Irresistible Nights by Kaylee Monroe

Chapter Twelve

Denton

I wonder if Marcie would let me have a drawer,I mused as I shifted my duffle bag on my shoulder. She had a few toiletries, some spare underwear, an extra phone charger and a portable hair dryer at my place, but so far, I still brought everything with me when I stayed at her apartment.

Of course, I would gladly clear out half of my closet for her if she asked, but so far, we’d avoided any concrete discussions about where things were going and what both of us wanted.

I knew what I wanted. Marcie. All of her, for as long as I could keep her. Forever, if she wanted.

“Hey, you,” she said as she opened the door for me. Her sweet voice sounded a little strained, not like her usual bright, lively tone. “’I missed you.”

I tossed my bag to the couch and pulled her into my arms for a deep kiss. She smelled incredible, just like always, and my body warmed as her arms crept around me and she pressed in close. I loved how her short, curvy frame fit so well against my height and muscles. Natural and right, like she was meant to be there.

She broke the kiss and buried her head against my chest as I held her tight.

“I missed you too,” I said, and dropped another kiss to the top of her head. I sank down onto the couch and pulled her into my lap, but paused when I saw her expression.

She looked tired. Worried.

“What’s this?” I asked, smoothing a finger along the furrow in her brow. “Is something wrong?”

My heart lurched in my chest as tears shimmered in her eyes and overflowed to leave shining trails down her beautiful face. I leaned in and kissed her cheek, tasting the salt of her tears as I rubbed her arms with my hands.

“We can’t keep doing this,” she finally said.

My muscles went rigid and I opened my mouth to disagree, but she stopped me with gentle fingers on my lips.

“I don’t mean not seeing each other anymore,” she explained.

I relaxed slightly and grabbed her fingers in mine, kissing them gently as I pulled her in closer with my other arm. “You scared me,” I said. “I don’t want to stop seeing you, either.”

Marcie took a deep breath. “It’s not just sex for me anymore. When I think about maybe not being with you—it hurts, Denton. I don’t want to picture not having you in my life.”

I nuzzled her neck, planting gentle kisses along her soft skin. I felt so relieved that tears prickle at my own eyes. I hadn’t realized how afraid I was that she didn’t feel the same way.

“I wasn’t honest with you about my feelings,” she continued. “And I wasn’t honest with myself, either.”

I straightened and looked at her again as she placed her cool fingers against my cheek. She was so stunning that my heart ached with it, and I knew I would never forget the way she looked just then, anxious and hopeful as she placed her fragile heart in my hands.

I would never abuse that precious gift.

“I’m so glad you’re telling me now, Marcie,” I said, and took a leap of faith myself. “However long it took you. I’m so in love with you.”

She sniffled and smiled. “I’m in love with you, too. I didn’t plan it, but I’m glad it happened all the same. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.”

She leaned forward and kissed me, soft and sweet as her arms wound around my neck to pull herself as close as possible. Like she wanted to climb into the shelter of my body.

I would gladly let her.

“We have to talk to my dad, though,” she said after she pulled away. “What we’re doing behind his bad . . . it’s bad, Denton. We’re betraying his trust.”

“Your dad’s not in charge of you or me,” I pointed out, even though I understood her reasoning. “You’re an adult.”

She moved off my lap and I immediately regretted the loss of her warm weight against me. I watched from the couch as she paced the living room, pinching the bridge of her nose with two fingers.

“He loaned me money to start my store,” she said, not looking my way. “I’m paying it back, but we have a contract in place, which I insisted on. My business is involved.”

I frowned as I watched her move back and forth. “Marcie, your dad isn’t a vengeful guy.”

She stopped and finally looked at me, shaking her head. “No, of course not—but mixing business with really personal stuff that might piss him off? It’s really complicated. And you’re not his daughter. He could figure out a way to drop you as his partner, and you’d be out of a job. You would lose your friend, but he’s my only parent.”

I held up a hand, doing my best to try and reassure her. “Okay, pause for just a second. Your dad and I have a contract, so if he does fire me, he would owe me some severance, but even without that, I’m very comfortable financially and won’t have any trouble figuring something else out. And as for our friendship—well, you’re worth the risk to me. I would choose you every time. So don’t worry about me, okay?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” she insisted. “We’re—” she stopped, as though unsure which word to use to describe our relationship.

“Together,” I supplied. “We’re together. In an exclusive relationship.”

“Right, we’re together.” She exhaled a deep breath. “I want to worry about this stuff with you, Denton.”

With a thump, she flopped down next to me on the couch, and I draped an arm around her to pull her close, dropping a kiss on her forehead as she cuddled against my chest.

“I would be sad to lose your dad’s friendship,” I said as she snuggled closer. “But it would break my heart to lose you.”

“Next time he’s in town, we’ll tell him.” She laid a palm flush against my chest and I felt the warmth of her skin soak through my t-shirt, to the flesh underneath.

I laid a hand over hers and squeezed it gently. “We will,” I promised. “Together.”

She tilted her face up toward mine with a grateful smile and I bent my head to touch my lips to hers, knowing I’d never get enough of her. Ever. I wanted—no, needed—her in my life, every day.

“I love you,” she whispered, a slight worrying frown creasing her brows. “Please tell me we’ll be okay.”

I took a deep breath, inhaling the fragrance of her hair and skin as I savored her soft curves against me. “I love you, too.” I pressed another kiss to her mouth. “And I swear to you we’ll be okay.” I’d make damn sure of it.

Marcie made me dinner that night—some basic pasta dish from whatever she had on hand. I ate my entire plate and marveled at the warmth that throbbed in my chest from the simple gesture. Two years—longer, honestly—without anyone to make dinner for me or the intimacy of sitting next to me while we ate. No inside jokes or laughter, no easy companionship as we cleaned up.

It felt good to have that with Marcie. Better than good, really—it was incredible.

When we slid into bed together a few hours later, neither of us bothered with clothes. We collided in the middle of the mattress in a tangle of arms and legs and warm skin, and it felt as natural as breathing. I rolled her underneath me while she gasped her pleasure, twining her limbs around me as I slid my hard length into her wet, wanting core.

Since that first night at the bar, we had fucked with dizzying hunger and shared dirty, scorching-hot sex, but this was different—hearts laid bare as we made love for the first time. I wrapped my lips around one of her pink nipples and sucked hard as she cried out, spasming around my thrusting length. It was gentle and fierce, and left both of us panting with the raw force of our feelings for each other.

We stayed connected for a long time, exchanging soft kisses and softer whispers under the warmth of her smooth sheets.

“Sex was never like that before,” I said as my fingers traced the curve of her smooth shoulder. “With—well, you know.”

“With Elyse?” Marcie said, no enmity in her voice as she said my ex’s name out loud. “It was never like that for me either. I mean, never. It was always pretty . . . routine with Lucas.”

I laughed and buried my lips against her neck. “Young guys don’t know what they’re doing and haven’t learned that a woman’s pleasure is the hottest thing of all.”

Her gorgeous breasts shook with her giggles. “No, I’m strictly old guys from here on out.”

I looked up at her and smiled. “Just one old guy. And I’m not that old.”

Her answering grin was blinding, and my heart throbbed in my chest. “No,” she breathed. “You’re not. Not at all.”

It was early evening, but wrapped up in each other’s arms, warm and sated from sex, we both started drifting off to sleep. Until a noise woke me up.

“Cut it out,” I mumbled to Marcie.

I looped an arm around her waist and yanked her in closer, nuzzling against the back of her neck as I tried to relax back into sleep.

She yawned sleepily. “Cut what out?”

Knock knock knock

I cracked an eyelid. “That.”

She abruptly sat up and pushed her long, dark hair away from her face. “It’s not me, it’s the door,” she muttered.

“Just ignore it,” I said, my eyes firmly glued to her bare breasts as they swayed with her movements. She rolled out of bed and padded naked to her closet, giving me another excellent view of her heart-shaped ass.

“It’s still early,” she said, pulling the closet door open and yanking out a fluffy bathrobe to put on. “What if it’s an emergency?”

“Fine,” I grumbled. I sat up and swiped a pair of gym shorts out of my bag.

The knock sounded again, louder and more insistent as Marcie hurried down the short hallway with me behind her. She flipped the deadbolt and cracked the door open, and I skidded to a halt behind her as she gasped and visibly tensed.

With a helpless backward glance at me, she swung the door open.

And Clive Davenport walked in.