Chapter 10 #2
“You owe me a beer the next time I stop by The Betsy.”
Leo nodded. “I’ll buy you two.”
“The nurse will be in with your paperwork. Take care, Leo.” He closed the curtain on the way out.
“The doctor goes to The Betsy and you know him?”
“The bar’s not only for vagrants and criminals.” He sat up and swung his legs over the bed’s edge. “You came there.”
“True.” My eyes landed on his chest. “There’s blood on your shirt.”
“It’ll wash.”
My eyes welled with tears and I wiped them away furiously before they could fall. “Gah. Stupid hormones and adrenaline.”
“Hey.” Leo tugged me close enough to frame my face and pull my forehead to his. “I’m fine.”
“I should have made you take my car.”
“Made me?”
“Yes. Made you.”
“What’s this about a fiancée?”
I stepped out of his hold and picked up the coat that someone had draped over the back of a chair. “It was Emmett’s idea. They wouldn’t let anyone but family back here to see you.”
“Ah.” He stood from the table, closing his eyes for a second as he swayed. Then he shrugged on his jacket.
A nurse came in with some paperwork, then showed us to the exit for the waiting room.
Dash had arrived and we found him pacing.
The moment he spotted us, his entire frame relaxed and he clapped Leo on the shoulder.
Emmett did the same. Luke assured Leo that the trucker was fine and hadn’t received any injuries.
And Presley hugged Leo so hard that he winced.
“Sorry. You scared me,” she whispered.
Me too.
“We’ll let you get home.” Presley released Leo. “Expect a visit tomorrow.”
With that, we all made our way to the parking lot. The sky was nearly dark, the nights of mid-January coming early. Leo took my arm, whether to hold me up or so I could hold him up, I didn’t know, and we walked to my car. I drove us home, bypassing Stockyard’s on the way.
“Sorry about dinner,” Leo murmured, his head against the rest.
“It’s okay. I’ll make us something.”
“We could order in.”
“Whatever you want.”
He hummed and closed his eyes. By the time we made it home, he’d fallen asleep. It was impossible not to stare at his profile when I parked in the driveway. To appreciate that sharp jawline and those soft lips. Did he realize how good looking he was? Probably.
And he’d been mine. I’d been the last. Me. A man who didn’t have to work to get a woman into his bed hadn’t wanted any after me.
He stirred, his eyelids heavy as they opened. “Hey.”
“Hi,” I said. “We’re home.”
“’Kay.” He reached for the door, shoving it open.
I hurried out and to his side so we could go in together. Then I flipped on the lights as we walked toward his bedroom.
I hadn’t spent much time on this side of the house. Other than venturing here for laundry, I’d stayed behind the invisible boundary that separated his half from my half.
Even now, I hovered back at the mouth of the hallway. “Can I get you anything?”
“Water. Couple of pain killers.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really. Sorry. But you should eat.”
“I’ll be quick. You go lie down. I’ll be there in a second.”
“Thanks.”
I hurried to the kitchen and got his water and pills. Now that the panic from the hospital was gone, my stomach growled. I dove for the fridge, scarfing a leftover bowl of pasta from yesterday and chasing it down with my own glass of water. Then I ventured toward his bedroom.
Leo’s scent clung to the air, spice and cedar and that masculine undercurrent I couldn’t inhale fast enough.
I peeked inside his bedroom, hesitant to just barge in. The bed was in the center of the room, facing a TV on a wide stand. Leo had turned it on and the screen cast a muted glow over the dark room.
Like the rest of the house, the walls were painted a bold color, nearly black in the dim light.
Unlike my white bed to contrast, his was nearly as dark as the walls.
He rested on top of a thick quilt, either gray or green or navy, I couldn’t tell.
He’d propped his head up on a couple of pillows covered in the same color.
His eyes were closed as I tiptoed to his nightstand and set the glass down beside his alarm clock.
“I’m awake,” he murmured, opening his eyes.
“Here.” I placed the pills in his palm, then handed him the water. “Can I get you anything else?”
He shook his head and swallowed the pills, then set the glass aside.
“Get some rest.” I ached to run my hands through his hair, like I had once months ago. To feel it and reassure myself he was fine. But I backed away, ready to retreat to my side of the house.
“Sit with me.” He reached out, faster than I’d expected, and snatched my hand. “Please.”
I nodded and rounded the bed, climbing onto the other side and using the extra pillows for support.
Leo tossed me the remote. “Your pick.”
“You might regret that. I live for the History Channel.”
Those pale eyes caught a flicker of light and my breath caught. “Whatever you want, babe.”
Babe. That was the second time he’d called me that today, both when he wasn’t entirely awake. Maybe that was what he called all women. An endearment for when he couldn’t remember a name.
Or maybe it was just for me. It wasn’t Firecracker, but babe was a close second.
I picked up the remote from beside his hip and flipped through the guide on the TV until I found a rerun of a John Adams miniseries. “Is this okay?”
Leo hummed his agreement.
“I’ve seen it before. It’s got some Hollywood embellishment but for the most part, it’s fairly accurate. The book was better.”
Leo’s breath evened out and when I glanced over, his eyes were closed again.
So I relaxed on his bed with my hands splayed on my belly to feel the baby’s kicks.
She went wild for half of an episode, then settled down.
My eyes were tired. My pajamas were calling.
But I couldn’t bring myself to get off of Leo’s bed.
It was hypnotic, listening to his breathing and being in his space.
His bed was as soft and plush as I remembered.
A dream.
I stirred awake when a pair of fingertips brushed a lock of hair from my forehead.
Leo hovered beside me, his fingers diving deeper into my hair. “You fell asleep.”
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s okay.” His breath caressed my cheek. He didn’t move away.
Neither did I.
Leo’s gaze ensnared me, holding me so tight I couldn’t think. His fingers continued their exploration of my hair, threading through the locks that drifted over the pillow. Then his eyes dropped to my mouth.
I mimicked the movement, taking in his pink lips and remembering once how they’d felt on my skin. Then they were there, no longer a memory.
Leo kissed me deliberately, one press of his mouth to mine.
And I lay there, fighting the urge to surrender.
“Cass,” he whispered against my lips. “Kiss me back.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because what if you regret me in the morning?” I voiced the biggest insecurity I had when it came to this man.
We’d spent the night together and just two weeks later, my entire world had been turned upside down. Then I’d seen him at Scarlett’s barbeque and though there’d been recognition on his face, he hadn’t remembered my name.
Maybe I’d never told him. Maybe he wasn’t to blame at all.
But that didn’t erase the sting. In Leo’s past, I was one of many. A nameless girl.
“If I hadn’t gotten pregnant, you would have forgotten about me.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Leo’s eyes closed and he dropped his forehead to mine. “But that’s not where we are, Cassandra.”
Damn him. That honesty was so . . . endearing. The walls fell away, the anger and frustration I’d had with him for weeks simply disappearing.
My reckless, foolish, unguarded heart was putty in his calloused hands.
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. I hit mute on the fears echoing at the back of my mind and kissed the man I craved.
Leo’s hand came to my face, cupping my jaw as he deepened the kiss. His tongue slipped between my lips, the tip tickling mine. Then I opened for him completely and whatever hesitancy we’d had evaporated. Our tongues twisted and twined as I clung to his chest, pulling him closer.
My chest heaved when he tore his lips away.
“God, Cass.” He groaned as his hard body pressed into mine. “You taste so good.”
His eyes drifted down my breasts, his hands following the motion until he hit the swell of my belly.
A blast of panic ran through my body when he froze. His eyes. His hand.
I held my breath, waiting for him to pull away when his fears beat him once more.
But he didn’t pull away. He splayed his hand on my belly, spreading those long fingers wide. “I want you. But I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
He met my gaze. “What do you want?”
What I’d always wanted. “You.”
He surged, his lips finding mine again as we fumbled, shoving clothes, baring skin. Leo broke away to sit up and reach behind his head, yanking his shirt away and tossing it to the floor. He was off the bed in a flash, shoving away his jeans and the black boxer briefs beneath.
The man was built for pleasure. His broad shoulders were roped with strong muscle. His washboard stomach and the deep-cut V at his hips pulled my gaze to his thick, hard cock.
One look and I was trembling, throbbing and aching for a release.
I reached for the elastic on my leggings, but Leo shook his head. “Let me.”
He walked, with purposeful, tortuously slow strides, to the foot of the bed, where he planted a knee and came onto the mattress, his skilled hands sliding under the hem of my sweater to find the elastic waistband.
It shouldn’t have been sexy. I felt exactly the opposite of attractive at the moment. But watching the lust in his eyes, the appreciation, as he stripped me out of my clothes made my breath hitch. His eyes appreciated every inch of my bare skin.
“Sit up.” Leo stretched out a hand to take mine, helping me up enough so he could push my sweater up and drag it over my head. Then with a quick flick, he unclasped my bra and tossed it to the floor.
“Lie back.”
I obeyed, my hair spilling around my shoulders.
Whatever insecurities I had about my pregnant body vanished under his rough touch as his fingers moved up my thighs.
This was the Leo I remembered—the lover. Not the asshole who’d yelled at me or the man who’d asked me to leave town. This was my Leo, the bossy, seductive man who was in complete control.
He showed more gentleness tonight than our time before. He kissed me deeper. He caressed and toyed, letting his hands explore with agonizing patience.
Maybe one day I’d stop comparing this to the time before. Maybe not. That night had been branded onto my memory.
Leo tore his lips from mine, letting them trail across my cheek to my ear. He took the lobe between his teeth, giving it a nip before dropping his mouth to my neck. He sucked, hard. He licked and kissed, and tomorrow I’d have a mark.
His hands came to my swollen breasts, cupping them in his hands as he shifted, sitting up and kneeling between my legs. The movement forced my thighs apart and exposed my center. It brought my belly between us.
We couldn’t ignore it. He couldn’t ignore it.
Leo stared at it, letting his hands glide over the curve. “I didn’t expect this.”
“Expect what?” The baby?
His hands came to my thighs. “You’re beautiful. So fucking beautiful, Cass. I have wanted this for so damn long.”
Before I could even make sense of those words, Leo positioned himself at my entrance. Then, bare, he slid deep.
“Oh, God.” My back arched and a mewl escaped my lips. The stretch, the sensitivity. This was definitely not like the time before. I was close to coming apart and we’d barely started.
“Fuck, you feel good, Firecracker.”
I relaxed into the pillow, loving the feel of Leo’s hands gripping my hips and tilting them to the right angle. His fingers dug in so hard, he might leave bruises.
That snapped me out of my haze and my eyes flew to his. “You’re hurt.”
He shook his head, pulled out and glided inside, this time going impossibly deep. “This is the best I’ve felt in months.”
A lock of blond hair fell forward as he moved with every measured stroke.
If he was in pain, he didn’t show it. There was nothing but desire and heat and ecstasy.
Pure ecstasy as he brought us together, thrust after thrust. There was just enough force behind his hips to make me gasp when the root of his cock brushed against my clit.
My breasts swayed, bouncing slightly with his rhythm. My hands fisted the comforter beneath my back. The build seemed to double each time Leo’s cock hit the right spot, until there was nothing I could do but surrender.
“Leo,” I cried as wave after wave crashed over me. White stars broke behind my eyes. My toes curled and my limbs trembled.
Pulse after pulse, he held on to me, not letting up until the aftershocks eased and I dared to open my eyes. This had to be a dream.
A fantasy. I soaked it in, watching in rapture as Leo fucked me. His tattoos were nearly colorless in the dark. With his unkempt hair and that sexy goatee, he was like my own personal devil, here to corrupt me and sweep me away.
He hissed as he moved, taking his lower lip between his teeth. Then his shoulders went taut, his hands gripped tighter, and he slammed into me once more, pouring his release inside as he came with a rumbled groan.
Neither of us moved as we regained our breaths. Leo dragged a hand through his hair, shoving the strands out of his face.
“That was . . .” He pulled out and collapsed by my side. Then he tossed an arm over my chest, hauling my back into his front. “Was I too rough?”
“No.” I sank into his embrace.
“Good.” He kissed my bare shoulder, and with me tucked into his arms, he fell asleep.
I fell soon after.
Maybe, despite my better judgment, I’d fallen months ago.