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  Then Kenzie was a blur of motion, pressed to his chest, cupping his cheeks, and drawing his mouth down to hers. She inhaled him, consumed him, her lips whispering against his in soft, tentative strokes. No longer a woman clinging to something slipping away. This was different. In the way her tongue caressed his, in how she nipped at his lips, in the gentle explorations of her hands as they relearned his body. Lennon felt his inhibitions melt, the innate resistance, the nervous rattle in his chest just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  Waiting for the realized dream, the hope he’d nursed all week, to come to an end.

  Kenzie sucked his lower lip between her teeth, her hands pulling at his dress-shirt.

  “Do we have to do all the talking now?” she asked after she released him. “Can we save some of the talk for later?”

  “On one condition.” Lennon’s head dipped, and he pressed kisses along her throat. “You promise you won’t change your mind.”

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  “We do this, and we do it all the way. Morning-after talk, a real first date, a weekend getaway, arguments over why Sex in the City is a terrible movie, hospital visits, family events, holidays…the full fucking shebang.”

  He slipped his hand under the hem of her shirt, dancing his fingers along her smooth, taut belly. A hard shudder ran through him. In his mind, he had already escorted her across the threshold to his bedroom, stripping her down so his eager eyes could absorb every luscious curve she possessed.

  “I want a real try. Don’t phone it in on me.”

  Kenzie shook her head, stretching her arms high above her in tacit permission to shed her top. Lennon’s breath hitched. Despite whatever they’d shared in the elevator, or whatever he’d seen on the tape, Kenzie in the nude was something he had never witnessed in person. It was all he could do to keep his hands tempered.

  “I promise to try,” Kenzie agreed, seizing one of his wrists and dragging his hand upward until the swell of her lace-clad breast rested in his palm. Lennon shuddered again, his cock tenting his trousers, drunk on the promise of her sweet body.

  “I promise to try,” she said again. “But I can’t promise it’ll work.”

  Her words lent him pause. “What?”

  “I can’t promise we’ll live happily ever after.”

  “No one can. It’d be unfair of me to expect that of you or anyone. And that’s not what I want. All I want is your word you’ll be here in the morning. Breakfast tomorrow. Then we’ll go to a movie. It’ll be a clean start for us both.”

  Her mouth pulled into the loveliest smile he’d ever seen. “I’m free tomorrow.”

  “Damn straight you are.” Lennon jerked her to him, hiking her into his arms. “What would you say to a bed?”

  “Mr. Bishop, I am not sure if I trust your intentions are pure.”

  “You can guarantee they’re not.”

  A giggle rumbled through her throat. “Somehow I think I’ll be okay with that.”

  Kenzie could have floated.

  A week could do strange things to a person’s mind, especially one who had gotten so accustomed to her seat on the fence anything else felt too foreign to be any kind of real. From the moment she’d left Hunter’s front porch, her mind had taken her down a variety of choose-your-adventure endings, taunting her with the possibility that whatever shot she’d thought she had with Lennon was in the pisser, all the while whispering doubts about whether she was ready for a relationship in the first place. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The moment her gaze landed on Lennon’s face, though, the second he began questioning her presence and her motives, she’d known there was nowhere else she wanted to be.

  There would be more, she knew. More than dragging hot kisses off Lennon’s mouth and lifting her hips when prompted so he could ease her jeans down her legs. More than the delicious shivers racking her body, more than the way she burned with every caress his lips made across her skin. There would be more, but for now she had this moment.

  Kenzie’s eyes fought to stay open. She lay mostly naked across a soft quilt, Lennon’s hands running up and down her legs. When he’d ushered her into the bedroom, she didn’t know. The space between the living room and his confession that he might be in love with her had blurred into a mad rush, which worried her she might be hallucinating. She hoped against hope that wasn’t the case. Her battling nerves had at last decided to take a day off, and instead of thriving on the terrifying possibilities of what-if, she was surfing through the here and now, and damn what a rush.

  Lennon sat teetering on the edge of the mattress. Her greedy eyes could have swallowed him, as good as he looked. As it was, her hands had already stirred to explore their fill. The hard lines of his chest trailed down a toned abdomen, yet the flesh around his belly was soft and warm, and saved him from being too perfectly sculpted to render her self-conscious.

  “You’re beautiful,” Lennon whispered, his fingers slipping under the elastic hem of her panties. “I could touch you all night.”

  “I hope you have more than that planned.”

  He grinned. “Much more. There was so much I didn’t get to do the other night.”

  Kenzie inhaled sharply and pressed her thighs together, feeling slick and hot and in need of much more than soft caresses. His fingertips danced over her mound, teasing her without providing any sense of gratification.

  “Oh yeah?” she murmured, hoping she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt. “Like what?”

  “Like see you.” Lennon’s grin pulled tighter. At last, he fisted her panties and drew them down her legs. She fought the natural urge to shield herself and instead let her thighs fall open, baring her drenched, naked pussy to his hungry gaze. “Like this,” he continued, cupping her intimately and rubbing the heel of his palm against her cunt. Her juices painted his skin, shining against the last rays of sunlight leaking in through the blinds. By the time Kenzie realized the gasps in the air were hers, he had already snaked a finger inside her tight channel.

  “Take off your bra,” he said, his voice rough. “I wanna see all of you.”

  Front-closure brassieres were her friend. Kenzie had never been more grateful for an undergarment choice in her life. She pushed the cups aside, saluting him with her pert nipples.

  “All of me,” she echoed. She eased out of the straps, then framed her breasts with her hands. “You got me here. Any plans?”

  Lennon shuddered and eased another finger inside her. “Lots. Scoot up.”

  Kenzie giggled, bouncing her eyebrows suggestively as she raised herself on her elbows to obey. “Whatcha doing?”

  He snorted and crawled after her. “What do you think?” he asked, flattening himself against the mattress and hooking his arms under her legs.

  At once his mouth hovered above her pussy, and it occurred to her, as it hadn’t the other night, how exposed she was. How he could see her as plainly as anyone ever had. While she was no stranger to oral sex, Hunter hadn’t exactly been a giving lover, never mind enthusiastic. The few times she’d had a man’s tongue inside her, it had been at her request…except, of course, for the seconds stolen with Lennon in the elevator. Yet even then, she hadn’t enjoyed it as she should have.

  “You’re so beautiful,” Lennon said again, running his fingers through her curls.

  She wasn’t shaven or waxed—had fallen out of the habit once she and Hunter hit splitsville—and cursed inwardly at her failure to rectify the problem before coming over.

  Yet if Lennon cared, he didn’t betray it. The adoration in his gaze made her feel warm for entirely different reasons. “And this pussy,” he murmured, cupping her fully, “is all mine.”

  Kenzie swallowed hard, trying to ignore how the thought made her heart pound. How much she wanted to hold onto the promise of that and release her fears. “For now.”

  He looked at her, arching a brow. “Do we really have to go over this again?”

  “You can’t know we’ll last.”

  “W
e’re lasting tonight. Tomorrow looks good too. So you…” He lowered his face to her wet flesh, nuzzling her tenderly. “Are all mine.”

  Kenzie relaxed. Yes, tonight and tomorrow. For as long as it lasted. She would never get her hopes up for more—she’d made that mistake once. Yet still, even with the road behind her shadowed with pain and betrayal, she couldn’t keep the part of her that had once believed in fairytales from swelling with hope. This was different. Lennon was different.

  When he said he thought he loved her, she trusted it wasn’t a ploy to get her into bed.

  At the first touch of his tongue against her clitoris, Kenzie unleashed a heady, desperate gasp and arched her head back. “Oh…”

  “Like this?”

  “Don’t tease me.”

  “Who’s teasing?” Lennon pulled back briefly. “But damn, you’re gorgeous like this.”

  “Thank you. Kindly eat me.”

  He chuckled and slipped two fingers inside her again. “Kindly?”

  “Well, however you wanna do it.” Kenzie lifted her hips. “Lennon?”

  “Don’t worry. It’s not like me to keep a woman waiting.” His fingers pushed deeper inside just as his head dipped to capture her clit between his lips, massaging the tender bundle softly until his tongue came out to play.

  A happy sigh whistled through her throat. “You’re a true gentleman.”

  He drew a wet path up her slit and looked at her with shining eyes. “I try.”

  Then he was gone, his face pressed against her hot flesh, licking, sucking, pulling at her, tonguing her clit into fast oblivion. He released a low moan that matured into a growl, sending pleasant little ripples throughout her body. A steady circular path became the focus of the balled end of his tongue, drawing over and over around her clit. All the while his eyes remained on her.

  “Hi,” she said awkwardly. Hunter had never looked at her when his mouth ventured south of her bellybutton.

  He grinned but didn’t relent. Instead, his strokes became firmer, pushing to the point where intensity shook hands with overkill but didn’t become too acquainted.

  The effect was immediate. Her skin flamed to the point she thought it would melt right off. “Oh, shit.”

  Lennon chuckled again.

  “Pr-proud of yourself, are you?”

  He nodded, dragging his tongue with him. The sensation trickling through her veins was unlike anything she’d ever experienced, and not for lack of trying. Yet for every sensual move his mouth made, every little murmur he whispered into her body, the tight circles he drew around and over her clit all the while his fingers maintained a steady rhythm, she knew she couldn’t last. No one had ever tasted her so deeply, with such hunger in his eyes. Looking at Lennon now gave her insight into how a Thanksgiving turkey must feel. He wanted to devour her, and she wanted to let him.

  But more than that, she wanted to feel him inside. She needed that connection, the eye-to-eye, face-to-face, lip-on-lip thrill of being one. Perhaps Lennon sensed that as well, for the smile in his eyes faded, his frown lines taking point on his forehead.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling away.

  “I want you.”

  “Last I checked, you got me.”

  “No. Inside.”

  A perfect eyebrow domed. Lennon’s gaze darted back to her wet, aching pussy. “You never let me finish, do you?”

  “Actually, I’m the one who’s supposed to finish in this scenario.”

  “Yeah. And I’m the one who’s supposed to make that happen.”

  Kenzie shook her head, sitting up on her elbows.

  “This time,” she said, “our first…doing this.”

  “Second, actually.”

  “I meant as a trying-to-be-a-couple time.”

  “Oh.” He grinned. “Yeah?”

  “I want to come with you inside me. I want to do it together.” Kenzie smiled coyly, shifting her hand over her pussy and inserting a finger inside herself. “Please, Lennon?”

  Heat flooded his eyes. “You’re a rascal.”

  “You love it.”

  “Fuck yes, I do.”

  Lennon sat back without warning and practically Hulked out of his remaining clothes. The next thing she knew, he had pounced, tearing hot kisses off her lips, stamping her tongue with the taste of her own excitement. His hands were everywhere at once—her cheeks, her shoulders, her breasts, spreading her legs. He peppered kisses along her face, his naked cock dancing along her slit. The warmth of his body served as an aphrodisiac of its own. Yes, this was what she wanted. Skin on skin. A mattress at her back. A dangerously sexy man perched above her, sucking her nipple between his teeth as he steadied himself between her thighs.

  “Condom,” he panted, his brow furrowing. He spoke the word as a caveman might say “rock.” As though trying to remind himself what purposes it served.

  “I so need to get my no-baby-pill prescription renewed,” Kenzie said.

  “Yes. Do that tomorrow.” Lennon felt around for his pants and immediately began picking apart his pockets the instant he had them in hand. In seconds, he had completely destroyed a square foil packet.

  “You know they don’t go into effect immediately after I start taking them.”

  “Still,” he said, slipping on the condom, “I wanna be able to do this anytime without worrying about consequences.”

  “That’s because you’re a lawyer,” Kenzie retorted.

  “Former.”

  “Current.”

  “Fired.”

  “I thought you quit.”

  Lennon shrugged. “That too.”

  “Like that could stop you.”

  “True.” He frowned, then flashed her a look that fell somewhere between brilliance and insanity. “Help me start my own firm? I could use an assistant.”

  Her heart leapt into her throat, warmth unlike anything she’d ever known washing through her body. She didn’t know what it was, but had the sinking suspicion it was akin to what falling in love felt like. “Can we talk about that later?”

  Lennon flashed her a sexy half-smile. “Oh, yeah. More pressing matters at hand.”

  He sealed the words with a kiss as he sank inside her, and whatever she had to say rode to nothing on a whisper.

  Epilogue

  Three years.

  Lennon activated the “up” button on the elevator, his heart skipping a beat. Three wonderful, exciting, tumultuous years. He could hardly believe it. The first had flashed by too fast to chase, leaving him on the cusp of an exciting new chapter of his career in opening up a small private practice and taking a healthy chunk of Doran and Gage’s clientele with him. Reputation, it seemed, didn’t matter so much as expertise and quality. While there were several faces he definitely wasn’t sorry to have left behind, Lennon found his favorite clients weren’t liars. Many, he’d been assured, would follow him wherever he landed, and almost all had upheld their end of the bargain.

  Between what he had saved and the gracious amount Kayla Bryant deposited into Kenzie’s bank account in return for a job well done, their first year had been a smashing success. It ended on New Year’s Eve with Lennon on one knee, offering Kenzie a diamond the size of Neptune. He had barely begun the proposal before she launched herself into his arms, sobbing and screaming and laughing and peppering his face with kisses.

  In the second year came the wedding, which nicely coincided with Lennon’s first monstrous case as a private practice attorney. He was highly selective in the new clients he undertook, determined to avoid another instance where conscience conflicted with evidence. Kenzie helped in-office when she could, but was often too overwhelmed at her art gallery to lend a hand. She also had the unenviable task of editing her brother Scott’s term papers. Aside from lacking an understanding in basic grammar, Scott was doing well in college and had no idea what steps had been taken to ensure his ability to attend. Or what his big sister would do to keep him happy.

  But Lennon knew. Lennon knew well the depth of
Kenzie’s love for those closest to her. He had intimate knowledge of her compassion.

  Three years together now. One year married. Anniversary night.

  The elevator slid open, empty aside from a gorgeous brunette. Lennon offered the woman a friendly smile and stepped inside. One day, perhaps, he and Kenzie could move completely out of the city. Until then, they were content in his—their—apartment. They had memories here, and despite the promise of the future, the past was just as sweet, and he wasn’t eager to let it go.

  The brunette cleared her throat. “Going up?”

  “At some point, I suppose.” Lennon hit the emergency stop before she could get another word in, then turned and jerked her into his arms. “Power outage.”

  Kenzie giggled and threw her head back, her fingers blindly searching for his belt buckle. “I remember you being smoother the last time.”

  “How was that not smooth?”

  “No talk. No lead up. Stop elevator. Fuck girl. Not much of a recreation.”

  Lennon scowled, hiking her skirt up her legs. At least she’d dressed sensibly. He had no idea how long they had before the elevator started moving again. “We’re kinda on a timetable here.”

  “So much for romance, eh?”

  “Never heard you complain.”

  Kenzie grinned and raised her head in anticipation of his kiss, her hands still busy at his fly. He swore every time his lips met hers the world stopped, but he kept as much to himself for now. Though he knew she loved hearing it, she always blushed and batted his comments away, and he didn’t want her shy. He wanted her hard, fast, and completely unleashed.

  “Happy anniversary, sweetheart,” Kenzie murmured, squeezing his freed cock. “Like your present?”

  “I fucking love it.”

  “Well, I fucking love you.”

  His heart swelled. “I fucking love you too.”

  “Good.” She laughed again. “Now how about fucking me?”