Chapter 27 Lee
TWENTY-SEVEN
LEE
“One more. This is a little one. It’s not even a book. It’s a booklet,” Bennie said, bargaining for a third story as she eyed the book in her hand.
“I think two is enough. Hopefully Stella can read to you tomorrow, and I feel like she’s easier to con.” I lifted the sheet until she scooted under the covers and kissed her forehead.
“What does con mean? Stella says if we read three stories, I have to go to bed a half hour earlier. We gotiate.”
“Negotiate.”
“Yeah, that’s it. Are you going to watch Stella sleep again? She didn’t look dizzy today.”
I shut my eyes briefly before I slipped the books back on Bennie’s shelf. It was a good question, one I didn’t know how to answer, both because I didn’t know how to explain it all to my daughter, and because I wasn’t sure what I was going to do tonight—or from now on.
We hadn’t had time to talk about last night or this morning after the surprise visit from Gary and her mother. Before that, I’d expected to be in her bed tonight or bring her into mine.
Although we lived separate lives in all different directions, I’d always known everything about Gary and Stella.
From their favorite foods to all the weird little quirks that only good friends can spot with each other, but there was something I didn’t know about Stella.
Something that made Gary and their mother beg me to be careful with her.
Was Zach the only one to hit her? Gary would have told me about other guys hurting her. Or at least I’d thought so before now.
I never wanted to rush Bennie at bedtime, but I needed to figure out why they’d both looked so concerned that Stella and I were together now, and I couldn’t wait even for just another booklet.
“Good night, baby girl.” I kissed her forehead. “We’ll see about that third story tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” she relented, settling on her side. “You should take care of Stella anyway. I’m not dizzy, so you don’t have to watch me sleep,” she said on a yawn.
“That’s right. You’ll sleep just fine,” I said, Bennie’s eyes already fluttering before they closed. “I’ll take care of Stella.”
Or I would, once I figured out what was going on.
“Did she talk you into a third book?” Stella asked, her lips tilted up when I came into the kitchen.
“No, although she sold it as a booklet,” I said. “Then she asked if I needed to watch you sleep again.” I wrapped my arms around her from behind, dropping kisses down her neck. She stopped rinsing the mug in her hand as she leaned back, a sweet moan falling from her lips.
“I guess I still could get dizzy. Maybe it’s a good idea not to sleep alone for a while.” She reached back to loop her arm around my neck and pull me closer.
“I totally agree, but I need to ask you something first.”
She scrunched her nose and turned around, leaning against the sink.
“You need to ask me something first?”
I nodded. “Your mother and your brother told me to be careful with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s because they both get a little too protective. Everything that happened with Zach only made it worse.”
“Maybe. And understandable. But is there something I don’t know?”
“What do you mean?” She squinted up at me.
“Did something happen that I don’t know about? Did another guy hurt you like Zach? I know they’ve always babied you a little, but this seemed more serious than that. You know you can tell me anything, right?”
She averted her gaze, her eyes darting around the kitchen before coming back to mine.
“No one else hit me, and Zach only hit me once. Nothing like that happened before. I promise.”
“But something happened.” I dipped my head until she met my gaze. “Something to make them concerned, even though it’s me. Granted, I can see how they could be a little weirded out, but—”
“Listen,” she said, grabbing my face. “I am fine. I’m the youngest and they both always think they need to look after me, but they don’t.
I’m very happy here with you.” She brought my face close to hers, brushing a light kiss on my lips, then another.
“I’m perfectly…” she whispered, dragging her lips down my throat, “totally…” she flicked her tongue along my collarbone, “fine.” She smiled up at me, her eyes full of heat and sin as she coasted her hand over my ass.
“You’re not dizzy?” I skimmed my finger along the V neck of her T-shirt.
“Nope,” she said, popping the p over my lips.
“Your head doesn’t hurt?” I palmed her breast over her shirt, tracing her nipple with my thumb as it pebbled under the cotton.
“Not even a little,” she said, shaking her head.
“Still, can never be too careful,” I said, gliding my hands down her hips and slapping her ass with a loud smack. Her eyes went wide as she yelped, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Get upstairs. My bed this time.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me as we climbed the stairs, taking two at a time until we got to the hallway. I gave my doorknob a slow turn so it wouldn’t creak and yanked Stella inside once it was open, locking the door the minute it shut behind us.
“I need that mouth,” I said before grabbing the back of her head and crushing my lips to hers. I swallowed her whimpers as we pulled at each other’s clothes, almost ripping Stella’s T-shirt in half as I dragged it over her head.
“Now where was I this morning…” I said, dropping to my knees, “before I got interrupted.” I hooked my thumb into the waistband of her yoga pants and dragged them down her legs, setting her hands on my shoulders as she stepped out of them one leg at a time.
“Lie back,” I growled, backing her up to the edge of the mattress until she fell back. She propped herself up on her elbows, holding my gaze while I slid her panties down her legs, lifting her feet off the floor to slip them off.
“Can I taste you, sweetheart?” I hooked her quivering leg over my shoulder.
“God yes,” she said, spreading her legs wide while I kissed up the inside of her thigh. She was wet and swollen and perfect, and once I tasted her, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop.
“So damn pretty,” I rasped before giving her pussy one long, greedy lick, still holding her gaze.
“Look at you shaking already. You want my mouth, Stell?”
“Yes, please. Lee, ah, right there…”
Her legs flailed while I devoured her, sucking her clit into my mouth as I slid two fingers inside, twisting and inching them out as my tongue explored every inch of her.
“Please, please don’t stop.” She grabbed the back of my head, bucking her hips against my face.
“You want to ride my face, baby?” I asked, licking my soaked lips. “Such a greedy girl.”
I dove back in, high on the sweetness drenching my tongue and the sexy grunts she made while trying to keep quiet. Her legs tightened, squeezing my cheeks as she fluttered in my mouth.
“That’s it. What a good girl.”
She dug her heels into my back, letting out a garbled moan as she rode out her release, coming on my face and dribbling down my chin.
“Now, I’m dizzy,” she said, falling back on my bed as her chest heaved.
I laughed, climbing over her.
“Then we’d better stay here for the rest of the night, just to be safe.”
She smiled, her eyes hooded as a blush crept down her cheeks and chest.
“Can breakfast count as taking me out and showing me off? We did have people over.”
I chuckled, inching higher on the bed and pulling her up with me.
“It can.” I smoothed the hair off her damp forehead, settling between her legs. “I didn’t want to rush you, and especially after this morning—”
She pressed a finger to my lips.
“Stop worrying about me. I am right where I’ve alw—right where I want to be. Don’t worry about my family, my head, or any jerk from my past. This is all that matters.” She clutched my face. “Us. Here.” Her face fell as her gaze broke from mine. “Unless you don’t want to—”
I cut her off with a kiss, still worried about what I didn’t know, but the primal need to be inside her quieted everything else not in this room and not Stella.
I reached over to my nightstand, rooting around until I found the pack of condoms in the back of the drawer.
Her face fell as her eyes flicked from mine to the foil packets in my hand.
“I didn’t…have anyone here. A few times on the road, but they didn’t mean—”
“I don’t need to know,” she said, shaking her head as she took the condom out of my hand. She ripped it open and held my gaze as she slid it on, my cock pulsing against her hand and matching the rhythm of the pure need coursing through my veins.
“Yeah?” I asked, easing inside her once she nodded. My eyes rolled back in my head at how fucking good she felt.
Sliding inside Stella was like coming home, a home I hadn’t thought existed for me. Her brother had told me to make sure I was all in, and I absolutely was. Beyond the point of no return or any kind of denial. And this was where I wanted to stay.
“You okay?” I asked her, sliding my arm under her waist to pull her close and sink even deeper.
“I am so much better than okay,” she said, scraping her nails down my back as she matched me thrust for thrust. Our mouths met in a sloppy, desperate kiss, and I was racing to the end much faster than I wanted to.
I tried to remember how many condoms I’d felt in the box to calculate how many times I could lose myself in Stella before the sun came up.
She clenched around me, biting my shoulder as her body shook. It was all I needed to finally let go, spilling everything I had inside her.
I collapsed onto the mattress, burrowing my head in the crook of her shoulder while I waited for my heart to stop hammering against my rib cage. A sheen of sweat broke out on my skin, my body trembling as my legs liquefied against my mattress.
I’d had lonely, detached sex over the past few years, as functional as it was forgettable. This wasn’t that. This was the type of spent you could only get by giving away your soul along with your body. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.
“Holy shit, Stell,” I whispered, pressing my forearm into the pillow to pull myself up. I chuckled until I spied the fat tears snaking down her flushed cheeks. “What’s wrong?” I whispered, cupping her face while I swiped my thumb back and forth to catch her tears. “I didn’t hurt you, did I, baby?”
“No,” she croaked out, shaking her head. “It… You… It was everything.” She sank her teeth into her quivering bottom lip. “I’ve just…waited a while to be here.” She brought her hand to the back of my head, grasping me as if she was trying not to drown. I was right there with her.
“Me too, sweetheart,” I said, tracing my finger along the curve of her jaw, still trembling under my touch as more tears fell. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’ve just never…” She swallowed. “It was…” She tucked her chin to her chest, gulping air.
“Fucking incredible. Let me count the condoms in the box to see how many more times we can be incredible tonight.” I winked, reaching over when she grabbed my hand.
“I’m on the pill. And after Zach, I was tested for everything and was negative, and there’s been no one since.”
“Me too. I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve…and I was tested and negative. No one since.”
“Once you have some recovery time, we don’t need anything. I don’t want anything between us.”
“Neither do I,” I said, kissing her cheek. “And just by that request, you cut my recovery time in half.”
My life was full of twists that seemed to come out of nowhere. Some great, some awful.
One of my best friends turning out to be the second love of my life was the best one yet.