Sunday (Timeless Series #7) (14 page)

Recovery

Kyle

Francesca walked inside my apartment, wearing her work t-shirt and jeans. She was covered in spots of flour and sugar, and her hair was in a braid over one shoulder. “What’s up?”

“Hey.” I grabbed a beer from the fridge and handed it to her. “How was work?”

She waved away my offer. “I can’t have alcohol right now—not when I’m breastfeeding.”

“Oh sorry.” I didn’t know anything about babies, but that one was obvious. “Water?”

“Water works.”

I handed her a glass then sat down at the table. “Where’s Suzie?”

“Marie took her and the twins to the zoo. They aren’t home yet.”

“Isn’t Suzie a little young to be going to the zoo?”

Francesca shrugged. “I know she likes being with her cousins no matter what they do.”

“Do you miss her?”

“All the time,” she said with a sigh. “It’s strange. I used to be obsessed with the bakery but when she came into my life it slipped from the number one spot. Now the bakery is number three.”

“What’s number two?” I asked in surprise.

“Hawke.”

“Oh yeah…” That was obvious. “Does he know you’re here?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve told you at least ten times he doesn’t care if we hang out.”

“But you’re at my apartment. Isn’t that a little different?”

“You’ve been to my house.”

“But I’m your ex.” I still couldn’t believe he really didn’t care.

“Whatever,” she said. “That was a long time ago.”

Not that long ago
. “I just don’t want to get my ass kicked by a lunatic.”

“You’ve been with Hawke. Does it seem like he cares?”

“No…”

“Then you can relax.” She drank half the glass before she set it down. “What’s going on with Rose? Does she know you’re soul mates yet?”

“No…but I think she’s getting there.”

“Really?”

“Well, she started seeing a therapist.”

Francesca nodded. “That’s good. Hawke did that for a while. Really helped him through his pain.”

“What pain?”

She hesitated, like she said too much. “He had some issues growing up and they carried on into adulthood. But that doesn’t matter now. Keep going.”

I didn’t ask any questions because it didn’t seem like she wanted to tell me anything. “She went to the first session last week and it was pretty difficult for her. Walked out crying.”

“Poor girl.”

“But I think it’s the best thing for her. She never talks about that night, and maybe saying everything out loud will give her the closure she needs to move on.”

“You’re probably right.”

Hearing the recollection gave me indigestion for days. I couldn’t get the taste of vomit out of my mouth. Hearing that heartbreaking story and knowing it wasn’t just a story, but the truth, was damaging. I loved Rose no matter what, but it still crippled me a little. “I’m not giving up on our relationship. If she can conquer this I think we could really have what we should have.”

“You’re so sweet, Kyle.”

“Not really.”

“How can you say that?” she asked in surprise. “You’re the most compassionate person I’ve ever met.”

“That’s not true either,” I said coldly. “I know she’s my soul mate. That’s why I haven’t walked away. That’s why I gave her another chance when she didn’t deserve it. That’s why I let her push me away and pull me back again. That’s why I let her walk all over me.”

“I can understand that—a lot.”

I remembered the way Hawke pulled her back and forth. He would be there for a few months before he took off again. Francesca got emotional whiplash from it. “It sucks.”

“Oh yeah.”

“I know I have every right to walk away but I can’t.”

“Been there, done that.” She finished her water and set the glass on the table.

“But I know she’ll get through this and we’ll have what we should have had from the beginning. I know she’s strong. I know she’ll pull through.”

“And that belief will be enough.”

“Yeah.” I held my beer in my fingers and felt the coldness of the glass. It burned a little.

Francesca’s phone started to ring and she answered without checking to see whom it was. “Hey.”

Hawke’s voice came through the phone. “You aren’t home.”

“I’m still in the city.”

“Where’s my little girl?”

“She’s still with Marie. She took the kids to the zoo.”

“And when will my girls be back?”

“Forty-five minutes.” She rubbed her finger along the rim of the glass.

“Where are you?”

“At Kyle’s apartment.”

Hawke didn’t react at all. “Alright. You better be home in exactly forty-five minutes. There’s no food on the table.”

“You can feed yourself.”

“But I prefer my Muffin’s cooking.”

Francesca’s face softened but she didn’t let the emotion leak over the phone. “Forty-five minutes.”

“Forty-four.” He hung up.

She chuckled then set the phone down. “Marriage…”

“You seem pretty happy to me.”

“I am. But he’s a bit of a caveman sometimes.”

“I picked up on that…”

“Anyway.” She crossed her arms on the table. “It sounds like things are going well with Rose, for the most part.”

“It’ll take us some time but we’ll get there. Even in our darkest moments there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

She gave me a slight smile. “That’s how you know you’re in love.”

***

I took Rose out to ice cream after work. The two of us split a sundae the size of Mount Rushmore.

“Can I have the cherry?” She pleaded with her eyes.

“Yes…because you’re so cute.”

She snatched it from the top and bit it off the stem. “Yum.”

I got a scoop full of ice cream, whipped cream, and nuts. I didn’t eat sweets very often, so when I did the taste was overpowering. “This is really good.”

“Ice cream is the best. The only thing it’s missing is a hot brownie.”

“Not your first rodeo, huh?” I asked with a smile.

“When it comes to ice cream I know what I’m doing.” Her leg moved under the table until it was resting against mine.

I loved it when she touched me. It didn’t matter how. I loved any kind of affection. “Maybe your shop should be half an architect studio and half an ice cream parlor.”

She laughed and almost spit out her ice cream. “That would be the weirdest business ever.”

“Or would it?”

She chuckled and kept eating. “I don’t think there would be a lot of cross promoting going on.”

“You won’t know until you try.” I noticed her improved mood. It’d been a week since we went to see Dr. Caroline but she’d been doing well. She had a skip in her step and she was a lot more playful than before. Perhaps talking about everything with a professional was really helping after all.

She finished her half of the ice cream then licked the chocolate sauce from her fingertips. “Thanks for the ice cream.”

“Anything my lady wants, she gets.”

She gave me that usual pretty smile.

“Is there anything else you’d like to do?”

“No, I’m pretty full. I think I’m ready to turn in.”

I’d been sleeping at her place every night and I wanted to keep up that tradition. Even though most of my bed was taken up by a woman, she hogged the blankets, and her alarm woke me up, it was still better than sleeping alone. I loved having her right beside me. “Let’s go.”

We left the parlor and walked down the block. “How about we stay at your place?”

It didn’t make a difference to me. “Sure.” I grabbed her hand and held it as we walked.

She moved in further and wrapped her arm through mine, hooking me tightly.

I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

We entered my apartment then went straight into the bedroom. That’s where Rose went so I followed. It was too early to go to sleep but perhaps she wanted to lay together and cuddle.

Just when I kicked off my shoes she opened my nightstand drawer. I’d never seen her go through my things before, and now I wasn’t sure why she was doing it. I had nothing to hide but I didn’t appreciate someone snooping. “Do you need something?”

She pulled out the pair of handcuffs we used once before. “Can we use these tonight?”

My dick hardened at the thought. “Sure.”

She pulled my shirt over my head before she guided me to the bed. Like last time she cuffed me to the headboard so I couldn’t get anywhere. Then she did something she’d never done before. She removed my jeans and boxers before she pulled off my socks.

I was completely naked—and cuffed.

And I liked it.

She crawled on top of me then kissed my chest. Her tongue moved across the grooves of my pectoral muscles until she slowly crept up my jaw. She sprinkled kisses everywhere until she found the corner of my mouth. A slow kiss was placed on my lips, so slow it was actually painful.

This was hot.

She held herself on top of me as she kissed me ferociously. Her slow kisses became heated and hot. She sucked my bottom lip before she gave me a bit of her tongue.

I got goosebumps.

Then she abruptly left my lips and slowly trickled down my body to my stomach. She kissed the valleys indented in the muscle before she moved even lower, past my hips.

And my cock twitched.

Her lips moved to the base of my dick and she kissed the area, her tongue rubbing against my balls.

Oh shit.

She worked her mouth around the base, licking and kissing. Then she grabbed my dick and pointed it upwards, allowing her to lick my balls then suck them deep into her mouth.

I yanked so hard on the cuffs I almost broke the headboard.

She licked her wet tongue up my base, moving right over a vein, and then licked the top of it, sucking in some of the pre-cum I let escape. She opened her mouth wide before she took me into her throat, and she took in as much as she could while massaging my balls with her soft fingers.

Hot damn.

I yanked on the cuffs again, desperate to dig my hands into her hair. I hated being held back, forced to keep my hands to myself. I wanted to be there in this moment, to feel the soft skin between her shoulder blades.

But this was the most progress we ever had. She was doing something innately sexual to me—and more importantly—she liked it. She was still uneasy if my hands were tied back, but it was better than nothing.

And I really enjoyed it.

She pumped my dick with her hand while she licked the head, waiting for me to squirt in the back of her throat.

I hadn’t gotten any action in so long I couldn’t remember the last time. My dick was high on the feeling and I couldn’t control my body. Everything she was doing felt so amazing. It was the best head I’d ever gotten—hands down. “Sweetheart, I’m about to come.” The polite thing to do was warn her of what was about to happen.

She gave me a sexy look with my dick still in her mouth. “Then come.”

I pulled on the cuffs and felt the explosion start at my base. Everything was propelled down my shaft before it burst from the end. It filled her completely, giving her more seed than I’d ever produced in my life.

And it felt so damn good.

“Rose…” I felt lightheaded from the explosion and I slowly drifted down to earth, feeling my heart finally slow down. My entire body felt tender from the pleasure, and the exhaustion crept in afterwards.

She spread kisses on my stomach and chest before she met me at the headboard. She grabbed the key and unlocked me, allowing my hands to come free.

I immediately grabbed her and pulled her to my chest. “What was that for?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you do that?”

“I wanted to. What other reason would there be?”

“I just don’t want you to do things just for me…”

“I didn’t.” She kissed the corner of my mouth before she crawled off of me. “Believe me, I like having your dick in my mouth.”

My cock twitched all over again.

***

“Dude, you’ll never guess what happened.” I walked into the back of the bakery talking a million miles an hour. “Rose handcuffed me to the bed last night and gave me the best head I’ve ever—” I stopped when I spotted Hawke in the background with Suzie in his arms. He was sitting down, so Francesca’s frame blocked him a moment before. “Uh, nevermind.”

Francesca chuckled at the embarrassed look on my face. “She’s only a few months old. She doesn’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Still weird…she’s a baby.”

Hawke sat up with Suzie still cradled in his arm. “What’s up, man?”

“Nothing…” I still felt awkward around him and I suspected I always would. I just walked into his wife’s bakery like I had every right. “You?”