14. Mike

14

MIKE

My eyes fluttered open to a dark room. It took a second for me to remember where I was as I rolled over, reaching for Lila, but finding cold, crumpled sheets instead.

When my eyes focused, I found her perched on the edge of the bed, holding a ceramic mug in both hands as she fixated on the gray sky through the glass.

"Is it day or night still?" I asked as I crawled behind her and pulled her to me.

Her cheeks lifted, but she didn't turn her head.

"It's five o'clock in the morning." She brought the mug to her lips, white-knuckling the handle as she took a sip.

"So, it's early. Plenty of time to stay in bed, right?" I pulled down the sleeve of her green T-shirt and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

She leaned into me but wouldn't turn around. I kneaded her shoulders, the tense muscles melting a little under my fingers as her head drooped.

"What can I do to get you to turn around? And maybe get this Eagles shirt off you?" I slipped my arms around her waist, relaxing a bit when I coaxed a laugh out of her.

"I'd love to spend all day in bed with you."

"Then why am I sensing a but?" I rocked us slowly back and forth. Her mind was on her damaged car and what it might mean, and although I had to fight hard not to show it, so was mine.

I'd tried to play it off in front of her, but if this wasn't a bunch of troublemaking kids fucking shit up for the fun of it and her ex was, in fact, coming after her again, I worried over what we could be dealing with.

And how to protect her without being by her side all day and all night.

She finally turned around, her face crumpling as she shook her head. "It was better when I was just afraid for me, but now?—"

"I told you last night. Don't be afraid for me, if that's what's bothering you. I was trained to deal with psychos like that. If Ted ends up here, he's the one who should worry." I tapped her temple. "So get that out of your head."

"Easier said than done." She shifted around and buried her head into my chest.

"We'll talk to Jude when he gets here this morning. If he doesn't find Ted's prints on the car, we can still try to see what we can do now in case Ted ever does decide to cause trouble again."

"Maybe Claudia will let me work at the bar when your dad fires me."

"He won't." I pushed her back and dipped my head to meet her gaze. "My father will be more concerned about you than anything else, and since his best friend is the chief of police, he can send a few extra cops over to keep an eye on things if it comes to that."

I took the mug from her hands and set it on the floor.

"Maybe you should order a nightstand next. Come here, sweetheart." I lifted her up and set her on my lap. "Whoever did that to your car last night, nothing changes. You'll still work for my father. And I'll still be inside you every single chance I get."

Her cheeks flushed as she shook her head.

"Mike, you can't?—"

I pressed a finger to her lips.

"Just listen. You don't have to feel like you need to hide or keep anything from the people who care about you just because you think they'll get hurt. We Russos are pretty connected in this town." I nudged her side, getting a tiny smile out of her. "None of us will let anything happen to you."

"I would love nothing more than for this to be over." Her voice cracked as she ran her hand through my hair and dropped her chin to her chest.

"I know, baby." I pulled back and pressed my lips to her forehead. "No one is going to hurt my girl or anyone else."

"Your girl, huh?" Her brow quirked up. "I'm seven years older than you."

I shrugged. "Whatever you want me to call you, you're all mine, Delilah," I growled, shifting her on my lap until she straddled me. "And I'm all yours. So, there's no hiding, no running." I coasted my hand up her shirt, my cock jerking under the sheets when I found her bare underneath.

"You're something else, Mikey," she whispered before our mouths fused together.

I peeled her shirt over her head and rolled on top of her.

"That's much better," I teased, settling between her legs. "You really ordered hundreds of dollars in furniture just to get me to come here for a whole day?"

I cracked up when she glared back at me.

"I didn't know how long I would need to work myself up to tell you, and you're fast, so yes, I tried to buy myself some time."

I smoothed my hand down her arm and laced our fingers together.

"Is all that going to fit in here?" I quipped, bringing our joined hands to my lips. "You went to all that trouble to ask me what you should have already known." I pressed myself against her, my cock already so hard again it was painful.

"What's that?" she asked, wrapping her legs around me.

Even when I didn't know her name yet, something in Lila's eyes had grabbed me by the throat, and I couldn't run from it.

Maybe we hadn't known each other for very long, but what I felt for her was too much of a certainty to be afraid of it or to try to deny it.

Maybe love had been so easy for me to run from because it was never real. If Lila and I weren't real, I never wanted to fall in love because my heart couldn't take it.

I covered her mouth with mine, kissing her slow and deep as she arched her back off the bed.

"Drenched already?" I murmured against her lips when I slipped a hand between us, tracing slow circles around her clit with the tip of my finger. "You like it when I touch you, Delilah?"

Instead of arguing with me over using her full name, she fluttered against my fingers and let go of a low moan.

"I think you love it. I bet I know how I can make you relax."

Her clouded gaze met mine as I kissed down her body, laughing against the soft skin of her stomach as she squirmed against me.

"Hold still like a good girl."

She turned her head, whimpering into the pillow as I ran my tongue up and down her soaked pussy, sucking her clit into my mouth as her hands fisted in my hair.

"It's too good," she groaned out, her legs flailing back and forth until I grabbed her hips and spread her open.

"Can't hide from me. This is all mine." I slid two fingers inside as I devoured her, her sweet arousal dripping down my chin as her hips bucked off the bed.

"Mike, please," she said with a long wail, her thighs quivering against my cheeks.

I swatted her ass with a loud smack and felt her legs go stiff as she squeezed my fingers. She screamed through her release, but I wouldn't stop until I'd wrung every ounce of pleasure out of her.

I couldn't make her forget, but in this moment, I wanted to clear her mind of any thoughts but me.

"To answer your question, if you still remember what it was…"

She peered down at me, a beautiful blush bleeding into her cheeks and down her chest as a hazy smile drifted over her lips.

"I adore you. From day one, and more every day since."

I crawled up the bed and slanted my mouth over hers, trying to make her believe the rest of what I didn't know how to say.