Page 179 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

“You already made something?” Lyric inquired, sitting up taller from her spot on the counter.

“I made something special for you,” he explained, sitting the container down and cracking the lid. A familiar scent wafted from the plastic, and Lyric grinned as he continued. “They’re lavender and honey blondie bars.”

“Javi…” Lyric started and then stopped. She didn’t have words. “Did you make this recipe up?”

He shrugged. “I had the blondie recipe already, I just modified it to fit the taste I wanted. Will you try one?”

“Look at you using words,” Lyric teased.

Javier huffed, but his lips twitched the tiniest bit before he pulled out a blondie. “Here.”

Lyric reached out a hand, but Javi dodged and shifted the bite closer. His warm gaze was intent on her face as he lifted the treat to her lips. Holding his gaze with hers, she bit down through the soft, chewy delight and hummed as the unique flavor hit her taste buds.

His gaze was so curious, a hint of worry buried in their depths as she chewed. Lyric wrapped her hand around his wrist and pulled him closer, until he stood between her thighs.

“They’re delicious. But everything you make is. You made them with me in mind?”

Javi swallowed, and Lyric tracked the movement. “Yeah.”

Her patience washed away. “Wanna find out how close you got to the real thing?”

Javi’s eyes widened slightly, as if he couldn’t believe those words had just come from her lips. To be fair, Lyric was a little surprised too, but that was what happened when she watched Javi work in the kitchen like a fucking professional in that tight white, basically see-through tee, with those jeans that made her want to stick her hands in his back pockets and squeeze.

And finally, maybe she could.

Javier dropped the blondie on the counter beside her, and lifted a hand, cupping her face. His palm was warm against her skin, and she nuzzled into him as he lowered his head.

Once, twice, his lips brushed hers with all the gentleness of a feather, and Lyric reached up, curled her fingers in his dark hair, and pulled him even closer.

She parted her lips beneath his and brushed her tongue over the seam of his. He got the fuckin’ message and pressed even closer. He was hot, nudging her thighs wider apart and making a space for himself until she could curl her legs around his waist.

Sliding his hand around the back of her neck, he cradled her as he tilted her up for a deeper kiss. His other hand drifted from her shoulder, brushing her hair to the side, to slide down her back and pull her even closer with a palm against her lower back. Pulling a whimper from her throat with a roll of his hips, he ground against her and Lyric gripped him tightly.

As Lyric pulled away from their kiss for a breath of air, chest heaving, she slid her hand over the top of his and tugged it down from her cheek before leading it to her thigh. She could have gotten lost in his chestnut eyes as they bore into hers, searching her gaze for something.

Subconsciously, Lyric might have been trying to play it safe with Javi, but why? What was the point when he kissed her like this, lips full and pillowy against hers, the kisses themselves as purposeful as the way he mixed ingredients in the kitchen?

Lyric was tired of playing it safe. She wanted to taste more than just Javier’s cooking, and he must have finally seen that in her gaze, because the deepest groan was buried in his throat, and he dipped back down for another kiss before he plucked at the waistband of her leggings. He didn’t bother pulling them off just yet, but burrowed his hand against her skin, between her legs.

She cried out as he touched her, and he swallowed the sound as he stroked his fingers through her wetness. He studied her like a new recipe as he played, finding what made her breath hitch and what pulled moans from her throat. Javier located her clit, stroked around it with a shift of his fingers, and sent pleasure shivering over every inch of her body. Lyric held onto him, ground into his touch, and asked for more with the tight grip of her fingers if not with her voice.

He slid his fingers over her expertly, pulling gasp after gasp from her until the first waves of her orgasm washed over her. It was light and decadent, leaving her light-headed and giggly as she smiled lazily into their kiss. Damn, Javi was good with his hands.

As the aftershocks of her orgasm spread out over her senses, Lyric reached down and fumbled at Javi’s waistband as their tongues dueled. She wanted him inside her, and she didn’t want to wait any longer.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

It took a long moment for her to realize the oven was yelling at them.

Javier lifted his head from hers with a sigh, bracing himself on both hands planted on either side of her waist. “Dammit.”

“Brownie break?” Lyric asked with a breathless laugh, leaning her head back against the cabinets.

Javier’s groan faded into a chuckle, and Lyric sighed at the sight of him trudging to the oven in his unbuttoned jeans. A few beeps, the clatter of the pan, and the scrape of a plate against the counter later, and Lyric was still totally checking him out and waiting patiently. From his ass to the way his shoulders moved beneath his shirt. It wasn’t until Javier reached for a spatula that Lyric realized what he was doing.

“Javi, I was kidding, come back,” Lyric whined, reaching out with grabby hands.

“I’m coming,” he teased. “Or I was.”