Limitless Love (Lotus House #4)(17)

Her eyes widened, and she licked her plump lips. They looked so soft and inviting. What I wouldn’t give to press my own against them just once, but it wasn’t the right time. When I kissed Monet Holland it would be because she was aching for it, and the look in her eyes would be one of excitement not uncertainty.

“Monet, not only are you part of the family of friends I’ve built in this area, you’re a good woman. A kind, loving mother, and someone I want very much to get to know better. Is that okay with you?”

She swallowed and inhaled softly before answering. “Yes.”

“You going to stop thanking me for doing what I feel is necessary?” I cocked one eyebrow for emphasis.

She licked her lips. “Yes.”

“Is yes all you can say?”

Monet smiled huge, the first true smile I’d seen since I laid eyes on her earlier this evening. It was the same one that’d had my nuts in a twist when I met her last year.

“You’re making me nervous.” Her reply was breathy and sexy as hell.

I inched closer, leaving only a dozen centimeters between our faces. I could feel her warm breath against my lips and chin. Her eyes were dark pools I wanted to gaze into forever. “Nervous good or nervous bad?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. Honesty. I hadn’t had many honest women catch my eye.

I grinned, and she bit into her bottom lip. Jeez-us. So sexy, and without even trying. Her beauty, honesty, and adorable mini-Moe running around… I knew without a doubt I was a goner. I’d take it easy and give her time, although frankly not a lot of it, because I wasn’t a man who wasted precious weeks messing around when what I’d always wanted was sitting right in front of me.

“Beautiful, I think you do know. Do you feel safe?”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “Right now?”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

“There is that one word again.” I bent forward and laid a long kiss to the apple of her cheek right next to my thumb. “You never have to be afraid of me. Ever.”

She held my hand against her face. “You make me feel safe.”

“But nervous too?” I confirmed.

“Yeah.”

I winked. “I can work with that.” Needing to put my lips on her somewhere, touch her skin one more time, I pressed my mouth to her temple. I stayed a moment, taking in her natural jasmine scent and the soap Mila had used to bathe her. For a minute too long, I breathed her in, soaking in her presence, silently making a promise to protect her with my entire being.

Unwillingly, I pulled back. “Let’s get you bandaged up and in bed.”

She nodded and smiled. “Okay. Thank you for being here.”

“Nowhere else I’d rather be.”



* * *



After I bandaged her back, treated her knees, elbows, and hands, and bandaged those, I helped ease the sleep tank back over her head. I helped her into bed, noting the side she used was opposite the one I used at home. Interesting and weird to notice such a thing, but fuck if I cared. It was just one more aspect of her that made us seem like we’d be a perfect fit.

“Can you get Lily, please?” Monet asked once she was settled.

“Sure. Would you like some tea or anything? Do you have tea?” I remembered belatedly I wasn’t in my own home.

“No, thank you. I’m about to drop, but I do want to say good night to my love bug.”

“I’ll be right back.”

I found the queen wrestling with Atlas in the living room. Lily completed a complicated twist, and lying sideways over his abdomen, pinned Atlas on the floor.

“You got me, munchkin. You win.” Atlas kicked his feet and waved his hands in pretend agony.

“Bingo!” she hollered, and I laughed.

“Excuse me, Queen Lily, your mother would like to see you in her room. She’s about to go to bed.”

“Oh, she is?” Mila jumped up. “I need to go back and tell her I’m sorry for breaking down like that.” Her pretty face and brown eyes saddened as she worried her bottom lip.

I set an arm around her shoulder. “She knows you love her and worry about her. I don’t think she needs an apology. But she probably does want to give you instructions about Lily for the night.”

Atlas stood and scoffed. “Dude, not like we don’t already know, man. We practically lived here on and off for a year. We don’t need to be instructed by you.”

For a second, a flicker of irritation sizzled at the base of my neck before it dawned on me he had a point. Not realizing how far I’d gone, I was taking charge of this woman’s life, and I didn’t exactly have that clout. Not yet anyway. I definitely planned on gaining access and soon. Something inside me was going straight caveman possessive over this woman. Hell, now that I’d spent two days with Lily, I felt downright possessive of her too.

I rubbed the back of my neck where the irritation at the situation and my reaction sat. “Shit, man, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” I did know, but I wasn’t ready or willing to admit it to my buddy just then.

Atlas’s curls flopped over his forehead as he made his way from his impromptu wresting match with Lily. “It’s cool.” He clapped me on the back. “You care for her. You did a while ago, and apparently this tragedy is pushing your buttons and giving you a much-needed kick to the nuts.” He smirked.