May
Cracking my eyes open, I rolled heavily onto my side only to hit more bed, and my heart leaped into my throat. Sitting up sharply, panic slammed against my eye sockets, and I threw off the blanket to rush down the stairs. My brain only caught up with my body when I skid to a stop in the kitchen, and Oran frowned at me as he and his brother stood by the coffee maker.
“Oh, my God, you scared me.” Relief forced the air from my lungs, and I rubbed my face with both my palms and sniffed hard. “Why are you up so early? What time is it?”
“It’s past noon. I thought you deserved to sleep in. May . . . ” Clearing his throat, Oran tilted his head at me, and I frowned. Glancing down under furrowed brows, I sucked a sharp breath at thenothingcurrently covering my body, and I crossed my arms tightly over my chest.At least I’m wearing panties . . . nude-colored panties.
“Wait, it’s past noon?” My head snapped up, eyes narrowing on the clock on the stove, and I scrunched up my face in distaste. “Shit- I have to get to the hotel- why didn’t you wake me up, Oran?”
“I texted Sarah from your phone. She’s on her way here. We’re going out to eat with Natasha and Erik.”
“Oh.” Awkwardness warmed my cheeks, and I rolled my bottom lip between my teeth as the events of last night rushed into my head. I didn’t even remember falling asleep, and I surely didn’t remember taking off my clothes. Gnawing on my lip diligently, I rocked back on my heels as my thoughts got away from me.
I couldn’t even imagine how hard it was for Oran to talk to me about what he was feeling and not just ignoring it like it was some minor, inconvenient event. What happened to him really tore him apart, and I reached to rub my neck and shoulder as his admission echoed in my ears.
Whatever accident must’ve happened to Kara, he gave her mercy and retribution. Two things, there—Oran must really believe in our relationship, even if he doesn’t want to admit it, and I’m insane.
When someone confesses to murder,two of them, a sane person would run away and not look back, just like he’d said.
“May . . . ” The deep timber that filled my ears wasn’t Oran’s, and I snapped to attention to find his brother just two feet from me. His intense eyes displayed no emotion at all, and I sucked on my bottom lip as the bridge of my nose tingled wildly and uncomfortably. “I want to apologize for the way we met. I thought you at least suspected why your parents kicked your sister out, and I shouldn’t have ambushed you. I apologize.”
Carlyle talked so proper that it was almost difficult to listen to, and I jerked my head in a nod before turning on my heel and rushing upstairs. Finally, I inhaled deeply and held my hand over my heart to keep it from bursting through my chest.Man, that guy was intense. I never wanted to be alone with him.
But, Carlyle was still Oran’s brother, and I had to at least make an attempt to like him.
“Ugh, okay.” Rubbing my face furiously, I shook my head just as hard before snatching my shirt off the floor. When was it decided to go out to lunch together? I knew that Carlyle had invited us, but there’d been no other word about it. For that matter, how long had I been clocked out while Oran was left to fend for himself? “Jesus.”
“May, hey.” Twisting as Oran appeared in the loft, I pulled my shirt down to pause at the graveness dragging down his handsome, sharp features. “Can we talk a little before we go out?”
“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Sitting on the edge of his bed, goosebumps washed my arms when Oran sat next to me, and I rubbed my knees as curiosity stained my tongue. “If it’s about last night, I—”
“It’s not. Actually, I guess it sort of is . . . ” He trailed off, and my breath hitched when he grabbed my hand to tangle our fingers together. Heat engulfed my chest, and I glanced up as he turned to face me fully, his mouth set in a thin line and a slight crease between his brows. “I know that things got a little sidetracked last night, but I told you because I don’t know if this . . . this burning need to be with you is love, May, but it’s not something I’ve ever felt before. I just need you to know that.”
My jaw fell into my lap, and my heart grew full as Oran pulled off his glasses with his free hand briefly. A huge, silly grin stretched my mouth even as it dried in speechlessness, and he put his glasses back on to catch my eye. Tingles shot down my spine, and I threw my arms around his neck to smash my lips on his. He leaned back a little, his hands flying to my sides, and his tongue sneaked out to tangle around mine.
Slowly, he cupped the back of my head, and our kiss morphed into something slow and beautiful as affection and something more gripped my heart in a vise. When Oran pulled back, his pants chapped my lips, and his eyes blazed in desire only amplified by his glasses. Pressing his forehead against mine, he kneaded the base of my skull, and I scooted into his lap to sigh in utter bliss.
“We’re gonna have such great sex later.” My abdomen clenched at just the bare notion of it, and Oran chuckled sultrily before capturing my mouth in a quick, hard kiss. Cupping my cheek, he smiled a genuinely happy smile, and it stole my breath. He was such a good man. Despite all his flaws, the things he’s done, he was so, so good. My eyes stung at the acknowledgment thatnothingwas better than this moment, and I blinked hard before nodding firmly.
“There’s one thing I wondered, you know.” Speaking up as I stood to grab my pants from the day before, Oran leaned back on his arms out of the corner of my eye. “When you came up to me on the street that time, you didn’t know who I was. How’d you find me if you didn’t look me up?”
“The manager at Hansen’s said you go there a lot, so she recognized the coffee place you like to go to, and that was my best shot. She gave me your name and what you looked like, but, no, I didn’t have to look you up.” I was so damn happy that I didn’t care how it sounded now— I wassoglad I decided to track Oran down. Stuffing my legs into my pants, I bounced a little as I hiked them up, and he just took my word for it, no hesitation or skepticism. “When did you wake up? After last night, I thought you’d be the one to sleep ‘til noon, not me.”
“You were up all night. I know you were because I felt every time you stopped running your fingers through my hair.” Oran smiled so sweetly, and flames licked up my neck as I fastened my pants with stiff fingers. “I’ve only been up an hour. Carlyle called me. He has to go back to New York tomorrow, so he wanted to apologize and get together before he left.”
“Oh, that’s not bad then. So, my question . . . why did you never ask if I was on birth control?” His brows rose, and Oran barked a laugh as he straightened to shake his head. “I mean, I am. I’m on the implant that only needs to be changed every, like, five years, but why’d you never ask?”
“Because even if you weren’t, it wouldn’t matter. I can’t have kids.” I nearly choked at that, and I stared at Oran through wide eyes as my brain struggled to comprehend that so casual statement. Slowly, his little smirk died, and he gazed at me from under furrowed brows as the atmosphere settled thickly on my skin. “Unless kids are something you want, in which case I can get a reversal.”
“Uh n-no, I don’t. It’s just, I don’t know, shocking. You say that like it’s nothing.” Rising off the bed, Oran wrapped his arm around my neck to grumble against my cheek. “That wasn’t the answer I expected.”
“Yeah, well, the last thing I needed was some hungry trap coming after me. It’s happened before.” Snorting a laugh at that, I lifted my head, and Oran planted a firm kiss on my mouth. “I can always change it. There’d be a lowered chance, but a chance.”
“I’ll keep that in mind when all my non-existent friends get pregnant, and I get baby fever.” It was like a joke. I didn’t want kids. I was as close to having a kid as I ever wanted to get, and Oran’s smirk widened against my lips before he reached down to grab my butt.
