“Let me help,” he offered, not waiting for her to respond before kneeling on the floor a few feet away, scooping a handful and dumping it into the bowl.
The cat she hadn’t been facing off with came over, moving in closer as it made its way around him.
“Is … umm…” Simon pointed to the cat.
“Hermione,” Violet supplied.
Harry and Hermione. Cute.
“Is Hermione gonna bite me?” he whispered to Violet.
When she didn’t answer, he looked up to see she was staring at him, her eyes wide.
He stopped scooping popcorn and sat back on his heels. “Oh. Sorry. Is this toonicefor you?”
Her eyes shifted to his face. She frowned, then looked back down. “No.” She shook her head and laughed. “Sorry. I’ve just never seen Hermione welcome anyone except for Elana.”
“Really?” Simon shifted his attention to the cat now pressing up against his leg.
He held out a hesitant hand, letting the cat know it was in charge. Hermione sniffed him once, then pressed her head into his palm. As she was doing so, Harry decided to get in on the action, moving around to his other side. Then there they were, boxing him in on both sides, rubbing themselves against his thighs. When they started to purr in unison, they sounded like jet engines.
“Wow,” Violet said in awe. “Harry doesn’t like anyone but me. Not my sisters. Not my best friends. Not my mother.” She let out a ragged exhale. “Wow.”
“I guess I’ve got a way with animals,” he told her.
“Ha ha.” The sarcasm in her tone was extreme, but she sounded less defensive. “Lemme guess, now you’re gonna tell me it’s because you’ve tamed hundreds of pussies over the years?”
Simon watched her, unable to say anything. Clearly, her expectations of him were low.
When she finally looked up at him, her eyes snapped wide in horror.
“Oh, my God!” Violet lurched to her feet. “I amsosorry. That was crude and rude and—”
Simon was on his feet instantly, popcorn crunching under his feet as he reached for her. He pulled her into him, slanted his head, and crushed his mouth to hers.
And just like earlier, he felt like he was home for the first time. As though he fit when he’d spent so many years feeling like he didn’t.
Violet moaned, her body softening as she leaned into him and let him control the kiss. His tongue mated with hers, a passionate dance that had always seemed unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
But kissing Violet … it was his new favorite thing.
Chapter Seven
She was drowning. Pulled under, being tossedabout in a vortex of lust and need so powerful, Violet briefly wondered why she’d never felt it before.
Maybe it was the way Simon was kissing her. As though she was the most precious thing in his world. But the best part was how in sync they were. Every move, every lick they did together. Like he was her mirror, her perfect match.
He was almost gentle yet completely dominant as his tongue thrashed against hers. Her body heat soared to dangerous levels as the heat consumed her. The kiss went on for what felt like forever but never progressed past an intimate mating of mouths. She was expecting something. She’d never been with a man who didn’t think copping a feel was foreplay. And yes, it usually started with kissing and ended with her attempting to get out of reach because the guy she was with thought her lips on his was the green light for whatever he wanted.
Not Simon. He wasn’t touching her anywhere but the back of her head and the side of her neck, yet it felt like his hands were caressing every inch of her.
Hoping to encourage him, she placed her hands lightly against his sides. She felt the hard muscle flex against her palms, enticing her to seek more. She slipped her fingertips under the hem of his shirt so she could feel the smooth warmth of his skin. As soon as she did, Simon gasped softly, their lips separating. He pressed his forehead to hers, still cupping her head as their labored breaths mingled.
“I didn’t mean to do that,” he whispered. “But I couldn’t help myself.”
He was so nice. So sweet. In her experience, that was always too good to be true. It was a pleasant change of pace, but she wasn’t sure she could trust it.
Then again, she was the one with the potty mouth.
