Page 35 of Home for Justice
Still chuckling, she shook her head and looked down at the dish in her hand. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
She glanced up. “For sticking up for me. For helping me move furniture, listening to my family drama, coming over to check on my dad… and for threatening my uncle.” Her voice had softened, amusement giving way to something a little deeper.
His eyes didn’t leave hers. “You’ve got to know it’s my pleasure, Justice.”
The space between them went still. Not with awkwardness. It was something quieter, something warm and new that neither of them dared name just yet.
They stood there in that suspended moment until she murmured, “Weird, isn’t it?”
His brow dipped slightly. “What is?”
“We’ve only known each other for such a short time? Yet it feels like…” Her voice drifted off before she could find the words.
But she didn’t need to finish. The look in his eyes said he felt it too.
He stepped closer, his boots silent on the hardwood, until only a breath of space remained between them. His eyes stayed locked on hers, and his chin dipped slightly as he spoke, voice low and sure. “You don’t feel like someone I just met.”
The words hit her square in the chest, knocking the air from her lungs in a way that had nothing to do with surprise. She pressed her lips together, rolling them inward, trying to hold back the impulse that surged up… a need to close the distance completely. To ask for a hug. Or more.Don’t do this, not yet. She cleared her throat, tamping down the chaos inside. “Let me walk you out.”
They moved through the living room, and Tyler veered toward her dad’s chair without hesitation. Jack looked up, folding the newspaper over his lap.
“Don’t stand, Jack,” Tyler said, already thrusting out his hand. “I’m just saying good night.”
Jack accepted the handshake firmly. “Come back anytime, Tyler.”
“Thank you,” he said simply.
Justice stood a few feet away, watching the exchange and feeling something settle in her chest. At that moment, she saw her father and Tyler, comfortable in each other’s presence. The potential of not just a spark between her and Tyler, but the possibility of something more lasting. And suddenly the idea of him leaving… of them both losing him… felt like a concept she couldn’t bear to think about.
Pushing the thought away, she offered him a friendly smile and followed him onto the front porch. Cool air curled around them, scented with the oncoming autumn. The porch light cast a golden glow, illuminating the angles of his face and the softness in his eyes.
She looked up to say good night, but he was already moving, lifting his arms slightly in silent invitation. She didn’t hesitate. She stepped into his embrace like it was the most natural thing in the world. Her cheek found his chest, and the moment her body touched his, her carefully constructed resolve to just be friends dissolved.
They stood wrapped around each other for a moment that felt suspended in time. Then, as had become their quiet ritual, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
But this time, she leaned back to look up at him. His face was closer than it had ever been. His gaze was steady, dark, and locked onto hers. No longer casual. No longer polite.
Her heart slammed against her ribs. He didn’t look away. Didn’t hide what he was thinking. And when his gaze dropped to her mouth, slowly and deliberately, her breath caught.
She didn’t move, feeling the tension radiating from his body and the weight of his arm holding her. The possibilities coiled in every inch between them.
His head lowered. She still didn’t move. When his breath grazed her cheek, hot and trembling, her name escaped him like it cost something to say.
“Justice.”
It wasn’t just her name. It was a question. A prayer. A warning. And she answered without hesitation, without fear. “Yes,” she whispered.
That was all he needed. His head tilted, and his lips brushed hers in a kiss that was unhurried and reverent, as though he was testing something precious before fully claiming it. Her breath hitched, and her body melted into him as his mouth deepened the kiss. The moment her lips parted, his tongue slipped between them, coaxing, teasing, until her pulse thrummed and her knees went soft.
They had hugged. Close. Full body. Often. But this… this wasn’t the same.
This time, her breasts felt heavy and sensitive, pressed against his chest. Her nipples ached, tightening with each pass of his tongue. Every swirl, every glide sent electric sparks from her mouth down through her core, pooling low and fierce between her thighs.
One of his arms was around her waist, anchoring her to him, his strength undeniable. And she could feel the hard ridge of his erection against her stomach. Nothing hidden.
Her hands skimmed up his chest, across the muscle and heat she’d only imagined touching. Then over his broad shoulders, up the back of his neck. Her fingers slid into his short hair, and shedragged her nails gently through it, eliciting a soft groan from him that reverberated against her lips.
