Chapter 29
Twenty-nine
Corey
The way he kisses me says ‘hello’, and ‘safe’, and ‘mine’. Its possession and protection, and I could cry at how good it feels.
He presses forward more firmly, claiming my mouth, pushing his hot, thick tongue into my mouth with determination that leaves me breathless.
He swirls it with mine, and I can taste nothing but him.
His kiss consumes me, and I wrap my arms around his neck while he pulls me even closer to him, my hardening dick rubbing against his strong torso.
I go pliant in his arms, and it’s far too easy to imagine being swept away by his passion for the rest of my life.
Nash holds me to him as though he’s afraid I’ll disappear, and when I squeeze my thighs tighter around him, a growl escapes him.
The sound alone is enough to make my cock pulse, dangerously close to exploding.
Nash seems to sense this, and he slows our kiss before taking a subtle step away, preventing me from getting the friction I need.
“Not here,” he rasps, lust and need roughening his voice. I did that. The thought is intoxicating, and I wonder how else I could drag a reaction from him?
I whine in protest, and he silences me with another press of his lips to mine. He steps away before I can lean into it, though, and I pout.
“Behave, little rabbit,” he growls. “We need to go and get your stuff and bring it over.”
The thought of being caught taking things further only to be set upon by Nash’s brothers is enough to quell my lust, and after a few more moments, my cock is once again under control.
“Nancy’s sleeping over at Aidan’s tonight. Stay with me?” Nash asks.
I smile up at him, finding it hard to believe that we’re here.
It’s the easiest ‘yes’ I’ve ever given.
***
When the last box of art supplies has been stacked in the studio, Nash and I return to the flat and start organising my room.
We make the bed with the new duvet set Andrew gifted me before I left.
It’s a deep forest-green, light cotton set that feels as soft as butter.
We unpacked my clothes – Nash grinning wickedly when he found his well-worn hoodie – and I set my few toiletries on one shelf of the bathroom cabinet.
We head to the kitchen to help unpack in there, but when we find Emma alone, he presses a delicate kiss to the side of my neck before leaving the room to find his brothers.
We can hear them being loudly instructed on where to place Emma’s bedroom furniture by a high-pitched child, and I smile at how comfortable Nancy is with her new family.
“I saw that,” Emma says, a knowing gleam in her eye.
I swear this woman is a witch. She had her back to us when we walked in.
How could she possibly have seen? My thoughts are interrupted when I look over and see her waving at me in the reflection of the window.
The angle of the sun as it moves lower in the sky has made the windows like mirrors.
“Yeah, um. OK. About that,” I start, feeling bad about abandoning her on our first night in our new home.
“Ye staying at his tonight, eh?” I nod. “Finally,” she snarks. “I swear if I had to watch you two moon all over each other like you’re a pair o’ damsels in some Georgian period drama for much longer, I’d’ve been banging yer fuckin’ heeds together.” The tone of abject frustration makes me laugh.
“We weren’t that bad,” I say, indignantly.
“I beg to differ. Anyway, it’s good ye’ll be out ma hair. Wren’s stopping over th’night for some wine and a good catch-up.”
“A catch-up? I didn’t even realise you guys had met more than once.”
“We haven’t. But we got on well at Nash’s birthday, and we’ve been texting.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline in surprise. I’d had no idea.
“Women and men are very different animals, babe. Don’t worry yer pretty wee head about me. I’ll be glad to know yer finally getting yer man.”
I don’t even try to correct her. Nash is my man.
He loves me.
I still can’t believe it. Deciding that Emma, as my live-in bestie and the biggest ‘tea-drinker’ I’ve ever known, deserves a bit of hot gossip, I lean in quietly and whisper, “He told me he loves me.”
She gasps and spins in place to face me.
“He what?”
“He said he loves me. And I told him I did, too.”
She rolls her eyes in a ‘duh’ gesture and then wraps me in her arms.
“I’m so happy for ye, babe. You deserve this.
” She doesn’t need to say the rest of the words in that sentence.
After everything you’ve been through. She knows it.
I know it, and for what feels like the first time in my life, I believe it.
Deep in my heart, I know that I deserve to be loved by someone as incredible as Nash.
We join the others and watch from the doorway as Archer and Cole rebuild Emma’s enormous wardrobe, and Aidan works on her chest of drawers, all while Nancy sits in the middle of the bed, surveying their work like she’s being paid.
When everything but a few last boxes is unpacked, Emma and Wren call time as they are ready for a glass of wine.
I hug Emma and Wren, both of them giving me a knowing smile as I head to where Nash is holding his free hand out to me. His other hand is holding onto Nancy’s as she all but drags us downstairs.
“Uncle Rain said we can make popcorn,” she wheezes, her whole body clenched tight in anticipation. I grin at her, and Nash just sighs resignedly.
“OK, but you have to finish all of your dinner first, young lady. Popcorn is a snack, not a meal.” His forceful tone and ‘I mean it’ attitude stir something in me that makes me want to experiment and see what it would take for me to be on the receiving end of that look.
“I will, Daddy. Have a fun sleepover with Bunny.”
Nash and I eye each other, neither of us sure how to respond.
“What d’you mean, poppet?” Nash asks tentatively. Nancy just looks at him, one eyebrow raised in disdain.
“Because you’re boyfriends, Daddy,” she says as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “You have been for ages. I know. I see you.”
Words fail me at the shrewdness of this child.
She turns five at the beginning of August, but you’d be easily forgiven for thinking she’d be fifteen.
The more comfortable she’s gotten in her surroundings, the more this bright, sassy, observant personality comes out that, at times like this, leaves you reeling with her astuteness.
We just so happened to emerge from the door to the flat as Nancy was speaking, and, upon hearing her words, Archer, Cole, Aidan, and Rain all try and fail miserably to hide their snorts of laughter.
“What?” I ask, mouth slightly agape.
“Babe, it’s the worst-kept secret in Norfolk that you two have feelings for each other,” Rain says, agreeably.
“We’re just glad you’re finally back, so big bro over there” – Cole inclines his head at Nash, who has Nancy in his arms now – “Can get la—”
“Lucky,” Aidan interjects, and Cole smiles sheepishly in Nancy’s direction.
“Yeah. Lucky.” He nods. “Corey’s your good luck charm, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.”
“I call it a good luck charm,” Nancy says knowingly, despite the furrowed brow that suggests she is not quite following the conversation, and for that, I’m glad.
We say goodnight to the twins, both of whom hug me tight and welcome me home. Aidan and Rain take Nancy with only a few minutes of Nash listing her bedtime routine in great detail. By the glazed-over expressions on their faces, I’d hazard a guess that this is not the first time they’ve heard it.
“Yeah, bro. We still have the printed itinerary you gave us last time she stayed over. She’ll be fine. Go and have a fun ‘sleepover’,” Aidan says. He actually uses his fingers to do the inverted commas gesture around the word sleepover. I roll my eyes.
And then, it’s just us.
“Do you mind if I just take a quick shower before I come over? I feel all gross and sweaty,” I ask, knowing that if we’re going to be spending the night together, I, in fact, need to have a very thorough shower.
He kisses me on the tip of my nose, and if I swoon just a little, then that’s between me and my conscience.
“Not at all, but don’t forget to bring a change of clothes for the weekend. Now that you’re back, I’m not ready to let you go yet. I’m not sure I ever will be,” he growls, nuzzling beneath my ear and sending goosebumps over my whole body.
With that bombshell, he makes his way across the green, looking back over his shoulder as he reaches the halfway point, his blinding smile filling me with a fizz in my blood, and the thump, thump, thump of my heart, a crash of elephants making themselves known. I wave back, then make my way upstairs.
“Just grabbing a shower,” I call as I rush through to my room to grab my… equipment.
I clean myself inside and out before dressing quickly.
I pull on a black jockstrap – sue me, I’m fucking horny – jeans, and a black T-shirt.
I forgo socks, shoving my feet into my Birkenstocks, before chucking a random selection of underwear and clothes into my backpack.
I grab my toothbrush from the bathroom and call it good.
I’m literally two hundred yards away if I forgot anything, but if I’m honest, I have no plans to leave Nash’s bed for the next twelve hours at least.
“See you tomorrow,” I call into the living room as I pass on my way out the door.
“Sure,” Wren drawls in a disbelieving tone. “See you whenever, babe.” She chuckles at her own joke.
“Don’t forget, real men use lube,” Emma calls out. I shut the door without comment, hearing their wails of laughter even as I’m halfway down the stairs.
Before I even get to the top of Nash’s drive, he’s pulling the front door open, and I crash into his arms. He hauls me up, tosses my backpack to the floor, and hooks his strong arms under my arse.
I wrap my legs around him and kiss him like I’ve been starved of oxygen, and he is the breath I need to survive.