Coming Home(132)

Her heart came back alive in her chest, pumping wildly, every beat sending those magnificent words coursing through her body, repairing her from the inside out. And for that one moment, all the guilt and anxiety and fear and frustration vanished. The only thing that existed for her was the immeasurable connection she felt to him, fortified by his words—the intense satisfaction of knowing that the person she loved with her entire being loved her in return.

“I love you too,” she whispered, her breath hitching as the tears slipped over her lashes.

He closed his eyes and exhaled, and for a moment, his face relaxed, and everything was gone for him too.

Leah lifted her chin, closing the distance between their mouths, and Danny released her face, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist.

“So much,” she whispered in between kisses, and Leah felt his lips curve into a smile against hers.

She brought her arms up around his neck, and he tightened his hold on her, lifting her off the floor. Leah wrapped her legs around his hips, and he walked them back to her bedroom, their lips never breaking contact.

As soon as her back hit the bed, she arched up, pulling her sweater over her head, and when she tossed it across the room, she could see that Danny was already undoing the buckle of his belt. She sat up quickly, taking over the task so that he could remove his shirt, and once it was off, he slipped his fingers under the cups of her bra and pulled it up over her head, completely bypassing the clasp.

There was urgency in their movements, earnestness in their kisses, fueled by the phone call, the fight, their declarations. Within two minutes of entering the bedroom, their bodies were already joined, and they clung to each other, clutching and clawing and gasping and still needing more. It was like they couldn’t get close enough, and the desperation left them zealous and feral.

The unrelenting movement of Danny’s hips gradually pushed her across the bed so that by the time it was over, her head was hanging off the other side, and his hand was on the opposite wall, bracing them.

The intensity of it left them both gasping and shaking, and they held each other, kissing and whispering until their hearts finally slowed and their breathing evened out.

Eventually, Danny moved them to a more comfortable position, and Leah lay with her head on his chest and her leg thrown over his thigh as he gently pulled her hair through his fingers.

“I have a favor to ask you,” he said softly.

“Anything.”

Danny inhaled deeply. “I have to go to Brooklyn next week to meet with my lawyer, and I’m bringing Gram. He needs to interview her, but the thing is, he’s gotta go over some shit with me too, and I don’t want her in the room for that. She doesn’t need to know the specifics of things,” he said, running a hand over his eyes.

“Why does he want to talk to her?”

“He’s already spoken to her a few times, but they’re finalizing everything now. He’s trying to establish the relationship I had with Bryan. If the judge recognizes that this was about family, and not some college bar brawl, he might be more understanding.”

“So he wants to talk to her about your childhood?”

“Yeah. Our childhood, right up through when it happened.”

“Oh,” she said softly.

“The thing is, I’m not sure how long this meeting with me is gonna take now that…” He exhaled. “Now that the wheels are in motion. And I don’t want to leave her alone in the lobby while I’m in there. She gets really emotional every time we have to do this, and I just—”

“I’ll take care of her,” Leah promised softly. “We’ll go get a cup of tea somewhere. Have some girl time.”