Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Knox

Her eyes are soft and warm, her body relaxed against mine.

But her words are anything but gentle.

“Because I want you.”

Because. I. Want . You.

The truth is there in the bald statement, in the guileless eyes.

And…

Mine.

Fuck it.

I lower my head, close that last inch between our mouths, and…

I kiss her.

It’s a gentle touch, the barest whisper of contact, but swear to fuck, I feel something crack inside me?—

Or maybe I feel it glue itself back together.

She sighs, lips parting, body melting, hands settling on my shoulders.

And then the kiss isn’t a gentle touch, isn’t the barest whisper. It’s…every fucking thing.

I weave my fingers into the hair at her nape, tilting her head back further, deepening the kiss until I can sweep my tongue into her mouth, until I can taste her fully, until I can revel in her kissing me back just as deeply.

She moans, and I draw her closer, cupping the lush curve of her ass, leaning into her.

Nails biting into my skin, her leg lifting, wrapping around my waist. I pick her up, set her on the edge of the counter, dick twitching when our pelvises align and I’m reminded there are only a few layers of clothes separating us from the best fucking thing ever?—

Literally.

The best fucking thing ever.

“More,” she whispers when I break the kiss, allowing her to draw in breath, and I press into her, groaning softly as heat spreads through my body, as my dick hardens even further, as?—

“Mom! Look!”

A proverbial bucket of cold water splashes over me as footsteps echo down the hall.

I lift Ivy from the counter, settle her on her feet, steadying her just as Evie careens into the kitchen. “Mom!” she says, rushing toward us. “ Look!”

Ivy’s lips are swollen, her cheeks flushed and marred with razor burn.

Damn, I need to shave.

What happened to thinking I need to go? To stopping this before I get too deep?

Yeah, my dick says differently.

Or maybe that’s my heart talking?—

“What is it, baby?” Ivy’s voice is neutral, calm, as though she’s completely unaffected by the kiss.

And, ouch, yeah that fucking stings.

At least until I get a glimpse of her eyes.

Then my dick twitches again, and I have to fight the urge to not pull her close again, to not taste that swollen mouth and feel that gorgeous body against me.

Her eyes are molten, filled with fire and need and?—

“Knox!” Evie calls. “You come see too!”

Little fingers wrap around mine, dousing my arousal, and a moment later, Ivy and I are being dragged out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“Look!”

I’m still reeling from the sudden change in location when I see what Evie is trying to show us.

Fuck.

My heart can’t take this shit.

Ivy’s breath catches, and one look at her face tells me she’s feeling this as deeply as I am.

Evie drops our hands and moves over to Winter and Snowball, gently sitting down beside them. Gently because…they’re sleeping together, limbs intertwined. Snowball’s head is on Winter’s side, and her tail is wrapped over Winter’s still healing leg.

“It’s not fair that they’re this cute,” Ivy whispers.

Evie snuggles down next to them, tucking a blanket over herself and them and nope?—

I definitely can’t take this shit.

“This is your fault,” she hisses.

I rock back on my heels. “What? How?”

She waves a hand at the trio, all cuddled up and adorable beneath the fluffy pink—of course—blanket. Evie’s started a video and swear to fuck, it seems like all three of them are watching it. “ You did that.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes,” she grits out, “you did.”

“Did not.” Bewildered, I hitch my chin in their direction. “And anyway two-thirds of the trio belong to you.”

She scoffs. “So what? You’re still the one who started it.”

“Um . No , I didn’t.”

“Right,” she says archly, taking my arm and dragging me from the room, not stopping until we’re in the kitchen. Only then does she drop my hand, but before I can ask her what’s up, she pokes me in the chest. “Come with me and visit the most adorable dog ever?” Her brows lift and she shakes her head. “It’s totally your fault.”

I grin. “You’re cute.”

“And you, Knox Adler, are a menace.”

“Who, me?”

“Come meet an adorable pupper with me!” She narrows her eyes at me before feigning surprise. “And oh, look! An equally adorable kitten you can bring home!”

I lift my hands in surrender. “Hey, I’m not the one with the cute kid who met the cute kitten.”

“Just the one who introduced the cute kid to the cute dog and the cute kitten,” she says dryly.

My lips twitch, but this is fun, bantering with her, being close to her. So I hold it together, at least for a few more minutes. “I think this is really Evie’s fault. She’s cute and exponentially so when paired with Winter and Snowball.”

“You’re blaming a child?” It’s an arch question.

She has me there, but I don’t admit it.

“And anyway,” I prevaricate. “This whole thing is actually good news, you know.”

Her brows lift and the mischief in her eyes is fucking beautiful. She makes a hurry-up gesture with her hand. “Elaborate.”

I glance toward the hall, but there’s no sight of Evie and company, so I step closer to ivy, run my thumb along that delectable mouth. “They get along,” I murmur.

A flick of her gaze to the living room before those beautiful eyes come back to mine. “Um, yes?” she says, and I don’t miss the heat blooming in her expression.

“And they’re all cute as hell.”

Humor and mischief and heat?—

The trio in the other room aren’t the only thing that’s irresistible in this house.

Ivy is adorable too.

And strong and beautiful and…

I lean down, rest my forehead against hers.

“Yes,” she says, exhaling softly. “They’re cute and they get along, but I still don’t understand why that’s good news for me…and the money I’m about to drop on cat paraphernalia.”

A sliver of guilt slides through me. She’s a single mom and doesn’t have an NHL player’s salary. “I can cover?—”

I still when her hand comes to my cheek, but I can’t read her expression. “It’s not the money,” she murmurs. “The team pays me well, and I have my private clients.” A sigh. “It’s not even that bringing Snowball home was impulsive—though, of course it was. And it’s not even that I’m likely to have a plethora of pink cat accessories throughout my house.”

“Then what is it?”

She shakes her head. “Evie’s happy, and it’ll be nice to have a cat again.”

“So, what’s the downside?”

The wrinkles that adorn her nose are fucking adorable. “I have more things to thank you for.”

That startles a laugh out of me. “Is this about the email?”

Her frown deepens. “What email?”

“The one proclaiming your undying gratitude for me.”

A sniff. “I sent you a message thanking you for the resources and for talking to the legal team. That’s all.”

“Hmm.” I tap my lip, mostly because I love the look of consternation that action sends across her face. “Kind of sounded like undying gratitude to me.”

“Ugh.” She shoves at my chest, slips to the side, and starts for the fridge. “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re annoying?”

I chuckle again. “Yup. Pretty much everyone all the time.”

That has her gaze flying over her shoulder, connecting with mine. She searches my eyes for a long moment, concern in her deep brown eyes.

“I’m joking.”

Kind of.

Being annoying to my friends and sister is sort of my superpower.

“Hmm,” she says again, tugging the fridge door open and pulling out ingredients.

“So you’re thankful for me,” I say as she sets a cutting board on the counter and pulls a knife from the block, passing it and an onion to me.

“Dice those,” she orders.

I salute—with the onion and not the knife, because I want to keep my face intact. “On it.”

She puts a pan on the stove then seasons and starts cooking off some chicken breasts. “What’s the good news?”

I dump the onions in the pan, start in on the carrot she passes me. “Aside from you having to be eternally grateful?”

Her nose wrinkles again, but she doesn’t take the bait. “Yes,” she mutters. “Aside from that.”

“You’re so fucking beautiful you take my breath away.”

There’s a blip of silence as her mouth drops open.

And, fuck it, I have to take advantage of that.

Leaning in, I kiss her—hard and deep and… short.

Because I’m not going to be responsible for ruining dinner or scarring the child in the other room.

I break the kiss, heart pounding, dick twitching, the urge to pull her close and claim her so intense that I have to retreat, have to find steady ground.

So, I go for humor.

And I go for annoying.

And I say, “The good news is that you’re stuck with me.”

A beat.

“And not because of a door handle.”