Kian let go of my hands and stared at me wide-eyed for a moment. Then, a second later, his lips crushed against mine.
Heat surged through my body and my pulse raced.
For a moment, I wondered if this was just a dream.
Then Kian’s tongue slid into my mouth, and all other thoughts were lost. The world around me faded, and all that mattered was the sensation of his hands cupping my face as his tongue swirled against mine.
The kiss was nothing like the first time. All those months ago we’d been driven by pure lust, but as Kian pulled me onto his lap, something deeper buzzed between us. The things we’d said and the words we hadn’t yet spoken poured into each other.
My hands crept under his t-shirt, desperate to touch him, as if I was trying to transfer my feelings for him through my fingertips to his skin, with the hope I could somehow let the love I had for him flow into his veins.
Though I didn’t want to, I pulled back a little so I could remove Kian’s t-shirt, but as I did, he took my hands and my gaze drifted up to his face. His eyes were clouded, and I couldn’t read the expression on his face.
“What does this mean?” I asked. My voice shook, scared of his answer. Scared that at any moment he was going to withdraw and say this was a mistake.
“It means I want to give it a try. But we need to take it slow. It can’t just be about sex, like the first time.”
I bought his knuckles up to my lips and kissed them. “Okay.”
“I think what we both need now is more sleep. Can I stay?”
“Of course. Do you wanna … I mean … I know you said you wanted to take it slow, but the sofa is pretty uncomfortable, and my bed is a double.”
Warmth blazed across my cheeks, and I moved my gaze from his face.
Kian laughed. “Come here.”
I turned to him and he wrapped his arms around me then lowered us both back so our heads were on the pillow. He nestled in behind me, his arm draped protectively over my stomach. I held onto his hand as I tucked my head under his chin. Kian tilted his head to kiss me on the crown, and rubbed the pad of his finger across the back of my thumb. The gentle rise and fall of Kian’s chest behind me lulled me into a relaxed state, and I peacefully drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
When I woke in the morning, it took me a few moments to realise where I was. Then the memories of rushing over to Megan’s, and her confession of falling in love with me flooded my mind. Warmth spread through me, and I pulled her closer, inhaling the scent of her hair.
The clock on the bedside table told me it was just after seven, and as it was the weekend, I planned on taking advantage of the extra spare time to just enjoy being where I was. Here, at peace.
The crazy chatter that often filled my head had ceased, and all I felt was contentment.
I didn’t know where Meg and I went from there, but after taking the huge step of admitting I was scared, and then allowing myself to let go and be with her, nothing felt impossible.
That was until I needed to pee.
Not even waking up with my arms around the beautiful mother of my daughter could stop the call of nature.
Careful not to wake Meg, I untangled myself from her and crept to the bathroom.
Once I was done, I was fully awake and figured I might as well make myself useful, so I went to the kitchen to make breakfast. I wasn’t sure what Meg’s plans for the day were, but as I didn’t have to meet Davi and our solicitors to sign the contract for the gym until Monday, I wanted to make up for the time we’d been apart.
Opening the fridge, I pulled out eggs, ham, and cheese, and cooked us omelettes. After finding a plastic tray in one of the cupboards, I made us some tea and carried everything through to the bedroom.
Meg was just waking up as I entered.
“Breakfast in bed?” she said, pulling herself into a sitting position. “I could get used to this.”
“Don’t go getting any ideas. This is a one-time only deal.”
“Well, in that case, this is the last time I ask you to stop over.”
I threw her a fake hurt look and then laughed. “And I was going to ask if you wanted to spend the day together. I think I’ll just go home instead.”
Meg snuggled up to me. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I’ll need to go home and change. But after that, we could have a movie day, if you want? You did promise to watch the new Terminator film with me.”
“Okay, but only if you buy popcorn and ice cream on the way back.”
“I’ll even throw in some lunch. How does that sound?”
“Deal.”
We continued eating our breakfast, and were just finishing up, when Meg’s phone rang. She swiped the screen; put it to her ear and a second later, I heard screeching.
“Oh.My.God! Josh asked me to move in with him!”
Stacey.
A second later, my phone beeped with a message from Brownie, confirming I was right.
As Meg chatted to Stacey, a devious idea entered my mind. I wasn’t going to let them hog the limelight.
I wrapped my arms around Megan then tickled her ribs. She squirmed in my grasp and squealed, “Kian, get off.”
On the other end of the line, I heard Stacey shriek, and I knew my work was done.
With a smug grin, I laid back and listened to Meg fill Stacey in on what had happened between me and her.
Meg and Stacey chatted for about ten minutes, during which time Brownie texted me:
>>Finally! Good on ya mate!<<
When Meg got off the phone, she turned to me with a smirk on her face. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
I laughed. “Maybe.”
She wriggled closer and pressed her lips to mine. “No regrets, then?”
“None.” I kissed her back, but pulled away before I got too caught up in it. I needed to be serious. “I meant everything I said last night. I want to give this a go. I know it’s early days, and we’ve still got a lot to work through, but being with you … us being together. It feels right.”
Megan gazed at me steadily. “I know what you mean. And I’m under no illusions that it’ll be all sunshine and rainbows from here on out, but I don’t care, because we get to do it together. We’ve gotten close in the last few months, but now it’s time to figure out how we work as a couple.”
“But first, can we have the weekend to just to be together? I’ve gotta see Davi about the gym on Monday, and no doubt now Stacey and Brownie know we’re together, soon everyone else will. Before they all start sticking their noses in, I just want some time for me and you.”
Megan grinned. “I agree. So, get out of bed, and go buy me some ice cream.” She gave me a light shove, and then yanked the covers away, wrapping them tightly around herself.
“You got it, boss!” I kissed her one last time then climbed out of bed.
An hour later, I pulled back into the car park round the back of Meg’s place, with a bag containing a bunch of DVDs, some popcorn and ice cream, and the ingredients to make pasta carbonara for lunch. When she let me back into the flat, I noticed she’d tidied up, as well as having a shower and getting dressed. Instead of the usual joggers and t-shirt she wore when we hung out, she’d put on some jeans and a scoop neck top, and done her make-up.
I looked down at my own clothes and laughed— I’d also forgone the joggers, and instead had jeans on too, as well as a short-sleeved shirt.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, flicking through the DVDs I’d brought with me.
“Us. Have you noticed how we’ve both dressed up?”
Meg blushed and looked away sheepishly.
“Come here.” I pulled her to me and wrapped her in my arms. “You look beautiful.”
She looked up at me and smiled. “Yeah, you don’t look too bad yourself.”
I paused for a minute and then asked something I probably should have earlier in the day.
“Are you okay just hanging out? Or should I b
e taking you on a proper date or something?”
“Don’t be daft, Kian. I’m more than happy with a day in front of the telly.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, but I’ve gotta take you out at some point, and we need a night out together before Ella is born. What do you fancy doing?”
“There’s a new barbeque restaurant that’s just opened up that I wouldn’t mind trying.”
“Jim’s Low ‘n’ Slow? Sweet, I could just go for a nice steak. Lemme give them a ring and see if they’ve got any tables available for tonight.”
“All right. I’m gonna grab some spoons for this ice cream, and microwave the popcorn.”
I pulled out my phone and looked up the number then gave them a call. I booked a table for that evening, and then made my way through to the kitchen where Meg had already started eating the ice cream.
“Hey, share,” I said, trying to grab the tub from her. She tightened her grip and growled at me. “Okay. You can keep the ice cream.”
“Damn right,” she said, scooping up a massive spoonful.
When the microwave pinged, I emptied the popcorn into a bowl and we went through to the living room.
“Right. What do you want to watch?”
“I promised I’d give Terminator a try, and since you did buy me ice cream, we’ll watch that.”
“Sure, as long as you don’t start complaining about the logistics of time travel again, like you did when we watched Twelve Monkeys.”
Megan laughed and snuggled up to me on the couch as the film started.
It was weird. We’d watched movies together loads of times before, sometimes even cuddled up together, but as the film played, something felt different. I didn’t find myself worrying about where to put my hands, or if I was sitting too close to her. I just felt at ease, like I had waking up together that morning. I wondered why we hadn’t done this sooner. If this was what our relationship was going to be like, I’d never regret the decision I’d made.
After Terminator, I made us some lunch, and then we watched Cinderella from Meg’s collection. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when Meg went on about how gorgeous the prince was.
“With the obvious exception, you have terrible taste in men.”
Meg threw a cushion at me, unknowingly pulling her top down for an instant, so that her bra-covered boobs were exposed to me. Like most girls, she hadn’t even noticed the minor slip, but I had, and I couldn’t get that glorious sight out of my mind. I wanted to rip her clothes off. I wanted her, more than I’d ever wanted a woman in my life. Normally, when I had dirty hot sex, it was all about fucking, but with Meg, the part of me that wanted meaningless sex wasn’t there. I didn’t want to fuck Meg as hard as I could then leave as quickly as possible. I wanted to be near Meg. Not just for sex, but for something else— something I wasn’t sure of. Comfort? Connection? I didn’t know. All I did know was that I was starting to sound like a guy from one of those chick flicks, and the worst part? I was kind of okay with that.
But, as with our date later, I wanted to do things properly. This wasn’t just a quick fuck. This was the start of our relationship, and I wasn’t going to screw that up by being the old Kian.
I couldn’t remember a time when I’d spent this long with a girl without shagging her. This was the first time I’d dated a girl and wanted it to last longer than a few weeks. I thought us getting together would simplify our relationship, and in many ways it had. But it’d also opened a whole new can of worms I hadn’t anticipated. I couldn’t sit still. I once again found myself questioning if I was sitting too close or where to put my hands, only this time for a different reason. My instinct was to pull her to me, but for once, my head remained cool, and I reined back my desire.
“You okay?” Megan asked, her eyes shifting from the screen to me, her brows drawing together as her gaze met mine.
“Yeah.”
“No, you’re not. You’re bored shitless. I can tell by the way you keep fidgeting.” She turned off the movie and stood up. “You wanna do something else?”
Oh God, yes!
I stopped the thought before it left my lips and shrugged. “I’m happy to do whatever you want.”
“Don’t give me that, Kian. You’re never okay just doing whatever. You don’t have to be my puppy.”
A grin tugged my lips. “All right, you got me. I am bored of the movie. I’ve got all this energy that I don’t know what to do with.”
“Tell me about it. Considering we didn’t go to sleep until gone half-three, I’m wired.”
“Wanna go for a drive or something?” I was struck by sudden inspiration for the perfect way to spend the rest of the afternoon. “There’s this great little nature reserve and reservoir about an hour’s drive away.”
“Sounds like fun. We can burn off some of this energy and work up an appetite for dinner.”
I raised my eyebrow and smirked.
Megan blushed. “Oh God. I didn’t mean that.”
Laughing, I rose from the sofa. “Sure you didn’t.”
“Okay, maybe just a little. Between that aftershave you’re wearing and the pregnancy hormones … well, it’s probably best if we get out of the house.”
My steps towards the door stilled, as I once again battled temptation. Knowing Meg wanted it too only weakened my resolve.
The sexual tension ebbed a little once we were in the car and driving to the nature reserve. As I focused on driving, Meg manned the MP3 player.
“Hey, now we’ve got the chance, you can let me have a spin in this baby.”
“Great idea. The car park at the reserve is pretty big. Hopefully there’ll be enough space for us.”
When we reached the car park, it was relatively empty for the time of year. I drove over to the secluded side, and then Meg and I switched places.
“Just go easy on the throttle. This thing has a mind of its own at times,” I said, as Megan braced her hands on the steering wheel.
“You’re like an over-protective parent. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt your other baby.”
She eased her foot down on the accelerator, and the Audi surged to life. Meg let out a delighted squeak, and then put her foot down so we zoomed across the car park. With expert reflexes, she turned the steering wheel, and we sped in the opposite direction.
“Okay, calm down, Hamilton.”
After a few more laps around the car park, Megan finally slowed the car to a halt and looked over at me, wide-eyed and breathless.
“That was so much fun,” she said. “Can’t you keep it?”
“Do you reckon a buggy would even fit in the boot?”
“We should at least try before you commit to a sale. This car is too awesome to give up.”
“You’re a bit of a speed demon, aren’t you?” I said, as we got out of the car and walked into the reserve.
“I love the rush, it’s like when…” she stopped and bit her bottom lip as her cheeks went red.
“Go on.”
“It’s like when I came to your fight. Obviously what happened afterwards was horrible, but before that . . . Oh.My.God!”
“You should try being in the cage sometimes.”
“I should. After Ella is born, will you teach me? I don’t think I’d actually want to fight anyone, but the training sounds like fun and it’d help me lose the baby weight.”
I laughed. She never ceased to surprise me. “Sure. If you want.”
I led us on the route I’d taken a few weeks before when I’d come out of a session with Ollie.
It’d only been a month ago, but it felt like a lifetime.
We climbed the small hill hand-in-hand, and then settled on the tree stump. Megan’s eyes swept the area, and settled on the reservoir below before she let out a sigh.
“It’s beautiful here.”
“Yeah. It’s a great place for thinking.”
Our fingers still entwined, we slipped into silence, as we both watched the rays of the sun dance on the water below. The peace and conten
tment that I’d felt in the morning returned, and I knew I’d made the right decision by not giving into my desire to ravish Meg on the sofa. Sex I’d had a lifetime of. This. This was something new and special that I wanted to hold on to for as long as I could.
We stayed at the reserve until late afternoon, chatting about random crap as we walked back down the hill and then over to the reservoir where we watched the swans and geese fight over the bread visitors threw to them. For the second time that day, I noticed how little had changed in our relationship since getting together. Meg was still easy to talk to, and when there were silences, they were never uncomfortable.
As the sun set, we returned to the car, and drove back into the city, this time in the direction of Jim’s Low ‘n’ Slow barbeque restaurant.
“Kian Murphy, with a reservation for two,” I said to the hostess as we entered.
“Right this way, please.” She led us to a booth near the open kitchen and handed us menus. “Can I get you both anything to drink?”
“Yeah, can I get an ice water with lemon, please?” Megan asked.
“I’ll have the same, thanks.”
“Sure thing.”
The hostess went to get our drinks, and Meg said to me, “You don’t have to not drink just because I am.”
“It’s cool. I’ve been taking it easy on the beers. Don’t wanna get a gut now I’m not training every day.”
Megan giggled. “Are you looking forward to going back?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. I’m itching to start doing weights again. I still don’t wanna head back in the cage, though.”
“Yeah? Don’t you miss the rush?”
“A little, but …” I paused, as thoughts I hadn’t even admitted to myself yet screamed in my mind.
You’re scared!
All It Takes Page 29
