Page 109 of Devil's Dilemma

It’s also there, in the clubroom, that for the first time since the miscarriage, I hear her laugh.

She’s cleared to return to work. Whether that has helped put her on more solid ground, I’m not sure. Maybe having a routine once again balances her out, I couldn’t know. But when I walk in one day, I hear her on the phone.

“I’ll ask Pyro to bring me up Friday evening. That way we can get a start on Saturday morning.” She catches sight of me and smiles. “Yeah, looking forward to it, Mom. See you soon. Love you.”

She looks at me, her lips curving upward once again, her cheeks a little pink.

“I take it we’re going to Denver.”

“Do you mind?”

“Mel, I’m over the fuckin’ moon if you think you feel strong enough to get this shit started.”

She stands, walking over to me with her hands outstretched. It’s natural to take hold of them and pull her into my arms. When I lean down to place my lips to her forehead, she’s staring up, her eyes hooded, her lips slightly parted.

Taking a chance, I lower my mouth to hers.

She opens for me.

It’s not a kiss full of unbridled passion, but it’s the first we’ve shared in weeks. I enjoy the moment, sweeping my tongue into her mouth, melding my lips to hers. I don’t push it, and don’t indicate I want more. After a moment I pull back.

“Now that was a nice welcome home.”

“I’m sorry,” she starts, but I stop her.

“Darlin’, it will happen when you’re ready. I’m not pushing you now.”

Little steps.

We might not yet be at the place where we can make love, but we’re basically living together. It wasn’t even a conscious decision. Since we’ve come back from Vegas, I’ve stayed in her house, she didn’t invite and I didn’t ask her. Was going to object if she had any other ideas, I couldn’t stand going one night without holding her, without hanging on to the person who represents everything good in my life.

I’m conscious that while she has a permanent place in my arms, we haven’t ever been intimate. Am I feeling the pressure of what will be our first time? Like fuck I am. My cock wants me to press her, my head tells me to hold back, convinced that things will happen in their own good time. Nothing forced can ever be right.

But damn, all this waiting. Being so close to her, my cock’s had to get extremely friendly with my hand.

It’s Thursday evening, the last night before we head up to Denver tomorrow after work. I’m sitting with a tablet on my lap looking at parts for a Harley a customer has asked me to customize. He’s given me his budget which isn’t a lot, so I’m trying to work out something within it that he might like. She’s sitting next to me reading one of those books she loves.

Casting a glance sideways, I see her cheeks flushing. I nudge her arm. “Good part?”

“What?” she jumps guiltily, as if she’d forgotten I was there.

I chuckle. “Darlin’, I reckon you’ve just got to a dirty bit.”

I think if it had been a paperback she’d have snapped it shut. “I don’t know what you mean,” she says primly, closing its cover and putting her e-reader down by her side. “What are you doing?”

“Uh uh. Someone’s changing the subject.”

“No, I was getting bored reading.”

I laugh louder. “If the way you’re blushing is you getting bored, I’m looking forward to seeing you excited.”

She wriggles a bit closer, her eyes finding mine. “Well, you did promise to make me scream.”

“And scream louder.” But I don’t make a comparison or say his name.

“Could be time you showed me, Ro,” she suggests, a little mischievously, with a twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah?” My tablet’s placed down in under a second and I’m on the floor on my knees in front of her, running my hands up her thighs. “I must remember to thank that author.”

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