Chapter 10 #2
“Remember when I said you need to be patient with her?”
“Yes.”
“Lily just confessed to both of us what happened all those years ago and why her family left; she did it on her own time and on her own terms. As much as I worry about her, we have to trust her to come to us when she’s ready to open up.
If you go in hot, approaching her . . . I don’t want her to spiral again. ”
Again.
The word kept repeating in my head. What did that mean? Spiral how?
“Lily has gone from me and work being her only source of human interaction to coming back here. Granted, it’s a healthy change, one I’ve long wanted for her, but we also can’t diminish how overwhelming it must have been. She was terrified of your reaction, like absolutely terrified—”
“I hate that she felt that way.”
“I know you do, just like I know you would never intentionally harm her. Trust me, I tried relentlessly to convince her otherwise, but she was pretty stubborn.”
“I don’t like that her hand was forced, but I’m thankful she had you and my brother to reach out to. The thought of her being alone—” I couldn’t even go there.
“Trust your gut, Jaxon. It’s never led you astray before. If there is one person who can help her continue to heal, it’s you. I believe that with all my heart.”
“Thank you, Ari, that means a lot.” I ran my hand through my hair roughly. “I should probably get back upstairs now. Lily’s got to be wondering where I disappeared to.”
“Okay, we’ll chat soon.”
“Will do. Later.”
I pocketed my phone and reached for the last box before shutting the trunk of my car.
Taking two steps at a time, I made my way back up to Lily’s condo, running through scenarios in my head about how to best navigate things from here.
Our work shifts didn’t currently align, but you could bet your savings on the fact that I’d already submitted a formal request to rectify that as best I could since I was still technically in the gray area between shift work and being a full-fledged detective.
But apparently, I needed to call in a favor to get it done faster.
I knew Lily loved her job, and the last thing I wanted to do was ask if she’d consider transferring to Sutton Rivers’ small hospital; her independence was important to her.
I’d transfer here to Rockwood in a heartbeat, but I needed to slow the F down and not put the cart before the horse.
I believed things would progress the way they were destined to when the time was right; heck, she was living proof of that theory, even if we got derailed along the way.
She found her way back to me, and that was all that mattered.
I locked the door and found Lily sitting at the breakfast bar with a somewhat nervous expression.
“Sorry, I had a work call about a case. I didn’t mean to be so long.”
“I was starting to question if you had seen enough of my brand of crazy and were having second thoughts.”
I took off my shoes and dropped the keys and box on the counter before stepping in front of her. “It’s a legit jungle in here with all your plants.” My eyes swept the room behind her to drive the point home. “Since when did you become such a hoarder of houseplants?”
“Shh, they’ll hear you.”
I arched a brow. “Lily, have you named all your plants?”
She tucked her lips between her teeth and shrugged.
“I should’ve known.” I chuckled, recalling her love for naming every wildlife critter that ever crossed her path growing up.
“They’re my plant babies.”
“Who looked after them this past month?” The thought of someone else having a key to her place had me suddenly clenching my jaw.
“Relax, Officer, I—”
“It’s actually ‘Detective’ now.” I don’t know why I had the sudden urge to correct her.
“What?” Her eyes widened. “Since when?”
“Before Christmas.”
“And you never thought to tell me?” I loved it when the two little lines between her brows furrowed.
“I’ve been a little preoccupied.” I uncrossed her legs and stepped between them.
“Oh? Working on a specific case?” She tried to play innocent, but the sparkle in her piercing blue eyes gave her away.
“Yeah, you see this girl who was once my entire world,” I gripped the armrests of the barstool and leaned down, brushing my lips up the slope of her neck.
“She’s back in my life, and she’s all I can think about.
” Her thighs pressed warmly against the outside of mine, holding me in place.
“Everything about her consumes my every thought, day and night.” I kissed my way along the edge of her jaw, savoring every inch, as she tilted her head back on her shoulders.
“And I just learned someone else might have a key to her space, and looked after her plants in her absence.”
“Plant babies.”
I laughed against her skin. “My mistake. Plant babies.”
“Well, you can stand down, Detective, because there’s no case to solve here. I was the one who stopped by after my shifts to water and talk to them.”
My brows lifted in surprise as I leaned back, locking my eyes on hers. “Talk to them?”
“Yes,” she said with the cutest look of conviction.
“Are you telling me your plants know all your inner thoughts and secrets?” I asked, feeling a ridiculous pang of jealousy over her damn houseplants.
“Yes.” Her breath hitched as her soft, kissable lips parted.
Needing her even closer, I lifted her effortlessly by the hips off the stool, placed her on the counter, and stepped once again between her parted thighs.
“What if I want to be the one you confess all your inner thoughts and secrets to?”
“I’m trying,” she whispered in a ghosted breath, her eyes confirming her truth.
“I know you are.” I cupped her cheeks. “And I’m so damn proud of you.”
I didn’t give her a chance to protest before I captured her mouth, licking across the seam of her lips before slipping my tongue across hers.
She matched my energy stroke for stroke, wrapping not only her legs around my waist but also her arms around my shoulders.
Suddenly, neither of us could get close enough to the other.
“Lily.” My voice reflected my desperation for her.
“It’s been so long.” Her words had me internally questioning her admission, but as she clawed at my T-shirt, I became too lost in the feelings of rapture that I’d only ever had with her to fully dissect what she’d said.
I reached back over my shoulder and grabbed the collar of my shirt, pulling it up over my head.
“Jaxon.” Surprise stole her breath.
I knew she’d caught her first glimpse of my tattoo, but I didn’t give her eyes a chance to linger longer than a second before I pounced, peppering my lips up the slender column of her neck in kisses.
“Please tell me I can touch you.” Kiss. “Taste you.” Kiss.
“Yes, you’re the only one who never has to ask.”
Fuck.
I slipped my hands under the backs of her thighs and carried her down the hallway to her bedroom, laying her atop the plush cloud of covers. Resting my knee on the bed, between her parted legs, I soaked in every ounce of her effortless, flawless beauty.
“Jaxon,” she breathed in disbelief, as her eyes took in my large, bold, black, shoulder-to-shoulder chest tattoo of lilies.
Reaching for the button on her jean shorts, I could hardly hear the sound of the zipper over the sound of my heart beating so erratically in my ears.
My impatience to get my eyes on her had me itching to remove both her underwear and shorts at the same time, but I didn’t want to rush a single thing about the moment I’d thought I’d never have again.
“Cornflower blue.” The color I loved because it matched her eyes, I beamed, leaning down to kiss the little patch of fabric, while the scent of her arousal was dizzying in the best way possible.
“My favorite color.” Kiss. “On my favorite girl.” Kiss.
I said, working my way upward over her belly button until I slid my hands under the edges of one of my SRPD T-shirts she’d declared hers.
“But the question is, will the bra match?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” she teased with a little shimmy of her hips caged between my knees.
“That, there is.” I tugged her shirt the rest of the way off, discarding it somewhere behind me. “Tell me, Lily, is it a coincidence that you’re wearing my favorite color on the day we move things past kissing?” Her nipples pebbled behind the simple cotton jersey material.
“Nope,” she said with a sassy added pop of the p.
“What am I going to do with you?” I carefully pulled her hair free from her hair clip and watched as the strands landed in soft waves against the array of pillows behind her before lowering my eyes.
Her lips parted as she released her bottom lip from between her teeth. “Kiss me till my cheeks hurt from smiling too damn much and make me scream your name as only you can.”
“I like your way of thinking,” I replied, slipping my hand between her back and the bedcovers to unclasp her bra.
“Less talking and more action, Jaxon.”
“Action Jaxon,” I snickered with a smirk.
“Well, who am I to deny my girl what she wants?” I cupped both her bare breasts in my hands and squeezed, running my thumbs over her dusty rose pebbled nipples before I took one in my mouth and sucked, swirling my tongue over the rough edge while I pinched the other between my fingers. “God, I missed these beauties.”
Lily’s hips jutted off the bed as her breathless moans filled the space and spurred me on.
“You’re so fucking perfect, Lily.”
I alternated breasts before I slowly moved lower down her body, licking, teasing, kissing, and caressing every inch of her mouth-watering skin that tasted sweet like the honey-scented cream she always favored for body lotion.
By the time I slipped my fingers beneath the material of her panties and lowered them down her legs, I almost came on the spot when her bare pussy came into view, causing the pressure bearing down on my spine to intensify.