“If you're talking about a cuppa tea, then sure. But if it's coffee we're drinking, then it's just that, just coffee.”
“How about a cup of joe then?”
“I think I'd rather have some of you.” My hands slide up and under Lyric's shirt, bringing up goose bumps, sending a little shiver through her that makes me smile. The ring is still on her finger, shining brightly even in the weak morning light. Despite what she said about taking this slow, about trying it on and all that rubbish, I feel like it's real. It'd be a dream come true if there wasn't all this shite about Landon and Clayton Moore and the rest of that filthy lot. “Some of the prospects and the hang-arounds are going to be driving down Redwood Highway today picking up rubbish as part of our agreement with the city. Then we get our name on a fancy Sponsored by sign. It's all very legit and law abiding, and it's all thanks to you.”
“I hope you're prepared for gawking locals,” she says as I grudgingly let go of her waist to lean against the sink. Lyric's brows are pinched and she points at the French press. “Am I doing this right?” she asks as I lean over and slowly push the plunger down, locking eyes with her.
“This dinner tonight, you sure this is what you want? Meeting me, that's something that can't be undone.” Lyric smiles, looking away from me to the coffee.
“Even if it weren't for romantic reasons, having you come tonight is the best way to ensure my father and Sully play the right parts.” Lyric lifts up the French press and pours the dark liquid into our cups. “And I've decided that if Agent Shelley gets too curious about the dinner, we tell her it's a thank-you for what your boys did for Sully.”
“Oh, you're so bloody calculating. I love it.” I flash Lyric another grin as she hands me my coffee and lifts her own to her lips, pausing a moment before drinking.
“Janae gave me her number last night and then texted me this morning.” I raise a brow at that. “She wants me to go shopping with her and 'the girls', whoever that happens to encompass.” Lyric pauses and makes a face. “And then she wants me to come back to her place to bake. I don't bake, Royal.” I laugh and grab Lyric's coffee, setting it alongside mine next to the sink. When I pick her up and set her on the edge of the counter, she doesn't protest.
Lyric spreads her thighs wide and I step between them, sliding my fingers along the bare flesh until our faces are only a few inches apart.
“This is a good sign, love. Janae bakes to solve problems. She baked to try to win a seat with her kid's PTA board; she baked for the whole club when Dober and her were dating; she baked when Jump-Start got engaged to Bettina.”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Lyric pants as I hook my thumbs under her panties and give them a tug, snapping the elastic against her skin. “So I should go? I should do this?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely. When does she want you?”
“Tomorrow. After I get off work, of course.”
“Of course,” I growl, taking hold of her panties and sliding them down her legs. I toss them to the floor and reach down to shove my sweats out of the way, dragging Lyric forward so her ass is pressed against the edge of the counter. The head of my cock teases the liquid heat of her core. “You're going to win the other old ladies over, Lyric. Trust me. Your moment will come—but first, so will your body.”
I push into her, loving the way her head tilts back, exposing the pale line of her throat. Warmth envelops me, draws me in, the silken slide of her thighs on either side of me a tantalizing sensation.
Lyric presses her mouth against my bare chest, against the black and gray pistol on my right shoulder. Her teeth graze my skin, biting down and drawing a groan from me as I thrust forward, burying myself inside of her. When she moves to my nipple and takes the hardened point between her hot lips, a growl escapes me.
“You're my fucking queen, Pint-Size,” I tell her as she traces her fingers down my arm, gripping the hardened curves of my biceps as I use my strength to hold her up. “My fucking old lady.” I pause with my chin against the top of her head, my body buried inside of her. “And I've never wanted anything half as much as I want you.”
“Oh, Royal,” she whispers as I move my mouth to her forehead, kissing her soft skin as she arches into me. My body moves slowly, languidly, enjoying the easiness of being with Lyric, the uncomplicated pleasure I feel when we're together. It's at complete odds with the horrid complication that is our real lives, but I savor it anyway, draw her into me as she pulls me into her.
We're just getting into it, looking into one another's eyes when the fucking doorbell rings.