by J. H. Croix
I found Daphne at the sink a few minutes later, elbow deep in hot water as she scrubbed at something. An auburn curl was falling over her cheek. Conveniently, no one else was around. I crossed to her and brushed that curl away, giving in to the urge to drop a kiss right behind her ear.
“Flynn!” she whispered. Rather loudly, I might add.
“Yeah, Flynn,” Elias drawled.
Turning, I found him standing in the doorway that led to the main area. Oh, fuck. When I looked back toward Daphne, her cheeks were bright pink, but she was seriously focused on whatever she was scrubbing.
I crossed over to Elias as he walked into the kitchen. “Please don’t make this a public announcement,” I said. Considering Daphne knew he was here and knew what he’d just witnessed, I didn’t try to keep my voice low.
Elias chuckled. “No worries, man.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Everyone suspects it anyway.”
He walked over toward Daphne, resting his hip against the counter. “Don’t have a heart attack or worry about this. We all think you’re the best thing that ever happened to Flynn.”
Daphne looked up at him, uncertainty flickering in her gaze. Then she shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Not much to do now.”
Elias looked back toward me. Daphne kept on scrubbing. “Just checking in. I heard from Nora that you might need to do damage control with Cat. Want me to take that overnight trip tomorrow?”
I ran a hand through my hair with a sigh. “That would be great.”
“You got it. Catch you later.” He pushed away from the counter and started to walk out of the kitchen. He paused and glanced back toward Daphne. “Daphne?” She looked up again and finally drew her hands out of the sink. “Really, don’t worry about it. You’re awesome.”
“Damn, that’s high praise from you, dude,” I teased.
He arched a brow. “Well, she is awesome, and her food is definitely the best.”
With that, he departed with a wave over his shoulder. I guessed Nora had shared with a few of the others what happened to Daphne. The guys were all protective of her, and that was cool with me. Daphne could use it.
I returned to where she was drying her hands on a towel. “Sorry about that.”
She lowered a hand and dipped it back in the sink to pull the drain out. Shrugging lightly, she looked at me. “It’s okay. You seemed to want to keep things private, so I assumed…” Her words trailed off.
I got the sense she had an idea about me that I didn’t like all that much. Her cheeks went pink, and I could see her chewing the inside of her cheek, something she did when she was nervous.
“You assumed what?” I pressed.
Daphne cleared her throat and lifted her chin before waving a hand vaguely in the air. “It’s not like I thought we were, I don’t know, a thing.” She wound her arms around her waist. “But I figured you’d be embarrassed if anyone knew about us.”
“Embarrassed?” I asked, legitimately confused.
“Yeah. I know I’m not your type. I don’t mind that you call me princess, but I kind of get that the nickname was originally not complimentary.”
I gave my head a shake. “You thought I’d be embarrassed about you?”
Daphne tightened her arms around her waist. “I mean, I understood that with Cat you didn’t want it to be weird, but yeah, I guess I did. Why are you staring at me like I’m crazy?”
“Because that’s crazy. I’m crazy about you. Yes, I have to think about Cat, but I guess I just figured you wanted to keep things private. Apparently, now I need to make it abundantly clear to everyone that I have it fucking bad for you.”
Daphne was still chewing the inside of her cheek, so I stepped closer. I reached for one of her hands and unwound it from her waist, and then the other before pulling her into my arms. “Let me clarify. I am seriously crazy about you. I’m not embarrassed about you. I’d rather not have Cat subject to what goes on between us because the walls are thin, but that’s really all I care about.”
“Oh,” Daphne said softly after a long pause.
“That’s all I get?” I teased with my heart kicking against my ribs. Because yeah, against all reason, I had it way bad for her.
She laughed and tucked her forehead against my chest. “Maybe I have it bad for you too. But it doesn’t seem like either one of us is in a place to take any of this seriously.”
She lifted her head then. I had to swallow my words because I wanted to tell her we totally could. I needed to save that for later when I could think.
Just then, another voice reached us. “Yes!”
Turning, I saw Nora standing in the door to the back hallway with a fist lifted in the air.
“Do you mind?” I asked, giving her a pointed look.
“Sorry,” she said quickly with an apologetic smile. “I thought this might be happening, and now I know.”
“Later, Nora.”
“Just letting you know I’m taking Cat with me. She’ll spend the night at my place, okay?”
“Perfect. I don’t think she wants to talk to me tonight,” I called in return. “Mind keeping this to yourself for now until I have a chance to talk to her?”
“Of course not,” Nora said with a way too satisfied smile.
Daphne waved at her from the shelter of my arms, and Nora blessedly left, firmly closing the door behind her. “It’s not very late, in case you didn’t notice, so we’re gonna get interrupted again,” Daphne commented.
“I’ll check on things out front and help you clean up, and then we can have some privacy in my place.”
I was about to kiss her when Diego came walking in from the other side of the kitchen. He flashed us an amused grin, but he didn’t say anything. Daphne stepped out of my arms and got to work.
While Daphne continued cleaning the kitchen, I made my usual evening loop through the resort. Diego snagged a beer and found me out front where I was putting away some rental gear that we kept on-site for guests.
He leaned his shoulder against the wall in the entryway. “So…Daphne?”
I closed the door to the massive closet and looked over. “Yes, Daphne. Go ahead and share your opinion,” I offered with a sigh as I gestured toward him.
Diego chuckled and took a swallow from his beer. Lowering it, he eyed me speculatively. “I think it’s a good thing. Just don’t break her heart.”
That comment was a quick slice right to my heart. I started to shake my head, but he continued, “I know you don’t think it’s serious, and I doubt she does. I’m just saying you’ve both been through a lot. Be smart.”
At that, Diego turned and left. I returned to the kitchen to find Daphne sliding a rack of dishes into the dishwasher. She closed it and tapped the button to start it just as I reached her.
“Are you already finished? I was going to help.”
“I know. But it’s all done.”
“Come on,” I said, catching one of her hands in mine.
A few minutes later, Daphne was curled up on the couch with her feet tucked under her knees as she looked at me. “Cat told you to ask me?”
I gave a quick nod. “Yeah. I appreciate you letting me know right away that you went to pick her up. I got your text before I played the message from the principal who said Cat had skipped afternoon classes and missed the bus, so I didn’t freak out since I knew you picked her up.”
Daphne wrinkled her nose, her hand curling around the edge of a soft throw blanket. She rubbed it between her fingers. “I really didn’t know what to do. I knew you were in the air, along with Grant, and Nora was out on the hike. I hope you know I wouldn’t have gone to pick her up without talking to you first if there’d been any way for me to get ahold of you.”
“I know. You don’t need to worry about that. I’m glad you were here. Just tell me what the hell happened.”
Daphne took a breath. “Well, she called, and I could tell she was crying—” She paused when I winced. “What?”
“I could tell she’d bee
n crying when I talked to her through her bedroom door earlier. I’m guessing she cried all afternoon.”
Daphne angled her head to the side, her eyes softening when she looked at me. “She stopped crying on the drive home, I promise. She’s sixteen. Sometimes there’s plenty of crying. Anyway, when I went to get her, she was at Jonathon’s dad’s house.”
“What?” I asked, my tone coming out harsher than I intended.
Daphne narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “I bet you snuck girls into your house when you were sixteen.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not really, but I would’ve if I could’ve. What else happened?”
“I’d really rather Cat tell you the rest.”
“I know, but she told me to ask you.”
A part of me was frustrated, but I appreciated Daphne trying to let Cat tell her story. Cat was safe, so that was enough.
Daphne wrinkled her nose again. “Here’s all I’m gonna say. She’s fine. He tried to push the boundaries, and she said no. It didn’t go well.”
“I’m gonna fucking kill him.”
“You’re not gonna kill anybody. I’m pretty sure she’s moving on from this guy, so just leave it alone.”
“That fucking jerk.”
“Flynn, let it rest for now. Get the details from Cat when you talk to her tomorrow. She’s safe, and she’s fine.”
I groaned. Taking a deep breath, I rested my elbows on my knees, dropping my face into my hands. “I don’t know what to do with her. I suck at this parenting gig.”
Daphne shifted closer, and then her hand slid down my back. “Grant and Nora are doing great, and so is Cat.”
I lifted my head to look at Daphne. “Yeah, but Grant was eighteen when I came home to take care of them, and Nora was sixteen. I’ve been trying to be Cat’s brother and father since she was nine. She’s so stubborn and strong-willed. Like tonight, was I supposed to force her to talk to me? And I feel like she needs a consequence for skipping class.”
“Sure, but I don’t think you had to do it tonight. She’s safe, and that’s the most important part.”
“Just so you know, you have my permission to pick Cat up at any time and any place whenever she calls. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing. Even if she asks you not to tell me, just go get her. I want her safe.”
Daphne held my gaze quietly as an intimacy flourished in the air around us. I trusted her implicitly. I knew if anyone needed her, she’d do whatever was necessary. She might be small, and she might look like a princess, but she had nerves of steel.
And she was fierce—so, so fierce.
I felt her hand slide in a circle on my back. “Good to know,” she finally said, her voice soft.
Before I thought about it any further, I angled toward Daphne. Lifting a hand, I reached for the elastic holding her hair up. Her hair tumbled loose around her shoulders. I cupped her cheek, sliding my thumb across her plump bottom lip.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Daphne
The feel of Flynn’s thumb sliding across my lip and the way he cupped my cheek had my breath coming in shallow pants while my pulse skittered madly. I kept thinking that the more I was with Flynn—physically, that was—the intensity would start to lighten.
As if somehow the novelty of this fiercely erotic and intimate connection with him would wear off. If anything, it seemed to keep growing in depth. We had a once-in-a-lifetime kind of chemistry. I expected it to stay just that—physical and purely sexual.
Instead, with every moment I spent with him, my emotions were rising to the surface and breaking free, regardless of what I thought about it. After everything that happened, my grief was the only thing that elicited emotion for so long. Everything else had been buried after my life exploded. Now, I’d made it to the other side of my grief, and the glacier locked around my heart was melting.
Flynn traced his thumb around my lips in a sensual tease before his hand slid down the side of my neck, coming to rest between my breasts. My heart lunged as if it recognized his singular touch. I suppose it did.
His eyes searched mine, the blue darkening so much it faded into the charcoal rim. “I can’t believe you thought I was embarrassed about you.” His words came out soft and raspy, always low when it was just us. His voice alone could set me alight with sparks.
I tried to take a breath, but I didn’t get much air and felt a little frantic. It was always like this when I was physically close to him. Any proximity to his potent force was hard to withstand.
I swallowed, my breath hitching when I began to speak. “I didn’t know. I thought, at first, it was because of Cat. But you kind of keep your distance when anyone’s around.”
Flynn’s lips kicked up, and my insides felt ticklish. I knew he could feel the wild beat of my heart under his palm.
“That’s just because I’m trying not to tackle you every time I see you,” he murmured, tugging me onto his lap.
Flynn’s lap was my favorite place to be. Or definitely one of my top three. His lap, or him on top of me, or curled around me. Really, any arrangement that involved his magic hands holding me close and making me forget everything else.
I truly didn’t have any expectations of Flynn. Maybe my heart was getting involved, but I would be okay. This was so healing. Just losing myself in this intense passion. Even if I thought Flynn had been embarrassed, which apparently was wrong on my part, I knew he had it bad for me when it came to sex. Things just clicked with us.
After my ex’s affair with my friend, I’d been so ashamed and felt so inadequate. This thing with Flynn was so removed from my old life that I could just forget all of my baggage and grief.
Straddling his thighs, I let my hips settle over the hard ridge of his arousal. He shifted slightly, and I let out a soft gasp as pleasure zipped through me. I could feel the slick arousal between my thighs.
His eyes narrowed. “We’re wearing too many clothes.”
I giggled, letting my head fall into his neck and breathing in the scent of him. Flynn smelled like the wind and sometimes the ocean with a subtle woodsy hint underneath it all.
Flynn, with his tendency toward being cranky because he was always doing too much and taking care of too many people, had that unique ability to make me giggle like a girl. That carefree feeling had been in short supply for years and dwindled to nothing after Brandon died.
Lifting my head, I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on the side of his neck as I rubbed my hips over his cock. “Race you,” I teased when I looked in his eyes.
Shimmying off his lap, I dashed across the living room to his bedroom. Flynn, whose stride was definitely longer than mine, caught up to me in a hot second just as I made it through the doorway. I was laughing as I tossed my T-shirt to the floor.
I didn’t remember who won the race and honestly didn’t care. All I knew was in maybe less than a minute, Flynn was lifting me against his naked body, every glorious inch of it, and carrying me to his bed. He stopped at the foot of it to pause and capture one of my puckered nipples with his mouth. He teased it with his tongue and a graze of his teeth. His arousal jutted between us, pressing against my belly.
“Flynn!” I gasped.
He lifted his head, and his fierce gaze met mine. “Yes, princess?”
“Hurry it up. I need you inside me.”
“Well then, I’ll have to take as much time as I can,” he teased as he eased me down on the bed. I shimmied backward quickly, trying to take him with me. He was having none of it and curled his hands around my ankles to hold me still.
“I’m in charge tonight, princess.” His voice was low and deep, causing me to shiver all over.
His palms slid up my calves, pushing my knees apart. His lips followed, like honey dripping, the kisses making glancing contact and making me desperate for more. I felt his weight press down in the mattress, and his shoulders settled between my thighs.
Flynn blew lightly on my sex, just before licking into the most intimate part of me. He was
a thorough man. With slow teases of his tongue and his fingers sinking into me, I was gripping his hair as pleasure rolled through me.
I was shameless, begging and pleading, until he finally, finally gave me what I needed. He dragged his tongue roughly with just enough pressure over my clit and drove two fingers into me. My entire body spasmed, the climax hitting me in crashing waves.
My pleasure was still echoing in little pings through my body as he rose and settled his weight over me. His elbows framed my face, and I opened my eyes when he brushed my tangled hair away from my cheeks.
“Look at me, princess.”
He brought his hips against me, and I felt the thick head of his cock nudge at my entrance.
“Flynn,” I gasped when he notched a little farther in but didn’t go all the way.
With his intense blue eyes on me, I felt as if all the doors to my heart were blown wide open when he slowly entered me. He held still when he was seated fully inside. My walls rippled around him from the aftershocks of my climax moments earlier. I was so sensitive. My clit was swollen, and I could feel the friction from where we were joined.
He watched me when he withdrew in increments. The slow pull and glide of his strokes in and out was intoxicating. I heard my ragged gasps and pleas. His breathing was rough, and his voice gruff. My fingers dug into his back, and I arched roughly into him.
OhDaphnebabyplease. He took in a gulp of air. Baby, just let me…
My next orgasm snuck up on me, striking in slow, liquid waves of pleasure as my pussy rippled and clamped around his cock, drawing his release out. He muttered something roughly, and I felt the lustrous heat of his release filling me.
Flynn fell against me, and I savored his strong weight. I only got it for a minute because he rolled us over swiftly so I was lying on top of him. I fell asleep like that with his fingers lazily sifting through my hair.
I hadn’t realized I’d lulled myself into a sense of safety. I felt like I was finally getting my feet under me and inching past the paralyzing grief of Brandon’s death. I was also, for the first time, truly accepting that the life I had before Brandon died was nothing but a shaky world that had collapsed in on itself when something real happened.