Chapter 7

7

LILY

As soon as I could leave the café, I did. Left Gemma in charge, who smirked at me when I left, but didn't say anything. Her knowing look was enough. How she knew something happened, I don't know. There must be something different about me. I'm assuming when I came in today post-orgasm and smiled properly for the first time in two weeks instead of moping around the café, it was a dead giveaway.

Rounding the corner to my street, I notice Leo leaning against a streetlight opposite my flat, eyes focused on my front door, a grocery bag beside his feet.

There are no cars on the street, so when I yell across it, I know he'll hear me. "You gonna come in or watch through my window?"

His head jerks towards me, and he grins when he sees me. The instant reaction creates a glow in my chest to see the obvious happiness. That I caused.

"Am I allowed in?" he asks.

Reaching my door, I unlock it, hold it open for him, and wait while he crosses the street to enter my space.

He comes through the doorway and his arm brushes against my chest in the tight hallway as he takes his shoes off. This morning should have been enough for me, instead the contact causes me to bite my lip and swallow a gasp.

"Let me take your coat." I hold my hand out for it to hang on the hook beside mine, and breeze past him, hoping he follows me deeper into the flat.

Butterflies flit around in my stomach. I shouldn't be nervous about having him here, but it's odd to see him in my space. To see him glance around the lounge and the photos on the wall. Strange having him here when I know he's seen through the windows.

"Is this Caspian?"

His question jolts me out of my thoughts, and I find him sitting on the ground in front of the couch, head tilted as he watches my cat, who ignores him.

"That's Cas. Sleeps the day away and not much else."

"Does he tolerate pats?" Leo asks, eyes not moving from Cas who doesn't look at him. Clearly, he doesn't find Leo threatening.

"Sometimes. Depends on his mood." I sit beside Leo on the floor, and my knee brushes his thigh. "You can try."

His hand inches towards Cas, not rushing, but giving Cas time to notice and pass judgment. Cas opens his eyes as Leo's about to brush his fur, his eyes narrow and he darts upright and saunters away, flicking his tail in the air as he leaves the room. Leo's hand drops to the couch, and he shoots me an embarrassed smile.

"He's a cat. I wouldn't worry about him. Not yet, at least."

"Not yet?"

"If you're here more often, I don't want you to hate each other."

"I'm gonna be here more often?" He shifts his body to face mine, his lip curling up.

I clear my throat. "I mean, maybe. Sure, you might be here more if we're—do you want coffee? I should make coffee." I stumble upright and spin to the kitchen, and away from Leo to hide my burning cheeks. Why am I like this? I couldn't be calm and collected, no I had to put my foot in my mouth and make assumptions about us.

He doesn't follow me to the kitchen, probably sensing my overthinking and need to gather myself. Unless he doesn't want to be here. But if he didn't want to be here, he wouldn't have waited outside for me to arrive home.

I dump milk in the pressed coffee and stir aggressively, and ignore the spoon clinking against the mug. It won't be the nicest cup of coffee, but at least the vigorous stirring got some of my anxiety out. When I enter the lounge, he's still on the floor, leaning against the couch. He looks relaxed in my space in his black socks and cream long-sleeve T-shirt. I don't know why I fixate on his socks. It makes everything more vulnerable—more real—to see him without shoes, curled up on my floor as he watches me come towards him holding coffee.

He takes the cup from me, and I sit beside him on the floor. "How was work?" he asks.

I take a fortifying sip of coffee and brace myself for honesty, to be clear, and not worry about saying the wrong thing. I shrug to conceal my nerves. "I was waiting for it to finish so I could see you."

His eyes snap to mine. "Really?"

"Yeah. After this morning…" My eyes flick to his hand. "It felt weird to leave you after that. Felt wrong, and I wanted to be close to you."

He cups my cheek briefly. "I feel the same way."

We gulp coffee and sneak glances at each other.

Leo breaks the silence. "Lily, what you said about me being here more, I want you to know I'm glad I'm here. I'll leave if you want, but I love being beside you, talking and spending time with you. I'm not expecting anything but…" He breathes deeply and threads our hands together. "I want us to be together. To spend more time with each other and stay at each other's homes. I want that with you."

Setting my cup to the side and ignoring my shaking hands, I turn and snag his cup as well to get it out of the way. When I turn back, I launch myself at him and press our lips together firmly despite Leo's grunt of surprise. It doesn't take him long to fall into the kiss, becoming as aggressive and desperate as me. My hands tangle in his hair, and his arm clutches my waist while we devour each other and it's like coming home.

Being surrounded by him is home.

It's the strangest feeling. Thinking a person is home rather than a place. Having him in my space is calming. Having him suck my bottom lip inside his mouth makes it even better. I pull away, gasping for breath, and laugh at the expression on his face. Bewilderment mixed with disbelief colours it, and I can't help but kiss him again.

I sit back, satisfied, and notice the shopping bag beside him. I'd forgotten about it in the excitement of seeing him. "What's the bag for?" I ask, tugging it closer to me. My brow raises at the whipped cream, chocolate sauce, fruit…and condoms

Leo clears his throat. "I thought we'd have some fun. Doing…things. Only if you want to though," he rushes to say.

"Doing things. What an interesting idea." My eyes scan his body, focusing on his jean-covered lap before they lock on his blushing face. "And what did you want to try?"

"Anything. We don't have to use it."

After chucking the condoms on the table beside the couch, I take the whipped cream out of the bag and shake it. "I'd never usually eat this when real cream exists, but for you, I will."

Shuffling closer to him, until my knees press against his thigh, I spray cream on his lips. He jumps and darts his tongue out, but I'm too fast. I suck the cream off his skin, taking his top lip into my mouth and letting it out with a pop. He pants and hauls me onto his lap and ducks his head to capture my lips. I sigh and wrap an arm around his shoulders, the cream can pressing against his back.

Leo's hands settle on my waist and he rubs back and forth. His fingers slowly nudge my shirt higher until his warm hands stroke my bare skin. They trace higher and higher, bumping into the wire of my bra and move down again. When he repeats the motion but doesn't remove my shirt, I lose patience and break the kiss, sit back on his thighs, drop the cream, and cross my arms and rip my shirt off.

His eyes dart to my chest and I glance down to see what I'm wearing.

My hands fly to my breasts to cover the simple black bra and I pout. "I was supposed to wear the bra I bought."

Gentle hands remove my own and caress the tops of my breasts and I shiver. "What's wrong with this? I'm about to take it off anyway." He grins at me and pecks my cheek.

I roll my eyes. "I know. I bought something new, that's all."

"You bought lingerie for me?" His eyes narrow. "You were at a lingerie shop when?—"

"I didn't buy it for you. I happened to be in a lingerie store and happened to buy something while thinking of you. Maybe."

"And you bought it the day when?—"

"When I found out everything? Yes. I can't believe I forgot."

"Lily, I don't care about lingerie. Show me another time."

"But it's so pretty. And see-through."

He pauses, but his hands continue to drift up my back to find the clasp of my simple bra. "You know what else is pretty? You."

And he unclasps my bra, and it drops between us. He flings the bra away and cups my breasts. Thumbs brush my nipples until they harden and then tug on them gently, causing me to gasp and rock forward.

Rocking forward again, I encounter hardness, something for me to grind against, and I do. I swivel my hips on him, grinning when he grunts and gets distracted from my nipples. While he's distracted, I yank his shirt over his head and he reappears with dishevelled hair. He looks over my shoulder and glares.

"Cas, go away," Leo growls. His voice is rough with arousal and I shiver.

I glance over my shoulder and see Cas watching us. "He's fine."

"I don't want to scar him." Leo sounds scandalised, and I giggle at his reaction.

"He'll survive. He'll get bored and go sleep in my room."

"If you're sure. I don't need a cat judging my performance."

"He won't." I lean close and nip his earlobe. He shudders when my nipples brush his chest. "But I will."

"Better up my game," he whispers. He guides me backwards but keeps our hips flush.

"And how will you do that?"

He reaches to the right and snags the cream, gives it a shake, and raises his brows at me. Without breaking eye contact, he squirts cream on my left nipple, then my right. I suck in a breath when the cream hits my skin; the cold heightens my senses. Not sure I like it. Would prefer the warm heat of his mouth.

"It's colder than I thought it would be."

"Not for long."

Choosing to believe him, I wait for his next move. He bends his head and sucks my nipple into his mouth, cream and all. I sigh and thread my fingers through his hair to hold him close. The contrast from cold to warm is wonderful, and with his tongue swirling circles around me, hot. My hips make little circles on him involuntarily as he moves to my other nipple, pressing kisses across my chest to reach it. He licks the cream off before sucking it while his other hand tugs at my left nipple. Heat surrounds me. The warmth from his skin against mine and the heat from his mouth clouds my mind until all I can do is follow the sensations. I gasp when he bites gently and soothes the sting with his tongue. Watching his dark eyes glance up at me and smile around my nipple causes me to clench around nothing.

He's so sexy. Analysing me and trying different techniques to see my reaction. It's making me impatient. He's too good at it. I take his other hand and guide it down my stomach to settle above my pelvis, hoping he takes the hint.

The widening of his eyes is the only warning I receive before he shuffles his back to the floor, leaving me raised above where his lap used to be. Now I'm hovering above his face.

I shuffle back, but his hands clasp my thighs and hold me there. "There a reason you don't want me to get to the fun part?"

"We're at the fun part." He smacks my ass. "Stand up and take your jeans and underwear off."

My eyes narrow at him, but I do as he asks. I climb off him and stand to the right, taking off my remaining clothes while he lies on the floor. Putting my hands on my bare hips, and trying to ignore the fact that I'm standing above him naked, I ask, "Now what?"

"Come here." He pats his chest.

I swing my leg across him and kneel above his chest.

"Come here," he growls and taps his collarbone.

"Huh? Why there?" I frown at him, not trusting the gleam in his eyes.

He grasps my thighs and tugs me until my centre hovers below his chin. "For the fun part."

I swallow thickly. I didn't prepare myself for this.

"Sit on me," he demands.

I shiver when his breath hits my centre, but I shake my head, panic knotting my chest. "No. I'm too heavy."

"I don't care. Suffocate me. Choke me. But you have to sit on me."

His eyes burn into me and singe my reservations away. Most of them.

Not once have I sat on someone's face. I like to eat and trial my baking and with that comes being heavier. What if I kill him? Or suffocate him. Although he did say to. What's the etiquette around sitting on someone's face naked?

As if he knows my worries, he rubs his hands up and down my thighs. "If you don't want to, we won't. But if you're only worried about me, we're doing it."

"I don't want to kill you."

He laughs. "You won't. Wreck me maybe, but I'm counting on it."

"Are you sure?" I ask, running a finger across his cheek down to press against his lips.

He kisses my finger, then sucks it inside his mouth and I shiver. "If it's too much, I'll tell you." He smirks at me. "It won't be, though."

There's no concern on his face, only anticipation and patience for me to make my decision. And a little bit of cockiness as well.

I breathe deeply, lean forward slightly to rest my hands on the couch, and lower myself to his face.