WHO AM I? he signed and mouthed at the same time.
“That’s a no brainer. You’ve got to be The Hulk. Smart as a whip and look at these muscles.”
Kale squeezed Evan’s tiny bicep.
Evan’s whole body rocked with his glee, and he forced out the rasping words, as if he couldn’t hold back his praise. “Dr. Bryant.”
Slowing, Kale’s gaze turned tender. “What do you say you start calling me Kale instead of Dr. Bryant?”
Affection burst in my chest.
Evan signed quickly, his head cocked to the side with the question.
“He asked if that’s because you’re his friend now.” My words were choppy.
A warm smiled pulled to Kale’s lips, something so genuine and sincere. “Yeah, buddy, because you’re my friend. Because I care about you.”
Evan signed, OKAY, beaming at the man who continued to weave himself deeper and deeper into my skin.
Into my heart.
“Good,” Kale said as if what he’d just done didn’t matter all that much. “I think it’s movie time. What do you say we put us on some superheroes, and we can decide exactly which we are? I have just about every Marvel movie ever made.”
YES! Evan signed, giving a little fist pump in the air.
A small giggle fluttered from my lips, but my tone was coated with the emotion that gathered thick. “Careful, Evan won’t ever want to leave.”
My insides fluttered when he began to stalk toward me.
Potent.
Powerful.
Persuasive.
That was what the man looked like. Persuasion and dominance and sex.
Most of all, right then, he looked like he was mine.
I sucked in a breath when he leaned over me, his mouth coming to my ear. “Maybe that’s my intention.”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean,” I whispered.
He pulled back and stared down at me, those blue eyes intense. “What if I do?”
That crazy attraction I felt around him climbed to the air. This time fuller. Denser. Brimming with more.
So badly that I wanted to lean forward so I could press my mouth to his.
Touch him and claim him as mine.
But we’d decided to take it slow in front of Evan. Working him into the idea of us, especially since Kale and I hadn’t quite established what that meant.
But it was Kale who pushed it further, inching closer, the words a breathy murmur that sent a shiver down my spine. “I can’t wait to be inside you again. I’ve been dying to touch you since the second you walked through my door. Second I get the chance? You’re mine.”
Oh.
Butterflies scattered in my belly and desire pooled. There was nothing I could do but press my thighs together.
Kale edged back with a smirk. “That’s what I thought, Princess.”
As if he hadn’t just made my knees knock, he stood straight and shifted his attention back to Evan.
“So, what movie do you want to watch?” Kale asked. He grabbed the remote, flicked on his big television, and switched it to the long list of his downloaded movies.
He hadn’t been joking when he said he had about every Marvel movie ever made.
Boys.
Evan grabbed his pad.
We have to take a vote. That’s the rule.
An affectionate chuckle rumbled from Kale. “You are just full of all kinds of rules, aren’t you, little man?”
Only good rules.
Contentment seeped into my pores.
More so than I’d ever been.
Darkness swam through Kale’s loft, broken by the flickers and flashes from the television as the movie played on.
We were on the second Avengers movie, and my son lay across Kale’s couch, still facing the screen, his breaths soft snores as he slept the movie away.
His head was on Kale’s lap and Kale was running his fingers through his hair.
I was on the other side of Kale, curled up so I could rest on his shoulder.
He pressed his lips to my temple, his voice a rough murmur. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Shifting to face him more, I peered at him through the shifting light. “I’m so glad I’m here.”
He traced his nose down the curve of my jaw. “You’d better be.”
A tiny moan left me when he kissed down the slope of my neck. “Is that so?”
I could feel his grin against my skin. “You know it’s so.”
“Stalker,” I whispered with a smile fluttering at my lips, the word nothing but affection.
“Knight, Princess. Knight. After last night, tell me I get to be your king.”
My head tilted back, and the smile that had been threatening lit in a full bloom. “Hmm . . . I don’t know,” I teased, my fingers twining in his soft hair.
“Ouch, Princess. You know exactly where to hit a man where it hurts, don’t you?” It was all mischief on his tongue as he kissed and nipped. “I guess you don’t need me after all.”
A giggle slipped free before I pulled back and cupped his face, sincerity weaving into my tone. “Yesterday was terrifying, Kale, and somehow . . . somehow you turned it into the best night of my life.”