Lift You Up (Rivers Brothers 1)

It was doing well.

Finally.

Howie's legacy was secure.

And a part of me was wrapped up in that, of course.

But the larger part of my legacy was right here, in this house. Where I spent my days cooking, cleaning up paw prints, vacuuming up dog hair and Play-doh, peeling slime off the walls, doing endless loads of laundry that somehow never made the pile go down, chasing chickens, waiting for Kingston to come home.

We usually found a way to steal a few minutes alone in the kitchen once he was greeted by kids and dogs, sharing a cup of coffee, talking about our days.

His business had gotten bigger than he had anticipated as well. Which was likely due to the fact that he had made some very powerful connections through our visits to Eamon's casino. We didn't make it as much as we used to, but tried at least a few times a year.

It was important, we decided, after we had wanted to go for months on end only to talk ourselves out of it because of all the responsibilities at home. To get dressed up, to go out together. As people, as a couple, not just Mom and Dad.

"Savvs?" Kingston called, moving through the mostly-quiet house. It was a rare moment, indeed, when all the animals and the kids were outside. It almost never happened when Kingston came home from work. They usually heard the car door slam, and came running in to greet him.

"Kitchen," I called back, turning from the soup I had been stirring on the stove to find him walking in, beautiful as he had ever been, his eyes going warm as soon as they landed on me. "You're home early."

"Needed to see my girl," he told me, closing in on me, hands going around me, sliding down my back, sinking into my ass in a way that simply never got old.

He lifted me up, coaxing my legs around his lower back as his lips crashed down on mine.

And for the first time all day, there was no to-do list to get done, no animals or kids to clean up after, no food to prepare, no laundry to do.

It was just us.

It didn't matter how long it had been.

The world still fell away when we were together.

My arms crossed behind his neck, holding him closer as his teeth nipped my lower lip, making my mouth open on a moan, his tongue stealing inside to claim mine, making desire flood my system, wondering if there was somewhere in the house we could sneak away to for a few minutes, get lost in each other.

We didn't hear the back door open, or click closed.

But we did hear the loud grumble of Wells' voice.

"You're so gross," he declared, making us both pull back as he rushed away, slow, knowing smiles spreading across our faces.

"Did we just gross out our child with our love for each other?" he asked, eyes dancing.

"I think we did," I agreed, cheeks hurting from grinning.

"That's it. We have reached the pinnacle of parenting."

"We should celebrate," I agreed, face burying in his neck, lips moving over his skin.

"Hall closet?"

"Laundry room," I corrected. "They'd never think to look for us there."

"Oh," I said as my ass hit the top of the counter in the laundry room a moment later.

"What?"

"Did you remember to bring home the lettuce?"

To that, I got a small snort and a warm smile.

"Like I'd ever forget the lettuce."