Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Gabe
“ I f I get any closer to you, I’ll literally be in your lap.”
Molly gives me an amused look as I hook an ankle around her chair and slide it closer to me for, conservatively, the third time since we sat down at the kitchen table ten minutes ago. Halved muffins and iced peppermint mochas are spread between us. Molly’s hair is wild, just the way I like it. Her bracelet stack is back on her wrist, and the cheerful jingle fills the kitchen. She’s wearing sleep shorts and an oversized shirt that hangs off one shoulder, and I lean in and press a kiss to the exposed skin. She looks sleep mussed and gorgeous, and I can’t stop staring at her. Touching her. Reminding myself that she’s here and she’s mine.
“That sounds great; let’s do that.”
I grab Molly around the waist and pull her to me, settling her sideways on my lap. Reaching behind her, I get her coffee and hand it to her before wrapping my arms around her waist. I bury my face in her neck and breathe her in, and when I pull away, her face is painted in understanding, eyes full of love.
“I’m not going anywhere, Gabe—I swear. I’m sorry I’ve been so distant this last week. I got in my head, and I couldn’t pull myself out of it.”
I smile, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “I know, baby, and it’s okay. You went through something terrible. All of you did. And you still are. I don’t need you to smile and be happy when you aren’t. You don’t ever have to put on an act for me. All I need is for you to be here. Tell me how you feel, the good and the bad. Lean on me. Fall if you need to. I’ll catch you.”
Molly brings her forehead to mine, closing her eyes. For a minute we share a breath, just exist in this stolen little slice of morning together. I’m so fucking grateful for it.
“Maybe we should stay here forever, just like this. Who needs jobs and the outside world anyway? Out there is where everything goes to shit. It feels good in here with you.”
My chest clenches a little at the edge of pain in her voice that I know will be there for the time being while she works through Allie’s death. I wish I could take it away, but I also know the only way out is through. I draw circles on her hips with my thumbs as I study her face.
“I will always hide away with you. Be your safe place to land when you feel like being quiet. And watch you shine when you feel like being loud. You are so many different things, Rory, and I love watching you be all of them.”
“You’re a good guy, Gabriel Sullivan. The best.”
Molly leans back against me then, resting her head on my shoulder. I can tell she has something else she wants to say, and I wait her out, propping my chin on her shoulder until she’s ready.
“I want to sell my house.”
I chuckle, because it’s so out of left field.
“This house?”
She sits up and spins on my lap so she can look at me. “I mean, I’ve only got the one. I don’t think I need it anymore.”
I grin at her. “And why’s that?”
“Oh, you know, there’s this other place I’ve been living for a while. Big house, with a comfortable couch and a kitchen that has all my favorite snacks, and the biggest bed I’ve ever seen, and all kinds of memories from some of the best years of my life. And there’s a guy who lives there who I’ve gotten pretty attached to. Super hot, reads comic books, wears glasses that make me weak in the knees, absolute killer in the kitchen, and fucks like a dream.”
I snort out a laugh and get immediately hard. Molly notices and grins wickedly, shifting on my lap so her ass rubs against my cock. I tighten my hands on her hips and she tips her head back so her mouth is against my ear.
“I love it when he bosses me around and calls me his good little slut. Makes me wet just thinking about it. And he calls himself my fiancé, too, although that’s just for show.”
I growl, dipping my head to kiss her neck and suck lightly on her skin. She whimpers, shifting on my lap again. “For now. It’s just for show for now.”
“You planning to make me your fiancée for real, Gabe? Going to wife me up?”
I slide a hand around to the front of her sleep shorts, toying with the waistband, relishing in the flex of her stomach muscles. Her sharp intake of breath.
“Oh, I’ll wife you up so hard, Rory baby, and you’ll love every fucking second of it. In the meantime, there’s nothing about this that isn’t real.”
In one move, I push my hand underneath the waistband of her shorts and underwear, tracing a finger along her slit, finding her already hot and wet for me.
“Shit, Gabe,” Molly gasps, as I collect her wetness and use it to circle her clit. She presses against me, her back to my chest, and lifts her hips to meet my fingers. I drop my head, licking a path from her neck to her ear, sucking on the sensitive skin behind it in a way that I know drives her wild.
“That’s right, baby,” I rasp into her ear. “Show me how much you want me. Ride my hand until you come all over it, and then I’ll lick my fingers clean.”
I slide a finger inside of her and her core immediately tenses, gripping my fingers as I grind my palm against her clit.
“Fuck,” she moans. “I’ll never get enough of you. No one has ever touched me the way you do.”
“Fucking right, they haven’t.” I pull my finger out and dip back in with a second, fucking her with them both, curling them deep and loving the groan that tears from Molly’s throat. “No one can touch you like I do. Fuck you like I do. Love you like I do. You’re mine. My needy little slut. My fucking queen. My everything. Come for me, Rory. Say my name when you do.”
I slide my free hand up and palm her breast, rolling a pebbled nipple between my fingers at the same time as I grind down hard on her clit and Molly detonates, coming on a long, low moan that ends on my whimpered name, her hips rising and falling against my hand and she rides herself through her orgasm.
“Jesus,” she pants, as she collapses back against me. “That was unexpected.”
“Was it?” I ask, pulling my hand out of her shorts and spinning her around so she’s facing me. “There’s never a time I don’t want you, Rory. It’s a permanent state of being.”
I stick my fingers into my mouth, sucking her arousal from my skin and groaning as the taste of her explodes on my tongue. I smirk at her when I pull my fingers out of my mouth, loving the way her eyes flash with heat. “You taste delicious in the morning.”
Tangling a hand in her hair, I bring my mouth to hers, immediately sliding our tongues together so she can taste herself on me. I know by the way she moans into my mouth and wraps her arms around my neck, tipping her head back to deepen the kiss, that she gets off on it, and that makes my cock pulse and twitch in my pants.
“Looks like I need to take care of that,” Molly says, smiling against my mouth. “It’s almost like finger fucking me in the kitchen and talking about living together forever and wifing me up turns you on.”
I groan against her lips. “You have no idea how much it turns me on. But that’ll have to wait for later.”
She pulls back. “Why? Nothing is happening today. We closed the office for the week. I have all the time in the world to get on my knees for you. I can do it right here. I don’t know what it is about a kitchen, but right now, it’s making me all hot and bothered.”
I close my eyes and pray for the control not to shove her to her knees right now and fuck her throat. The visual flashes through my brain, and the glint in her eyes makes me regret all my life choices. “Fuck,” I mutter. “You have no idea how much I want that, but we’re about to have company.”
Molly narrows her eyes at me. “What company?”
“Your friends. Emma, Julie, and Hallie all texted me last night. They texted me so many times they just ended up creating a group text. Group texts with your friends are interesting places to be.”
Molly snorts out a laugh. “You should see the one that’s just the four of us. You should feel honored. They don’t group text with just anyone.”
“They were worried about you. I told them I was here, and you were okay, but I don’t think they’ll be satisfied until they see you for themselves and honestly, I think you need to see them too. They love you so much, Rory. They love you exactly the way you are, just like I do, and I think maybe you need that reminder too. If I did the wrong thing telling them to come over, I’ll head them off, but I think you all need each other this morning.”
Molly smiles and leans forward, wrapping her arms around my neck. “You didn’t do the wrong thing,” she murmurs.
“Nailed it,” I say into her ear.
She laughs and pulls back. “It’ll be good to see them and talk to them. And you know, they’re your friends too.”
“What do you mean?”
“You called them my friends. But they’re your friends too. You’re one of us now, and once you’re part of this insanity, there’s no getting away. Welcome to chaos, Gabe; we’re happy to have you.”
I grin and kiss her nose. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“So, when is chaos invading my house?”
I glance at the clock on the stove and wince. “In, like, eight minutes.”
Molly kisses me and then climbs off my lap. “I better put on some actual clothes then. But hey, we can do the whole on my knees in the kitchen thing later. I’ll even let you call me your wife, just for fun.”
“Rory,” I groan, palming my rock-hard dick over my sweatpants to try and get it to calm the fuck down.
Molly just grins at me, calling, “I’ll take care of that later,” over her shoulder.
“Counting the minutes,” I yell back, loving the sound of her laugh and she runs up the stairs.