around the door, putting on a smile that probably looked forced.
Anya’s lips twitched as she caught sight of me, and I could only guess at what a mess I looked. Disheveled hair. Kiss-roughened skin. Still slightly flushed from my orgasm.
“Are you alone?” I asked, fake-casual.
Anya’s knowing grin disabused me of the notion that I had fooled her. “Yes, but it doesn’t look like you are.” She pointed to the bathroom. “Go fix your face. I’ll get dinner going in here. Drew, Zach and Rae are only five minutes behind me.”
“Thanks, Anya.”
“Don’t mention it.” I felt my cheeks fire anew at her knowing smirk.