Chapter 15 Home
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Vek
A month had passed since the night she held me together on her living room floor. My body healed quickly, faster than Riggs had expected, but Liv still watched me closely, as if she expected a crack to split me open if she blinked too long.
This morning, her kitchen was warm with sunlight and the smell of cooking eggs. She stood at the stove with her hair twisted up, a curl slipping down the side of her neck. I loved when that curl fell loose. I didn’t know why one small thing could matter so much, but it did.
June Bug darted around her ankles, tiny claws tapping on the tile.
She bumped my foot as if she meant to challenge it, then puffed herself up, proud for no reason I could see.
Boone sat beside my chair, giving me the look he only used when he’d decided he and I were choosing the same thing, no matter what Liv thought.
Liv turned, spatula in hand. When she saw me watching her, her smile spread slowly. “You’re staring.”
“I know,” I said. My voice came out rough. I didn’t mind.
She raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”
“No.” I swallowed. “Something… right.”
Her cheeks flushed, soft color rising under her skin.
She set a plate in front of me, brushing her fingers across mine on purpose.
That touch traveled down my spine. It had been a month without her body under mine, a month of her telling me to wait while I healed, and I had listened, but every part of me pulled toward her like it was instinct carved into bone.
I ate because she told me to. She sat across from me, our knees touching, and I had to steady my breath. When she shifted her chair closer, her sweet scent wrapped around me, and desire stirred sharp and sudden, like hunger I knew too well.
She took a sip of coffee like nothing had changed. “You’re quiet this morning.”
“I want you.”
She froze. Heat rose fast across her face. “Vek…”
“You said to wait,” I reminded her. “I waited.”
Her breath caught. She set her coffee down, her hands unsteady. “You… you’re healed enough?”
“Yes.” I kept my voice low. “And I want you.”
She looked at me as if the words touched her in places I couldn’t see. Her eyes darkened. “Finish your breakfast,” she whispered.
“No.” I pushed the plate aside.
Shaking her head, her breathless laugh hit me like a warm hand on my chest. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.” My chair creaked as I stood. She didn’t resist when I pulled her up by the arm and kissed her, groaning at the taste of her mouth.
The kitchen faded as her hands slid up my chest, her body fitting against mine in a way I had memorized in too many nights of wanting. One warm breath from her brushed my jaw, and whatever restraint I had left went thin—ready to snap.
“Bedroom?” she asked, voice soft and thick with need.
She wasn’t really asking.
“Now,” I said.
She gasped when I lifted her, her legs locking around my hips, her arms around my neck. Her mouth found the side of my throat, soft first, then hungry, and the sound she made against my skin dragged a growl from deep inside me.
Heartbeats later, I pushed the bedroom door open with my shoulder. Her hips shifted, tightening her hold. Her whole body pressed against me—warm with want—and the last bit of patience I’d kept for a month snapped clean.
Her back met the bed, but she didn’t let go—her fists curled in my shirt, dragging me down as if she needed me close.
Her mouth captured mine, a kiss full of everything we’d both been starving for.
Fire surged through me fast enough that I had to brace a hand beside her head to keep from giving her all my weight.
Her breath brushed my jaw. “I missed this.”
She didn’t need my answer. She felt it.
Hand sliding along her thigh, my fingers traced the inside where her skin grew hotter.
She opened for me without hesitation, her hips rising to meet my hand.
The sound she made hit deep in my chest, pulling a rough groan from me.
Too long. Too many nights on the edge of wanting her while she told me to rest, heal, wait.
I had waited. Now my whole body ached for her.
She reached for me with urgency, pulling me closer, hands slipping into my fur. “I want you,” she said again, voice trembling with need.
“I know,” I murmured against her throat, kissing my way down the warm line of her skin.
Her laugh was breathless as she tugged my shirt up. I pulled it over my head, barely feeling the faint tug in my healing ribs. When my skin met hers, she arched, tracing the lines of muscle like she needed to feel all of me.
“God,” she whispered, “you look good.”
“You.” I kissed her again, deeper. Her thighs tightened around my hips. My hand slipped beneath her shirt, her nipple hardening under my palm. She gasped and bit her lip, eyes heavy with desire.
“Take off,” I said, ready to tear the fabric apart if I had to.
Panting hard, she lifted her arms. I pulled her shirt over her head, slow enough to feel her shiver under the drag of fabric. When I tossed it aside, she flushed, chest rising fast. I lowered my mouth to her breast, and her head fell back with a sharp breath.
“Vek—”
Her voice alone almost broke what control I had left.
I kissed her again, traced her with my hands and mouth—every sound she made pulled me deeper. When I reached the band of her pants, she lifted her hips to help. Her panties followed, and when she lay bare beneath me, my cock went so hard it hurt.
Her scent hit me hard, making my mouth water. My thumb brushed between her thighs, testing how ready she was, pleased when I found her drenched for me.
With a growl, I lowered myself between her thighs and tasted her for the first time since the night everything changed. Her cry shot through me like fire along the spine. She tried to cover her mouth, but I pulled her hand away and held it beside her hip.
“Let me hear you.”
Her body trembled hard at the words, and she rolled toward my mouth, desperate for friction.
When I licked her again, focusing on the little bundle of nerves right above her entrance, she lost her breath entirely.
Her thighs tightened around my head, not enough to stop me—enough to show me what she wanted.
I slid my finger inside her and kept going until she was shaking, gasping, barely able to form my name.
“That—right there—God, don’t stop—”
When her body tightened around my finger, I worked her harder, loving how she fell apart for me. She came hard, voice breaking into a sound that made every nerve in me stand on edge.
When she softened, I lifted my head. She lay panting, eyes dark, wanting me again.
“Come here,” she whispered, reaching for me. “I want you inside me.”
With my cock was already painfully hard, I slid up her body, kissing every place I’d tasted. She pushed my pants down with shaking hands. When her fingers wrapped around my cock, my thoughts scattered.
“Liv…”
Heat and slickness pulled me closer as she guided me between her thighs. I pressed forward—slow enough for her to take me, not slow enough to keep my control from breaking.
The first inch made her gasp. The second dug her nails into my shoulders. When I sank fully into her, she let out a sound I’d never forget—want, relief, something like love.
“Vek…” She cupped my face, pulling me down until our foreheads touched. “Don’t hold back.”
That was all I needed.
I thrust into her, slow at first, letting her body adjust. She met every stroke, hips rising, breath catching each time I went deeper. Tension coiled low in me, building fast
“More,” she whispered.
I gave her more.
Her hands dragged down my back, her legs tightening around my hips. Her body clenched around me in pleasure, dragging me closer to the edge. When she whispered my name—voice cracking, full of wanting—I lost the last of my restraint.
When her release gripped her, she screamed my name, her body arching beneath mine. My name on her lips and the feel of her tightening around me dragged a groan from deep in my chest, and I followed, spilling into her with a force that shook my arms.
She held me through it—arms around my neck, legs locked around my hips, mouth against my cheek—while the world narrowed to heat and breath and her voice.
When the last tremor eased, she didn’t let me move.
“Stay,” she whispered against my skin.
Her breath warmed my throat. Her body softened beneath mine as the room grew quiet again. The house felt different—still, but not afraid. Outside, the ridge finally went still. Gunner had driven T-Bone off for good. No one was coming back up here looking for trouble. Not for her. Not for me.
Not anymore.
So I stayed. I always would.
THE END