39. Chapter 39 #3
He carried me through the doorway and kicked it shut behind us. By the time we reached the kitchen, my sweater had slipped farther down my shoulder, and my fingers had already wrecked whatever effort he’d put into his hair.
He set me on the end of the island, away from the candles and place settings I had arranged at the other end.
I hooked one ankle behind his thigh to keep him between my knees.
Lachlan kissed me again, one hand sliding around the back of my neck while the other disappeared beneath the loose hem of my sweater and settled against my waist.
His palm slid higher beneath my sweater and paused when he realized I wasn’t wearing a bra. He pulled back from the kiss just enough to murmur, “Mm.”
I smiled as his hand continued upward and cupped my breast, his thumb brushing over my nipple.
The look he gave me made all the effort I had put into dinner suddenly seem much less important.
“Trying to kill me before I eat.”
“That seems dramatic.”
“Aye?” His hand closed more fully around my breast. “You open the door looking like this and expect me to eat dinner?”
His fingers squeezed my nipple just enough to send heat between my thighs.
“I spent all day making it,” I said, arching into his hand.
“Then I suppose fucking you will have to wait.”
His other hand slid into my hair, and his mouth found mine again.
The kiss deepened quickly. My knees tightened against his hips as his thumb moved over my nipple again, pulling a soft moan from me.
His mouth curved against mine.
“I missed that.”
A delicious shiver slipped down my spine.
The hand in my hair moved higher until his fingers found the elastic band holding my ponytail. He pulled it free, and my curls spilled over my shoulders and down my back.
His other hand left my breast and slid into my hair too, his fingers working through the long curls.
“There you are.”
I laughed softly. “You object to ponytails now?”
“I’ve loved this hair since the first time I saw it loose over your bare shoulders in that pretty yellow dress.” His fingers gathered a thick handful near the nape of my neck. “I like the thought of all this wrapped around my fist while I’ve got the rest of you pinned where I want you.”
“You’re very opinionated for a man who hasn’t been home for even five minutes.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I’d do when I got my hands on you again.”
His fingers tightened gently in my hair as his mouth moved to the side of my throat.
I tipped my head, giving him more room.
“That sounds promising.”
“It is.”
He kissed his way down to my exposed shoulder.
I was seriously considering whether dinner could survive when the holstered pistol pressed against my thigh again.
Lachlan noticed at the same time.
“Hold that thought.”
He stepped back, and I sighed.
His mouth twitched as he reached beneath his jacket.
He released the holster, removed the gun, checked it, then set both on the side table in the living room.
He shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it over the back of a chair before unfastening his cuffs, tossing the links on the table, and rolling the sleeves neatly to his forearms.
Well, fuck me. Without the jacket and with his sleeves rolled to his forearms, he no longer looked like he’d just stepped out of a Boston meeting. He looked ready to get down to business, and I sincerely hoped that business was me.
He returned and stepped between my knees, his hands settling on my thighs. His attention moved slowly around the kitchen, taking in the candles, the table set for two, and the dinner waiting for us.
“You did all this?”
“Most of it successfully.”
“Most?”
“The first bread pudding died honorably yesterday.”
His mouth curved.
“I asked Scarlett what your favorite meal was, and she recruited Lucian for the answer.”
“That traitor.”
“He was extremely useful.”
Lachlan’s attention moved over everything I’d done for him one more time. His hands tightened lightly on my thighs, then eased as he took another second before speaking.
“You made the kind of dinner my mam used to make.”
“That was the idea.”
I smiled and reached for his shirt, running my fingers along the crisp edge of the open collar.
“Welcome home.”
“I’m home, Mouse, but it isn’t because I’m standing in this penthouse.”
Lachlan’s hands left my thighs and came up to cup my face. He kissed me, then drew back only far enough to speak.
“I’m home because I’m back with you. You’re home to me. You’re the woman I want to come back to at the end of every day and wake up beside every morning. I love you, Isabella. You’re mine to love, mine to protect, mine to make happy.”
One happy tear slipped free before I could stop it.
“I love you too. More than I ever thought I could love anyone.” I covered his hands with mine, still amazed that this dangerous, impossible man was mine. “And you are never leaving me for eleven days again.”
His smile came slowly.
“Not unless you tell me to, Mouse.”
Then he wrapped both arms around me and pulled me against him.
I slid my arms around his middle and rested my head against his chest. Lachlan cradled the back of my head in one hand and pressed me closer, his heart beating steadily beneath my ear.
I closed my eyes and held on to the man I loved.