Wild Spirit

by Mari Carr

Padraig rolled his eyes. “I do like the company, and of course a guy can do that. But you’re not that guy, and that’s not why you’re here.”

  Leo started to glance toward the door to Yvonne’s apartment, but he winced and stopped himself. It didn’t matter. It was too late.

  Padraig snorted as if to say “I told you so.”

  “I’ve spent the last week trying to stay away from here. From her.” Leo didn’t say Yvonne’s name. It wasn’t necessary. Padraig was pretty damn astute, plus, unlike Emmy, the Collins family was shit at secrets. What one knew, they all knew.

  “Staying away, huh? How’s that going for you?” Padraig asked with a grin. Padraig’s perceptiveness was what made him such a great bartender. He had an innate ability to really listen as his patrons talked, but more than that, he could see the things they didn’t say. It was one of the main reasons Leo had detoured here before heading upstairs.

  “I’m sitting right outside her door, so I’ll let you figure that out.”

  “So go upstairs.”

  “I’m not sure it’s that simple.”

  Padraig tossed a towel over his shoulder. “Everything is that simple, bro.”

  “Dammit, man. I just got my life somewhat settled.”

  Padraig grinned. “That’s always the time when life throws you a curveball. Wouldn’t want you to get too comfortable.”

  “Yeah. Well, I’ve got a lot more to think about than just getting laid.”

  Padraig narrowed his eyes and seemed to grow six inches taller. “Are you going up there for a booty call?”

  Leo raised his hands in surrender. “Come on, man. You know me better than that. I would never use Yvonne for sex. It’s just…when Ryder and I decided to do the roommate thing, to raise the kids together, we knew what that entailed.”

  “What it entailed?” Padraig asked, confused. Then, understanding dawned. “Are you saying you both swore off women forever?”

  Leo shook his head. “Not forever. Well, maybe Ryder did. He’d just lost his wife, and I doubt he thought he would ever find—”

  He stopped mid-sentence. Padraig’s beloved wife, Mia, had passed away two years earlier of a brain tumor.

  “Sorry,” he murmured.

  Padraig nodded, acknowledging Leo’s apology. “I get what you’re saying, and you’re right. I’m sure when you two set up house together, Ryder did so thinking that was good enough for him. He probably couldn’t see himself falling in love again.”

  Leo had lived with Ryder for three years, and during that time, they’d become pretty good friends. Despite that, Leo got a sense that Padraig understood the other man even better. “He hasn’t changed his mind on that.”

  Padraig considered that information. “He hasn’t changed his mind yet. That doesn’t mean he won’t meet someone who makes him consider giving love another try.”

  There was something about the way Padraig said it that made Leo think perhaps the bartender was talking about himself. Leo sincerely hoped so. His friend had been lonely since losing Mia. Padraig wasn’t meant to live life alone. The guy had a heart as big as New York, and if anyone was cut out to be a dad, it was Padraig.

  “The first year was rough on all of us—on Ryder and the boys. Your aunt Lauren was great with Clint and Vince. She really helped them come to grips with losing their mom.”

  Padraig’s aunt was a psychologist and amazing with kids. Leo was fairly certain that without her doing counseling sessions with the boys, they would have been completely screwed up. Ryder had been dealing with his grief on his own, and he’d gone very, very quiet, working long hours before coming home, only to vanish into his bedroom. Those first months after Denise had passed reminded Leo a lot of the past few weeks, with Leo doing the lion’s share of the work while Ryder was…absent.

  “You always sell yourself short, Leo. You’ve been the glue holding your unusual family together since Denise’s death. Taking care of everyone, making sure their lives could continue as normal as possible. You took a lot on your shoulders.”

  Leo shrugged, uncomfortable with Padraig’s praise. He did what needed to be done. No more, no less.

  “What you didn’t do was swear off relationships. I get that you take your responsibilities seriously, but, man…that load seems to be getting pretty heavy. You keep going the way you have been, and it’s going to crush you.”

  Leo realized his friend was right. He did feel weighed down. “That feeling goes away when I’m with Yvonne.”

  Padraig grinned. “Then why are you sitting down here with me?”

  A soft chuckle drew Leo and Padraig’s attention toward the end of the bar, where Emmy was still sitting. She averted her eyes as soon as they looked in her direction. She’d clearly been listening.

  “You agree with that advice, Em?” Padraig asked.

  She never looked up as she started typing. “I do.”

  Padraig focused on him again. “You should never throw away a chance at finding love, Leo. It’s sort of like spitting right in Karma’s face.”

  It occurred to him that Padraig had just given him one of Yvonne’s secrets to happiness. “Well,” Leo said, standing up slowly. “I wouldn’t want to piss off Karma.”

  Padraig waved him off when he tried to pay for the beer. “Stop stalling. Get up there.”

  Leo walked upstairs. Yvonne wasn’t in the living room, and it occurred to him as he stood at the top of the stairs, this was probably the quietest he’d ever heard the apartment. Typically, the place was full of Collinses, with the TV on or music playing.

  “Yvonne?” he called out.

  “Bedroom,” she yelled back.

  Shit.

  He waited for a second, hoping perhaps she’d come out. Keeping his hands off her was going to be hard enough without having a bed just a few feet away. He was only human after all.

  When she didn’t emerge, he headed down the hallway. She and Darcy each had their own rooms on this floor, while Finn and Colm had bedrooms one more floor up.

  Her door was open, and she was lying on her back on her bed, reading a book. He knocked on the door, leaning against the frame.

  Her eyes widened and she sat up. “Oh! Leo. I’m sorry. You sounded just like Colm. What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to see you.”

  “Is that so?” She was obviously delighted that he’d caved.

  “I needed to see you.”

  She tilted her head playfully and held her hands up. “Well, here I am, friend.”

  And just like that, she’d thrown down the gauntlet.

  Leo shut the door and walked to her bed, pressing her to her back and following her down, caging her beneath him.

  “I need you,” he whispered before lowering his head to kiss her.

  Yvonne offered no resistance as he claimed her lips and her mouth, deeply, thoroughly. It had been too long since he’d kissed a woman, and try as he may, he couldn’t recall ever getting so turned on by the mere touching of lips.

  He forced himself to break away, just for a moment. He hadn’t intended to come in here and jump on her like a thief in a dark alley.

  “Yvonne—” he started.

  “No,” she interjected. “We don’t have to talk about this. I know what you want, and you know what I want. It’s the same damn thing.”

  Leo didn’t bother to correct her because she wasn’t wrong. Instead, he kissed her again.

  Yvonne’s hands ran along his chest, then she reached beneath his T-shirt, her fingers gliding over his bare skin.

  He wanted to draw this out, make it last, but he’d never succeed. It had been too long and she tasted too sweet. He reached back and grasped his T-shirt, tugging it over his head with one quick pull.

  Yvonne wasted no time exploring his newly exposed parts, lifting her head to run her tongue over his nipples, her hands gripping his upper arms. She was as hungry as he was, neither of them managing to show any restraint.

  He pulled away, kneeling next to her. “Sit up, Vonn
ie.”

  She did so, and he pulled her T-shirt off as well, grinning when he saw she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  Yvonne rolled her eyes at his delight. “It’s the first thing that goes as soon as I get home.”

  “Not going to hear any complaints from me.” Leo ran his fingers through the valley between her breasts, then cupped one. Her nipples were tight and hard and begging for his mouth.

  He bent his head, sucking one in for just a second before his phone pinged.

  “Shit.” He reached into his back jeans pocket, intent on turning the thing off and setting it on her nightstand.

  One glance at the screen showed a text from Vince—Leo was still kicking his own ass for giving in to the boy’s request for a cell phone. He would have ignored the text, but the message was brief. And alarming.

  I’m bleeding.

  Leo twisted to sit on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry, Yvonne. I have to…”

  She sat up and read the screen over his shoulder. “You better call him.”

  Leo dialed his son’s number. “Vince? What’s happening? What do you mean, you’re bleeding?”

  “Promise you won’t yell.”

  Leo hated sentences that started that way because he always wanted to yell. “Vince,” he said, infusing as much warning into his tone as possible. “What did you do?”

  “I was playing with your pocket knife.”

  “Why?”

  “We read The Outsiders in school, and I was showing Clint—”

  “Forget the why. We’ll talk about that when I get home. Where’s Darcy?”

  “She’s in the kitchen making us popcorn. We’re gonna watch a movie.”

  Leo rubbed his eyes. “Do you need stitches?”

  “No.”

  “Is it still bleeding?”

  “No. It stopped now.”

  Leo counted to five in his head. “Show it to Darcy and get a Band-Aid if you need one.”

  “Okay.”

  “And, Vince…don’t text again unless you cut off a finger.”

  “How can I text without a finger?” Vince replied. His kid had inherited his same smart-ass dry wit.

  Yvonne laughed even as she chastised him. “Leo.”

  “Go watch the movie and don’t do anything else stupid. We’ll talk about the knife when I get home.”

  “Yes, sir,” Vince said. “Bye, Dad.”

  Leo hung up and silenced his phone, placing it on Yvonne’s nightstand.

  “Sorry about th—”

  Before he could finish his apology, Yvonne shifted, straddling his lap to kiss him. He lifted his hands to her breasts and pinched her nipples, loving her soft gasp that morphed to a groan when he did it again.

  “Harder,” she urged.

  “Vonnie, baby…”

  Yvonne’s hands were on his shoulders and she was rubbing against him, the sexiest dry hump in history.

  Leo needed to slow things down or this interlude was going to be over before it even started.

  He gripped her hips, holding her tightly to stop her motion. Yvonne didn’t seem to notice. She pressed her lips against his neck, her tongue roaming along his skin as her hands drifted lower, reaching for the button on his jeans.

  He chuckled as he tugged her hands away. Yvonne wasn’t deterred, reaching for him the second he let go.

  He grasped her wrists again, only this time he held on. “Slow down.”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Baby, you gotta slow down.”

  “Not this time. Please.”

  Leo had a list as long as his leg of things he wanted to do to her, but right now, nothing sounded more perfect than a fast and furious fuck.

  He needed her too fucking bad.

  He lifted her from his lap, then stood up. With her hands free again, Yvonne reached for his jeans a third time.

  He stepped away. “Take off your pants, Vonnie.”

  She paused for a moment, but Leo’s patience was gone. If she wanted a quickie, then by God, that was what she was getting.

  He untied the drawstring on her lounge pants and pushed them down. Apparently, her panties had been shed with the bra. Two pieces of clothing and she was completely naked.

  He’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life. Yvonne had a tiny waist that was accentuated by her full round ass and D-cup breasts. A shapely hourglass.

  He’d always tried to be a gentleman and not let his eyes linger whenever their group of friends went to the pool in the summer—out of respect for her, and because her male cousins would have given him shit for it. But of course he’d noticed her in her bikini, always found her extremely attractive.

  Right now, she took his breath away.

  Yvonne usually straightened her hair, but she’d clearly showered before he arrived and had let it dry natural, so her long light brown tresses curled around her face and over her shoulders.

  “You should always wear your hair like this,” he murmured, wrapping several strands around his finger. “I like the curls.”

  “It would definitely be easier to do this way. My mom says I spend too much time in front of the mirror.”

  “You’re gorgeous, Vonnie.”

  She smiled, her freckled cheeks flushing slightly.

  Leo guided her back to the bed. “Lay down and open those pretty legs of yours.”

  “Oh,” she breathed. “God. Yes!”

  He unbuttoned his jeans, but stopped there when Yvonne assumed the position he’d requested and did his command one better by cupping her own breasts, holding them up.

  She was a goddamn sex kitten.

  He placed one knee on the bed next to her, intent on giving her a much more intimate kiss—

  When his phone buzzed again, a call coming in. He’d turned off the sound, but hadn’t silenced it completely.

  He didn’t look at the screen this time. Instead, he just pressed the button on the side to send the call to voicemail.

  Then he turned back to her.

  “Your jeans,” she said.

  He shook his head. “Not yet.” He knew himself well enough to know nothing would stop him from sliding into her once he was naked. And while a quickie was still tempting, now that she was lying there, looking up at him with those bedroom eyes, he’d managed to get a grip. It was a tenuous one, but a grip just the same.

  Leo shifted lower on the bed and ran his fingers along her slit. Yvonne’s legs parted farther for him and he took advantage, rubbing her clit with his thumb. She was still holding her breasts.

  “Pinch your nipples for me, Vonnie. Get them good and hard because I’m going to suck on them all night.”

  She did as he asked, but it was a half-hearted attempt, as she was too focused on what he was doing.

  He knew how to help her remember.

  Her hands stilled when he stopped stroking her clit and her closed eyes opened, lifting to his.

  “I said pinch them.”

  He’d warned her he wasn’t an easy lover, but the commanding tone of his voice didn’t seem to alarm her. Especially when she gave him a sultry smile and pinched hard enough to provoke her own breathy groan.

  It appeared he’d met his match in the bedroom. Thank God.

  Leo leaned down and ran his tongue along her slit.

  Her back arched, so he gripped her thighs, holding them against the mattress. “One night, I’m going to tie you down, spread-eagle, and play with you for hours.”

  He ignored the sarcastic voice in the back of his head that asked, Yeah right, when will you ever have hours?

  “I have scarves over there,” she said, jerking her head toward her dresser. “And a bit of time to kill right now.”

  Leo actually considered it for a second, but resisted. While he’d regained some control, he’d never have the patience for that type of play tonight.

  He licked her again, then pushed two fingers inside her.

  “God!” she cried out. “Leo.”

  He pressed in and out, about to a
dd another finger, when his phone started buzzing again.

  He ignored it completely. A bomb could explode outside and he still wouldn’t stop. Nothing on the planet mattered right now except fucking her until they were both lost to oblivion forever.

  Then he’d do it all again.

  He added a third finger, curving it and finding her G-spot.

  She jerked roughly, and he knew she was close. So close.

  Ordinarily, he liked to make sure his lovers came a couple times before he slid in, but he wanted the two of them to come together their first time. He didn’t consider the reason for that too closely at the moment.

  He withdrew his fingers, prompting her to curse.

  “Goddammit, Leo!”

  He chuckled as he rose from the bed and started unzipping his jeans.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Yvonne did not like having to wait for her treat.

  Leo stopped mid-zip and put his hands on his hips. “Keep it up, Vonnie, and I’ll leave you hanging on the edge of an orgasm all night.”

  She didn’t relent. “I was right there. One more little stroke and—”

  “You’ll come when I tell you to, and not a second before.”

  Her narrowed eyes told him right then and there, he and Yvonne were going to set the bedroom on fire. Her spunky challenges spoke right to the heart of his caveman-like alpha, something that would have been problematic if he wasn’t completely sure she loved his demands and would enjoy his “punishments” just as much.

  “Here’s another piece of advice for you,” she said. “Women can come more than once, so you should let them. Oh,” she continued smugly, “and it’s not necessary to have a man around to do it for them.”

  She only managed to push one of her own fingers inside before he had both her wrists in his hands and pinned to the pillow by her head.

  “That’s my pussy now, and I say you aren’t coming without me. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Vonnie. The easy way is, you do what I say without question.”

  “And the hard way?”

  “I toss you facedown over my lap and spank that cute little ass of yours until you can’t sit down tomorrow.”’

  “I’m sorry, but I still haven’t heard the hard way yet.”

  He laughed. Loudly.

  Goddammit.

  He took sex very seriously, and humor had never entered the equation. It was always intense. Powerful. Passionate.