“You feel so good,” I breathe against her lips, kissing her slow and deep between words. “So perfect around me. I’ve got you, Lila—always.”
That undoes her. Her body arches into mine, walls clenching hard in rhythmic pulses as she comes—quiet but shattering, trembling in my arms, breath hitching in soft, stifled sobs of relief against my shoulder. I hold her through every wave, thrusting gently to draw it out, whispering her name like a prayer.
The feeling of her coming apart so trustingly, safe in my arms, pulls me right after her. I bury myself deep and let go—spilling inside her in long, pulsing waves, groaning low and reverent into her hair.
We stay locked together, trembling, hearts hammering in sync. I kiss her softly—forehead, cheeks, eyelids, lips—trailing down her neck as the high fades, tasting salt and smoke and her. My arms never loosen; I hold her like I can shield her from everything that hurts.
“I’ve got you,” I murmur again, over and over, until her breathing evens out against my chest.
I promised myself I’d make love to her properly someday—slow, loud, with all the time in the world. But this—quiet, close, hearts wide open in the dark—feels like the deepest kind of healing we both needed tonight.
Eventually, I shift us sideways, pulling her back against my chest, arms wrapped tight around her. She melts into me, boneless, fingers laced with mine over her heart.
Contentment settles deeper than I’ve felt in years—like finally, after everything, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Chapter twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-Two: Lila
Morning comes with a wash of sunlight and a subtle clatter of dishes that alerts me to the fact that someone is trying very hard to be quiet.
I blink awake and am immediately greeted by the sight of a little boy in dinosaur pajamas, holding a bowl of cereal in his little hands. He openly stares at me as he sets his bowl down on the coffee table and then sits down in front of it.
“Good morning, Leo,” I croak.
He smiles. “Hi, Lila.”
From the moment I became conscious, I could tell I was alone on the couch once more. I can’t recall how long Evan stayed beside me, his arms wrapped around my waist while I fell into a deep slumber, but it’s obvious that he’s gone now. The humming I canhear emanating from the kitchen is definitely feminine, so that must be the nanny.
I sit up slowly, relieved that Evan appears to have rearranged my skirt and draped a blanket over me before departing the scene, allowing me the dignity of waking up at least halfway decent.
Then again, I haven’t seen the state of my hair yet. Or my undereyes.
“Rosa said that Daddy said that you helped him save the day last night, so you had to have a sleepover since you live so far away,” Leo babbles between bites of Fruity Pebbles. “Where do you live? In Jersey?”
I huff out a laugh, rubbing the sleep from my face. “Midtown, actually.”
“Really? It’s loud there. Do you like loud places?”
From the kitchen, a lightly accented voice floats in to interrupt lightly. “Leo, honey, why don’t you let your dad’s guest wake up a little bit before you begin the interrogation?”
“Inter-what?”
I laugh again. The nanny—Rosa—appears then. She’s a few years older than me, with dark hair and pretty eyes. Shockingly, I feel an unintentional flare of jealousy that this reasonably attractivewoman gets to play such an important role in Evan’s life, but I quickly push it aside.
After all, there’s a wedding band on her left hand. She’s a friend of the family, I remember Evan explaining.
And anyway, if the three men who have stolen my heart can overcome the concept of jealousy, the least I can do is not jump to such ridiculous conclusions myself.
“You must be Lila,” she says. “I’m Rosa. Did you sleep okay?”
“I did, yeah. It’s really nice to meet you. I’ve heard great things about you.”
My mind replays the events of last night. The fire, the explosion, Hale and Noah, the panic that followed, the blissful shadows of Evan’s apartment, and then the tender sweetness of his thrusts while he made love to me in the dark.
I busy myself with folding the blanket in hopes that it will hide my blushing cheeks from the nanny.
Rosa murmurs something in Spanish to Leo, which must be a gentle command to eat his breakfast because he pouts cutely and shovels a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
