He sat and waited while she said grace before they both dug in. They were halfway through before he spoke again. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. How about I bring a few of my things here and we take it day by day. Neither one of us have ever had a live-in lover. I don’t want to lose you by pushing too hard, by asking for more than you’re ready to give.”
“You didn’t ask. I offered.”
“Un-huh, and you’re already regretting it, aren’t you?”
She tried to hold his gaze but couldn’t. Sighing, she admitted, “Yeah, maybe. I want to be that woman who wouldn’t think twice about having the man she loves stay with her, but...”
“You’re not, and I love that about you. That you’re not casual about any of this.” He reached across the table and captured her free hand in his. “You love me. We’re together. For now, that’s enough. It’s more than I hoped for when I arrived. Dreamed of? Yes, but expected to happen, no. Not really.”
Perversely, even as Von acknowledged that Sean was right and his moving in would be more than her battered conscience could handle, she was still disappointed. Was it love that made her want to see his face first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and every second in between? If so, why had she never felt this way about Derrick?
Maybe it was the sex component. The newness of it, the overwhelming desire to have her body joined to Sean’s every time he looked at her, or smiled in a certain way. Maybe it was the sound of his voice or the way he made her feel that everything she said or did was his top priority. That he was happy only when she was.
“Thank you.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “For what?”
“For knowing me better than I know myself. For accepting me the way that I am.”
Sean brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingertips. “The way you accept me?”
Von didn’t even have to think about it. “Yes.”
His gaze swept down her body. “Even if I’m sometimes more animal than human?”
At that she tugged her hand loose and rose, crossing around to his side of the table to straddled his lap. Sean pushed his chair back to give her more room. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she got in his face. “You listen to me. You are still you. I don’t care what happened...I take that back. I do care, but only because it allowed you to get out of that hellhole alive and in one piece. Losing you would have killed something in me.”
She leaned her forehead against his. “I was so scared. It killed me not being able to ask Derrick if he knew or had heard anything. I should have known my feelings were more than those of a friend.”
Sean pulled the band out of her hair and ran his fingers through the strands, then cradled her scalp with both hands. “I know, or at least I hoped. If the worst happened, you would have known. I have you listed as the one to notify, and everything I own—”
Von kissed him to shut him up. She didn’t want to think about death and Sean, not in the same sentence. The kiss turned desperate, greedy. Sean stood with her in his arms and she wrapped her arms and legs around him and held on tight.
“The bedroom,” he muttered as soon as he broke for air.
“The couch is closer.” Von rained kisses all over his face.
Sean staggered the few steps necessary and dropped with her onto the sofa. They tugged and shoved, ripped and pulled until all the good parts were accessible. Then Sean was over her, driving into her. She arched up to meet each heavy, frantic thrust.
Murmurs of “More,” “Just like that,” and “God, you feel so good” filled the atmosphere, along with gasps, cries, and heavy breathing. Then Von strangled a cry and Sean let out a deep groan and stiffened above her as her orgasm triggered his.
He collapsed on top of her.
“That was...” she panted.
“Explosive,” he finished for her, still gasping for air.
After they’d both calmed somewhat, he said, “I must be crushing you,” and tried to move.
Von held him tight. “No, don’t move. I like you right where you are.”
“Here?” He thrust his hips and his semi-erect cock dragged against sensitive nerve endings, causing her to groan.
“Yes,” she hissed.
Sean kissed her earlobe and laid his head alongside hers. “We’d be more comfortable in bed.”
“The bedroom is way over there.” She made a lazy gesture with her arm in the direction of her room.
“Hmm, there is that.” He nibbled on her earlobe and she shivered.
“And, I can’t feel my legs.” Not to mention she didn’t have the energy to stand, never mind walk.
“That might be circulation. Your jeans are tangled around your thighs.”
Von thought about that for a moment. “And my panties?”
Sean raised his head, and then dropped it back down. “Under the coffee table, ripped. I’ll buy you another pair.”
Von imagined how they must look. Sean had only pushed his pants and underwear down far enough to free his cock. Her t-shirt was shoved up under her armpits, the front clasp of her bra was open, and the waistband of her pants was tight above her knees.
The first snicker caught her by surprise. She managed to suppress the rest but her body shook with the effort. Sean lifted onto one elbow and peered at her. “Are you laughing?”
She nodded. Anything more would have her losing control.
“Dare I ask?”
The giggles broke free. “Us,” she managed to get out between chuckles.
He smiled, sharing the joke. “We do look a mess, don’t we?”
“Yes,” she agreed, nodding.
Sean pushed back onto his knees. “You want the rest of your food?”
Eyeing his rapidly hardening penis, Von lightly trailed her fingernail down the shaft, still shiny wet with their combined juices. “I’m no longer hungry,” she licked her lips, “for food.”
“Sit up.”
As soon as she complied, he had her shirt and bra off. Then he went to work on her pants and his. When they were both naked, he pulled her off the sofa and towed her behind him toward the bedroom.
“You think we’ll ever get enough of this?” she asked, watching the flex and ripples of the glutes in his butt.
“God, I hope not,” he fervently replied.
“Me, too.”
The bedroom door closed firmly behind them as they fell on each other again.
Chapter Twelve
“How are you feeling?” Marketta asked.
“Better. My face looks like a nightmare and is still tender to the touch. That eye is a little blurry and if I think about it, my head starts hurting, but other than that...”
“And the hunk? How’s he? He called to check on you today?”
Von cleared her throat and shifted on her ottoman, glad her cousin couldn’t see her face. “Sean? He’s, um, fine.”
“What time did he leave last night? I kept expecting you to call,” she scolded.
“Oh, um, he just left.”
There was silence. Then in a low, controlled voice, her cousin asked, “He spent the night?”
“Yeah.” Von winced when her voice cracked. You’re a grown woman. You can have a man spend the night.
“With you.”
She cleared her throat again. Darn frogs. “Um-hmm.”
“I don’t suppose he slept on the couch,” Marketta asked wryly.
Von looked at the piece of furniture, remembered what activity had recently taken place on it, and felt her face catch fire. “Uh, no.”
“I see.”
How did her cousin manage to reduce her to feeling like a teenager being called on the carpet by an irate parent? To lessen her guilt, she burst out, “Sean asked me to marry him.”