by Leigh Landry
Her breath caught in her chest at the idea of being loved this way. Fully. Forever. Completely blown away by the idea that she didn’t have to change a single thing about herself to be worthy of this man. It was almost too much for her heart to bear.
She leaned in and kissed him—before she could second-guess any of this. He froze with the sudden shock of her move, then returned the kiss. He slid his hand up her arm until his fingers reached her neck as they kissed softly. The taste of spices and butter and garlic on his tongue ignited a hunger inside her even though she’d long abandoned any thoughts of lunch.
Her fingers went to work on the tie, loosening it then sliding it free. She left it dangling around his neck and held the free ends in each of her hands. Then she stood and lifted one leg over his lap to straddle him in his chair, scooting forward along his pants until she felt his erection beneath her.
He grabbed her wrists gently. “Are you sure?” He looked deeply into her eyes, judging more than her physical response. “I don’t want to be just a distraction for you.”
She touched her forehead to his. “I’m positive. Let’s burn this friendship to the ground like a phoenix and see what comes to life next.”
His pupils flashed with desire and he met her lips again, this time crashing passionately against her. She welcomed his tongue, inhaling him, her hands gripping the soft, satiny fabric at his chest. His hands wrapped behind her back, holding her tightly. She grabbed his shoulders and moved against him.
He moaned into her mouth then held her tighter. “Oh my God, you’re going to have to stop that.”
She pulled back. “Changed your mind?”
“Not on your life.” He grinned, devilish and delicious. Then he slid his hands up beneath her shirt, tracing her ribs with his thumbs as he leaned closer and nibbled her bottom lip. “I just needed a second. You feel too damn good.”
She smiled. “I plan on feeling even better.”
He kissed her hard as he slid his hands around to unhook her bra. He grabbed one of her breasts and said, “Good. Because I plan on helping out with that.”
He helped first by sliding her shirt over her head and tossing it across the kitchen. A second later, his mouth kissed the top of her right breast, while his thumb grazed the nipple of her left. She struggled to sneak her hands between their bodies, fiercely removing each button until his shirt hung loosely. Her hands glided along his smooth chest and up to his shoulders, then slid the garment down his arms. He released her for just a moment, long enough to drop the shirt behind him onto the seat of the dining chair they shared.
His mouth was on her breast again, and his tongue sent tiny shock waves from her nipple through her entire nervous system. Every cell in her body was alert, ready for whatever came next. And for the first time in as long as she could remember, she didn’t care that she didn’t know exactly what each next step would be. She couldn’t control Matt’s actions, his family’s reactions, or their fate as a couple any more than she could control the weather. And she was finally one thousand percent okay with riding this wherever it took her.
Wherever it took them.
He lifted his head to place a long, hungry kiss on her mouth, which she ate up greedily as she squirmed on top of him again.
He moaned against her mouth and said, “I need to have you.”
She grinned with satisfaction and stood, her legs still straddling the chair and his lap. She nodded toward the hallway. “Bedroom’s that way.”
“Don’t know if I want to wait that long.” He grabbed the waist of her jeans and pulled her close against him, unbuttoning and unzipping, then pushing the denim down her legs to the floor. “I feel like we’ve waited long enough for this.”
She couldn’t agree more.
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her onto the dinette table. She was naked except for her underwear, yet she’d never felt so comfortable with another person in her life. She’d never felt so seen. So exactly where she was meant to be.
He grabbed the two plate lunch containers and moved them to the counter a couple feet away. When he returned, she wasted no time removing his pants and boxers, then ran her hand along the length of his erection.
Matt took her face in his palms and tilted her head upward, so he could look her in the eye. He stared at her like that for a moment, and she stared right back into those deep gray eyes. Staring at this man she’d known for so long, yet felt like she was only really seeing now for the first time.
He kissed her softly, the most tender kiss, and every muscle she had dissolved into a puddle of goo. She realized, in that moment, that she was absolutely a goner. She belonged to Matt, heart, body, and soul, for as long as he would have her.
“For the record,” she said, “I love you, too.”
He smiled and gave her a small kiss laced with heat. “Noted.”
His hands slid down her torso and rested on her hips. He gave them a squeeze, then wiggled off her underwear, throwing it somewhere near where her shirt had been discarded. With a hand on her stomach, he gently nudged her backward onto the table and pulled her legs closer to the edge as they straddled his standing body. His palms rubbed at her hips and inner thighs, lighting the sensitive skin there on fire. He slipped a finger between her legs and rubbed back and forth until every inch of her was slick and swollen, then he slipped his finger inside her.
Robin’s head fell back against the table top. The room spun as she rolled with desire, climbing fast and hard. She propped herself on the table and grabbed his wrist with one hand to stop him. Then she reached for his cock and pulled him closer.
“Wait.” He looked around until he found his jeans draped across the chair. He dug inside his wallet, pulled out a condom, then dropped the wallet unceremoniously on the floor.
Thank goodness. She trusted the man with all her heart, but she hadn’t been on the pill in decades. Side effects messed her up.
He rolled the condom on, then rubbed his fingers against her again until she was good and ready for him. As if there was any doubt about that.
A moment later he was inside her, and her head dropped to the table once again, overcome with a sense of fullness—physical and so much more.
He bent over top of her to kiss her breast and leave a trail of eager kisses up to her neck while he moved inside of her, the full length of him exploring her with long, slow strokes. He propped himself with one arm on the table, his other hand caressing the hair around her face as he stared at her. She was surprised by how comfortable his stares were, how they didn’t make her want to hide. How she wanted nothing more than to be seen by this man.
His thrusts became more insistent, then he slowed again and placed a finger on her clit, circling it gently at first. She squirmed and clenched around him, and the speed of her climb took her breath away. When she reached the top, tightening against him and spasming with waves of pure pleasure and release, he leaned over her again and thrust hard and fast. She reached her arms up to hold the edges of the table until he finished and collapsed onto her chest, the weight of him warm and oh so welcome there.
They both breathed heavily, chests rising and falling in unison. She released the table and wrapped her arms around his back, holding him, reveling in the two of them together this way. He lifted himself slightly to kiss her, a hunger still in those lips. A hunger for a lifetime of this. A lifetime of this she was more than willing to give him.
“That was new,” he said, kissing her nose.
“New and delicious.”
“Speaking of delicious.” He nodded toward the counter. “I guess we’re going to have to reheat those.”
She propped herself on her elbows and gave him a quick kiss. “More than worth it.”
* * * * *
Matt emerged from the hall bathroom and found Robin in the kitchen, preparing to reheat their abandoned lunch. She looked gorgeous, standing barefoot in her jeans and oversized T-shirt with no bra, the back of her hair a mussed mess of waves. She was alway
s gorgeous, but she looked relaxed for the first time in…well, he couldn’t remember the last time she’d looked this comfortable. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever felt this loose either. Maybe never.
As she opened an upper cabinet door, revealing stacks of plates, he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face against her hair, inhaling her scent. He couldn’t get enough of it.
She let out a tiny moan of satisfaction as he held her. “I can’t reach the plates if you hold me like this.”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to live on love.”
She laughed as he kissed the side of her neck. When he reached her ear with his kisses, a phone rang beside him, and her whole body tensed. He loosened his arms so Robin could reach for it. She let out the tiniest of gasps.
“Is it Kelsey?” he asked.
She nodded and stared at the ringing phone, then shook herself into action and answered the call. “Hello.” Her eyes drifted to Matt. “Both of you?”
He reached out and held her free hand while his own heart raced. He didn’t even really know this woman on the other line, but he knew how much she meant to Robin, and it was killing him to catch only half of their conversation.
She squeezed his hand in return and exhaled. “I’m not worried about that. We’ll handle everything. I’m just glad you’re okay.” She was quiet for a moment, listening, then said, “Okay, I’ll call and check on you later this evening. You get some rest.”
She ended the call, a smile stretched wide across her face, her eyes dancing with delight and relief.
“I guess that means she and the baby are all good.”
“Yup. All good,” Robin echoed. “We need to set up her rig for her, and she needs to go straight to the gig then straight home to rest, but the doctor said that should be fine. She just has to take it easy, but not strict bed rest.”
“That’s great news.”
“It is.”
He slipped his arms around her waist again and grinned. “Want to celebrate?”
She returned his sly smile and closed the kitchen cabinet. “You’d better believe it.”
Chapter 12
Robin paced the damp stage like a caged panther while the festival crew removed tarps from the speakers. The heavier rains had moved through overnight, and the lingering drizzles were fading. The show would go on, with only a fifteen-minute delay.
Every so often Robin glanced out at the sea of people gathering on the grass in front of them, setting up folding chairs and blankets on the perimeter, while those up front stood and chatted in small clusters, holding plastic cups filled with frothy beverages and paper trays filled with jambalaya and deep fried boudin balls and just about every other food you could imagine.
Natalie wandered the back of the stage, tuning her guitar, while Lauren stood near the steps talking with her live-in boyfriend, Tyler, and a young black couple who Robin didn’t recognize. One of Tyler’s friends, she guessed, or maybe his old housemate.
She caught sight of Shane across the grass in the sound tent, and he gave her a little salute. Everything was ready to go.
Well, almost everything. The drum set was still empty.
Robin checked her phone again, but she didn’t have any new messages. Eric had texted earlier that he and Kelsey were on their way, but what if something happened? What if bouncing on those crappy roads sent them back to the hospital? What if—
“Hey, you.”
Robin followed the sound of that familiar, soothing voice to find Matt looking up at her in front of the stage. She crouched down at the edge and smiled. Her face hurt from smiling so much over the last twenty-four hours, but she figured those muscles better get used to the workout. She planned on being around this guy a whole lot more from now on, and that meant a whole lot more smiling along with it.
After another long discussion last night about how they would handle his family, they’d decided to call Dustin together. Matt double-checked that it was a travel day, not a performance, and they called him on speaker.
But they’d had nothing to worry about. Dustin was happy for them both, and they also had the full support of his wife, Suzie. Admittedly, things would be a little awkward for a while, but there were no lingering hurt feelings or jealousy or anything sour. And with Dustin and Heidi both in their corner now, Robin felt confident they could handle anyone else in the Blanchard clan who dared to stand between them.
“Hey back at you.” She looked around, then asked, “Heidi and the kids didn’t make it?”
“They’re here, at the kids’ area. They were next in line for face painting when I left, but they’ll meet me here as soon as they’re done. I didn’t want to miss seeing you before y’all started.”
She wanted to lean down and kiss that face of his, but she couldn’t figure a graceful way to dangle herself from her current perch.
“They’re here!” Natalie shouted from the back of the stage.
Robin exhaled the last bit of stress she’d been holding onto and nodded in Nat’s direction. “I’d better get going.”
Matt patted the top of her boot. “Kick ass.”
“I always do.”
He winked and said, “Yeah you do.”
Robin straightened and walked to the back of the stage where Natalie was helping Kelsey get settled in and Eric was tuning his bass. Lauren was also back on stage, running her bow back and forth against the strings.
“Everyone just about ready to go?” Robin asked.
A chorus of “Hell yeah” and a flurry of nods came in reply, and Robin swelled with pride for this little group that had somehow become her family. They’d made it through hell and back, multiple times, and they were stronger than ever. This was their time to shine, and Robin couldn’t be more excited to share this moment with these people.
She grabbed her accordion and slipped the strap over her shoulder. She squeezed and released the instrument, playing a few notes to warm up her arms and loosen up her fingers as she wandered across the side of the stage.
“Hey, Robin,” Natalie called from up front. “Come wave to Cadence. She wants to say hi.”
Robin hurried over and looked out into the crowd. She shielded the sun from her eyes and scanned. “Where is she?”
Natalie pointed off to the edge of the grass where Cadence waved cheerfully. Robin waved back, then waved at the woman holding Cadence’s hand. At first glance she’d assumed it was Nat’s mom, but she quickly realized she was looking at a face she hadn’t seen in far too long. The one piece of Robin’s heart that had been missing from this stage.
“No,” Robin gasped.
This woman was thinner than Robin remembered, and her blonde hair was chopped short and spiked in every direction. But those crisp blue eyes and that sly smile gave her away.
“Yup,” Natalie confirmed. “Got into town last night. Made me promise not to tell you. She wanted it to be a surprise. I reminded her you hate surprises.”
“Yeah, well, I guess we can let this one slide.” Robin blew a kiss to Camille, who blew one right back.
She’d been so busy she hadn’t allowed herself to miss Camille since she’d disappeared and checked herself into rehab at the end of last year. It had been four months since any of them had seen her, although they’d spoken a couple times since Camille got out.
Robin blinked away tears. They really were all together out here.
“Oh, hell no,” Natalie said. “None of that. You save those tears for after we’re done. Plenty of time for crying later.”
Robin laughed and nodded in agreement. “Fair enough. Let’s do this.”
Natalie gave her a wink, then walked over to her spot. Robin took center stage as someone from the festival stood behind the mic and introduced them to a roar of applause.
Robin found Matt in the crowd. Heidi and her brood had joined him, and one of the smaller kids sat on Matt’s shoulders, clapping wildly. She gave him a wink, and he mouthed, Love you.
When the announcer
finished, Robin looked around to make sure everyone was ready and gave Kelsey a nod. Kel clacked her sticks four times in the air above her head, then the whole band erupted into song. Together as one.
- Epilogue -
Robin surveyed the spread in front of her. A crisp, white tablecloth covered her round dinette table, and a gorgeous bouquet of gigantic fuchsia zinnias and blue hydrangea blooms sat in a royal purple vase in the center. She did a quick assessment to make sure she hadn’t left anything in the fridge: meatballs, chicken salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, pimento cheese ball, spinach dip, raw veggies, and the band’s favorite party staple—pepper jelly poured over cream cheese.
People had better show up to eat all of this.
She tidied the stack of cups beside the punch bowl, then made her way to the bar where Nat, Lauren, and Camille were examining the dessert options. “Hands off.”
Lauren made a pout. “You’re no fun.”
Nat maintained eye contact while she popped a Teddy Graham into her mouth from the plate holding the cheesecake cheese ball coated in sprinkles. This party had so much dairy, none of their guests were gonna crap for a week.
Robin felt her forehead getting sticky with sweat. She grabbed one of the fancy clear plastic dessert plates and fanned her face with it. It was the middle of August and barely an air conditioner in the state could keep up with the heat. August in South Louisiana tended to turn people downright murderous. Except at baby showers. Babies were the safe zone for heat-related Southern homicides.
Nat frowned. “You need to chill. Want me to spike your punch?”
“No, I do not,” Robin said.
“Not the bowl, just your cup.”
“Still no.” The last thing Robin needed was to make an ass of herself in front of Kelsey’s guests.