“Shipping?”
The guys crowded behind them. “What do I smell?” Apollo asked. “It’s like… Thanksgiving.”
“They made you dinner.” Cai glanced at the guys before his gaze fell on her again. “And they want you to come next week to the center so they can see you. I think they want to make sure for themselves that you’re all right. Tyler was there tonight; he went home with an entire sheet cake.”
“They made me dinner?” Nora’s throat got tight. She’d spent many nights volunteering at the youth center, not only because it gave her something to do, but because places like that had saved her butt a couple of times while she was a teenager. She was embarrassed to admit she never helped out before she met Cai. These guys had opened her eyes and her heart. She’d been too concerned with herself, and her own needs, before them.
“They did.” Cai pushed open the kitchen door.
“Wow.” A roast chicken sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by roasted vegetables. There was a bowl of mashed potatoes, gravy, and rolls. “They did all this?”
“They did.”
“Wow.” She didn’t have words for what a gesture like this meant. These kids had so much going on in their own lives, but they’d thought of her, taken time from whatever they were doing to give her this little bit of happiness. “You’re an amazing man.” Turning, she kissed Cai again. His lips went soft, plucking and sucking before he released her.
“I wish I could take credit…”
But he could. This dinner was a reflection of his own kindness. If the kids cared about her, it was because Cai had cared about them. His caring and compassion paid forward. She kissed him again before he could keep disagreeing with her. Then, clearing her throat, she spun around. Her belly might be full from ice cream, but this smelled delicious, and she’d be god-damned if she let it go to waste.
Cai had set the table before they’d gotten here, so she sat right down and smiled up at the guys. “Who’s hungry?”
Nora ate until her belly ached, but watching Cai smile and snap pictures of her eating to share with the kids, it was worth it. And it was delicious, so it was no hardship.
The guys wanted to clean up, but she was all over it. She hadn’t had to cook, even though it was her night, but she could wash the dishes to return to the youth center and load the dishwasher.
Matisse stayed with her, drying the things that needed to be dried and placing them in the reusable shopping bag. Ryan sat at the table, doing work—of course—while Apollo, Seok, and Cai went to the basement to look over the design Seok had shown her earlier.
“How are you, chére? Being internet famous?” He placed the last bowl in the bag and crossed his arms over his chest. He rested one hip against the counter, studying her as he waited.
Internet famous. Not a role she aspired to.
Matisse ran his finger down the bridge of her nose, smoothing out the wrinkle she hadn’t realized she made.
“Hoping it blows over soon.” She went to him, pushed his arms aside and hugged him.
He was quick to wrap them around her. Lips resting on her head, he moved them into a slow side-to-side dance. “It takes as long as it takes.”
Yeah. “Frank has given me a job, so at least I have that.”
“I think once the trial is over, then things will really die down,” Ryan piped up from the table.
She spun in Matisse’s arms until her back was against his chest. He kept her there, arms around her middle, still rocking with her.
“But that takes a long time,” Matisse said. He kissed the top of her head again. “What do we do until then?”
“Live our lives,” Nora replied. That was what she planned on doing. If a reporter showed up at work, then she’d do what she did with Serena. If she wanted to do another interview, or Erik or the guys told her they thought she should do an interview again—well—she’d think about it and maybe she would. But in the meantime, Ryan had school, Apollo an upcoming graduation, and the rest of them their jobs and the mundane things that happened every day. Maybe she’d take some online classes. She’d have time before work if she were the one closing the comic shop. A little bubble of excitement welled and then burst in her belly.
“What’s that smile for?” Ryan asked.
“I should sign up for classes this summer, I think.”
Behind her, Tisse laughed. “Random.”
“Nah.” Ryan leaned back in the chair and linked his fingers behind his head, stretching. “We’re talking about living our lives. You’ve been wanting to go to school. I’m with you. This summer is a great time to start. We should check out the school catalog.”
“But not Brownington.” Nora didn’t want to go there. Didn’t want to give them another penny after what Murray had managed to do.
If Ryan was surprised, he didn’t show it. “Most classes for freshmen are pre-reqs anyway. Math and English. Some kind of communication class. No reason to spend fourteen hundred dollars on that.”
“What do you think you’d like to study?” Matisse asked.
She could do anything, and while something with English literature had always been her interest, recently, she’d been wanting to do something where she could give back. Each one of her guys did something to make the world more beautiful. It’d be nice to be a part of that. She wasn’t sure how, yet. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to.” Tisse kissed her cheek. “Plenty of time to figure it all out.”
Closing her eyes, she rested back against his chest. At the table, the keys of Ryan’s computer click-clacked so she knew he’d gone back to work. “Want to look up classes?” Matisse asked.
She was actually really enjoying this junior high school version of dancing they were doing without music, but she could probably sit in his lap while they searched and that sounded pretty awesome, too.
He didn’t wait for her to answer. Tugging her hand, he led her out of the kitchen, through the dining room and living room, and to his room.
There, he did what she hoped—sat her on his lap and opened his laptop. “We’ll start with local community colleges, and go from there, okay?”
She nodded and leaned back, watching his long fingers type on the keyboard. Soon, she was fully engrossed in what they were doing. The community college had a lot more options than she’d thought, and soon that excitement was back. As they looked through the course catalogue, her interests began to narrow and an idea began to form.
There was a quick knock on the door, so Matisse spun them toward it. Apollo stood there, hands in his pockets. “Ryan said you were looking up classes.”
She held her hand out to him. “We are.”
He came inside, braced his hands on the desk and leaned closer to the computer. “What did you find?”
“Mostly dull as shit stuff,” Matisse said. She elbowed him lightly, and he curled around her. “Ouch, watch those pointy elbows.”
“All the first semester classes are dull,” Apollo agreed. “But you should be able to get in a couple of good ones. Like this one—medieval literature. That sounds good.”
Matisse’s forehead thumped against her shoulder, and he fake snored.
“Shut up, man.”
“I put that class on there, Tisse,” she reminded him.
“I know. And despite that, I still love you.”
Her eyes were dry from all the computer work, and while Matisse made a very comfortable seat, her neck ached from leaning forward and staring at the screen. Getting up, she stretched her hands over her head and yawned. “I think it’s time for bed.”
“For me, too.” Apollo rubbed his hands down his face and then around to his neck. “I’m going to the gym tomorrow before class, so I need to get up early.” His gaze went from the ceiling to her, a clear question in his eyes. Heat bloomed along her neck, lifting into her cheeks, and she gave a subtle nod.
“Get out of here, senior citizens.” Matisse kicked out a booted foot to push Apollo toward the door. “I’m
not ready for bed yet.”
Apollo’s big hand wrapped around hers. “Your loss.”
She choked, but Matisse only laughed. Apollo wasted no time pulling her out of the room. She barely had time to close the door behind her before he lifted her up.
His lips went to her throat while he used the wall to pin her in place. “Right to bed.”
She’d been working all day. “Shower first.”
He groaned, breathing her in. “Baby girl…” He kissed her neck, sucking the skin between his teeth. “I love the way you smell.”
Well. If he didn’t care. “Fuck it,” she said. “Bed.”
He moved fast, one arm under her butt, the other around her waist, holding her up as he strode to his bedroom. In seconds he had locked the door, dropped her onto his bed, and stripped her pants off.
Nora sat up, fingers clumsy as she fumbled for the edge of her shirt to lift over her head. By the time she’d gotten it off, Apollo had shucked off his t-shirt, toed off his shoes, and left his pants and boxers in a pile.
He was all gleaming muscle and gorgeous skin. His white teeth flashed in a quick smile before he grabbed her knees, pushing them up and out and slid between her legs.
“Oh God!” She hadn’t expected him to move so fast. He had her heels over his shoulder and his head between her legs, his tongue working her into a frenzy.
His thumbs spread her wide so he could latch on to her clit and suck.
Nora’s body went slack and then taut as if a string connected her abdomen to the ceiling. She arched off the bed, hands going to Apollo’s head to hold him in place in case he got the crazy idea to leave her. He backed off, blowing a cool breath across her overheated skin before licking her again. And again.
He moaned, the sound deep, sending a vibration through her core.
“Apollo, I’m going to come.”
At some point, she had no idea when because his magical hands had been playing with her folds and breaching her entrance, he’d slipped a condom on. But at her declaration, he slid up her body, held her legs wide, and thrust into her.
He angled the movement, rubbing against the spot that had her curling around him and shattering.
Pounding into her, he brought her through one orgasm and sent her hurtling toward another. He snuck his hand between them to rub her clit while holding himself off her with one arm. Their gazes crashed into each other the same way their bodies did, and things changed.
Apollo slowed, the circles becoming lazy and soft. He lowered his head to kiss her, tongue sweeping across lips before dipping shallowly into her mouth, teasing her.
Soon she was chasing him, lifting up to catch his lips and the smile she loved so much. She wrapped her arms around his strong body, felt the way the muscles in his back flexed and smoothed them down to his ass. There wasn’t a soft spot on Apollo’s body, but the man was all heart. His physical strength could be so misleading.
Nora held him even closer, thinking about how close she’d come to losing him.
He felt the change and drew back. As he studied her, a frown took the place of his smile. “What is it?” He slowed even further, holding himself inside her before dragging out.
“I’m sorry I hurt you.” She cupped the face she loved so much, fingertips covering the dimples in his cheeks. “I love you.”
“Baby.” He turned his face to kiss her palm. “I love you. We’re strong, you and me. A team. Nothing will ever come between us again because this thing we built is strong. Rock hard.”
She kissed him again. She had to. “I want to protect you from everything.” From any hurt she could cause him, from whatever hurt was on the horizon. She knew it was there. Life wasn’t all roses and rainbows, but he’d been through so much. Sometimes, like now, when he was studying her with his open, brown-eyed gaze, she imagined she could actually see his heart.
He grinned at her declaration and her fingers dipped into his dimples. “Nora. I don’t need your protection. I know you love me. I know you don’t want anything to hurt me.”
They’d come such a long way in such a short time. His faith in her, and in how strong his feelings were for her, was as clear as day.
He pulled out of her and thrust in again as he lowered his lips to hers. His kiss said everything. It held his belief in her, his trust, his heart, and in seconds, she went from teetering on the edge to falling off the cliff.
Apollo followed her with a moan, holding himself as deep as he could get while he emptied himself inside her.
He fell onto his side, pulling out of her before he rolled away to dispose of the condom. When he rolled back, he propped his head on his hand and stared at her. “You know I love you, right?”
She nodded. “I do. Sometimes though, it just overwhelms me. When I’m looking at you, and feeling you, it’s like I can’t believe it. And even though you’re the strongest person I know, Apollo, it fucking scares me to death that I could be the one who hurts you.”
“Why are you worried about hurting me?” He drew his brows together.
“This whole thing with Murray. The media coverage. You’ve all been through so much. If something were to happen because of me, because of the attention I’m getting—”
He leaned forward and kissed her, shutting her up. “It’s going to happen. Reporters are going to dig, and they’re going to find out about us. My story, Ryan’s, Tisse’s—they’ll all be trotted out for the world to gasp at, but then something else will come along and we’ll be forgotten.” He kissed her, this time longer and soon she was wrapped up in his arms again.
“Speaking of forgetting.” Her voice was breathless. “I’m on the pill now, so…”
His eyes went wide and then she was under him, laughter turning to a groan as he slid inside her. “God, I love you, Nora.”
He felt too good. All of her words floated away like bubbles, which was fine. She’d use her body to show him how much she loved him back.
Chapter 27
Seok: Twenty-One Years Old
Seok held the student visa in his hand. Here it was. The culmination of his plans. He’d applied to Brownington College in Vermont, gotten accepted to their School of Engineering, and had applied for his visa.
It was Matisse, his new roommate, who’d really given him the idea. The guy had come from Mississippi to escape his family and had started at McGill in Montreal. Seok had come to really enjoy the city when he got the chance. But the specter of his father was constantly looking over his shoulder. He needed a place where his father had no reason to be.
This was going to fuck things up. The disappointment, the stress, the no doubt historic lecture he was going to get from his parents—he was ready to live with it. If he could just get away.
Working for his father was killing him. Sure, he’d made a couple little stands for himself—he was done wearing the bland suits his father expected of him. He’d gone to the salon and let the stylist do whatever he wanted with his hair. Father would have a stroke if he saw the lines along the side and the lotus flower he’d had shaved into the back.
When his roommate saw it, he’d whistled and sworn under his breath. “Your father is going to shit a brick when he sees that.”
“Hopefully, we are in Vermont before he visits,” Seok replied.
Now, here he was. Ready to go. The apartment stood much as it had the day he’d moved in. He wasn’t taking anything with him he didn’t outright own. His salary was his own, and he’d socked it away. He and Matisse would be staying in a long-term rental for a while until they found something more permanent.
His friend slung a leather backpack on his back and lifted his eyebrows. “Are you ready?”
Seok nodded. He hadn’t told Matisse how much it meant to him that he wanted to come to Vermont with him. Tisse seemed to embrace the busy, international city, but as soon as Seok told him his plan, he’d announced he’d be leaving, too.
“You’re not an asshole, Seok,” Matisse said with the bluntness that never left Seok gue
ssing where he stood. “And I trust you. There aren’t many people I trust. If you want to move to a place that has more cows than people, I’m going, too.”
Seok had bought a used car, something with four-wheel drive. He hadn’t driven in the snow yet, but he’d gotten a taste of it, here next to the St. Lawrence. The bitter cold of the winter wasn’t something he could forget.
His car was packed, and he was ready to go. There was just one more thing to do. Taking a deep breath, he held Matisse’s gaze, took out his phone, and dialed his father’s number.
“Yes?”
At the sound of Father’s voice, Seok lost his own. The carefully prepared explanation he’d labored over disappeared like smoke.
“Seok? What do you want?”
“I’m leaving Montreal,” he got out. Once he started, though, everything came tumbling out. “I have emailed you an explanation and sent to the offices all the updated information about our current deals and contacts here in Quebec. I’ve made sure I’ve tied up all loose ends. You’ll find all bonuses and stock options are in an account I’ve put in your name. I’ve only accepted my base salary for the past years I’ve lived in Montreal. I’ve been accepted into engineering school, and that’s what I’m choosing to do.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. “I am coming to Montreal. Stay where you are.”
He ignored that and soldiered on. “I will email you my new phone number and address when I get to school.”
“Where are you going?” The tone of his father’s voice had changed. It was no longer disapproving. Seok didn’t recognize it. Concern, worry—those were sentiments Father expressed. “You can’t leave Montreal without telling me where you are.”
It was that worry that made him reply. “I’m moving to the U.S. I promise I’ll call you when I get there.” He hung up and shut his phone off. Matisse stared at him, watching him so closely he prickled beneath his gaze. “Now we can go.”
Finding Unity Page 14
