Page 137 of A Lick and A Promise
“Baby—”
“Or if I see your dad, your brothers,” I shook an irate finger at him. “Definitely fucking Gypsy.”
He pushed up to an elbow. “Babe?—”
“And we are going to your next high school reunion because I have a few things to say to all those assholes too.”
“Beautiful—”
“No, fuck no, Knox.”
I adjusted to sitting fully on my ass and railed on.
“I know this work I have to do isn’t going to be about words, and it’s not going to take solely an afternoon, chipping away at the wall of compacted shit they left that you feel you need to climb to get to anything good. But I’ve got a pickax, handsome, and a shovel, and hella determination, so I’ll get through it eventually. But right now, know I never washed this shirt.”
I pulled it from my chest and let it go.
Then kept on ranting.
“It stopped smelling of you ages ago, but with it there, I could still pretend I was going to bed with you every night. I did that because you made me incredibly happy. You make me incredibly happy. You. The man you made from all that rot. I don’t need trips to Paris or to live in mansions. I need you in my bed at night, or to be in yours. I don’t care if you slide into it at three in the morning. The only thing I need, I have right here.” I touched his chest. “And you are not deeper in this than me. We’re both drowning. And the water feels fuckin’ great.”
He had to adjust to sitting so he could use the hand on his good arm to grab me behind my head, pull my mouth to his, and kiss me to insensibility.
When he was done, I warned, more than a little breathlessly, “Mark me, my man, if that’s my reward, I’m making pompous speeches a lot.”
He burst out laughing, wrapping his arm around me and falling to his back with me on top.
I adjusted accordingly to not put pressure on his bad shoulder and watched him laugh.
I could visit all the wonders of the world, and honest to God, not one of them would be more amazing than watching my guy laugh.
“Right,” he said, his voice still trembling with humor, “before we instigate the lead up to round three?—”
“Three?”
“You rode me twice, I rode you once, with you bitching the entire time it took me to get you to orgasm that I was going to tear open my stitches. That’s three.”
“There was the preliminary blowjob,” I pointed out. “Are you saying that doesn’t count?”
He paused to consider this, and then he said, “Right, so I need to eat you out this time to even things up.”
“If we could add penetration, just making the note, I’m always down for that.”
“Note taken.” He was grinning. “Now can I get back to the important shit we need to talk about before we do any of that?”
“Hurry. If I’m getting head, I don’t want to wait very long.”
He chuckled, and that was gorgeous too, but not as gorgeous as him laughing.
Then he said, “The Russians.”
Ulk.
I rolled off him to my back, and now it was Knox looming over me.
“Was it Alexeyev who came to talk to you?” he asked.
I nodded.
