Chapter thirty-three

Theo

Holly whimpered when I closed the bathroom door, and I almost gave in and let her out. Thankfully, Poppy cracked first.

“Let’s give her a few more hours to get comfortable before we tuck her into the bathroom for the night,” she said.

I opened the door and Holly pranced out and hopped onto one of my boots as if to prevent me from moving.

“Sorry, babe,”

Poppy said, scooping the dog from my shoe. “You have to share him with me. And you’ll have to learn to potty outside before you sleep anywhere but the bathroom.”

Holly licked Poppy’s face, and she laughed.

My throat tightened. Damn I wanted to hear that sound every day. The thought of being locked away from Poppy seemed unimaginable now. But I wouldn’t let what could happen ruin tonight.

I had yet to be alone with Poppy since our reunion on her porch. Rowan arrived right after, and the three of us spent the next hour helping Poppy finish the cards she’d started. Then, I drove us around town delivering them to Red Blossoms, the pharmacy, Karma, Cal’s office, and Aiden’s house.

Poppy’s mom burst into tears the moment she saw us together, but Cal didn’t lose it until he read the card Poppy made him. When he showed it to me, I got a little choked up myself. She’d crafted a detailed cutout of her entire family, plus Cal and Skye, and written the sweetest note about him becoming her brother.

I wanted to be in that paper cutout of her family. For now, I was just happy to have her all to myself.

I placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Hold on to Holly, please. I need to unload a few things from the truck.”

Poppy laughed when I pushed through the door a few minutes later with four full bags from the pet store and an orthopedic dog bed balanced on my head. I’d picked up everything before I collected Holly from the pound, but kept it in the back seat since I was determined not to wait another minute to see Poppy.

Watching Aiden skirt the walls of the SPCA while Cal and I played with the dogs will be a memory I’ll never forget. Despite the audience Poppy and I ended up with, Cal and Aiden had respected my decision to visit Poppy alone. Mr. Twillings, who must have heard us talking in my yard, had not.

“Please tell me all that stuff isn’t for this little dog,”

Poppy said. “I’m pretty sure Skye doesn’t have half as much crap, and she’s been with Cal for over a decade.”

I dropped the bags and took the bed off my head. Poppy set down Holly, so she could explore everything. “I might have gone a little overboard,” I said.

“Nah,”

Poppy said, wrapping her arm around my waist. “She’s had her heart broken by her last family. She needs to know you care.”

“Oh shit,”

I said, glancing down at the explosion of doggie toys. “I meant to grab flowers for you. We were even at your mom’s shop.”

Poppy gave my waist a squeeze. “Fun fact about me: I hate cut flowers. It’s basically the only thing that stuck from my glorious teenage rebellion. Well, that and the hair dye. There’s just something so sad about flower arrangements. You’re basically killing something beautiful and handing over the corpse as a gift.”

“Sounds right up your alley,”

I said and laughed when she elbowed me in the side. “I promise no flowers.”

“No cut flowers,“ she said. “I’d never turned down a potted plant. Speaking of which, you better give Holly more attention than this devil’s ivy my mom gave you. It’s just sad,”

she said, touching the brittle leaves.

“Good thing you’ll be around to keep an eye on it.”

I leaned down and placed a kiss on the delicate curve of her neck. “I meant what I said earlier about you being here every morning.”

Poppy sagged against me. “You know,”

she said, placing her hand on my chest. “Holly looks really happy with all her toys.”

She reached down and ran her hand over my hardening cock and I groaned. After a quick glance at Holly, I decided we could leave her to enjoy her new things for a few minutes. I grabbed Poppy’s hand and pulled her down the hallway to the bedroom and closed the door softly.

“It turned out well, don’t you think?”

she said, nodding toward the painting.

“Too well,”

I said, tugging at her shirt. “I haven’t slept in here in days.”

She put her hands on mine to stop my progress with her shirt. “Hold up. Where have you been sleeping?”

I cleared my throat. “The air mattress in the other room.”

“Crap on a cracker, Theo,”

she said, shoving me onto the bed. “I wanted to remind you how good we were together, not torture you.”

She straddled me and leaned forward until our noses touched. “How should I make it up to you?”

she asked rocking against me. Even with our clothes on, I could feel her heat.

“Fuck,”

I hissed as she moved again.

“Rowan made me get on the pill,”

she said, rubbing her body against mine in slow, languid waves. “And since I’ve never been with anyone but you—”

Before I even knew what I was doing, I’d flipped her onto her back and started to peel the leggings from her body. “I’m clean,”

I said, kissing the delicate skin beneath her throat. I unbuttoned her shirt and found her bare. Fuck me. Her chest rose and fell, pushing her perfect tits closer to my lips before pulling them away. I sucked a taunt nipple into my mouth, and she let her legs fall open, inviting me closer. I quickly tore off my clothes and positioned myself at her entrance.

“Are you sure?”

I asked, dragging my cock through her slick folds. “I can grab a condom if you want.”

“All I want is you inside me, now,”

she said, digging her nails into my back and pulling me close.

We both cried out when I slid into her. You’d think it’d been years, not days, since we’d been together. She was so tight and wet, I had to work my length inside her inch by inch until I buried myself completely with a hiss.

I stilled to stave off the orgasm that threatened to overtake me.

“Please, Theo,”

she begged. “I’m so close.”

I pulled out slowly and she moaned, the sound rich and deep and far too sexy. “I’m never going to last if you keep making sounds like that, kardoula mou.”

She tightened around me but pressed the back of her hand to her full lips to muffle the sounds she made every time I moved, her pussy squeezing me tighter and tighter until I snapped.

I started pounding into her so hard the bed smacked against the wall in time with her moans. She gave up trying to silence them, and I gave up any pretense of taking her slowly. She screamed my name as she came, and a moment later I emptied myself inside her, the pleasure rushing through me with such intensity my legs shook.

I collapsed beside her, but before I could catch my breath, Holly scratched at the door and whimpered.

“I’ll get her,”

Poppy said. She pulled her fine ass from the bed, tossed me my boxers, and slipped on my t-shirt before opening the bedroom door.

I yanked on my boxers as Holly bounced into the room, alert for danger.

“Better get used to it, babe,”

she said, scooping up the little dog and planting a kiss on her furry head. “Your daddy and I will be making a lot more noise tonight.”

She hopped onto the bed with Holly and snuggled into my shoulder.

I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so content. Perhaps I never had. When I lived with my parents, I’d always felt pressure to be the right kind of son, and I always fell short. My time in prison had been filled with raw grief and the crushing anxiety of life without any choice or control. I thought I’d found contentment in the small apartment above Marked, but really, I’d created a new cell. I was finally free, but for how long? It could all disappear with a second conviction.

“Talk to me,”

Poppy said, placing her hand on chest. “Your heart is racing and not in a good way.”

I ran my fingers down Poppy’s arm while Holly curled into a ball between us and let out a sigh. “What happens if Everly can’t beat the conviction?”

“She will,”

Poppy said, propping herself up to look me in the eyes. “She’ll fight it. And so will everyone who loves you.”

“But what if that’s not enough?”

Poppy shrugged. “We petition the court for house arrest. I’m basically a cave troll, so no complaints from me if we have to hunker down here for a few months.”

“I’m serious, Poppy.”

“So am I,”

she said, her green eyes blazing. “No matter what happens, we’ll face it together. You’re stuck with me, Theo.”

I pulled her hand to my lips and kissed it. “I still feel bad I didn’t get you anything for our first Valentine’s Day.”

“You gave me this,”

she said, clutching the poppy charm I’d made her. Despite everything, she hadn’t taken it off.

“That was to celebrate the beginning of us. I want to give you something to mark the end of us ever being apart.”

“I have an idea,”

she said with a devilish smirk that told me I was in for something unexpected and amazing and 100% Poppy.