Page 180 of Tied to You

When she breaks away, I ask, “What time will Riley be here?” I immediately regret it.

She shoots up, and the distance she creates is unwanted. “Fuck!”

I grabble to keep hold of her, managing to grab her wrist as she tries to pull away. I pull her right back, making her hair whip across her face. Beautiful. “Come here.”

“No. We don’t have time!” I smile as her face turns a little murderous, her arms and legs desperately scrambling to get away. There’s an urgency about her. She’s panicking.

“Hey,” I pull her into me, “how long do we have?”

She quickly rolls her eyes. She thinks I want sex?

I don’t.

Seeing her eyes jump to the clock and widening in horror, forces me to suppress a smile. “Twenty minutes. Fuck.” She pulls away frustrated, and I drag her back, quite enjoying myself. Her tits are bouncing, her body magnificently poised before me. Damn I’ve missed her.

One more kiss then I’ll let her go. I smack my mouth to hers and she sinks into me, forgetting her endeavour for the briefest of moments, her mouth catching my smile. “Fuck,” she hurries as her hands come up, smacking my chest and pushing me away.

I let her go, watching her arse strut to her bathroom. My heart’s never felt so full.

We get dressed and both wait in the kitchen. I watch her anxiously make us the cup of tea she started making three hours ago. That’s how long we stayed in bed. Talking. Love making. Fucking. All of it.

I get up and step close behind her, dragging her hair off her neck andpressing my lips to her bare skin.

She relaxes, her head rolling back into my shoulder.

My arms wrap around her. “It will be okay.” My words sound a lot more confident than I feel. Mysonis about to show up here any minute, and the only way I fear I’ll get through this is with the woman currently turning my head to kiss her, in my arms. I won’t be able to do that. I’ll have to play this really cool.

The exact opposite to how I fucking feel.

I pull back and let her go, allowing her to cool down before the door buzzer goes. It immediately sounds, and she jumps like she’s just touched a live wire, turning to face me.

Placing my hands on her shoulders, she takes a breath, closing her eyes. “Seems funny me calming you when I’m the one he doesn’t know.”

Mollie smiles. “I just want him to love you the way I do.”

I reach down and kiss her cheek. “A lot’s changing for him.” I don’t expect a fucking thing from the kid.

Mollie steps around me. “I’ll warn you,” she says, scratching the back of her head, “he has your attitude.” She makes it to the door, giving me a smile before she opens it.

I shrug. My attitude is completely normal.

The drilling behind my ribs sounds in my ears when Riley strides through the door, slinging his bag to the floor. Fuck, he looks just like me. He kicks off his shoes, and my eyes jump to Mollie’s father who stands at the threshold.

He still looks powerful. Still oozes confidence. Still looks like he wants to rip my throat out.

Riley hasn’t noticed me, hasn’t even bothered to look up from his phone. I spot the headphones in his ears, realising he can’t hear us either. Reminds me of the first time I met Mollie.

“You okay, darling?” Mollie’s father asks, his death stare on me.

She steps into him, kissing his cheek before we wait with bated breath for Riley to look up and see me. “Fine, Dad.”

I quickly straighten my spine. “Mr Harrington. It’s good to see you.” It’s not a lie, but Mollie and Riley are who I’m really here for. They’re my priority in all of this.

They both look stunned by my greeting. Maybe I deserve their silence,but do they have to look so fucking surprised? Yes, I can be lethal where my family’s concerned, but I can be civil, too.

Myfamily strikes a chord, my emotion catching in my throat. I swallow nervously as all of our heads snap to Riley. He’s stood face up, eyes on me.

Silence descends, fear crippling all of us. He might hate me, for which he has every right to. I failed him and his mother, wasn’t man enough to take responsibility for what’s mine. But Iamhere now, and if he’ll let me, perhaps I can be the dad he needs me to be. The dad I should have always been.