They spent the next fifteen minutes putting away equipment, and then Michael said goodbye to his dads and got into his Jeep. He drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as he drove through town past the pub to the turn-off leading up to Dillon’s house. His house. He was going to have to get used to the fact that Dillon’s house was now their house. All of theirs.

Dusk was settling over the house when he pulled up to park. Seth wasn’t home yet, and he was glad though he probably shouldn’t be.

But he wasn’t going to waste time feeling guilty that he’d have a few moments alone with Lily. Dillon and Seth both had had their moments while Michael was going between his practice and the construction on his new clinic.

When he entered the house, the first thing that registered was that it smelled absolutely amazing. His stomach growled. It had been hours since he’d last eaten, and he was positively salivating over the spicy aroma in the air.

He followed the smell to the kitchen where he found Lily humming as she tended a skillet on the stove. The cat was on the counter licking her paw and watching Lily with interest. Every once in a while, Lily paused and reached over to scratch the cat’s ears.

Smiling, he crept up behind her and then slid his arms around her waist, his lips going to her neck.

“Mmmm, hello,” she said as she twisted in his arms.

She offered her mouth, and he didn’t resist being pulled down into a sweet kiss.

“I’m not sure what’s better, the smell or the taste of you,” he murmured.

She smiled. “You’re home early. I wasn’t sure when to expect you and Seth so I started, but it can be held for whenever.”

“What you making?”

“Chicken and sausage gumbo. You like?”

He sighed. “I love. It smells fantastic and I’m starving.”

She touched his cheek and smoothed her palm over the roughness of his evening shadow. “Go shower and relax. I’ll serve it up as soon as you’re done.”

He kissed her again and held onto her for a long moment, simply savoring the delight of coming home to his woman in the kitchen cooking for him. It probably made him a throwback Neanderthal from the stone ages, but hell, what man wouldn’t be completely and utterly satisfied?

“Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be back,” he said as he pulled away.

He hurried through his shower, amazed at how reinvigorated he felt just knowing he was going to spend the evening with Lily. The ease at which they’d all embraced their new living arrangement still surprised him.

It was as if Lily had always been a part of them. Or that maybe they’d been waiting for her all along.

He shook his head over that tidbit. Who was he to argue with fate?

He went back into the kitchen where Lily had set two places at the bar. She was just dishing up the delicious-smelling gumbo over bowls of rice when he slid onto his stool. She shooed the cat off the counter and then put the bowls on the bar.

“So how is the construction going?” she asked when she sat down beside him.

He waited to answer her, savoring that first spoonful of the spicy warm broth. “Damn, this is good.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”

“To answer your question, it’s going well. Faster than I imagined. The dads have been great. They’ve devoted almost all of their time to the project, and Seth and Dillon have been pitching in when they can. I wouldn’t even be past the planning stages if it weren’t for them.”

“Nice to have so many males who are good with their hands,” she said with a mischievous smile.

He laughed at the naughty innuendo. “Lucky for you, that is indeed the case.”

“I’ve missed you,” she said simply.

He put his spoon down and pulled her toward him, kissing her, their tongues warm from the gumbo. “I’ve missed you too. It’s why I’m home now. I couldn’t wait to see you any longer.”

Her smile was shy but her eyes lit up in pleasure. His stomach turned over with giddy satisfaction that he’d given her such joy.

“You must be sore,” she said in a casual voice as they resumed eating. “I thought maybe after supper we could go into the living room and I could give you a massage.”

If someone struck a match under his ass it would have nothing on the heat that scorched over his body as he imagined her hands on his skin.

“Why, Lily, are you trying to seduce me?”

Her eyes widened innocently. “Where on earth would you get that idea? I’m just trying to be a good girl and offer her man some comfort after a hard day at work.”

He grinned at the sassy tone of her voice. She’d relaxed so much in the time she’d been with him and his brothers. She’d lost the guarded, troubled look in her eyes, and the shadows had been chased away by new light. She teased them and got back at them every time they gave her shit. She gave as good as she got.

It was an amazing thing to watch. She’d blossomed in front of their very eyes.

He hurried through his meal, which was a crime, really, given how fantastic it tasted, but he’d lost any and all interest in eating the minute she talked massage.

She, on the other hand, took her time, and he knew she was deliberately teasing him.

“Just so you know, I don’t get mad, I get even,” he growled in her ear as he got up to take his bowl to the sink.

She laughed but didn’t look overly worried.

He stood to the side, waiting until she finished. As soon as she pushed her spoon away, he collected the bowl and added it to his own in the sink.

“I should probably do the dishes,” she said, casting a dubious glance at the sink. “I’d hate for them to be left for Dillon to do when he gets in.”

“Fuck Dillon,” Michael said. “You have more important things to take care of. Namely me.”

Her eyes danced as she pretended to consider the matter, and then with an exaggerated sigh, she said, “Okay, okay. Go into the living room and get comfortable.”

He started shedding his clothing as soon as he got past the doorway. By the time he made it to the couch, he was naked. Behind him, Lily burst out laughing.

“Just what kind of massage do you think this is?”

“I want your hands everywhere,” he growled.

She sauntered over, a sassy smile curving her lips. Then she licked them and his cock surged upward.

“Where oh where should I start?”

“I have a good idea,” he said hopefully.

“Turn over and stretch out,” she said.

“You want me to turn over with a hard-on from hell?”

She pressed her lips together and her eyes twinkled. “Well, yes. Surely you can tuck it somewhere.”

“I’ll tell you where I can tuck it,” he said darkly.

She rubbed her hands together. “Back first. Unless of course you’d rather not get the massage.”

Reaching down to guard the sensitive parts, he rolled and gingerly eased his body down, stretching full length on the wide couch.

Lily moved softly up behind him and put a knee down between his legs. “Has anyone ever told you what a nice ass you have?”

He grunted in reply.

Then she placed both palms in the center of his back, and he groaned in sheer pleasure. Feather light, her hands smoothed over his back up to his shoulders and spread out, kneading the tired, tense muscles.

Her warmth bled into his skin as she continued to roll and massage every part of his back. He held his breath when her fingers glanced over his ass then stopped and cupped the cheeks.

His cock was going to become a permanent part of his stomach as hard as he was. It was growing increasingly uncomfortable. His balls ached, and his cock twitched against the confines of being trapped between the couch and his belly.

Then she leaned down and kissed the small of his back. Just one, gentle, sweet kiss. He closed his eyes and gave himself over to her tender regard.

For half an hour she rubbed and molded, touched and comforted until he was a boneless, spineless lump on the couch.

Then, finally, she rose and whispered for him to turn over.

Carefully he propped himself up and turned on his side and then again to his back.

“Whoa,” she said as she stared down at his turgid erection.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I get that way around you.”

She smiled and got back onto the couch, this time straddling his knees so that his legs remained together. The position pushed his cock up even further, and she stared down at it like she was set to devour it. God, he hoped like hell that was exactly what she planned to do.

Slowly and very deliberately, she lowered her mouth until the head was a mere inch from her lips. She blew over it, sending chill bumps over places he didn’t think chill bumps were possible.

Then her tongue flicked out, lightly licking the tip. His cock bobbed in response and strained upward, so hard that he was to the point of agony.

“No directions for me?” she purred. “I thought you liked control.”

“Oh hell no,” he groaned. “You’re doing just fine without my interference. It’s my policy never to get involved in a lengthy discussion when I’m in a vulnerable position.”

She chuckled lightly and licked over the tip again, this time tracing around the flared head.

“Jesus, Lily. You’re killing me here.”

She pursed her lips around the crown and very carefully began sucking his length into her mouth, inch by excruciating inch.

He arched up, trying to get more of it into her mouth, but she held him off by grasping the base with her hand and squeezing.

She continued her downward assault, laving her tongue over the thick vein on the underside of his cock. When she reached halfway, she slid back up again, taking him to the very tip. Before he fell away from her mouth, she went down again, this time sucking him so deep that he bumped against the back of her throat.

She swallowed, milking him, working her throat around the head until his hands curled into the couch, desperate and frantic.

“This might be a record,” he gritted out. “I’m about two seconds from coming already.”

She smiled around his length but paused, remaining still, him lodged deep. She fondled his balls, cupping and rolling them in her palm as she slid back up, leaving a warm, wet trail.

“You have the most amazing mouth,” he said in a strained voice. “So fucking hot and wet and tight.”

Her hand slipped from his balls to curl around the base of his cock again. She grasped him, worked him up and down with her hand while she held the tip in her mouth. And then she went for it, pulling him hard and deep, moving her hand in rhythm with her mouth.

Fast. Hard. Deep. Over and over until he shouted her name. His release boiled deep in his balls and shot up his cock like a volcano erupting. His cry was savage and guttural as she took everything he gave her and clamped down greedily for more.

He spilled into her throat, spurting more with each thrust. She swallowed and kept sliding her hot mouth tight over his pulsing cock until his orgasm eased.

He slumped into the couch, so sated and loose that he couldn’t move if he wanted to. Lily carefully cleaned the remainder of his release from his cock and then gently let go of his lessening erection.

“Come here,” he said huskily, reaching for her.

He pulled her up his body until she was lying flush against him, their faces close together. He brushed the curls from her forehead and stroked her hair, marveling at this one perfect moment where everything in the world seemed right.

Emotion throbbed in his chest, tightening it, overwhelming him. He tried to find the words to express all she meant to him but could get nothing past uncooperative lips.

Finally he managed to get out the one thing he knew above all else. Three little words that he’d never spoken to another woman.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Her eyes went soft and glowed in the dim light. There was such a loving set to her expression that his heart did flips in his chest.

“I love you too,” she returned softly.

He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to his chest, shaking with the magnitude of the moment. He pressed his lips firm to her temple and simply remained there, too shaken, too scattered to do anything more than hold her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Emboldened by her declaration the night before, Lily was a woman on a mission the next day. She woke with a smile and deep-seated contentment, the kind people waited a lifetime for.

She danced through her morning routine, showering and dressing. She made it out just in time to see Michael off with a lusty kiss and a murmured I love you.

Then she hugged herself and almost gave into the temptation to let out a giddy squeal.

It occurred to her as she was eating a quick breakfast that while she had a killer plan in place, she had no way to pull it off. She frowned. Okay, she wouldn’t let something as simple as transportation sway her from her task.

When in doubt, call for back-up.

She picked up the phone and dialed Holly’s number. She was a little discomfited when a male answered the phone. She didn’t immediately know which Colter it was and she hesitated, her tongue suddenly uncooperative.