“But she doesn’t know that, Kurt. Because you didn’t tell her. You never discussed this with her. So, she’s wondering if you ever really wanted to marry her at all, or if you only did it for the kids. She’s wondering if all those years you might have been unsatisfied with her and just…tolerated her.”
My lips parted, and I looked down at the table. “That’s not true at all, though. I was madly in love with Violet. I would have married her even if she hadn’t gotten pregnant. Eventually I would have, I’m sure of it. I was never unhappy with her.”
Orion smiled softly. “I sense she’s questioning that now. Wondering how well she actually knew you.”
“Because I didn’t discuss this with her? The thing with you?”
Nodding, Orion squeezed my hand. “It’s a big thing. Maybe you’ve lost sight of that because you’ve had so much time to adjust to it yourself. I think this week, you should call Violet, and talk to her.”
I scowled. “She was mean to me.”
Orion barked a laugh. “I know. But be the bigger person. She’s Matthew and Mia’s mother, and you loved her for a long time. I think it’s worth swallowing your pride a little. Talk to her. Okay?”
I stood, pulling him to his feet with me. “You’re right.” I tugged him close and hugged him hard. “And you’re a good person. You’re…you’re really good for me, you know that?”
He smiled up at me. “I know.”
I laughed. “What did you bring? I’m starving.”
“I got Japanese from that place on Sandy Drive. Remember the first time we got it?” He grinned at me.
“Of course I remember,” I said. “The first night I got you into bed.”
“Oh, don’t lie. I’m the one that got you into bed. You were a scared little puppy hiding from ghosts.”
“Okay, I concede to that.”
I poured us each a glass of wine, watching Orion slip out of his leather jacket, draping it over a chair. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved black tee-shirt with a scary clown face on the front. And to my bemusement, a strand of white pearls. “Well,” I said. “That’s a new look.”
He strolled toward me, that slinky walk he did that made me feel like I was about to get eaten by a panther, and enjoy it. Running his fingers along the pearls at his neckline, he leaned in close. “It’s symbolic.”
“Of what?”
“Tell you later. Come on, let’s eat. So, did the kids hate me?”
I laughed. “No. They liked you, actually. Let’s take this stuff into the living room, I lit the fire.”
We ate our dinner, drank and laughed, and by the end of it, I was properly unwound from my trip. Desperation and love welled up in me as I looked at Orion, sitting cross-legged in front of my fireplace, swirling his glass of wine. I recalled the first night I saw him do that, when he came here to fight with me about my father. I think maybe I was already hooked, even back then.
“What are you staring at?” He grinned. “See something you like?”
Setting my wine, down, I crawled over to him and kissed him. He put his wine down on the bricks of the fireplace, and removed his shirt. We kissed slow and hard for a while, breathing heavily into each other’s mouths, and eventually I lifted him up and he wrapped his legs around my hips as I carried him upstairs to the bedroom.
Once we were naked, Orion kept the strand of pearls on, and I found the sight of them resting there alone against all that bare, tawny skin turned me on like crazy. Orion wanted to ride my fingers tonight—something new we’d been trying that I fucking loved. I loved knowing it was part of my body, up inside him, giving him all that pleasure. Loved the feel of him tightening and clenching as he came. While he straddled me, I plunged two lubed fingers in and out of his ass, and he took care of stroking both our cocks.
Tonight, watching him on top of me, naked in nothing but a strand of pearls, hair hanging over his eyes and lips parted as those leg muscles flexed, I came hard and fast.
I climaxed before him, but not for long. He released my cock and stroked himself, shooting his release all over my chest, then collapsing on top of me, our mouths fusing as we kissed.
When he came up for air, he grinned down at the mess he’d made. “Look, now you have a pearl necklace too.”
I shook with laughter, trailing a finger over his pearls. “Is that the symbolism you were talking about?”
“No.” His grin slid away. Sitting upright and straddling my lap, he brushed his fingers through my chest hair and said, “I love you.”
My breath caught. I’d fully intended to say that to him tonight. I’d intended to say it mere moments from now, while he was still in my arms, after sex. But he’d plucked the words from me before I got a chance. I’d never expected him to say it first. And he’d said the words firmly, and not with his usual coquettishness. Chin lifted in challenge, this was all business. I noted that stubborn expression I hadn’t seen in a long time from him, like he was bracing for a blow.
“I love you,” I said, smoothing my hands up his thighs. “I am in love with you. Utterly and completely.”
He let out a stuttered breath. “You are?”
I brushed my fingers over his chest, then trailed them down his bare belly. “Madly in love with you,” I said. “And I want you to be mine. I want you to pack all your shit up and move in here. With me.”
He bit his lip, staring down at me, but didn’t speak.
“Is that not what you want?” I asked softly.
He leaned down and kissed me hard. I held onto his head, threading my fingers through his soft locks. Finally, he sat up again, cheeks flushed. He fingered the pearls around his neck. “I was gonna ask you that tonight, I swear. That’s why I wore the pearls. I was gonna tell you I want to move in and be your little suburban housewife.”
I laughed loud and hard, then flipped him over on the mattress, falling on top of him. “You wanna be my little pearl clutching housewife?”
He snickered. “Yeah! I mean, a housewife that works, of course. I do have a business to run. But I also want to live here and take care of my man.”
“I would love you to be my little suburban housewife, Orion. Please, please move in with me.”
“Okay.” He wrapped his arms and legs around me, beaming. “That’s what I want.”
“Then you shall have it.”
“I been in love with you already for a while now,” he said. “I was just scared.”
I stroked his cheek with my thumb. “I was scared, too.”
“But we ain’t scared no more, right?”
“No.” I smiled. “We ain’t scared.”
We showered together and got each other off again, and I was surprised I could even do so a second time because I was so damn exhausted from my trip. But Orion had a talent for driving me to the brink of insanity, especially with his tongue.
I slept deeply that night, and woke up refreshed, with a warm body fused to my side, fragrant curls on my face. I cautiously unwrapped myself from his arms and sat up, staring down at him. The early morning sun cast beams of light over his bare body, sheet tangled below his waist and around his legs. I took in his long lashes, the strand of pearls, the heart-shaped lips, brow slightly furrowed like he was concentrating very hard on sleeping. I watched his chest rise and fall with deep, even breaths, and my heart was full.