Coming Home (31 page)

Her hands flew back up to the headboard as she tried to regain the control she had managed before, but it was just like the last time he’d touched her that way; it was like he’d known her body for years. He knew exactly what to do and how to do it, and within two minutes of him touching her, she was panting heavily, her hips lifting off the bed as she neared her release.

Suddenly his hand stilled, and Leah’s eyes flashed open as she lifted her head.

“Why are you stopping?” she breathed, and he smiled before he leaned over and kissed her neck.

“Not yet,” he murmured against her skin.

“Danny,” she started, and then he covered her mouth with his. She wanted to protest. Hell, she wanted to
plead
. But when he kissed her that way, the only thing she could bring herself to do was kiss him back.

After a minute he lifted his head, watching her reaction as he began moving his hand again, and she bit her lip to stifle the sound building in her throat as she turned away from him. She hadn’t known it would be like that—that she could pick right up where she left off that easily. Leah squeezed her eyes shut as her legs began to quiver, and this time as she started to gasp, he removed his hand from her body completely.

She slapped her hands down on the mattress and threw her head back. “Oh, son of a bitch!” she cried, and he laughed softly, kissing along her jawline.

“Swear jar,” he said, nuzzling beneath her ear.

She slid both hands up into her hair as she tried to catch her breath. “You’re making me crazy,” she panted.

“I know,” he said, licking the spot beneath her ear. “You have no idea how sexy you are right now.”

“Danny,” she breathed, bringing her hands to his face and forcing him to look at her. “Please don’t make me wait anymore.”

He leaned down so that their noses touched as he reached between them and slid her underwear over her hips, and she shimmied out of them before kicking them away.

And when his hand slid down her stomach again, she gripped his wrist, stopping him.

He froze, lifting his head to look at her.

“That’s not what I meant,” she said softly.

Danny pulled his brow together, and she released his wrist, lowering her eyes as she reached between them, fumbling with the button of his jeans before she popped it open. As she slid his zipper down, she raised her eyes back to his, and understanding swept over his face.

“Leah,” he said huskily. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. She was sure about this. She was sure about him. She was sure about
them
. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind anymore where she belonged.

“I want you,” she said, running the backs of her fingers over his stomach. “And I don’t just mean tonight. I want
us
, Danny.”

He closed the small distance between them, pressing her back into the pillows as he kissed her deeply, and Leah gripped the waistband of his jeans and boxers and slid them down over his hips.

Danny removed them the rest of the way, grabbing his wallet out of the pocket before he tossed them on the floor behind him. Leah watched him remove a condom and open the wrapper, and all at once, her stomach twisted with anxiety.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths.

“Leah,” he said gently, placing his hands on her thighs, and she opened her eyes.

She could see the concern on his face, and she reached out for him; he came down to her immediately, resting his weight on his elbows as he cradled her face.

“I’m okay,” she said with a tiny smile. “I’m just a little nervous.”

“What are you nervous about?” he asked, playing with the hair by her temple, and she closed her eyes.

It had been so long for her, and she just wanted it to be good for him. The way he made her feel tonight was so far beyond anything she’d ever experienced. She wanted to make him feel that way too.

“It’s just that…it’s been a while,” she said, her eyes trained on his shoulder.

“Hey,” he said gently, and she lifted her eyes to his. “You’re in control here. However you want this to go, whatever you need, just tell me.”

She smiled softly. Of course he was thinking of her.

“I’m not nervous about
me
,” she said, watching her fingers draw patterns on his shoulder. “I just…I want to make you feel good.”

She glanced up just in time to see his dimples slowly appear. “Leah,” he said through a laugh. He circled his fingers around her wrist and guided her hand down between them until she was touching him.

Oh God.

“You feel that?” he asked softly. “That’s how you make me feel. And we haven’t even started yet.”

She made a tiny sound as she closed her hand around him and guided him to her body, and he exhaled in a rush, dropping his forehead to hers.

And then he was pressing into her.

She reached up and clutched the back of his shoulders, and as soon as his hips were flush with hers, her entire body erupted in goose bumps.

“Fuck,” he said under his breath, and Leah saw the muscle in the side of his jaw flex before he tentatively moved against her. She arched her head back as a shiver ran through her body, and she felt his hands slide between her and the mattress, holding her hips against his own as he rocked into her again.

“Goddamn, you feel so good,” he breathed.

She wanted to answer. She wanted him to know what he was doing to her, but his rhythm had effectively stolen any and all words from her mouth. Instead she wrapped her arms around him, groaning and sighing into his shoulder as every one of his movements pushed her closer to the brink she’d been teetering on all night.

After being on the verge twice before, it didn’t take long for her to feel the tightening in her belly, the incredible tension he was building inside her, and she clutched at his back as his name fell from her lips.

Danny crashed his mouth to hers, saying something against her lips that she couldn’t understand; she was too lost in what was happening to her body. It was as if a rubber band had been stretched impossibly beyond its capacity, and she was waiting for it to snap at any second. And just when she thought it would, it somehow stretched even further.

Danny shifted the position of his hips, and Leah gasped loudly as her hands flew back to the headboard above her. Whatever he was doing now caused the beautiful pressure in her belly to spread down into her thighs and up through her chest. Everything inside her felt wound tight and ready to shatter, and she didn’t know how much more of the build-up she could take; it was already more intense than any orgasm she’d ever had.

“Oh God…please,” she panted, tightening her grip on the headboard.

“Come on, baby,” he whispered, reaching down to hold her hips, and then moved against her as he tilted them up.

Leah arched off the bed as the rubber band finally snapped, sending concentrated shock waves of pleasure crashing through her body. She knew she must have cried out, but she couldn’t see or hear anything at all; all of her awareness was focused on the torturous ache being washed away by the indescribable feeling pulsing through her veins.

He kept moving against her, dragging out every last second until she felt like her bones had disconnected, rendering her completely useless. And just as she felt herself starting to come down, Danny did something with his hand that drove her right back up, unexpectedly sending her over the edge a second time.

This time she heard herself cry out, but it was lost in the beautiful sounds that were spilling from Danny’s lips as he buried his face in her hair.

His movements slowed until he collapsed on top of her, snaking his arms between her and the mattress and pulling her against his body. Leah uncurled her hands from the headboard and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck and inhaling his heady scent. She could feel him placing soft, feather-light kisses along the top of her shoulder, and for a few minutes they laid that way, trying to get control of their breathing.

“Holy shit,” Leah finally said, her voice thick and lazy, and Danny hummed languidly in response. She closed her eyes. “That CD just earned a permanent spot up on the shelf.”

He laughed against her shoulder before he slowly rolled off her, his hand finding hers on the mattress.

Danny twined their fingers together. “That was…” He shook his head, running his other hand over his eyes. “I don’t even have words for what that was.”

“I didn’t even know that
existed
,” she said, and he chuckled as he leaned over, his lips hovering over hers.

“I don’t think it did before us,” he whispered. He placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Be right back,” he said before kissing her again, slowly at first, and then more deeply so that her already enervated body melted back onto the mattress. By the time he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, she was once again struggling to catch her breath.

Danny stood and made his way to the bathroom, and she sat up slowly, stretching her arms overhead as she found her muscles again.

Water. She needed water.

She pushed herself off the bed and grabbed Danny’s balled-up shirt from the floor, pulling it over her head as she made her way to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, taking down half of it in a matter of seconds.

Leah leaned against the counter with her hip, slowly screwing the cap back on, and that’s when her eyes landed on it.

She smiled, placing the bottle on the counter as she opened the drawer in front of her and pulled out two forks. After she had removed a candle from the box on the counter and lit it in the center of the cake, Leah grabbed the forks and bumped the drawer closed with her hip before she made her way back to the bedroom.

Danny was lying in her bed, the sheet riding low on his hips and both hands clasped behind his head, causing his biceps to bulge.

He was sex incarnate lying there like that, and Leah was tempted to toss the cake over her shoulder and crawl on top of him.

Danny laughed when he saw what she was holding, and he sat up as she placed the cake on the bed before climbing on behind it.

“You have to make a wish this year,” Leah said.

He smiled at her before he closed his eyes and scrunched up his face, making a big show of pondering what he should wish for. And then his expression straightened, and with his eyes still closed, he blew out the candle.

When he opened them and looked at her, his gaze was adoring, and she leaned forward and kissed him softly before she handed him a fork.

Danny lay on his side, propping his head up on his hand, and Leah mirrored his position, facing him with the cake resting on the bed between them.

They ate until they couldn’t take another bite, and Leah moved what was left of the cake to her dresser before she came back to the bed.

“You look good in my shirt,” he said, grabbing her waist and pulling her on top of him. He held her hands to the bed on either side of his body, and when she looked down at him, he quirked his brow suggestively.

She smiled, leaning down until their lips were almost touching. “What are you, insatiable?”

Danny laughed softly; his warm breath smelled like cake, and Leah wet her lips before closing the tiny space between them and pressing her mouth to his.

An hour later, she was lying on her side with Danny’s arm around her waist and his chest pressed against her back. As she skirted the border between consciousness and sleep, Leah felt him sweep her hair over her shoulder, and then his mouth was on the back of her neck.

She tilted her head forward, an involuntary reaction that gave him better access, but she couldn’t manage much more than that.

“Mmm,” she hummed sleepily. “If you wanna go again, just try not to wake me while you’re doing it.”

He laughed against the back of her neck before removing his lips from her skin. The air felt cool now compared to the heat of his mouth, and when he trailed the tip of his finger down the back of her neck, she shivered.

His arm slid over her waist again as he pulled her against him, and Leah snuggled back into his chest with a sigh.

“What does it mean?” he asked softly.

“Hmm?” she hummed, her eyes still closed.

“This,” he said, trailing the tip of his finger over her neck again.

Right over her tattoo.

“Oh,” she murmured, her voice soft with sleep. “It means a couple of things.”

“Tell me,” he said, his breath fluttering her hair.

Leah trailed her fingertips up and down his forearm. “In Celtic, the spiral triskele is the symbol for mother. That’s actually the first reason I was drawn to it.”

He kissed the back of her shoulder as she said, “But the triskele itself is usually a symbol for the progression of life…how it’s constantly changing, but it always brings us to another beginning,” she mumbled sleepily. “Always a new start. And I love the idea of that.”

Danny pressed his lips over the tattoo again. “Me too,” he said softly.

Leah brought his hand up to her mouth, kissing his palm before she intertwined their fingers. She felt so safe, so comfortable, so content wrapped in his arms, with the heat of his skin on hers and the gentle thudding of his heart against her back. As exhausted as she was, she found herself fighting sleep just so she could enjoy it a little longer.

And in that moment, she realized what the intense feeling was that flooded through her every time Danny put his arms around her. It was the same feeling she would get as a little girl when her family would pull into their driveway after spending a week on vacation. It was the same feeling she got when she crawled back into her own bed for the first time after moving back in with her father during college. And it was the same feeling she got every Christmas when she pulled onto that little street in the Bronx and stopped in front of Catherine’s house.

Her eyes stung with tears behind her closed lids, and she smiled softly, knowing for sure that she had made the right decision.

Because for her, being in Danny’s arms felt like coming home.