and I have to handle a few things. Then we’re heading home.” I tell the tiny, white lie, determined not to spook Justice or worry her about our current lack of a home.
Shoving a hand through her braids, Justice casts her eyes downward. “Alright, girl, tell me to stay away from him. Tell me that the years I’ve spent lonely have made me susceptible to any old Tom, Dick, and Harry.”
“So, you’re asking me if I approve or not?”
A flame of hope sparks in her eyes. “Do you? No, you don’t. It’s evident. You can’t approve.”
“Yup, that’s right. I refuse to condone any love connection between you and that.”
I’m half-joking, and Justice laughs all the way back to Brody’s room. An arm slides around my waist, and I’m yanked into my husband’s old bedroom. As I stand back, arms folded, Leith picks up the door.
“Wow, how the mighty have fallen. You had artificial intelligence locking doors and a secure smart house.”
“Did it before, I can do it again, hen.” He grunts, using the dresser as support once more. When done, Leith’s searing gaze bleeds through my soul. “Ye’re not a murderer, hen.”
I shrug. “I married one.”
“If I could go back in time and fix this mess.” Leith’s hands tense as he gestures.
“You can’t.”
“I dinna give a feck about changing my ways.” He runs a dominating hand along my rib, depositing me against the wall. “However, I’ll do this for ya. I’ll kill Fausto.”
I can hardly meet his commanding façade. “No.”
“Then what?” He slaps a hand on the wall, closing the gap of my possible escape route. “Ye run off with Michie, aye?”
Hands heavy at my sides, I groan. “No! I drove one hundred and fifteen miles per hour, Leith. Thought of not getting gas just to get back to you.”
His eyebrows stitch in confusion.
“Leith, you may not kill everyone! You don’t have the right to.”
His palm drops on my shoulder, manipulating the tender flesh. “Ye mean I can’t off the bastard ye’re in lo—”
“I’m in love with you, Leith MacKenzie. Michie is mixed up in his own shit—yakuza shit—okay? I was trying to save your stupid ass.”
Time warps. My husband’s lean body depresses. His lengthy limbs stretch. Relief glints from his attractive face. His calloused hand soothes my cheek, lips descending on mine.
Leith sighs, “Ye were . . .”
“Mad, yes.” I groan between tasting his lips. “You lied.”
“I apologized.”
“So? I needed a moment.”
A yelp flies from my mouth when my husband’s teeth clamp down, hard. “Damn you, Leith. I was about to apologize, too.”
“Why?” He inquires, tongue slithering over the hurt he caused.
“I’m not now.”
“Should I force ye, hen?” Leith catches my bottom lip between his teeth, trigger ready to execute his threat. He’s so intimidating as his palms tantalize up and down the length of my ribs.
When Leith starts to speak, my thumb plays along his lips. I reach up, touch my mouth to his. “Shhh, baby. I can’t do this thing called life without you.”
My fingers get lost in Leith’s pants as he grips my ass, grinding his dick against the inside of my thigh. Stifling a gasp, I groan against his lips.
Leith shoves the crappy shirt up over my chest, pressing kisses along the flesh of my belly button. He looks up, noticing my facial expression hasn’t changed, and he groans. “Och, I miss the days when we fecked first, then hashed it out.”
“Me too.” His hair runs through my fingers as I alternate from trying to yank him up and shove him toward my sex.
Leith hikes a thigh over his shoulder. “I thought we were gonna talk and feck? Make it a mood?”
Wilting against the wall, I sigh. Hedonism pushes us to a tilting point. “Sounds so good. However, we’ve never had such a long-lasting argument, Leith. We should discuss it first.”
“Och, ye’re right.” Leith stands to his full height. “Wish we still had our best-friend superpowers.”
He cocks half a smile, yet the surface area of my skin comes alive. I miss this—the giddy feeling taking flight in my chest.
“Shhhh, we mustn’t speak of our powers out loud.” I encourage him, a full beaming smile spreading across my lips. “We just need to sharpen our powers again.”
Leith backs off as I hold out my hand. He groans.
“Excuse me.” I glance at my awaiting hand, then at him. “We went to a national video game convention, tenth round out of thousands, all on a single handshake.”
Laughing, Leith takes my hand, and we complete the old gesture. He