Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Rhodes

T he lights from inside burned brightly through the windows when I got home after an exhausting day, but when I pushed through the front door, I was met with silence.

I could smell the mouthwatering spices of whatever Blythe was making for dinner, but that was the only sign of life. Koda came scrabbling into the entryway to greet me, suspiciously alone when usually one of the kids came running over with her.

“Hello?”

Blythe’s sweet voice called out, “In the kitchen.”

I rounded the corner in time to catch a peek of her sweet, heart-shaped ass as she removed something from the oven and closed the door. “No way,” I let out when she turned around and set the hot cast iron skillet on a trivet to keep it from damaging the stone. “You made steak?”

She looked almost nervous, chewing on her bottom lip as she studied the spread on the counter. “Yeah. Filets pan-seared and basted in herb butter, then finished off in the oven.” She pointed to the other two dishes on the counter. “Along with roasted potatoes cooked in duck fat and infused with rosemary and garlic, and honey-glazed carrots.”

I looked from the food to the woman, my jaw hanging open as I took her in fully for the first time since walking through the door. She was wearing a sweet little yellow sundress with a flow-y skirt that fell to mid-thigh. Her hair looked softer and shinier than usual and the skin on her shoulders, arms, and legs glowed. Her face was makeup-free, with the exception of a bit of mascara on her lashes. Not that she needed any of it. If anything, the makeup hid all the things I loved about her. I preferred to see the freckles that dotted her nose and the pretty pink flush on her cheeks.

She fidgeted in place, shifting anxiously on the balls of her feet, drawing my notice to the fact that she’d repainted her toes a sassy bright red at some point.

“Those are still all your favorites, right?”

They were, and she knew that. “They are. Where are the kids, Angel?”

She twisted her fingers together in a move I’d seen Avett do any time he got anxious or excited. “I asked my mom if they wouldn’t mind keeping them, so they’re having a sleepover with Nana and Pop-Pop.”

Heat flooded my insides as the blood started pumping through my veins faster. I slowly started around the counter to her side. “And why did you do that?”

She pulled her lips between her teeth and bit down on them as her skin turned a brighter pink. She started moving back as I closed in on her, step by step, until her back hit the edge of the counter.

“I thought it would be a good idea for us to talk.”

My heart threatened to beat out of my chest as I braced my hand on the counter on either side of her, trapping her in place. The tether I had on the hope I’d been feeling since Blythe moved back snapped. There was no controlling it anymore, no holding it back.

I leaned in and inhaled deeply, savoring the smell of amber and roses on her skin. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I want—well, maybe we should talk about us?”

Christ, was this really happening? I was almost too scared to believe it. But then those bright turquoise eyes of hers flashed to my mouth before her tongue slipped out to wet her lips, and my dick pulsed in my jeans. It was taking every bit of strength I had not to grab her and kiss her until neither of us could breathe.

“I didn’t realize there was an ‘us’ to talk about.”

When her teeth sank down on her plump bottom lip, I nearly lost hold of my sanity. “Do you want there to be?”

I shook my head, my face close enough the tip of my nose almost brushed against hers. “Nu-uh, Angel. None of that. I’ve been nothin’ but honest with you. You know exactly how I feel and what I want. You need to tell me what you want.”

I held my breath as I waited for her to say something. “I want there to be an us,” she finally said, those Caribbean eyes glistening with emotion. “I want you, Rhodes.”

I couldn’t hold back for another goddamn second. I moved before she finished saying my name, slamming my lips on hers and banding an arm around her waist. My free hand tangled in her hair, wrapping the long strands around my fist so I could tip her head back and devour her sweet mouth. She rose on her toes to get closer, her arms wrapping around my shoulders as she opened her lips so I could push my tongue inside. A growl rattled through my chest when her nails dug into the back of my neck like she was afraid I’d disappear if she let go.

The kiss was hungry and primal and full of everything I’d felt for her for the past twenty years. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this desperate for something, and despite the fact I was holding her against me so tight not even light could get through, it still didn’t feel close enough.

“God, I’ve missed you,” I grunted against her silky skin as I dragged my lips down the column of her neck.

“Rhodes,” she breathed, her voice low and throaty. I never thought I’d hear her say my name like that again, filled with desire and dripping with need. It made my cock twitch behind my fly like it was trying to stab its way through the denim to get to her.

“You have no fuckin’ clue how bad I need you. How I’ve always needed you.”

She fisted my hair and yanked my head back, those glassy turquoise eyes dark with lust. “I need you too. Now. Please, Rhodes.”

There was nothing I’d deny this woman. I would happily spend the rest of my life giving her everything she could ever want. I wanted to reach beneath her skirt and rip her panties off so I could stuff her full of my cock, but I needed to make sure her head was in the same place mine was.

Pulling back, I broke the kiss, my chest swelling when she followed, chasing after my lips with a tiny growl like she couldn’t get enough. She was as desperate for me as I was for her, and fuck if that didn’t make me even harder.

I kept hold of the back of her neck with one hand while I placed the other on her right knee. I slowly dragged it upward as I locked her gaze with mine. “You need to be sure, Blythe.”

She licked her kiss-swollen lips, her chest rising and falling with each frantic breath. “I’m sure.”

“No, baby. If I take you now, that changes everything. You’re mine. For good.”

She let out a needy whimper as my hand slipped beneath the material of her skirt and continued on its journey up.

“I lost you twenty years ago, and I’m never letting that happen again. If you let me have you now, there is no going back.”

“Rhodes, please touch me,” she begged as I got so close that I could feel the heat of her pussy against my fingers.

“You and those kids are permanent,” I explained at the same time I continued my tortuous caress. “ We are permanent. Tell me you get that.”

Christ, please I silently begged. Please want that as well.

Her hands came up and cupped my cheeks, pulling my face close to hers. “I know what it means when I say I want you. I know this could never be casual or temporary. Not with you. You’ve always been special to me, Rhodes. Always. I’ve tried so hard not to love you?—”

Her eyes widened as soon as she realized what she said. “Don’t,” I ground out, clenching my jaw and pressing the tips of my fingers into the flesh at the inside of her thigh. “Don’t you try to take back what you just said.” I squeezed my eyes closed and rested my forehead against hers. “Fuck, please don’t take it back.”

Her sweet breath gusted over my lips as she slid her fingers into the hair at my temples. “I’m not taking it back,” she whispered so softly it was a wonder I could hear her over my heart pounding in my ears. “I tried not to love you, Rhodes. But I can’t make myself stop.”

“Say it,” I commanded in a gruff, raspy tone as I slid my hand the rest of the way up her thigh and cupped her core, the heat of her beating against my palm. “Say it, and I’ll give you what you want.”

She braced her hands on my shoulders. “I love you.” Her sentence ended on a gasp as I slipped the lace of her panties aside and shoved two fingers inside her. “Oh God,” she cried out, her head falling back as I began a steady rhythm, pumping my fingers in and out of her tight, wet channel. Only seconds passed, but her walls were already fluttering around me.

I used my grip on the back of her neck to tilt her face back to mine. “Open your eyes, baby. Let me see you.”

She peeled her lids up, only making it to half-mast. “Again,” I ordered as I continued to feed my fingers in and out of her, picking up the pace and curling them to brush against that most sensitive place inside her.

“I love you, Rhodes,” she repeated, her hips beginning to circle in time with each thrust of my fingers. “God, I love you. Please don’t stop.”

I brought my thumb into play, pressing it against her clit as she rode my hand harder, quickly losing control.

“I love you too, Angel,” I grunted against her lips. “Never stopped.”

Her eyes rounded as she panted, sharing the breath between us. “Kiss me,” she pleaded, yanking me back to her before I had a chance to comply. As soon as my tongue swiped against hers, she exploded, clamping down around my fingers and crying out into my mouth as she rode out her orgasm, moaning over and over as I continued pressing against her G-spot and circling her clit, dragging her release out until her body collapsed against mine.

Pulling my fingers from inside her, I watched her as I parted my lips and licked off every drop of her arousal. The moment her taste exploded on my tongue, I knew I needed more.

“Baby, the dinner you made smells so good.”

She gave me a lust-drunk smile. “Thank you.”

“But we’re gonna have to wait till breakfast to enjoy it, because if I don’t fuck you in the next thirty seconds, my head’ll explode.”

“Wha—” Her question cut off on a yelp when I bent forward and tossed her over my shoulder. “Rhodes,” she cried out, letting loose a sweet, musical laugh that filled my chest with warmth.

“First time I’m inside you again isn’t gonna be on the kitchen counter. I want room to move around so I can fuck you all night long.”

“Well, if you insist,” she teased as I bounded up the steps. “Who am I to argue?”

She let out another peel of laughter when I turned my head and sank my teeth into the side of her ass cheek.

I would never get tired of hearing that sound, and I would do everything in my power to hear it again and again, every day for the rest of my life.