“So you two are a team?”
“We are,” he said. But he wasn’t sure if they would continue to be. He knew there was no way Aunt Mal would accept Rory.
“So why haven’t I met her?” she asked. “That’s the thing I can’t figure out. I know you’re busy and that our relationship is new, but you and I...well, I think we have something real. Or am I just kidding myself?”
Thirteen
That was the thing about Rory, she never pulled any punches. Sitting in that chair cross-legged, watching him with those wide eyes of hers so full of emotion. He wanted to step up. Be the man she needed him to be. And fear made it so hard for him to just let go of the past.
“This is real for me, too,” he said gruffly, the words torn from somewhere deep inside him.
“Okay. Then we can take the rest slow,” she murmured. “I just needed to know you were on the same pages as I am. It’s okay if you’re not.”
“I am, Rory. It’s just family is complicated and my life...well, it’s been on one path until you.”
“Mine, too,” she said.
“What path was that?”
“One where I thought the only way I could prove I was independent was to do everything by myself,” she said softly, tipping her head to the side.
“And now you don’t?”
She got up and walked over to him. “It’s that I don’t have to. I know I can do it on my own, but it’s nicer with you.”
He thought about that as she sat down on his lap, putting her arms around his shoulders. Life was so much fucking better with her in it. That was a given. But there had never been a time in his life where he’d put anything other than family first.
He wanted to come clean but he had to ask himself if that was more for his peace of mind than anything else. Dash and Con had been clear that Rory could recall parts of the night of the gala. The night his brother attacked her.
Would confessing he was Declan’s brother make things worse for her? He didn’t know.
And if he were being totally honest, tonight was one of the few times in his life when he’d felt this kind of comfort and peace from another person. He cared a lot about Rory and there was a big part of him that just wanted more happy memories before he admitted he was related to her worst nightmare.
Just a few more days to enjoy this budding relationship the two of them had stumbled into. A few more moments of being accepted for who he was, not what he could do for someone else.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, knowing he should follow her lead and let this conversation go. But a part of him, the part that knew he’d lied to her about key things, wasn’t sure that was the right path.
But then she shifted on his lap, pulling that long skirt of hers to her waist before straddling him.
He leaned back and looked up at her. She rested her hands on the back of the couch as she sat down on him. Her mouth found his in one of those deep, tongue-tangling, soul-jarring kisses that made thought impossible. All he felt was Rory draped over him. He was hot and hard with the aching sweetness that came only from being aroused by her.
He wanted more. Resting his hands on her hips, he found that she wasn’t wearing any underwear and a red haze went over him. So he just cupped her butt, running her finger along the furrowed crack between her cheeks.
She shivered delicately in his arms and ground her hips down, her center rubbing against the ridge of his cock through the fabric of his pants. He groaned. He wanted her now.
“Are you okay like this? I love you on top of me and in a minute, I’m not going to be thinking about anything but how good you feel on my cock. So if we need to shift around...”
She bit the lobe of his ear and then whispered directly into it, her hot breath sending a shaft of heat through him. “I’ve been working to strengthen my thighs, so...we should be good.”
He could barely contain himself as she pushed the suspenders down his arms and undid the buttons of his shirt. Her fingers were on his chest, her nails digging into his muscles as he was fumbling between them to free his erection.
She smiled with sensual delight as he scooted around on the couch underneath her until he was comfortable. Then he put his hands on her waist and lifted her until she was positioned so the tip of his dick was at the entrance of her pussy.
Rory braced her hands on his shoulders, which put her breasts right in front of his face. The buttons on the blouse she wore were strained by her position and he let go of her hips to undo the button that looked like it was about to pop open and then undid the rest of them as she slowly lowered herself on to him.
But the position was wrong and she got frustrated, so he shifted himself underneath her and then put his hands on her waist again, bringing her down on him. She moaned as he slid into her, and when he was fully inside, their eyes met and he knew he wasn’t letting her go.
He didn’t care what happened the night of the accident or who her brother was. Rory washis. Not just for tonight but forever.