Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Lion could read the debate happening on Kate’s face as she stood before him, dressed in nothing but a T-shirt.
His T-shirt.
One he must have left at her apartment before he ended things with her. She’d kept it all these years, and from how faded and rumpled it was, it was clear that she used it. Frequently.
Even when she hated him, she’d still found comfort from him.
Craved him in some way she probably didn't understand or like. More than that, she’d just told him that not only was she still attracted to him, but that she had accepted his place in Ariella’s life, and she wasn't angry with him anymore and would be able to forgive him.
That was a whole hell of a lot more than he’d ever considered.
Ever dared to hope for.
Taking a tentative step closer, Kate’s wide blue eyes were still hesitant, still uncertain, but it was like her body was being drawn to his by some pull of the universe neither of them could fight against. He sure as hell couldn’t.
He wanted this woman more than he wanted his next breath. Wanted to taste every inch of her, drive her wild, and hear her scream his name. Wanted to be buried so deep inside her she could never forget him, never doubt how deep his love for her ran.
“I think I want … you,” she whispered, her voice husky, and he would have sworn he’d just developed Dragon’s sense of smell because he was sure he could smell her arousal.
Grasping her chin between his thumb and forefinger, he pinched just hard enough to make her gasp, and her pupils widened. “Need you to be more specific than that, Katie-Bear.”
He was the one who had ruined their love, broken them up before they even really got a chance to get their relationship going.
He’d been cruel, even if he’d thought he was doing what was best for both her and their then-unborn child.
There was no way he was pushing her now into anything she didn't want.
Reaching between them, her fingers brushed against the bulge in his sweatpants, making his already achingly hard length jerk. “This,” she whispered.
Dragging his thumb along her bottom lip, tracing the same line her tongue had made earlier, he searched her gaze for certainty. The last thing he wanted was for her to regret this in the morning. “You sure?”
“I came looking for you, didn't I?”
“But you also said you didn't know what you wanted.”
“Maybe … I'm just scared to admit how badly I do want you.”
“Never want you to be scared of me again, Katie-Bear. I will never hurt you again. I'd rather cut out my own heart.”
Her brows arched, then her forehead furrowed, searching his gaze the same way he’d searched hers. “I think … I believe that.”
The way she said the words made it sound like a weight had just lifted off her shoulders, and he knew that she was sure about this, even if she wasn't sure she could ever take him back as a partner.
That, however, was a worry for the morning.
Now he trailed his hands down her shoulders, brushing across her breasts, which were bigger, fuller than he remembered.
Pregnancy must have changed them. Kate moaned when he pressed his palms to her nipples, feeling them pebble beneath him.
Although she thrust her chest forward, he didn't linger, letting his hands drop further until they gripped her hips. Bare skin met his touch, and he couldn’t resist dragging a single finger across her center where she was already wet for him.
“Naked beneath my T-shirt, Katie-Bear,” he murmured.
Cheeks pinking with a pretty blush, that tongue of hers did its thing, sweeping across her bottom lip. “Oh, uh, yeah, I kept your old T-shirt. I didn't think you'd recognize it.”
“Thought I said to stop doing this.” Lion leaned in and nipped at her bottom lip, hard enough to make her gasp and then moan, but not enough to break the skin.
“Can't help it. You drive me wild. I forgot what this felt like.”
“Me too, Katie-Bear, me too.”
Unable to wait a second longer, he lifted her up, and she immediately wrapped her legs around his hips, putting her wet and bare center right over his throbbing erection.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he headed down the hall instead of to either of the bedrooms they’d been using.
“My room.” Maybe it was a little caveman of him, but he knew Kate wasn't certain about what their future held as a couple, and if this was going to be the only time he got to have her, it was going to be in his room, in his bed.
“What if Ariella needs us?”
“Blade will hear her if she calls out.”
“Oh, I'm not used to you guys and your … magic powers.”
“Not magic, babe,” he reminded her, although he could see how to someone new to the whole situation it felt like it.
“How well can you see?” she asked curiously as he carried her upstairs.
“I can see your pulse thumping wildly in your neck, I can see each flare of arousal in your eyes, I can see each beat of your heart.”
“Even through the T-shirt?”
“Even through the T-shirt.”
“That’s … amazing,” she whispered.
“Sometimes,” he agreed. But sometimes he wished he’d never signed up for that program and he was just a regular special forces operator. That way, he wouldn't have missed out on a decade with his girls.
When he reached his room, he didn't waste any time. Setting Kate on her feet before him, he shoved his sweatpants down his legs, stepped out of them, then reached for the hem of Kate’s T-shirt.
Her hands covered his, stopping him before he could pull it over her head. “I want this back,” she warned him, and he loved more than he could express that she was so attached to an old T-shirt of his.
“It’s yours,” he assured her. “In fact, I have a whole wardrobe full of T-shirts. You can have as many of them as you want.”
“You probably shouldn’t make that offer unless you want to be stuck walking around permanently shirtless.”
Lion chuckled, then grasped her hands, lifting them and touching a kiss to each of her knuckles. “Everything I have is yours, Katie-Bear. I'm yours.”
Her expression softened at the words, and her smile was warm, gaze heavy-lidded as he once again reached for the hem of the T-shirt and pulled it up and over her head.
Those perfect breasts of hers filled his hands, and he tweaked her nipples, reading every micro-expression so he could memorize everything she liked.
A decade had passed since he last touched her, and that was a long time for someone’s tastes and needs to change.
“Feels so good,” she murmured, her hips subconsciously rocking as they sought the same treatment.
“Not sure I'm going to last long this first time, Katie-Bear,” he warned. It had been too long, and he wanted her too badly.
“Don’t want long, just want you inside me.”
Lifting her, he carried her to his bed. “Think you’d better take a nap with Ariella today.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm going to have you screaming with pleasure until the sun rises.”
With that, he set her down on the bed, flipping her onto her stomach, then climbing onto the mattress behind her.
“Missed you so much,” he whispered as he grasped her hips and lifted them. His fingers found her bud, and he worked it, wanting her mindless with pleasure by the time he slipped inside her.
“I … missed you too. Even when I hated you, I missed the version of you I'd fallen in love with, not the one who had so callously dumped me.”
“My biggest regret.”
“No regrets here tonight, Leo. Just me and you.”
“Me and you,” he repeated, teasing her entrance as he continued to play with her bundle of nerves.
Shutting out everything else, he focused only on the pleasure he wanted to bring his girl. It wasn't long before she was writhing beneath him, her hips rocking against his hand as he worked her closer to release.
When he knew she was right on the precipice, he lined himself up and slid inside her in a single thrust. Kate cried out, her back arching against him, as he never let up on his attention to her bud.
“Feels so good, so full,” Kate said, her voice all breathy.
“Perfect,” he agreed as he pulled her up so her back was plastered to his front. One of his hands kept working her bundle of nerves, while his other moved to her breasts, tweaking and rolling those perfect, hard nipples.
Angling each thrust so he bumped his tip against that spot inside her he knew could make her see stars, it wasn't even a full minute before he felt her internal muscles begin to quiver around him.
Not coming before his girl did, he pressed his thumb harder against her bud, pinched one of her nipples, and touched his lips to the pulse point in her neck, sucking hard, and that did it.
“Leo!” Kate screamed his name as her orgasm crashed over her, and it was impossible to hold back his own pleasure any longer.
It flooded through his system with a power that stole his breath, but his fingers never stopped touching his girl, his lips never left her neck, prolonging her pleasure for as long as he possibly could.
Head tipped back, resting against his shoulder, breathing uneven, Kate tilted her face sideways so she could look at him. That sated, content smile on her face was everything. Her brow furrowed slightly, and recrimination edged in.
“We didn't use a condom,” she said. “I got caught up in the moment. Forgot.”
“I'm clean,” he assured her.
“Me too. But … I'm not on birth control. Haven’t been with anyone since you so it was never needed.”
“Love that you haven’t been with anyone else, Katie-Bear.
For the record, I haven’t either. We should have used protection, and we will next time, but …
” Both his hands shifted until they rested on her stomach, stroking her petal-soft skin.
“But if I ever earn your trust back enough to get another chance, I want more kids. Lots of them. Would love to see this stomach swollen with my baby growing inside you.”
March 16th
5:34 A.M.
She was being a coward.