The Life That Mattered (Life Duet 1)

Ronin obliterated all of my comfort zones, shattered all of my preconceived ideas of taboo. He made everything feel natural because it was with him. I trusted him implicitly, which made my Vanessa reaction seem so insane.

“Roe …” I dropped my head to his shoulder. He felt right. He always felt right moving inside me. I never wanted to experience that intimacy with another man. Not in this life or any other life.

“Not yet, Evie.” He stilled my hips, denying me as his tongue plunged into my mouth, making deep, hard strokes.

“Everyone decent?”

I pulled away; my body frozen like frightened prey as if our lack of motion would make us invisible. But it didn’t. Lila saw us. Well, she saw the back of the sofa, so the back of Ronin’s head, and the front of me. I leaned forward to hide my bared chest—that she’d seen … and tasted.

Ugh …

“Stop it!” I whispered through gritted teeth as Ronin flicked my nipple with his tongue.

“Fuck no, I’m not stopping.”

There it was—Ronin in sex mode. No. Fucks. Given.

“Not … again. I was kidding! I knew you’d be decent! I knew you wouldn’t let this shit happen again!” Lila slapped her hand against her forehead, before glancing back out the door. “One minute, Madeline.”

Crap! My mom?

Lila blew out a hard breath, glancing up at the ceiling for a second. “He’s physically inside of you right now, isn’t he?” Lila bit her bottom lip, scrunching her nose.

I nodded, mirroring her expression, digging my fingernails into Ronin’s shoulders because he was still messing with my nipple.

Flick. Bite. Suck. Flick. Bite. Suck.

“Get your asses to the bedroom and get dressed. Your mom and grandma are here to surprise you, and they are literally ten steps from your porch. Go!” She backed out and shut the door.

I started to climb off him, but Ronin grabbed my ass and stood … still inside of me. “Put me down! Did you hear her? We have to get dressed!”

“I heard.” He smirked, carrying me to the bedroom, mouth sucking along my neck.

“Ronin! Stop!”

He kicked the bedroom door shut and laid me on the bed (still inside of me).

“Roe …” I tried hard to make my case, but he felt so good inside of me. “St-stop …” If my hips hadn’t worked against his so relentlessly, he might have taken my plea more seriously.

Then … he just stopped.

My heavy eyelids forced themselves open. His head hovered over mine. I could hear chattering in the other room.

“Evie …” he whispered, raw and gritty.

Then the voices faded. The world faded. It was just us.

Slipping …

Falling …

He brought his forehead to mine, rolling it side to side. “Evie …” He feathered his fingertips along the outside of my thighs—not like the Ronin who was hell-bent on not stopping just minutes earlier.

That was it. When the time came, life couldn’t stop it. Like your heart would burst if you didn’t share the emotions that dominated your existence. It was too much for one person to bear.

So we slipped.

We fell …

“Roe … don’t say it,” I whispered.

He loved me.

And I loved him.

It had never been said, but it was always there.

He pulled back enough to see my eyes, a ghost of concern sliding across his face.

“It’s too late.” I eased his concern with a little grin, feathering my fingernails down his back. “It’s too big for words now. Don’t belittle it with a four-letter word. It’s too intangible. Too undefinable. Don’t ever tell me what you can show me.”

He did.

He kissed me. He moved inside of me.

We rushed nothing because nothing mattered more than us, more than what we had to say without actually saying anything at all.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Ronin awake yet?” Lila asked, wearing designer jeans, a white sweater, the perfect blond ponytail, and a shit-eating grin. “I told your mom and grandma that you were in the shower and Ronin wasn’t awake yet.”

Mom and Grandma smiled at me from the sofa. Grandma picked up Ronin’s book from the end table, inspecting the back cover.

I returned a guilty smile, pulling my hands out of my hoodie—Ronin’s red ski patrol hoodie that I stole whenever I could because it smelled like him, and it felt big and warm like his embrace.

“He’s in the shower now. Hey, Mom …” I leaned down and gave her and my grandma hugs. “What a surprise.”

“Mmm … yup. Big surprise.” Lila nodded, scraping spoonfuls of oatmeal from the sauce pan. She’d been on a strict wedding diet, but she ate when she was overwhelmed. Apparently walking in on Ronin inside of me for the fifth time overwhelmed her.

“I’d planned on driving to Denver today to see you. Why the unexpected trip here?”

“Is … someone singing?” My mom cocked her head a fraction, eyes narrowed.

I giggled and so did Lila. “Ronin sings Sinatra in the shower. It’s his thing.”