He groans the words, his voice aching with the need for release, and I'm so close already that I teeter on the edge only for a moment before my orgasm completely overtakes me. A scream bubbles up from deep in my chest and I cry out his name as I come, my orgasm eclipsing everything else in the world in that moment except for the sensation of Killian's hands on my hips, and his groan as he thrusts into me once, twice, three times. Then warmth floods my pussy as he releases everything he has inside me.

We stay there in the same position, his hands on my hips and me half bent over, my pussy throbbing around him and my heart pounding loudly in my chest as I try to catch my breath. Killian runs his hand over my back and my hips, then pulls me up, my back against his chest, his mouth close to my ear. His beard scratches the side of my face, every nerve ending on my body more sensitive now than it was before.

"Fuck, I can't get enough of you, Lily."

I breathe in deeply, resting against him and closing my eyes. "The feeling is mutual, Killian Saint."

Later, I sit on the rug in front of the fireplace, my back propped up by the nearby sofa while Killian cleans up in the kitchen at his insistence. The man cooked for me, laid me, and is washing dishes as we speak.

I'm in grave danger of becoming very spoiled.

But now that I'm sitting here in my post-orgasmic state, all I can think about is how it's nine-thirty and I'm not reading Chloe's bedtime story because I'm having dirty sex in a cabin.

With a guy who has a way of making my toes curl with just a glance.

A guy who had his brother teach him to cook so that he could make me dinner.

A guy who caught the damn fish he fed me for dinner in the cabin he built with his bare hands.

I know Chloe is just fine at Opal's. But I have a serious case of mom guilt that I can't quite shake. There's also that nagging little voice in my head, insisting that I'm worrying about Chloe because I'm really afraid I might be falling for Killian. And falling for someone, after being betrayed by a man I thought I knew, is a terrifying prospect.

That nagging little voice in my head needs to be taken out and shot.

"Do you want to go over to Opal's place and pick up Chloe?" Killian stands at the entrance of the living room.

"What? No."

Killian gives me a long look as he walks toward me.

"Okay. Kind of," I amend.

"You can say so. It's not like I'm going to be offended by you cutting and running right after I cooked you a fantastic dinner and then gave you some D." He grins.

"Gave me some D?" I ask, laughing. "That's so classy. You're just screwing with me."

"Of course I'm messing with you. What kind of guy do you think I am? Do you actually think I'm going to give you shit for wanting to be with your child?"

"Obviously I want to be with you, too," I protest lamely. Opal's going to give me hell for being totally neurotic about this.

Killian grins. "You moaned my name loud enough. I'm definitely aware of that."

"Oh, shut up."

"Lily?" His expression is suddenly serious.

"What?"

"You love Chloe, and she adores you. That's obvious to anyone. Don't apologize for being crazy about her." He pauses for a long moment. "No one looked at me when I was a kid, the way you look at Chloe. No one cared that much where I was or what I was doing when I was her age. I lov I like that about you."

He clears his throat and looks down, shrugging like he didn't just say what's probably one of the most touching things anyone's ever said to me. I think my heart swells to twice its size as I stand and wrap my arms around the big brute of a man. He lets out a little 'ooph' as I collide with his chest, before sliding his hands to my back and pulling me tightly against him.

35.

Killian "Mom!" As soon as the door swings open, Chloe runs full-throttle toward Lily, launching herself into her mom's arms with the speed of a freight train, her legs wrapped around Lily's waist.

"Did you miss me?" Lily asks, laughing.

"I had fun with Miss Opal, but " Chloe sighs audibly. "But I couldn't fall asleep. You didn't tuck me in."

Opal smiles. "She was great all night, but not as keen on staying over once it came time to go to bed. She needed her mom." Opal pauses. "You're looking quite handsome this evening, Killian."

Suddenly I feel about as awkward and self-conscious as a teenager. "Thanks."

"I'll let you get on home now," Opal says. I stand there as she piles Chloe's bag, pillow, and fuzzy blanket onto my outstretched arms, followed by three Barbie dolls and a stuffed dog.

"Wait, I need Bones!" Chloe squeals, still in her mother's arms.

"What bones?" I ask.

"My dog! Bones!"

"Ah, of course." I hand her the stuffed animal as Opal hands me a plastic seat. "And this is. . ."

"For the truck," Lily says. "It's Chloe's booster seat. I left it with Opal in case of an emergency." She apparently notes the blank look on my face and laughs. "Don't worry. It's not hard to put the seat in."

Chloe chatters nonstop on the way to Lily's place, apparently too hopped up on excitement and adrenaline to take more than a two-second pause between sentences. She peppers me with questions during the ride.

"Are you bringing me to my house?"

"Yep, he's driving us home, Chloe," Lily interrupts.

"Are you going to help read stories?"

"Uh... sure, if your mom says it's okay."

"Sweet. Can I do your makeup?"

"No." Lily and I blurt it out at the same time, and Lily starts laughing.

"Where did you have dinner?"

"At Killian's cabin," Lily answers.

"You mean, like camping?" Chloe asks.

"Sort of," I tell her. "My house is up on the mountain, so there's a lot of trees around. It's kind of like being out camping."

"My mom says that sometime she'll take me camping. But she hasn't taken me camping. Are there animals at your house?"

"Sure. There are a couple of deer that come up to the salt lick outside of the cabin, and I get elk out there sometimes."

"There are deer at your house?" Chloe squeals. "I love deer. Mom says we have to drive slow at night because they jump out in the road."

"That's true."

"Do you have fish? Mom said that when we go camping sometime, she'd take me fishing, even though she doesn't like fishing because she doesn't like worms. But I pick up worms all the time on the sidewalk after it rains. Earthworms are helpful because they dig through the dirt."

"Well, there's a creek near my cabin. There's a little fishing pond down at the park right in town, too, you know. If your mom says it's okay, I'll show you how to put your bait on your fishing pole and your mom won't have to touch any gross worms."

Chloe squeals. "Can Killian show me fishing?"

"Yes, he can show you fishing. Sometime."

"Can I see the deer at your house? Is there a baby deer? I've never seen a baby deer, only in books. Baby deer are so adorable. That means cute."

"Maybe sometime your mom can bring you up to the cabin and I'll show you the deer."

"And go hiking?"

Lily laughs. "Okay, Chloe, give Killian a chance to answer one question before you go on to the next one."

"I don't mind." A couple of months ago, I'd say there was no way I'd be okay with getting peppered with questions by anyone, much less a seven-year-old, but there's something about the kid's excitement that's infectious. I never thought I'd say this, but it's a hell of a lot more fun than sitting up in my cabin all alone.

Chloe ignores Lily. "Are you my mom's boyfriend?"

"Chloe!" Lily exclaims.

"Yes," I answer without thinking, and as soon as I do, I glance at Lily, whose eyes are big. Shit. I start rambling. "That's actually... I shouldn't have said that. You should ask your mom, because it's really her choice. I mean, I'm a boy and a friend and I'd like to be her... yeah. I'm just going to stop talking now."

"Mom, is he?" Chloe chirps.

I can feel Lily's eyes on me, and I think my heart is racing more than it ever has as I pull into her driveway and put the truck in park. "Okay. Yes, Chloe," Lily says, looking at me.

"Does that mean you guys kiss? Sara's sister is a teeney-ager and she has a boyfriend and Sara says they kiss." Chloe drags out the word kiss and makes kissing sounds with her mouth.

I laugh, but Lily's face turns bright red. "You're in first grade. Why are you guys talking about kissing?"

I stifle a laugh as I get out of the truck, glad I can carry all of Chloe's stuff to the house and avoid any more loaded questions.

It takes an hour for Chloe to calm down. She insists on reading another princess story, but this one is a warrior princess who slays monsters and dragons. My dramatic reenactment of a slain monster gets a bout of hysterical giggling from Chloe, which makes me feel like a million bucks.

Lily puts Chloe to bed, and I hang out in the living room until she comes downstairs. "She's not asleep yet," Lily whispers. She walks over to the sofa and stands in front of me, her hands on her hips. "Boyfriend?"

"I didn't mean to " I start in my normal tone of voice, then drop immediately to a whisper. "I didn't mean to just say that in front of Chloe."

She shrugs. "I guess the cat's out of the bag."

I raise my eyebrows. "And you're okay with it?"

Lily exhales audibly and answers with resignation in her tone. "I guess. I mean, I suppose I'll just have to be okay with people in this town knowing that my boyfriend is the hot, bearded, tattooed caveman who lives up on the mountain."

"We all have our crosses to bear." I reach for her and pull her down onto my lap, her knees on either side of me. When she touches her lips softly to mine, my cock stirs immediately. Soon we're making out on the sofa like a couple of teenagers.

Until there's a creak on the stairs.

"Mom?" Chloe calls from the top of the stairway.

Lily leaps off my lap like she's on fire, but trips, falling to her hands and knees on the floor just as Chloe bounds down the stairs. I reach for the nearest pillow on the sofa, hiding my rapidly-deflating boner and trying to look casual.

"You're right, Killian," Lily says, looking at the floor. "This carpet really is more of a blue-grey than a blue. That is so interesting."

"Why are you looking at the floor, mom?"

I stifle a snort as Lily stands up. "You're supposed to be in bed, kiddo," she says sternly.

"I know, but I had a bad dream."

"You weren't asleep, so how could you have a bad dream?"

Chloe shrugs. "I'm not tired."

"Kid, you can hardly keep your eyes open. Come on. Up to bed."

"But I want Killian to play a monster again." Chloe looks behind her mother at me and I shake my head.

"Sorry. Even the monster went to bed," I tell her.

Chloe groans. "O-kaaaay."

"Let's go. Back in bed." Lily ushers her back upstairs, and it's a few minutes before she returns, flopping down onto the sofa beside me. "Are you sure you want to do this whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing? You understand that it means you're stuck with interruptions and non-stop questions and fleeting moments of privacy and hardly any spontaneity, right?"

I pretend to ponder what she said. "Damn. You're right. Do you have the number for one of those college chicks that was trying to pick me up at the bakery?"

Lily hits me hard in the arm. "Funny."

A few months ago, all of those things would have been reasons to run for the hills. Now, they seem like reasons to stay, all of those things that make being around her interesting and unpredictable.

"The boyfriend idea is growing on me," I admit. It's a far more nonchalant statement than I meant. Being with Lily is definitely growing on me. "Besides, I'm too old to just be dating. Or hooking up. Or whatever."

She's silent for a long time before she stands up, taking me by the hand. "Do you want to stay?"