Page 91 of The Other Side of Green

“I know.”

Lyra shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Me neither, not really. I was pretty angry. I could hear what Mom was saying, but I just couldn’t stay to work it out with her, with them.”

“Why?”

“Because I needed to get to you. I had to tell you.”

“There are phones. You have my number.”

I chuckled and pulled her closer by the lapels of her jacket. “Lyra, some bits of news have to be delivered in person.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“Me too.” I caught her lips in mine again and submitting to the sheer joy that was kissing Lyra Lennox, finally at last, without guilt or fear.

One thing I planned to do was to kiss the fuck out of her every day for the rest of my life.

Without fail.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lyra

“What happens now?” I asked, breathlessly as I failed numerous times to disengage my lips from him. In my head were the words THIS IS HAPPENING circling around and around and around. THIS IS HAPPENING.

“I kiss you, kiss you some more, and then possibly more after that.” His smile stretched one hundred percent Blue.

“I think I can live with that plan.” I kissed him to prove my point.

“And then tomorrow I will go to work and try very hard not to think about kissing the superstar violin player all day.”

“That sounds traumatic. I think you need a kiss to prepare.” We fell into one another again, until the silence surrounding us was broken by the soft noises of our lips.

“What about tonight though?” My heart beat unsteadily in my chest, pulses of burning need darting every which way around my body.

His fingers cradled my face, his expression somber. “We’ve been though a lot, Lyra. I really want to do this the right way.”

“That sounds frustratingly like you are going to drop me at my dorm with a chaste peck on the lips.”

He laughed low in the back of his throat. “Frustratingly? Well, I can’t have that.” He kissed me harder, his palm pressing along my side and cupping my tit with a heated touch. I groaned into it, wanting him to squeeze harder, slip under the cotton and smooth my skin.

Until I pulled back. “Are you sure you’re okay? I feel like you’ve been through a lot. Maybe we should talk.”

“Talk later.” He pulled me back in, latching his mouth to mine, slipping his tongue along the edge of my lower lip.

“And Luca?” I hated the fact I let my brother’s name slip out between us, as it always had, but still there were things I didn’t know. Things Jack wasn’t telling me, distracting me with kissing, though it was fucking awesome kissing.

“Luca is fine. Well, I assume he is. Phillipe—sorry, Dad”— his voice rang with bitterness and I could sense the vortex of anger swirling just below the surface of his calm—“said that Luca’s story corroborated that of my mother’s. He was passing by and heard asshole-not-dad launching into one of his poundings. He stepped in.” Jack squeezed his eyes closed. “There were questions asked. Why didn’t he come forward before, why only after I’d been taken in? I assume he pulled it off with his usual charm.”

“You haven’t spoken to him though?” I worried my lower lips between my teeth until Jack used his pointer finger to pull it free. “I can’t believe he hasn’t called me.”

“Believe me. I’m sure he’ll call. If we’re lucky we might get a visit.”

I dropped my head into my hands. “This is such a nightmare. Are we crazy to try and start something out of this mess?”

He held my gaze, green eyes burning with determination. “We’d be crazy not to after everything we’ve been through.”