I pace the length of the entryway as I wait for her to come up. She was supposed to return tomorrow and go straight to work, not here. Whatever changed her mind, I’m thankful for it.
The elegant doorbell doesn’t even have time to finish before I open the door. My smile upon seeing her with her bag, a pack of beers, and a pizza fades in an instant. Even with the uneven light of the hallway, I notice the redness on the side of her face. Wordless, I pull her in, take her things to set them on the console, and gently grab her face to angle it with the overhead lights.
Fury replaces all other emotions when I recognize the pattern of a hand, right on the delicately freckled skin.
“Who the fuck did this to you?” I demand, my rage barely contained.
“It was… Stefano. He came by Kate’s place and tried to start shit.”
She’s dismissive, but it isn’t enough tocontain my wrath. As softly as I can, I trace the length of her cheekbone with the pad of my thumb, hating seeing her like this. That cunt deserves so much worse than whatever is coming his way.
“Lex, I’m okay,” she says, laying a soothing hand over my chest.
“You’re not. I’m going to fucking—”
“I broke his nose,” she cuts me off. “And my brother beat the shit out of him. Stefano had it ten times worse, so it’s all good, baby.”
For once, it’s my turn to gape as I try to process her words. “You broke his nose?”
“There was so much blood.”
I don’t know what to answer. I’m proud of her for defending herself and doing that. But I still wish I could have that asshole right here to finish what she and her brother started.
“I’ve never punched someone before. And I didn’t expect it to hurt like that,” she continues, stretching the hand she must have used to punch him.
I take her hand before she can lower it and gently kiss her knuckles.
“Is that better?” I ask, gently grazing the spot with my thumb.
She nods and swallows, her eyes harboring nothing but affection and gratitude.
Unhurriedly, I hold her face and bend to her height so I can lay the softest, most caring kisses on the reddened skin where the cunt slapped her. “Better?” I softly murmur.
She looks mesmerized, and I smile at her transfixed expression. “Yes…” she breathes out. “But for some reason, my lips are a little sore too.”
My low chuckle fans between us, and I don’t resist her adorable demand. Ever so tender, I hold her chin with my index finger and kiss her sweetly. When I move back, I caress the plumpness of her bottom lip with my thumb.
“Is that better?” I ask again, my voice so soft I barely recognize it. I can’t believe I’m this relaxed when I was mad enough to kill someone moments ago. Her influence on me is almost worrying.
She shakes her head with a slight frown.
I’m still grinning when I kiss her again, harder this time. Before I can move back, she grabs my face to pull me closer. In a few seconds, the tender kiss I initiated is gone. She gives everything, and I return it all. My hands go rogue and course over her body with hunger. We both move toward the couch, peeling away each other’s clothes on our way there.
One day, we’ll behave and not jump each other like this. Today isn’t that day. We need to finish what we started yesterday.
Panting, sweating, and exhausted, I’m sprawled over Lex, trying to get down from the immeasurable high I just experienced. When I look down at him, he’s in the same state of bewilderment as I am, his cheekbones adorably red, his body covered with a thin veil of sweat, his breathing short.
After one last kiss, I move up to dislodge him from within me before wriggling closer to him with my cheek on his firm chest.
“I take it you didn’t want to help your dad out with his chore?” he says, his voice a little hoarse.
“He was doing fine by himself. And I couldn’t stop thinking of you, spending your Sunday working. I thought a movie and pizza would make for a better evening. Unless you already finished it.”
He lets out an amused chuckle that has me jiggling over him. “I didn’t. I wouldn’t risk angering you.”
“I knew you were a smart man.” With a satisfied sigh, I push myself off of him. “I need a moment in the bathroom. Can you get everything ready?”
He nods, we exchange one last kiss, and I’m off to clean myself up. When I’m back, Lex took out the fluffy blanket and put all the food I came in with on the coffee table. The screen is rolled down with a paused frame of Rivendell projected on it.
