Chapter 25
Cormac wanted to take Daniela back to the safe house but she’d wanted to come home instead.
It was closer to her work and she didn’t want her brother to get suspicious of her being gone more than a couple days.
She’d pointed out that being at her boyfriend’s for a weekend was one thing, but basically moving out was another.
Didn’t mean he had to like it.
Especially after everything he’d learned today.
By the time he heard her pull in and head through the mudroom, he still wasn’t sure how to bring up what he knew about their moms. He heard her set the alarm from the hallway.
When he saw her expression, he shelved all those thoughts about the past and their moms. He knew she’d had a long day and would want to tell him about her meeting with Special Agent Lee—he wanted to know everything they’d talked about too.
She’d already taken off her coat and heels when she stepped into the kitchen. “Hey, how was your day?” she murmured, picking up the water he’d put out for her. “And thank you,” she added, nodding to the glass.
His day had been complicated but he held off. “You hungry? I brought over some of the frozen casseroles. I could put one in the oven. Enchiladas or pot pie?”
“Pot pie actually sounds amazing.” She leaned against the countertop, her dark hair pulled up into a twist she’d secured with one of those big hair clips she kept all over the house. “So Grace Lee really is a Fed?” He couldn’t read her expression, or whether that was a good or bad thing.
“Yeah, she’s legit.” He’d looked at the image from the security feed she’d sent him earlier. The woman was Lee.
Sighing, Dani set her glass down and walked toward him. He wanted to open his arms to her, pull her close and bury his face in her neck. “You never told me how your day was. Are you avoiding the question?” There was a playful note in her tone he recognized.
But…no. He couldn’t be right about that. She was giving him what he thought of as the look. As in, the one when she wanted to get naked.
“Today was illuminating,” he said.
She snickered. “Illuminating?”
“It was weird.” He liked how relaxed she was at the moment, didn’t want to watch her expression change when he brought up their dead moms. Maybe it made him an asshole, but he was going to wait until after dinner.
Or until tomorrow. There really wasn’t a good time but he wasn’t going to spring it on her now when she was watching him like she might want to see him naked.
“Good weird?” She stood in front of him now, her dark eyes hot and hungry.
As he looked down at her, all his muscles pulled tight, straining to break the chains.
“What’s going on?” he whispered, his gaze landing on her mouth. He’d never had to ask in the past, had always known where he stood with her. But everything was different now.
Except the achingly familiar way she watched him.
He’d missed kissing her, missed holding her, missed the way she looked at him with that soft expression when she woke up in the morning.
“I’m mentally done. With everything.” She laid a gentle hand on his chest.
It seared through his shirt, scorched his skin. He covered her hand with his own, pressed it to his pounding heart and held on. “Daniela.” Her name tore from his throat.
“Don’t Daniela me,” she whispered.
“I don’t want you to regret this.” But he was already clutching her hip with his other hand, his entire body tightening in anticipation of getting to taste her again. He didn’t want to let her go.
“Maybe we simply won’t worry about the future?” Her eyes trailed to his mouth.
He tugged her flush against him so he could feel every curve and she could feel exactly what she did to him. He couldn’t find the words to respond anyway.
She swallowed hard, leaning into him. Making the ache between his legs so much worse. “Maybe we can pretend we’re two different people without any baggage?”
“I’m not pretending you’re anyone but you,” he growled before claiming her mouth.
She groaned, plastering herself against him as he teased his tongue against hers. She tasted like sweet chocolate.
She always had them in her purse, usually ate one on the way home. And his chest constricted at the knowledge that some things hadn’t changed, that he still knew secrets about her.
Daniela, the woman he’d never gotten over. He didn’t think it was possible to get over her, no matter how many times he’d tried to order his brain to just move on. As if it was that simple.
She clutched his shoulders as he slid his hand through her hair, cupped the back of her head. If he could, he’d kiss her all night, but it was clear that she needed to forget everything for a while.
That was one thing he could help with.
He hoisted her up, holding her ass as she wrapped her legs around him.
They weren’t making it upstairs but her living room would do. “Any time you want to stop,” he murmured against her mouth, “we stop.”
She nipped his bottom lip. “Same.”
He snorted out a laugh at the unexpected response. Because there was no way he’d ever want to stop with her.
She grinned at his laugh, nipped him again as he stretched her out on the couch.
Before he could reach for her top she started unbuttoning it, her eyes pinned on his as she undid button after button.
He stared for a long moment, mesmerized at the sight of her as she slowly peeled open her top, revealing the soft mounds of her breasts. He might have said something or managed a sound, but he wasn’t sure as he claimed her mouth again.
“You swear you’re not going to regret this,” he growled. He didn’t think he could take that.
“You’re talking too much,” she rasped out as she tugged at his shirt.
He helped her get it off, not looking where he tossed it. When he’d arrived earlier he’d started the electric fire in her living room and it created the perfect atmosphere.
The shadows from the faux fire played off her curves as he finished undressing her. His fingers trembled as he grazed her skin, the sensation of being with her again like this… Fuck.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured against her mouth before sitting back on the couch, pulling her onto his lap so she straddled him.
He was keeping his pants on until it was his turn. Because right now was all about her.
He wanted to stretch her out, to go down on her, but first he wanted to work her up. As they kissed, he slid his hand between her legs, cupped her mound.
She let out a soft moan as he slid his finger through her slick folds, teasing her. He couldn’t hide his own groan as she rolled her hips against his hand and fingers. She was so wet. So responsive to his touch.
He’d missed her so much.
As he teased her, began rubbing her clit with the heel of his palm, it was like they slipped back in time. It felt like the way things had been before, so real, and oh hell, the sounds she was making went straight to his cock.
He rolled his hips upward, not caring that he might embarrass himself. The way she worked against his hand told him she would be coming soon.
As she pulled back from him, he immediately felt the loss of her mouth on his. But as she let her head fall back, he released her hair clip, threaded his fingers through it. And felt as if he might be in actual heaven as she started riding his hand, her inner walls tightening around his fingers.
Wishing he could taste all of her or had more hands, he sucked a nipple into his mouth with a tight, erotic pull and increased the tempo on her clit.
She jerked against him, crying out as she let go, her climax riding her hard as she came with shudder after shudder.
He held her as she rocked against him, feeling an irrational sense of triumph as she finally opened her eyes, stared down at him with pure satisfaction.
Holding her gaze, he withdrew his hand and sucked on two of his fingers as she watched him, her eyes sparking with heat.
“Love your taste.” He loved everything about her. Though he couldn’t say the words now, knew that would only create more walls between them. He wasn’t even sure if she’d want him after tonight, if she’d shut him out again. No way would he risk pushing her away.
Reaching between their bodies, she ran her palm over his trapped erection.
He sucked in a breath, clasped her wrist. “Daniela—”
“I swear to god if you say something stupid about how tonight should be about just me—”
He kissed her again, because he had been about to say that. And screw it, he wanted her more than his next breath. They had no idea where the future was headed and she was into him.
He wasn’t noble enough to walk away.
Not from her.
Never from her.
It didn’t take long for him to strip off the rest of his clothes. Once he was naked too, he picked her up and laid her down on the soft rug in front of the fire.
“I’m still on the pill,” she murmured against his mouth.
He had condoms upstairs in his bag, but if she was on the pill…
“I haven’t been with anyone since you.” Speaking softly, he nipped her bottom lip.
He could have just told her that he was clean, but…
he wanted her to know he hadn’t moved on, for reasons he wasn’t sure he could put into words. “I’m clean.”
She stilled underneath him, watching him as she wrapped her fingers around his erection, stroked once, twice, then spread her thighs as he guided himself inside her.
He hissed as he thrust into her, captured her mouth as she let out another groan that went straight to his cock. Her sounds alone were enough to get him off.
They found their rhythm in moments. A familiar dance they’d done countless times. But this one was different. More intense as she clutched onto him.
As if she was afraid he’d leave. Or more likely, afraid this moment would be over too soon. He felt it too, time slipping away from them as the pleasure spread up in his spine.
He tried to hold back. But when she dug her fingers into his skin and cried out his name as she started climaxing again, he let go.
The orgasm hit him hard, pleasure surging out to all his nerve endings as he rode wave after wave.
They clung to each other in the aftermath. Unwilling to let go. For this to end.
He scooped her up, left their clothes where they were and carried her upstairs. He wanted more time with her, just to hold her.
“We should probably eat,” she murmured against his chest, a laugh in her voice.
“I’ll start the pot pie soon.” But he knew she’d want to shower—after he held her for a little while.
He just hoped she didn’t regret this. God, he couldn’t handle that. Not now, not after everything. He wasn’t sure if she was actually giving him a second chance or if this was a one-off, but he was going to do everything in his power to remind her how good they could be together.
She snickered. “If we’d been better planners, we could have had hot pot pie waiting for us after sex.”
“I’ll remember that for next time,” he said as they reached her room.
“You’d better.”
Her words made his heart go still for just a moment. Just maybe, this hadn’t been a one-off. Even though his instinct was to push for more, he knew that would be monumentally stupid. So he kept all his feelings for her buried.
Soon enough they’d have to figure things out—and he’d have to tell her about their mothers—but that could wait a couple more hours.