Mended (Connections, #3)(82)

She and Leif start playing, and concentrates on laying the tracks. He hasn’t made a single sketchy comment to me since that first day in the studio and our ability to work together has been spot-on. This is the first album completely under Ivy’s control and it’s coming together faster than I ever expected. For the past month we’ve lived and breathed the studio day in and day out. Ivy already had the songs written. Dahlia’s designing the cover art and Aerie is working on promoting the album. With any luck it will be ready to launch in six weeks.

Ivy has moved into my grandparents’ place with me, but I want us to have a place that we can call our own. We’ve started looking at houses in my mother’s and River’s neighborhoods and she found one she loves. It’s a restored Mediterranean with a spectacular view of the city. It was built in 1926 for a silent film legend. Ivy thinks it’s a work of art. I was about to buy it when fate stepped in and the people who swooped in and bought it out from under us told me about the house they were selling. I bought it immediately without telling Ivy because I know she’s going to love it. It will be weird moving out of the last place my grandparents lived, but I know they’re smiling over my decision about where to move—a house not only for kids but for grandkids too.

Having Ivy near me, waking up next to her, I’ve never been happier in my life. I didn’t know someone could be this happy. I’m even thinking about my own family now, something I haven’t done in a long time. And my dreams, or my nightmares—I haven’t had a single one since going to the cemetery and visiting my father’s grave. I’ve accepted him for who he was—both his strengths and his weaknesses. I may never understand why he chose to take his own life, but I no longer hate him for it—in the end he did choose us, his family, over music.

I’m in a hurry to wrap up the day, so I call it much earlier than usual. Everyone else leaves and Ivy and I are the last ones at the studio. She packs her guitar in its case and props it against the wall, then meets me outside. Her eyes glitter. “Why are you in such a rush?” she asks.

I pull her out into the alleyway by one hand. The air is cool and there’s a light breeze that blows her hair across her face. I push it aside. “I have something to tell you. . . .”

“What?” she asks, full of excitement.

Lifting her high in the air, I turn her around in slow circles.

“What?” She squirms, pressing herself against my waist and finally I look forward to exploring the incredible attraction that’s been building between us.

“It’s final,” I whisper, my voice hoarse as I trail my tongue down her neck. She quickly wraps her legs around me and I know she can feel how excited I am.

With wide eyes she asks, “The annulment?”

I nod with a huge-ass smile on my face.

In a low, soft voice she cries, “I’m so happy right now!”

“Me too, baby. Me too.”

Damon had moved quickly to get the annulment. I was in constant contact with the attorneys. I didn’t want Ivy stressing over any of it. Damon used his connections to get it fast-tracked, and I kept my word—I didn’t sell a single share and I gave all exercising rights to him. I’ll stay part of the company, but as a silent partner. It was a quick and easy transaction and I never want to see his face again.

My red Corvette is only a few feet away, but I can’t resist stopping and pushing her up against the wall. “I’ve missed this so f*cking much.” My lips find hers and after nearly a month, I can actually kiss her the way I want to. She’s finally free and she’s all mine. I gently bite down on her lower lip before sucking on it. She lets out a soft moan and I seal my mouth to hers. She presses her lips against mine with equal force. Her hands tangle in my hair and I hold her like I’ve never held her—in a way that tells her I’m never going to let her go. She bites on my tongue and then flutters hers against the tip of mine . . . driving me insane.

I pull back. “Let’s go home,” I growl.

“No,” she purrs. “It’s too far away.”

“Fuck, Ivy, don’t do that,” I tell her as she takes my hands and presses them against her breasts. She kisses my chin, my neck, and slides her tongue over to my ear. I slip my hands up the front of her shirt, which has come untucked, and feel her soft skin. It electrifies me. It’s been a month with no actual physical contact. We’ve imagined each other’s hands on our bodies, told each other what we want to do to each other, talked each other through our deepest desires, but now we no longer have to use our own hands and bodies to make love to each other. Running my mouth down her neck, I undo each button with my teeth. When I get to the last one I pull her shirt open and quickly lift her bra. The cool air makes her nipples harden and when I close my mouth around one, fondling the other between my fingers, she moans loudly.

I look around and pull her shirt together. “Come with me.”

“Why did you stop?” she questions softly.

“Because I want to f*ck you now—and not in the alley.”

“Oh.” She giggles and follows me as I stride quickly back to the recording studio, fumbling for my keys.

We stumble up the three steps and our lips break apart only so I can unlock the heavy metal door. Once we are on the other side of it, I slam her against the door and run my hands all over her body. I’m hungry for her, starving. I walk us backward toward the studio. “Take your bra off,” I growl, knowing that unhooking it and trying to navigate backward to the studio at the same time would be nearly impossible with how turned on I am. My hands find her back, her ass, and finally her freed breasts. My mouth doesn’t leave hers even though I want to suck on each nipple and hear her moan. I can’t tear my lips from hers. I feel every touch we made to ourselves over the last month penetrating our kisses. My body’s singing—and it’s alive. I can’t wait for the feel of her smooth skin as her fingers wrap around my cock.