Chapter 37
Knox
Ishoot Farrah an amused smirk.
She narrows her eyes and points at the ladder I carried into her classroom. I follow her silent directive instead of giving her shit for how ridiculous this is.
Across the ceiling, I continue to hang her handmade paper chains. They’re a riot of color, not limited to the main six of the rainbow. I can’t begin to guess where she found paper in this many different shades.
Last year, she had a rainbow theme that made me want to throw up. Now, I’m helping her create an artificial field of wildflowers that makes my eyes water. She’s certifiable, but I can’t deny that her students will love learning in an environment that feels this warm and welcoming.
She told me I was to blame for this. I guess bringing her that bouquet of wildflowers was all it took for the idea to take root.
When I finally get the last of the chains hung up, I lean against the top of my ladder. “Would you like me to make any adjustments while I’m up here, Your Highness?”
Farrah sticks her tongue out at me before running a critical eye across my handiwork. “That looks perfect, honey. Thank you.”
Warmth spread through my belly at the endearment. I’ve always hated cutesy pet names, but when it comes out of her mouth, all I want to do is kiss her.
I get off the ladder and take in everything she’s accomplished.
The paper chains create a canopy effect, swooping across the room in long loops.
The walls and bulletin boards are covered in a multitude of flower decorations.
It’s clear she’s sending the message that our differences are what make us special, and when we work together, those differences can create something even more beautiful.
This time last year, I’d have scoffed at the hippie bullshit and said something shitty about how our differences are why people get bullied.
Now I just pull her into my arms and kiss her on her button nose. She believes in the messaging, and I can’t say that her students don’t deserve someone who will believe in them just as wholeheartedly.
“I finished the flowers!” Finn calls out from his spot at Farrah’s group table.
We walk over to him to find the surface covered in handmade flowers for each of Farrah’s students.
Farrah taught him how to fold a piece of paper into a tulip shape.
She’d done several already, and Finn offered to finish the rest of them for her so she could work on the rest of her room.
“Those look wonderful, Finn. Thank you.” Farrah beams.
The three of us work together to get them pinned to her board. Farrah is going to put each student’s picture on a flower to use for a number of things throughout the year. Finn had one that looked like a cloud, and I still have it tucked away with the rest of his school stuff from last year.
It’s dark by the time we’re headed out to the truck. I’ve got my ladder over my shoulder, ignoring the way it pinches me as I carry it outside. Farrah helps Finn into the backseat while I load up our stuff.
“Knox.” Farrah’s tone has me whirling around to find her, my heart thudding in anticipation. She’s staring across the parking lot toward the tree line on the edge of the school’s property. A figure stands in the shadows, too far away to see them clearly.
“Is that him?” I growl.
“Probably.”
I start to move toward the bastard, but Farrah’s hand grips my arm, stopping me in my tracks. “Don’t leave me. Please?”
My anger deflates like a fucking balloon in the face of her terror. I grip the back of her neck, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’m sorry, Princess.”
“Can I—” She swallows. “I don’t want to go home by myself.”
“You’re staying with me tonight. And every other night until we can get that fucking bastard back into custody. I’m going to call that useless detective too, and give him a piece of my mind.”
She softly smiles up at me before popping onto her toes to kiss me. It’s a balm to my overwrought nerves. I help her into my truck before doing another scan of the area. Movement catches my eye at the tree line as the shadowy figure disappears into the trees until I can’t see them anymore.
If he so much as touches a hair on Farrah’s head, I’ll kill him.
* * *
“Knox!” Farrah squeals, her outraged laughter ringing through my house. I’m obsessed with that sound. Then Finn’s giggles add to the music filling the air, and I’m not sure I’ve ever been this happy.
I grin at Farrah’s whipped cream-covered nose. “Sorry, Princess. I missed your mouth.”
She narrows her eyes as she wipes it off. “You did that on purpose.”
“Me? I would never do such a thing.”
Finn points at me. “Yes, you would, Daddy.”
Now it’s my turn to narrow my eyes. “Traitor.”
He grins, his eyes sparkling with my favorite kind of mischief. He pulls Farrah down to whisper something in her ear. Her face lights up at whatever plan he’s cooked up. I’m prepared for anything except for what actually happens.
“Daddy, can you put some on my hand? I want to try that trick of tossing it in the air.”
I cautiously spray a little bit on the back of Finn’s hand. As I’m moving away, Farrah pops the bottom of the can out of my hand and catches it in midair.
I stare at the two of them, in shock. How the heck did she do that so fast? I raise my eyebrows at her. “Now, what are you going to do?”
Farrah fakes innocence. “I just wanted the can to spray it myself.” She sprays some in her mouth, and Finn grabs my attention with his trick shot. He misses his mouth by a mile. The plop of cream on the floor makes me wince.
And before I know what’s happened, Farrah’s wiping a hand of whipped cream across my cheek.
I stand there stunned for half a second while Farrah and Finn giggle their fool heads off.
But then I lunge for Farrah, making her squeal.
She barely escapes my reach, running for the living room.
I chase after her, catching up with ease.
She tries to trick me around the coffee table, but I lunge across it, tackling her onto the couch and wiping my cream-covered cheek across her face.
She screams through her laughter. “Okay, okay. I surrender!”
I look down at the mess I’ve made of her and realize I have the biggest smile on my face. I’ve never been so fucking happy in my life.
Finn jumps onto my back with a battle cry. “I got him, Farrah! Run!”
I gasp at the little traitor. I sit up, keeping Farrah pinned under me while I yank him off my back so he’s sandwiched between the two of us. His face is red with how hard he’s laughing while I tickle his rib cage.
“Okay, Daddy. I’m all done,” he says breathlessly. He snuggles into Farrah’s chest while she hugs him closer. The three of us are a mess of grins and sticky sugar.
I wedge myself between the back of the couch and Farrah’s side. There really isn’t space for all of us, but none of us wants to move.
We cuddle there for a minute, basking in the quiet of the evening together. If I’d known this is what it would feel like to have a full heart, I would’ve tried to find it sooner. At the same time, I don’t think anyone could make me feel whole the way Farrah does.
She’s healed something in Finn and me that I never knew needed to be healed. We were doing fine before she came into our lives, but with her here, we’re a whole lot better.
By the time we put a very sleepy Finn to bed, I’m dying to show Farrah exactly how I feel about her. I may not be ready to say those three words out loud, but I sure as fuck can tell her with my actions.
With her hand in mine, I lead her into my en suite bathroom.
We slowly strip each other down, kissing as each piece of clothing falls to the floor.
Her skin is soft under my exploring hands.
The dichotomy between my calloused, work-roughened palms and her smooth body heats my blood to the boiling point.
I drop to my knees, kissing down her chest as I go. Her fingers spear into my hair as an anchor point. It grounds me as much as it turns me on. Drawing a line of kisses from hip bone to hip bone rewards me with goosebumps spreading across her skin.
Farrah pushes my head down, making it very clear that I’m taking too long. I almost laugh. Instead, I grip her thigh, throwing it over my shoulder to open her to my mouth. Without warning, I suck her clit into my mouth. She cries out at the sensation, slapping her hand over her mouth right after.
I don’t tease or draw it out. I’m too hungry for her to take my time right now. Her taste on my tongue is addicting, and I need more with every minute I spend between her legs.
“Knox, please.”
“You want to come on my face, Princess?” I push my tongue into her slick opening, eating her out as if I’ve been starving for years. I think I have—I just didn’t realize it was for her specifically.
I push a couple of fingers into her while I flick her clit over and over again until my tongue is cramping and she’s riding my face hard.
I fucking love watching her fall over that edge.
One of these days, when we have a whole night to ourselves, I’m going to find out how many orgasms I wring from her body.
I bring her back down slowly. My cock is leaking profusely, demanding I slake my need, and my control is slipping through my fingers like sand. Standing, I grip the back of Farrah’s thighs, placing her onto the bathroom countertop.
She gasps at the temperature difference, digging her fingernails into my shoulders. I’ll have marks there tomorrow, and I fucking love that.
I carefully arrange her feet on the edge of the counter. It forces her to lean back against the mirror, and fuck me, she’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” I ask her.
She smirks, reaching out for my cock. “I can see it.”
A groan rumbles through my chest with every pump of her hand. God, the way she uses my piercing in just the right way shoves me right to the edge before I’m ready. I have to push her hand away to keep from coming. The sight of her wide open and willing is too much.
Gripping my base, I line the head of my cock to her pussy and slowly start pushing inside. She grips me like a vice, and it’s all I can do to stop from shoving all the way into her in one go.
“Knox,” she gasps.
“You’re taking me so well, Princess. Fuck, just look at you.”
Farrah looks down at where my cock is stretching her obscenely. Her expression glazes with need as I finally fill her completely. With slow strokes, I give her a chance to get used to the pressure until I can’t hold back any longer.
I slide one hand behind her head, gripping her hip hard enough to make her skin dimple with the other. Then I’m gone, thrusting into her hard enough to fill the bathroom with the sound of our skin slapping.
“Fuck, Princess,” I groan. “Rub your clit for me. I need you to get there because I can’t hold on for much longer.”
She listens like the good girl she is and begins to circle that little nub. It makes her tighten around me even harder. I swear I can see fucking stars behind my eyes.
“That’s it. Fuck, you’re squeezing me so tight. Are you going to come for me?”
“Mm-hmm,” Farrah moans. And then she explodes, crying out as her entire body stiffens through her orgasm.
I press my forehead to hers as I follow her over the edge. My legs shake with how hard I come, and I worry for a second that I’m going to fall on my ass.
We’re both breathing hard, the sweat clinging to our skin as we try to cool down. “How the fuck does that get better every single time? I swear you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days. I’m entirely too old for my heart to be beating this hard.”
Farrah laughs, her pussy clenching around my sensitive cock. It makes me shiver as I pull out. She’s still spread wide, showing off my cum as it leaks out of her. I swipe my fingers through the mess and push it back into her.
She gasps at the move, and if I were ten years younger, my cock would be immediately hard again. As it is, it gives a pathetic kick, trying to rally.
When I meet Farrah’s gaze, she’s looking at me like I hung the moon. I don’t deserve that kind of devotion from her, but I swear I’m going to do my damnedest to get close.