Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(168)

“Kellan? Are…you okay?”

Peeking an eye open at me, he smiled around where he was still biting his lip; the grin was impossibly attractive. Nodding, he said, “Yeah, I just needed a minute.”

Giggling, I leaned back in to kiss him.

He drove us back to his place faster than he’d ever driven us before.

Kissing as we walked through our front door, he stripped off his jacket and blindly threw it towards the hook. I heard it land on the floor. He kicked the door closed with his boot, then grabbed the backs of my thighs and lifted me up. As his lips traveled up my neck, he murmured,

“Hmmm, which room should we christen first?” I giggled, dropping my head to the side so he could fully explore the sensitive skin. “We’ve never done much in the laundry room?” He instantly started heading for the hallway that went past the kitchen and into the small space where his washer and dryer was. I squirmed and laughed, rubbing against him in the process. “I was joking! Bed, Kellan… ” I cupped his cheeks and softly kissed him. “I want to explore you in a bed.”

Giving me a look filled with love and wonder, he swung us around the other way and started heading upstairs. I kissed his neck as we walked. He rubbed circles into my thighs with his thumbs. He set me 475



down once we were before the three doors on the second floor of his house—two bedrooms, one bathroom. All three doors were open. A rar-ity, since the room I’d shared with Denny was usually kept firmly closed. I’d cleaned it out, though, while Kellan was gone.

Pulling on his arm, I decided to take a second to show him. He frowned at me, then followed. As we stepped into the doorway, I leaned back and let him look in. He smiled when he saw it. I’d gotten rid of the furniture of Joey’s—the bed, dresser, nightstand—all of it. I figured, if she hadn’t come back in nearly two years to collect it, she never was going to. And it held too many bad memories anyway. I wanted it gone, to cleanse the home.

What I’d filled it with wasn’t what you’d expect in a second bedroom.

There wasn’t a bed, there wasn’t a cabinet holding winter clothes. There wasn’t a TV. There was however, a bookcase, crammed full of every notebook of Kellan’s that I’d ever come across. My old futon was here, folded up as a couch and Kellan’s first guitar, the one he’d had as a boy, was hanging from the wall now, a nostalgic piece of art. I’d added a small desk under the window, highlighted in warm curtains. A CD player rested on an old coffee table in the corner, some favorite discs of Kellan’s scattered around it. All in all, it was the perfect place for him to relax and dream up new masterpieces for his band.

Shaking his head, Kellan murmured, “Is this for me?” Placing my hands on his chest, I nodded. “Yeah, since you don’t need to have a roommate anymore, I thought I’d give you a better use for the spare room.” Placing a kiss on his strong jaw, I added, “It’s all for you, for your art.”

He smiled peacefully at me and I frowned and jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “Except the closet. I needed somewhere to put my clothes.” And I also hoped that I could one day tuck a playpen in there. If Anna decided to keep her baby, I wanted to be ready.

Laughing, Kellan squeezed me tight. “It’s perfect, thank you.” Pulling away, he frowned at me. “Wait, it’s your birthday. Shouldn’t I be doing something for you?”

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I smiled at his pout. “Well, we missed celebrating your birthday last month, so you can think of this as belated birthday present.” Biting my lip, I nodded over to the other bedroom door. “But there is one thing you can do for me.” I started pulling him across the hall.

Grinning, he eyed my body up and down, making me tingle all over.

“Yeah? And that would be?”

Once he was inside our room, I closed the door behind him and pressed him up against it. His mouth dropped open as I melded the slight curves I had into his body. With our hips flush together, I could feel his responding. Picturing the way he would tease me, I ran my nose up his jaw. He swallowed and his hands clenched my hips, pulling me into the rigid ache he had.

Dropping his head back as I reached his chin, he gasped when I quickly leaned up and flicked my tongue along his upper lip. Breath heavier, he moaned my name. “Kiera…”

Squirming against his body, I trailed my mouth up his jaw. I had to stand on my tippy toes, to reach his ear. I quickly darted my tongue inside and he hissed in a sharp breath. I felt invincible in his arms, like I could do anything wrapped in the warmth of his love. Kellan had always lifted me up, encouraged me to feel like the person he saw when he looked at me. And sheltered in his arms, I was starting to feel that way.

Knowing it was something that would have normally had me huddled in a corner, mortified, I whispered something to him that I finally felt confident enough to whisper. It implied so much of how much I trusted him, how safe I felt with him, and even though it seemed dirty, it wasn’t.

It was beautiful and honest.

“I put some handcuffs under your pillow…if you want to use them on me.”

His eyes were huge when I pulled away from him. He’d joked, he’d teased, but I don’t think he ever thought I’d actually concede. Honestly, I was surprised at myself. But I…trusted him. And I loved him. And I knew he’d never hurt me, or debase me, or make me feel anything but 477