I bend down on unsteady legs and grab my robe from the floor, shrugging it back on and tying the belt with fingers that still tremble a little. My ass is throbbing, a deep, used-up ache that radiates with every shift of my weight. I try to play it cool as I turn and lower myself onto the couch, but the second my ass meets the cushion I wince hard and hiss through my teeth.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, shifting sideways awkwardly so I’m half-sitting on one cheek. “You really went for it, huh? I’m gonna be walking funny for a week. Thanks for that, by the way. Real considerate of you.”
Slade chuckles low, eyes dark with lingering heat. “You were begging for it, smartass. Don’t act like you didn’t love every second.”
I shoot him a crooked, cocky little grin even though my face is still flushed and my legs feel like jelly. “Yeah, well… next time maybe warn a guy before you try to rearrange his organs.”
Slade’s grin turns predatory as he steps closer, leaning down to brush his thumb across my bottom lip again. “Keep running that mouth and there won’t be a next time. I’ll just leave you aching and empty every single time.”
I swallow hard, the threat sending a fresh spark straight to my spent cock. My smirk softens into something smaller, more genuine.
“…Noted,” I murmur, still sitting sideways on the couch like an idiot, ass throbbing, robe barely covering anything. But I don’t move away when he sits down beside me.
Chapter Ten
Slade
Andrew has disappeared upstairs to get dressed and clean himself up, and the mere thought of how thoroughly I’d wrecked him… how messy I’d left him, leaking and flushed and marked… sends a slow, possessive shiver racing down my spine.
I lean against the kitchen counter, arms braced on the cool granite, waiting for the kettle to finish its low, rumbling boil so I can make a much-needed coffee. What a fucking strange morning. One minute I’m buried deep inside him, the next we’re dealing with Lorna showing up like a ghost from the past. My head is still spinning.
I’ve thrown my robe back on over a clean pair of boxers; I’ll get dressed later…maybe. Right now, the soft fabric feels like the only thing grounding me.
I’m glad Andrew listened when I told him to stay in the living room while the police were here. He didn’t need to hear the details or see the woman who’ssupposedto be his mother in that state. God, what the hell had she gotten herself into these past five years? All I know is she left because I finally figured out she was cheating on me with some guy who’d been passing through the city acouple of hours away for work. He must have painted her some picture of an exciting new life, because she packed her bags and moved two states away without so much as a real goodbye to either of us.
I still don’t understand it. We were happy… or at least I believed we were. Andrew was a good kid back then, polite and bright, full of potential. What was there to complain about? Was the town too small for her? Was the marriage too boring? Was she trying to chase her youth again? God knows.
I try to shake the thought of her away, but it lingers like a bad taste in the back of my throat. I feel guilty even thinking about her. I’d told the police, in a voice harder than I meant it to be, that I wanted my name removed from her emergency contacts, if I was still listed anywhere. I didn’t want the hospital calling me with updates, didn’t want to know how she was doing, didn’t want anything to do with her. I said it harshly, but I meant every word: I don’t care for her anymore. She isn’t my problem. I don’t want to see her again. We’re only connected by a piece of paper and a marriage certificate, and I plan on fixing that as soon as possible.
The kettle clicks off sharply. I turn, scoop coffee grounds into a mug, and pour the steaming water over them, stirring in a single spoon of sugar. I carry the mug through to the living room, grinning to myself because I’d had to wipe Andrew’s come off my armchair only minutes ago. I sink into it, put my feet up, and flick the TV on to some mindless rerun.
My phone rings. I sigh, but when I see Todd’s name on the screen I relax and answer with a grin. “T, I hope you’ve got a good reason for ruining a man’s peace this early on a Saturday.”
Todd’s familiar laugh crackles through the speaker. “Listen… I found one…”
I take a slow sip of coffee. “You’ll have to be more specific, T. Found what?”
Just then Andrew walks into the room, grinning down at something on his phone. His hair is still scruffed up from earlier, he’s wearing clean sleep shorts and that ridiculous oversized Oodie with the fluffy hood. Something shifts hard in my chest. I notice the lean muscle in his calves, the dark hairs on his legs, the sharp line of his jaw, and the cocky little tilt at the corner of his mouth. It hits different now… deeper, warmer, and more dangerous. Andrew throws himself lengthwise onto the couch, long limbs sprawling.
Todd’s voice picks up again, enthusiastically. “So, I was talking to my father-in-law, Paul, about the new Benz project, right? And Paul goes, ‘Oh, I know a guy who’s got a ’73 Benz that’s been sitting in his garage for decades. I can give you his address if you want. He’s big into auctions and flipping parts too.’”
I grin, setting the mug on the armrest. “You’re kidding?”
“Nope. Anyway, I’m heading over there this afternoon. Already cleared it with Larry. You coming or what?”
I swallow hard. I don’t want to leave Andrew right now. Not after everything that’s happened today. “You two go on and have fun without me today, T.”
In my peripheral vision I catch Andrew’s head flick toward me.
“No worries,” Todd says easily. “But hey, I’ll probably ring you again later. Keep an eye out for messages… pictures will be coming your way!”
I laugh. “I’d be mad otherwise.”
“I’ll find a way to walk away with the parts we need.”
“Remember our budgets, T. Call me if you bag the engine too.”
“You got it.”
