by Marie James
“What are you guys talking about?”
“The twins,” Kincaid says without missing a beat as he stands from his chair.
“Samson and Delilah?” Confusion marks the tone in her voice.
“Minnesota, sweetheart.” He kisses her head as he disappears down the hall toward his bedroom.
“Baseball?” Her confusion grows as she watches me stand from the couch. “My dad doesn’t even like baseball.”
She looks up at me when I stop a foot from her. “I know nothing about sports. Please tell me we don’t have to watch sports.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes my throat at her concern for her free time.
Chapter 36
Ivy
“You guys were talking about baseball?”
Griffin isn’t apprehensive like he was when he approached me in his own living room yesterday.
“We were talking about you,” he says as he reaches for my hands.
“Me?”
“You,” he whispers, his mouth inching toward mine.
The tender brush of his lips against mine makes me forget what we were even talking about. There’s no less passion in it than if he would’ve attempted to rub his tongue along mine. This man makes me seriously weak in the knees. His tentative kiss turns needy, and I match his fervor in kind. My body is nearly on fire when his hands grip my hips, and he drags me closer to him.
“We’re still in the middle of my parents’ living room,” I pant against his lips when we come up for air.
“I love you,” he confesses, and once again if he wasn’t there to hold me up, I’d collapse. “I promise to become a better man for you.”
“You’re a good man now,” I vow just before his tongue sweeps inside my mouth.
When he groans as his tongue sweeps over mine, it hits me in my center, and I begin to tremble.
“Come back to the house with me,” he begs against my lips.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful to your parents.”
He grins down at me, his hands kneading the flesh of my slim hips. “What did you have in mind that you think would be disrespectful?”
I can feel my cheeks pink as I look up into his blue eyes. “I have a few things in mind.”
“Is that so?” He presses his erection against me, and even though I’m so much shorter than he is, the fact that it’s pressing against the upper part of my stomach doesn’t make it any less desirable. “Tell me.”
“My parents are in the other room,” I remind him.
“And my parents are gone for the evening. They said you’re welcome anytime. Come to my house and tell me dirty things there.”
“I forgot to text them last night. I don’t think they’re happy about it. I don’t know that they’d let me stay again.” I bite my lip, sad when he takes a step back.
“Doesn’t hurt to ask,” he says, his warm hand caressing the side of my face.
“You told me you loved me,” I remind him.
“I did.” He presses his lips to mine again. “I do.”
“Thank you.” I feel stupid for saying that.
“Thank you?” He chuckles. “Really?”
I think I fall deeper in love, especially with this playful side of him.
“Sorry,” I mutter, trying to drop my head, but his knuckle catches me under the chin. When I look back up at him, I find him smiling at me. “I’m awkward.”
“And I love that about you, too.”
“We can just stay here and watch a movie,” I suggest.
“You’re just trying to get out of talking to your parents.”
“True,” I agree.
“We can stay here,” he offers, “but things may get weird if they want to join us. I don’t imagine your dad would be okay with me when I can’t keep my hands off you.”
“You wouldn’t.” I narrow my eyes at him, but it’s difficult to keep a serious face when he has such a comical one on his.
“I wouldn’t be able to resist.” He winks, and I fall deeper in love with him. “Go talk to your dad. Pack a bag, so you don’t have to get up as early to get ready tomorrow.”
He turns me, so I’m facing the kitchen, slapping me on the butt to urge me along.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” he whispers in my ear before walking away.
I’m still standing there, overcome with nerves when the sound of the backdoor closing behind Griffin reaches my ears.
“What can they say?” I ask myself as I try to gain the courage to talk to my parents. “I’m grown after all. I make my own decisions.”
“What was that?” my dad asks from the kitchen table as my mom stands at the stove, stirring something amazing smelling in a big, tall pot.
“I’m making jambalaya,” she says when she notices I’ve entered the room. “Does Griffin want to stay for dinner?”
I nearly choke on my own spit when my brain tells me that I’ll probably be his dinner. Heat races up my neck as my eyes dart toward my dad, guilty as if he can read my filthy thoughts.
“Did you say something about decisions when you were walking in?” Leave it to my father to never forget his own train of thought.
“I… umm…” I frown when I notice the smile he’s trying to hide. My father is a very serious man when he works, but he has always done his best to make himself approachable where Gigi and I are concerned.
“Griffin wants me to stay the night with him again,” I blurt before I lose my courage.
“Oh, that’s ni—” My mom snaps her mouth shut when my dad clears his throat.
“Does he?” His eyebrows raise as if he’s challenging me, and I feel like I’ve already lost the battle.
I mean, I don’t have a very good argument for staying over there. He seems to be in a much better head space right now, and he’s no longer hallucinating about someone trying to hurt him or me.
“Diego,” my mother chastises, and I look over at her to thank her for her support. “Don’t torture the poor girl.”
When I turn back toward my dad, he’s got a huge smile on his face, but he turns serious as if he’s just remembered something. “Are you sure he’s the right guy for you?”
I should’ve known this was coming. We haven’t had the chance to talk much since I insisted on going up to Griffin’s room when he had his episode the other day.
“There’s no other man for me, Dad.”
“Are you sure? You haven’t really dated much. Are you certain Griffin is the one?”
I’d lie to him and tell him we’re just dating, but he knows me well enough to know that I wouldn’t stay the night with a guy I was just dating.
“I love him.” My spine strengthens with the confession, and much to my surprise, he doesn’t grow angry with my words. His lips turn up in a full smile that only grows wider when my mother squeals at the stove.
I do my best to ignore her while still facing my dad.
“He came here to get my blessing.”
I swallow thickly while waiting for him to respond. When he doesn’t, I ask. “Wh-what did you say?”
“I told him…” he pauses for effect and the five seconds before he finishes, I feel like my whole world is going to implode.
Would I go against him if he said no? Would I run away with Griffin if my dad was opposed to me being with him?
“I gave it to him.”
“What?”
“You can stop packing your bags in your head, baby girl. I’m ecstatic that he loves you. He’s a good man. I couldn’t ask for a better one for you.”
“Daddy!” I squeal as I run across the room and throw my arms around his neck.
He wraps his strong arms around me, breathing me in like it may be the last time, something he’s always done, especially when he’s tasked on a mission and leaving soon.
“What’s going on in here?”
I release my father as my sister walks in. Jameson is close behind her, holding a sleeping Amelia in his huge arms.
“I was just tel
ling Genevieve that I’m too young to have another grandbaby so soon.”
Queue another round of choking.
“Are you pregnant?” Gigi runs to me, her hands landing low on my belly.
“No!” I screech and take a huge step away from her. I don’t know what issue to address first. We weren’t talking about babies, or what would cause that even to be an issue.
My mother is cackling at the stove when my sister turns toward our dad and narrows her eyes. My dad doesn’t look at my sister, though. He beams with pride as Jameson stands closer to Gigi. He’s only got eyes for that sweet little girl.
“Don’t look at me,” Jameson says after clearing his throat. “I’ve been wrapping up.”
My face is on fire with this topic of conversation.
“You didn’t last night,” Gigi says, slapping her man on the butt.
“Georgia Leigh!” my mother and father hiss at the same time.
“I did, too!” Jameson vows to both of them before narrowing his eyes at my sister. The look he’s giving her says she’s going to pay for this little situation later. The glint in my sister’s eyes tells me she did it just so he’ll dole out whatever kind of kinky punishment he has in mind.
“As far as the other conversation, Ivy,” my dad briefly turns his attention to me, “you’re an adult, but please don’t make your mother worry by not letting us know where you are like you did last night.”
“Yes, sir,” I agree.
“Where are you going?” my sister asks when I turn to leave the room.
“To umm—” How do I expect to be an adult if I can’t even tell my sister with an audience that I’m staying the night at a boy’s house?
“She’s staying the night with Griffin,” my mother interrupts, and I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse.
Gigi’s eyes narrow as she turns to face my dad. “And you don’t have a problem with it?”
“She’s grown,” he says without emotion.
“I had to sneak around to sleep with Jameson, and she’s got your blessing to just slide over into Griffin’s bed?”
How is this woman a mother and still so petty and argumentative?
“Don’t be crude,” my mother tells my sister as Jameson leans down to speak in her ear.
“Daddy, I swear that’s not—”
“You’re grown, Ivy, but don’t start lying to me now.”
“We haven’t—” I begin, but my father interrupts me again.
“You’re grown,” he repeats. “Now do you want to take some of the jambalaya for dinner?”
“They don’t plan on eating. Well, not that anyway—” My sister yelps just as a loud crack echoes around the room.
We all turn to look at Jameson as he pulls his hand away from her butt. He turns toward my father and offers him the sleeping baby. “Will you watch her for a few minutes?”
Without a word, my dad takes the baby. I watch in awe as my sister bites her lip to try to hide her victorious smile.
“A word?” Jameson hisses at Gigi. I’d be fearful for her, but my own teeth dig into my lip when I notice an erection straining the front of his jeans.
Surely not?
I turn to my mother to find her grinning down at the food. My mother’s jambalaya is serious stuff, nothing to laugh at, so her reaction makes no sense.
There’s even a twinkle in my dad’s eye when he looks up from his grandchild to address me. “And Jameson is the perfect man for your sister.”
Chapter 37
Griffin
My fingers tap on my thighs as I wait for Ivy to come over. It’s been an hour, but I imagine it will take her half that time to gather the courage enough to speak with Kincaid. He gave me his blessing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to give her permission to spend another night in my bed.
I’m standing from the hard, wooden chair to go get her when a timid knock hits the back door. I double my speed to answer it, finding Ivy standing on my porch with wet hair and a weary smile.
“I think Jameson spanks Gigi.”
I sputter a laugh at her greeting.
“I don’t think I want you to do that to me.”
She’s serious when she looks up at me. Her blush has traveled all the way up her neck, and her cheeks are pinker than the time I caught her watching me workout with the Cerberus guys before I left for the Marine Corps. She was just a girl back then. Her sister was the one accustomed to bouncing around trying to catch every man’s eye, but Ivy has always been the one watching from afar, praying she didn’t get noticed. I can’t help but keep my eyes on her now.
“Are you sure?” I ask jokingly. “You never know. You may like a spanking every now and then.”
Her teeth dig into her plush bottom lip as her eyes blink innocently up at me. “We could try.”
“See?” I reach for her and pull her into the house. “It’s that sweet innocence and your willingness to try even things you think you may not like that makes my dick so hard every time I’m around you.”
She’s near the color of a ripe tomato when I’m done speaking.
“You showered,” I say, toying with a damp lock of her hair. “I was hoping you’d show up dirty so we could shower together again.”
“Your parents are gone?” She tries to look around me, but I’m too bulky and blocking her view.
“Won’t be back until late,” I confirm as I drop my nose down to take in her sweet, feminine scent.
She clears her throat, stepping around me and walking toward the stairs. To be helpful, I take the strap of the gym bag clinging to her shoulder. She looks lost when she no longer has something to fiddle with.
“Why are you so nervous? Did your dad tell you no? I want you here, but I also don’t want to cause you problems with your family. You didn’t sneak out, did you?”
“He gave me permission to stay.”
“He did?” I don’t hide the surprise in my voice.
I was totally willing to go scoop her up and carry her to the nicest hotel in town, but I don’t want to bring down any issues between Kincaid and my dad. My father told me it was fine for her to be here so long as Kincaid was okay with it.
“Yes,” she answers, breathless from the implications of her being alone in the house with me.
When she turns again and begins to climb the stairs, I follow like the lost soul I am. She’s my beacon in the night, and I can’t let her get too far from me.
“I can still help you get clean,” she whispers. I miss a step wondering if she actually just said what I think she did. She chuckles, a sweet tinkling sound, and I can no longer keep my hands off her.
“What?” I ask, clasping her hips as we meet the top landing of the stairs.
“If you want to shower.” She bites her lip again. “I can help you get clean.”
“That’s what I thought you said,” I growl as I turn her around and pick her up.
Just like she did last night when I picked her up, her trim legs wrap around my waist. I don’t know how we make it safely into my room with my eyes closed and my lips locked with hers, but we’re inside with the door closed when she pants against my lips.
“Lock the door,” she whispers.
I obey, even though we’re the only people in the house.
“Slow down,” I say with regret when she tries to tug my shirt over my head.
“Speed up,” she begs against my lips.
My laugh is hard and loud when her face falls at my insistence.
“I told you before what I can offer you.” Her throat works on a swallow as all playfulness washes over her face like I’ve just thrown a cup of ice water on her.
She tries to untangle her legs from around my body, but I don’t allow it. She’s reading me all wrong.
“Everything is different for me now.” I cup her jaw while my other hand grips her ass, holding her to me so she can’t get away. “I love you. Everything I have is yours. My heart, my body. You own my damn soul, Ivy. I’m yours.”
>
A sob escapes her throat, and she buries her face in my chest, my t-shirt bunched up between us catches her tears.
She mumbles something, but I can’t understand her.
“What?” I ask as I urge her face from me.
“I love you, too.” Her tears renew.
“Are you sure?” She nods. “Why are you crying?”
“They’re happy tears,” she assures me.
“Are you sure? I’m kind of freaking out right now.”
“I’m sure.” She sniffles, then frowns, probably realizing just how unsexy it is. “Sorry.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t apologize for your emotions. I’ve been a needy, possessive dick to you. I’ve pulled you to me, and then pushed you away. I’ve been so hot and cold. I just wanted to clear the air. I don’t want you ever to have any doubts about what you mean to me.”
“Okay.” She nods, wiping at her eyes and nose with the back of her hand.
I can’t help but grin at her for being exactly who she is.
“Now I have a reason to get you in the shower. Let’s go wash your face.”
“I can wash it in the sink,” she counters.
“Nope,” I tell her as we walk into my en-suite. “You said you’d help me get clean. No backing out now.”
Her fingers reach for the hem of my shirt when I lift her off me, so I stand stock still and let her pull it over my head. She must be remembering our last time in here because she’s not as eager as she was last night. It’s like the quiet calm of the room controls her reaction to me. Things were slow in here last time. We didn’t have to rush or answer our fevered need with speed and ferocity. It doesn’t make me want her any less. She seems to want to savor every moment just as I do.
“You next,” I whisper, reaching for the bottom of her loose t-shirt.
My breath catches in my throat when I tug it free and discover she isn’t wearing a bra. The pale flesh of her teardrop-shaped breasts are topped with perfect nipples that pucker before my eyes in the cool air. My mouth waters to taste them, but I resist.
“This may not be the best idea,” I say when her nimble fingers work to open the snap of my jeans. The rasp of my zipper sounds like a gunshot in the otherwise quiet room. “Stop.”
