by Cari Quinn
I hadn’t been sure I’d see him today, but I wasn’t going to lie even to myself. I’d hoped I would. When I came around the laundry basket, I was doubly glad I’d gone with my heeled boots.
I brushed a quick kiss over Owen’s bearded cheek. “How’s it going, Dad?”
His face split into a ridiculous grin. “I do like that sound of that. We’re good. Tired.” He absently trailed his fingers over Callie’s hair. “Murdock kicked the shit out of us today.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“The new single has everyone on pins and needles. We put the first twenty seconds of the chorus up on our accounts today. Good reactions so far. A few complaints, but overall, they like what they’re hearing.” Owen grinned down at Callie then patted her belly. “You stay in there just a little bit longer, yeah? At least until I get home next week.”
Callie twisted her fingers around his wrist. “We’re going to be fine. Promise.”
Hudson came into the room and wandered around the perimeter as Owen filled in Callie a bit more about their day in the studio. His excited voice prompted more questions from his wife, but I only had eyes for Hudson.
He picked up one of the giraffes I’d bought. His thumb stroked over the little tuft of brown hair at the top of its head and I had inappropriate thoughts.
It was a baby toy, for God’s sake. But all I could remember was his thumb and my…person.
Lord, I was going to hell.
Then again, I knew for a fact that Callie and Owen had done a few inappropriate things in this nursery already. But still.
Hudson’s hazel eyes sparkled and I knew he was thinking the same—or at least in the same ballpark.
He came to a stop behind me, his fingers tugging on the laces at the base of my spine. Instead of untying the little bow there, he tightened it. “Wouldn’t want anyone to accidentally untie this.” His thumb stroked along the skin between the laces.
I swayed my ass across the front of his jeans and couldn’t stop the smile. Apparently, the inappropriate thoughts were mutual.
“I’m dying for ice cream,” Callie announced.
Hudson’s fingers fell away. “Is that right?”
“Yes. And I can’t watch you two do whatever it is you’re doing. At least not without ice cream since sex is off my table.”
“It was on the table?” I blurted out.
“Well, I’ve had sex on a number of tables with this one.” Callie pointed a thumb at Owen. “He’s got a thing for flat surfaces in any room of the house.”
“Thanks, Bunny.” Owen’s voice was flat.
Callie struggled out of the rocker and Owen leaped over the basket of laundry to help her up. “Thanks.” She grabbed her lower back. “If I can’t have sex, then I definitely want ice cream. Chocolate.”
“Caffeine.” Owen’s voice was almost hesitant.
“Crap. I miss caffeine. But yeah, with the Braxtons, I don’t want to give him—”
“Her,” Owen insisted.
Callie rolled her eyes. “The baby any more reason to come out early. Oh, strawberry orange coconut from Lloyd’s would be perfect.”
“That’s a flavor?” I asked.
“It is for her.” Owen helped her around the basket. “Here we go, Bunny.”
“I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”
“I know. I’ll remind you of that when you try to put your shoes on in a minute.”
“I hate you.” Her voice faded down the hallway.
I turned to Hudson. “You don’t have to—oh,” I moaned into his mouth as he swept me into his arms. He tasted like mint and Hudson. It was a taste I was getting addicted to.
He palmed my ass to drag me against his jeans. “What are you wearing under this dress?” he asked against my mouth.
“Underwear.”
“What kind?”
“Why are you asking, sicko?”
“Because I’m a little obsessed with your cute kitten shorts over my very favorite kitten playground.”
My cheeks flushed. “Um, I’m not sure. Whatever was on top in my drawer this morning.”
He started tugging up the hem of my dress.
“Hudson,” I gasped and pushed his fingers away.
“Just a peek.”
“Wait until later.”
“I want to know now.”
“How’s it feel to want?” I asked as I skipped away from him and zipped through the doorway and down the steps. He thundered down after me and caught me around the waist at the bottom of the stairs.
“We’ll meet you down at Lloyd’s,” Hudson yelled up the stairs.
“Sure you will,” Callie answered.
I snagged my purse from the table in the foyer as he hustled me out the front door and down the walkway to my car. “In a rush for a particular reason? I thought you were here to see Callie.”
“I saw her. She looks great.” He crowded me against my car. His mouth came down on my neck and his long fingers cupped my breast. The curve of skin that rose over the scooped bodice of my dress pressed against the window.
I let out a little squeak as he found my nipple and his cock tucked between my ass cheeks.
“I had a very long, very frustrating day. And you know what made it better?”
His freshly shaved jaw grazed across my cheek. “What?”
“The thought of you waiting for me.”
My chest tightened. “Really?”
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever had someone waiting for me. Who actually wanted to be with me after a long day. But when I walked in and saw your face,” he rolled his hips against my ass, “and then I saw your quick smile, it knocked me off my feet. You instantly stood as if you were going to come to me. Yeah, that was something. You wanted to come to me, right, kitten?”
I shuddered in his arms as he dragged the front of the dress just a little lower to press my nipple to the glass. It tightened immediately and I hissed out a breath.
“Right?” he asked again.
“Yes.”
“What stopped you?”
“I wasn’t…I didn’t.” I tried to breathe through the onslaught of cold against my front and the opposing heat of his mouth on my neck. And I was supposed to answer questions about this? Especially when I didn’t even know what we were. If we were anything more than this.
Even if I wanted it so very badly.
I lifted my chin and shifted to meet his gaze. He was already looking down at me, his eyes glittering in the muted glow of the solar lights. “Did you want me to?”
“I like having people know you’re with me and only me.”
I swallowed. That was good to know. Because I really wanted to be his. I just wasn’t sure how long I was going to be allowed to keep him.
“If you two are finished making out, we’ll meet you at the ice cream shop. Unless you have someplace you’d rather be?”
Hudson took a step back and opened my door for me. “Do you still want ice cream?”
“Can we get it to go?”
“That’s a fucking yes.”
I got in my car and realized I was in the passenger seat. How had he done that? When he opened the door, I looked over at him. And there were my keys in his hand. “This is my car.”
“And I’m,” he grunted as he pushed the seat back, “driving it.” He glanced at the gear shift with a sneer. “Automatic? You hurt me in my soul, kitten.”
“Some of us don’t drive a stick.”
He glanced at my legs and I tried to tug down my dress. “Well, if I don’t have to worry about shifting…” He flashed me a grin as he slipped his hand between my legs. “Then my hand is free for other things.”
I was a dead woman. But oh, what a way to go.
15
Wyatt
I’d spent every night in town for the last week at Piper’s house, but I missed my condo. Or, rather, I missed having a king-sized bed that didn’t have two sideways cats vying for my real estate at the end of the bed.
&
nbsp; Rosie and Hank were just like their mistress. Piper also liked to sleep diagonally on the bed. Luckily for me, I enjoyed the placement of her tits when she was in that diagonal stretch. She also liked to sprawl across my chest, another position of hers I relished.
I used to be the guy who liked his space in bed. But now I didn’t know how to sleep in plush hotel beds without her.
I was even used to Rosie’s midnight attack on my toes. What the hell was happening to me?
My phone buzzed on the marble countertop of my kitchen. I’d texted Piper a few minutes ago, and I’d barely even noticed that she hadn’t responded yet.
Such a liar I was. And a bad one at that.
I’m sorry. Who’s this? I vaguely remember someone with this number.
I grinned and texted her back.
Two days, kitten. It hasn’t been that long.
Her text bubbles came right as I was texting.
Felt like ages. I missed you last night.
My smile widened. I really liked that she missed me. I was pretty sure that made me a sap, but I didn’t care.
Obviously not, considering the thoughts in my head. All of them focused on this woman.
I pushed the arrangement of roses and asters I’d picked up into the very center of the counter. Leave it to Piper to like a flower I’d never heard of. At least according to Callie.
The little purple flowers reminded me of daisies, but they were funky and different. Kinda like my girl.
At least I was hoping she was my girl. She certainly felt like it. We hadn’t really put a name on what we were or what the hell we were doing, to be honest. It was as if we didn’t want to mention the word.
Love. Was that what this was? Could it be anything else?
I’d tried to bring up the subject the night before I left for Chicago, but then she’d come into the living room wearing one of my shirts and I’d gotten distracted. Especially since she wanted to relive our first night together only this time she got to seal the deal, as she put it.
By morning, she’d distracted me one more time and then it had been time for the car service to pick me up for the airport.
Tonight, I was going to get her to give me a straight answer if it killed me. I wasn’t sure if she didn’t want to put a label to what we were, or if she was just that clueless about how relationships worked. Not that I was some expert.
Since I knew she wasn’t stupid, I was going with nerves.
Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up?
The phone went to black and a FaceTime request had come up. Her huge dark eyes filled the screen when I answered.
“Hi.” Then the phone camera swiveled to a street view. “See that street? It’s the one right before I get on the interchange to your big fancy residence.” She turned it back around so I could see her face.
I laughed. “And why are you Facing and driving?”
“Facing?” Her rich laugh bounced around my kitchen. “Can you be arrested for that?”
“LA cops will find a way to arrest you for everything.”
“I wouldn’t know about that, because I wasn’t a troublemaker. Were you?”
“You have no idea.”
“Oh, well that sounds like a story I need to hear.” She stuck the very tip of her tongue between her teeth. A cute little thing she did when she was super entertained. “I’ll be there in ten. You better have food.”
I swung my phone toward the to-go containers from Magda’s. “I’m ready for you.”
“Oh, man. If there’s garlic in it, you’re still kissing me.”
“You couldn’t stop me.”
“That sounds like a fun challenge. Okay, I’ll see you.” And then she was gone.
When she walked in the door, I was spinning one of her asters between my fingers. Just the sight of her walking through my door slotted everything into place in my head.
In my heart.
I dropped the flower back in with the rest and walked straight to her, cupping her face in my hands. She made that purring sound I loved so much and met my mouth with her own, kissing me back with the same amount of passion she’d always had and a lot more finesse. She’d learned some of the techniques from me, but the instinct and the expression was all Piper. Nothing about her was ordinary.
At first, I’d almost wished she was like other women because I knew how to deal with them. She left me unbalanced far too often. Now I craved her spontaneity and liked never knowing what she’d say or do next.
There was no being bored with my kitten around. It simply wasn’t possible.
But Piper’s lessons hadn’t only been about her learning to be with men. I sensed she didn’t trust me or my kind much—the rockstar kind. We were the ones who didn’t stick around, and she’d always been so independent that she’d probably assumed I was perfect for her needs.
Only thing she hadn’t counted on was how perfect she’d be for mine too.
For me.
I knew it way down deep in the marrow of my bones, and I couldn’t wait any longer to address the Cupid in the corner.
Bloody hell, that damn Blackwell was rubbing off on me with his fanciful speech.
Though I moved back, I rubbed my thumb over her soft skin. “Seeing you walk in is always a jolt to the system.”
Her hooded eyes flickered up to mine. “Good or bad?”
“Good. Very good.”
She smiled. “It’s a jolt for me too, since I don’t like going without sex days on end now. It feels like eating all the ice cream then going on a hunger strike. I’m not the best with self-denial.” Her gaze drifted to the ceiling. “Don’t suppose we can move this to more intimate quarters?”
“I have dinner for us, remember?” And her flowers, and candlelight, and a conversation that couldn’t wait. I wanted nothing more than to talk to her about important matters over a quiet meal at the end of a long day.
Several very long days, in fact.
But she was licking her lips and darting her gaze past me as if she didn’t have time for any of that. Not that I’d normally object. Red-blooded male here, and watching her tongue swipe over her mouth made my cock twitch.
She wasn’t the only one who’d already gotten used to not going without. Yes, I’d had gaps between lovers before. I wasn’t a different woman every night sort, no matter what the tabloids claimed. Not even at my worst.
But Piper made everything different. Being away from her wasn’t only about not getting my dick wet. It was about her—her laughter, her off-the-cuff remarks, hell, even the way she took care of her crazy cats. She was the total package, one I’d be happy unwrapping the layers of for the rest of my—
For a very long time.
“Oh, right. Maybe we can heat it up later?” she asked hopefully. “I found something on Pinterest I want to try.”
Despite my need to keep this on a serious level, I cocked my brow. “A DIY sex bench made from shiplap?”
I didn’t even know if it was feasible to make a sex bench out of shiplap, just that all the trendy HGTV shows seemed to think a house wasn’t a home without it.
She made a noise in her throat. “Is that a thing? Tell me that’s a thing. I can’t even imagine what it’d be like to do…that on a special bench made for it.”
I grunted. “Is everything about sex with you?”
“Well, duh. Do you know how long I went without? Especially good sex. That was like spotting a UFO in my bedroom.”
Not laughing was nearly impossible. But I didn’t, because once she made me laugh, I was sunk. I’d be lost in her again and this conversation would be tucked aside.
Maybe I was pushing things. Rushing more than was necessary. But I wasn’t around all the time, and I guess I needed some permanency in my life. I wanted someone to leave a light on for me. Not my housekeeper or a friend.
I wanted her to be the one waiting up for me.
“Anyway,” she continued, “what I saw was a dirty GIF. It was a guy doing a woman from behind. He wa
s grabbing her hair, and she had both hands flat against the wall.” She stepped forward and ran her fingers over my chest. “Why don’t I show you?”
“Dinner is from Magda’s,” I said meaningfully, as if the reminder of our first date might put things back on the track I wanted them to be on.
“That is tempting.” She toyed with my buttons, slipping her pinky in between the panels of fabric to caress my undershirt. Her touch was warm enough that it was almost as if I wore nothing at all.
Fuck, I wanted to be inside her. To imprint myself on her the way she’d imprinted herself on me.
“We will definitely enjoy reheating that after then,” she said, her eyes all witchy smoke and seduction as she leaned up on her tiptoes to brush her lips over my scruffy jaw. I hadn’t shaved yet, knowing she liked that buzz against her inner thighs. “Sex sustenance first, food sustenance later.”
This was how far she’d come due to my lessons. Mine. So I couldn’t rue how much she’d learned, because I’d been leading the class.
And I didn’t. All I wanted was to know there was more. To hear her say that we weren’t just about lessons and booty calls and exploring uncharted territories.
Freaking sex bench. Now I’d have that image in my head, with her spread out upon it.
“What am I to you?” I asked.
She didn’t seem to hear me at first. She closed her eyes as she skimmed kisses down my throat and over the top of my chest revealed by my shirt. Even as she eased back, her full lips were parted and wet. My cock jerked and fuck if I didn’t want to sweep all of this aside and just concentrate on making her feel good. I was addicted to hearing her moan my name as she came.
And I needed more. As wonderful as that was, I fucking needed more.
“Piper. What am I to you?”
The usage of her actual name got her attention. Her big eyes opened and zeroed in on mine. Her chin trembled and then she nodded, her face glazing over with an emotion I didn’t understand. “Don’t worry, Hudson. I get it. I swear, I understand what this is and how it has to go. I’m not going to be a problem for you.”
