Chapter 21
Raph
Istared into my empty refrigerator, hair still damp from the shower, trying to come up with something I could feed Lia when she got out. We needed post-sex fuel.
I was out of the house a lot and kept little on hand. I blew out a defeated breath, then inspiration dawned.
Back when Kendall and I lived together, his standby for an empty pantry was pancakes. I pulled out what I needed along with some fresh fruit.
I had just poured the last of the batter onto the griddle when Lia appeared on the staircase in my robe. My heart stuttered in my chest seeing her in my house, relaxed and comfortable. She made it feel like a home instead of a house I inherited and barely visited.
”Something smells delicious!” She took a seat at the breakfast bar near where I worked.
”There”s some fruit here, and I think I have a can of whipped cream in the fridge if you”d like.”
”Oh, I”d like.”
When she passed me on the way to the fridge, she planted a quick peck on my cheek, and the corners of my mouth turned up.
We ate our late-night breakfast with light conversation and stupid-looking smiles. I fed her berries, and she kissed whipped cream from my mouth. We cleaned up together before we headed up to bed. My shoulders were loose and my mind was clear. I could get used to this.
In bed, we fit together like two pieces of the same puzzle. Her warm, soft skin lulled me. I had her tucked tight against me and sleep claimed me with no issue.
In the morning, her butt was still against me. I took in the curves of her little frame. Her waist dipped deeply as she lay on her side, her belly expanding with each sleeping breath. I could watch her for hours.
I rolled away from Lia, careful not to disturb her, and picked up my phone from the nightstand to fire off a couple emails and clear my schedule. I had promised her a day together, and I intended to deliver. No stopping to work, no putting off our happiness for other people. She deserved my full attention.
Her boss was the last one I emailed. I told him I needed her out of state, and she would be unable to work.
We needed this day together. All the time we had so far that wasn”t consumed with work was eaten up by rampant sexual desire. And while that was still very much on my mind, I didn”t want her to think I was only interested in her body. There was a lot more to us, and we both knew it.
Our past had tied us together. Even though we met just the one time, it had a profound impact. And Lia”s presence in my life now felt equally profound. She was tilting my world on its axis, making me question what I thought was important.
For the first time, work took a backseat to a bone-deep need to bond with another person. And I didn”t hate it.
I crept out of bed, got dressed, then went back into the bedroom to discover that Lia wasn”t in bed anymore. She walked out of the bathroom, still completely naked. Although I just saw her, I wasn”t prepared for the way her beauty hit me square in the chest. I reached a hand up over my pounding heart.
A few wispy pieces of her hair had escaped the topknot, and her body was tight from rest. My cock stirred at the sight of her in the nude, framed by the light in the doorway. She looked like a goddamned angel, ready to destroy my life and piece it back together. I cleared my throat and met her eyes.
”I was going to ask if you”d like to have breakfast with me again.”
Lia walked the short distance to me, shaking her head with a playful smile. She pulled me down for a kiss. She tasted minty, and I savored the softness of her lips. She whispered against my mouth.
”I”m not putting on any clothes, and I”ll be taking yours off any minute.”
True to her word, she reached under my shirt and tugged it up over my head. Then she backed me up against the bed.
And I caved.
Lia ran her hands all over me like she was memorizing my body. She got to know the dusting of hair on my chest, the indents of my collarbones, the faint outline of my abs. Her hands swept over every inch. It made me want to do some exploring of my own.
I played with the plump bottoms of her breasts, brushed my hands over her waist, hips and ass. I skimmed her folds, barely disturbing them, but revealing wetness. She whimpered and caressed my cock, fingers dancing feather light over the velvety skin. The touch made me dizzy, so I shut my eyes.
I rolled on top of her, nudging her thighs open with my knee. I stayed there like that, pressed against her but not entering. We writhed and squirmed and ground into each other. She squeezed my ass, I bit her lip; she scratched my back, I teased her opening with the head of my cock. I don”t know how long we stayed in that bubble, but eventually we got there with my head between her legs.
Hearing my name come out of her mouth with wild abandon felt like a precious gift. Like it was something she didn”t share with just anyone. This woman who brought a tray of coffee into my meeting with her big, tough, talentless, jerk-off boss. The timid, quiet girl up a tree away from all the people. She opened up just for me. My heart squeezed in my chest. Lia was so damn special.
With Lia, I was at ease. I wasn”t trying to outlive a judgement someone else forced upon me. I wasn”t a statistic in the foster system, I wasn”t living in Geoff”s shadow; I was just Raphael.
I didn”t need to impress her. She was already impressed. She liked me for who I was.
I never felt this way with anyone, except the young girl I met right before I left. I was realigned. It was liberating, scary, and so wonderful. I was drunk on Lia Hall. I looked up at her from my spot between her thighs.
”What if I told you I got you a free pass to play hooky from work, and that the whole day was ours?”
She hummed low in her throat. ”I think I love the sound of that.”
I sat up and seated myself behind her. She wiggled down until I could feel her slickness against me, but I bit back the urge to slide into that delicious heat. There were things I wanted with her that went beyond sexual chemistry. I gently cleared my throat and stroked the pad of my thumb up and down her arm.
”Having you come back into my life feels kind of like destiny.” I punctuated the words with a light kiss on her neck. ”I was lost when I found you hiding out. Finding you made me take action instead of dreaming about it day in and day out. And those actions brought me back to you.”
Lia rolled onto her stomach so she could look at me while I talked. I propped my head up with my hand. Being shrouded in the peace Lia brought to my life gave me the impulse to purge some of my soul, like a payment.
”What were you so eager to get away from?”
Her words were soft, careful, casual. I swallowed thickly, memories of my youth scratching their way out of where I kept them contained.
”I don”t know the whole story myself. My mother was a drug addict and left me at a church. I was a miserable little kid, a number in the foster system. I had a lot of trial families. The higher that trial number climbed, the worse my behavior got. After so long, I checked out. I didn”t like my situation or myself. Starting fresh was the only way.”
”So you left.”
I nodded and laid a tender kiss to her lips. ”You were so beautiful, but your eyes were so sad. You looked how I felt, and it made me realize I needed to make a change. I got to New York and met a man named Geoff. He taught me everything he knew and made me into the man I am today. But it was you, up in that tree, with those big, sad, innocent eyes…”
I kissed her again and kept kissing her. I couldn”t stop. My head spun and time stopped and blood rushed in my ears. Desire and need and love mingled and caught in my throat, pricking poignantly at the backs of my eyes.
”That day changed my life, too. I never forgot you. Obviously. And I thought you were so… Well, I”d think about you… sometimes.”
Lia”s cheeks grew pink with her admission. How much had she thought of me, and in what ways? It was a long time ago, but I still remembered my teens, what that had been like. I growled and pulled Lia onto my lap.
”Have I lived up to your expectations?” I let my fingers circle one rosy nipple while I waited for her answer.
”You exceeded any expectation I”ve ever had. I mean, you were always great. But you”re just… wow.”
I plunged inside her, and she cried out, her head dropping back. I wanted Lia and this moment to last forever.
The way her pupils blew out when she came. I was falling hard and couldn”t stop. I came inside her, watching her eyes mirror my passion. I loved her. She was always a part of me.
I wanted to say it, but couldn”t make the words come. We were on borrowed time, and I couldn”t bear to give any of it back. I wanted this last day with her, at the very least.
”So, how about some breakfast?”