I’m surprised by how right that seems. Yeah, Izzy is my kid. I’m tempted to feel guilt. To feel like I’m being proprietary for something, someone, who isn’t mine. But Cal would want me to feel this way, I realize. Cal would want me to love Izzy like she’s my own. And I do love her. With every fiber of my being.
Kat nudges me. “What about you? Have you had many relationships?”
“Not really. A couple of girlfriends in high school. A few in college. None of them serious.” At least, none of them move-to-a-different-state serious.
She nibbles her bottom lip. “What about Dani?”
“No, we were just friends.”
“How is that possible?” She clears her throat. “I saw that photo.” Then she comes clean and admits she dropped by the tattoo parlor, but chickened out and took off.
“Mmm. My little stalker,” I joke as she smacks me playfully.
“But you guys looked close.” Two little lines form between Kat’s brows.
“Dani was always clear she wasn't interested in me that way. I told her it was fine, but then I wanted more. It was really a one-sided crush.” The expression on Kat’s face tells me she needs a little more convincing. “Sweetheart, I’ve barely seen her since she and Jax started dating last winter. She says she’s never been happier, and I’m glad for her. In fact, I’m starting to feel lousy I’ve been so down on their relationship.”
Kat’s whispers, “She’s just so beautiful. And you two look really hot together.”
“You know who’s really hot? My girlfriend.”
A laugh falls from her lips as I turn her so she’s straddling me. I stare up at her, wanting to know just how much she means to me. Wanting her to realize that she’s my orbit now.
Our kiss is lush and deep. I lick into her mouth and stroke against her tongue. Her breath comes out heavy, like a gasp, and I move her closer until our hips fit together. I’m pulsing against the zipper of my jeans, dying to strip her out of her clothes, It only takes a minute to realize the Christmas gift will have to wait.
62
Katherine
Breaking away from his kiss, I take off my glasses, setting them down on the coffee table, and then reach down and strip off my t-shirt. Brady stares at my sheer white bra and starts to lean toward me.
I put a hand up to stop him, and he growls.
“Not so fast,” I chuckle as I tug on his shirt.
He scoots me off his lap and reaches behind his head to yank it off. As I’m standing in front of him, admiring this stunning man, he unbuttons my jeans and slowly slides them down my hips.
Brushing his nose across my bikini line, he murmurs, “I like this white lace.”
“Because it’s virginal?”
“Because it’s sheer,” he deadpans.
I’d laugh, but I’m too distracted by his mouth that’s nibbling a trail across my stomach. I run my fingers through his thick hair and shiver when his hands slide up the back of my thighs, so close to where I want them.
A second later, my jeans and shoes are gone, and he’s pulling me down to straddle him again.
At first, he just holds me to him. “I missed you, baby. I love you. So damn much.”
My heart swells, understanding how momentous it is to find someone who loves you. Someone who looks at you like you could put stars in the sky.
“Love you, too.”
He leans up to kiss me. And it starts out gentle. Just a whisper of his lips against mine. Soft. Like he’s trying to memorize what this feels like. How we fit.
Arching my head to the side, I sigh as he kisses up my neck and presses me closer until my breasts meet his solid chest.
How I’ve missed this. His warmth. These strong arms. His calloused touch.
Dipping my head down, our mouths meet as I rock against him. I’m aching to be closer. To feel his body slide against mine. To feel him move inside of me.
He threads his fingers through my hair, deepening the kiss, and I suck his tongue until he groans.
Pulling me down with him, he reclines on the couch where his touch becomes fervent. He lowers the cups of my bra and grabs both breasts, licking one nipple before nipping it with his teeth.
Those dark, green eyes watch me as I flush from his touch.
And then he gives me that look. The one that sends shivers down my back. “Scoot up,” he rasps.
We’re lying horizontally on the couch, and we take up the whole thing. Where does he want me to go?
He answers my question by lifting my hips and moving me over his shoulders, so that my knees rest on either side of his head. I stare down at him and I feel that wicked grin everywhere.
Those rough hands slide up and down my thighs.
“Take it off.” His voice is low and gravelly as he tugs my panties down my legs.
Oh, God.
My nipples tighten painfully as he watches me wiggle out of my undies so they’re dangling off one ankle.
I’ve never done this before. Yeah, Brady’s gone down on me, but this is more intimate.
Way more intimate.
He bites the inside of my thigh, and every cell in me flares, like he’s the match and I’m the kindling.
Reaching behind my back, I unclip my bra and let it slide down my arms. His eyes darken as he watches me.
“Hold on to the couch,” he orders.
I nod, feeling out of breath and desperate for his touch.