The Deepest End of Love (The Brightest Light #3)

by Lisina Coney

“Tell me what happened,” she manages to let out, a surprising streak of protectiveness lacing her voice.

“It’s in the past,” I reassure her. “I’ve gone to therapy, and I’m okay now.” “No, you’re not,” she retorts. “Ginny triggered something in you, Reed. Don’t deny it. Not to me. It’s okay if you’re still not fully healed from something so brutal.”

“My dad used to beat me up, mainly with his belt. And my mom slapped me occasionally and didn’t do anything when my dad punished me. A few insults here and there, too, but it never went further than that.”

“But you were a boy, Reed…” “I was seven when it stopped,”

“My parents left me alone in the house with a bleeding wound on my back and only some expired food to sustain me. They told me not to leave before they came back, so I didn’t. But by the third day, I was so hungry I went to ask the neighbors across the street for something to eat. They saw the state I was in and calle...

“What happened after that?” She’s quiet, as if she were afraid to ask. “Looking back, that’s the moment m...

“It didn’t feel like that at the time, though. I felt alone and scared, but I was lucky the social worker assigned to my case was devoted to me. She made sure I had a second chance in life, and she’s been looking out for me ever since.” Her ...

“She followed my case closely and always offered me all the help she could. I’d hop between foster homes—that’s how I met Liam and Warren—but I never got adopted.

“Thank you for telling me about your past. I’m so sorry you had to go through that as a kid, but if it’s any consolation, you’ve become one of the best men I know.”

“Not that I didn’t want you to, but why did you call me tonight?”

“You once asked what keeps me calm,”

“I called you because it’s you, angel. You keep me calm.” Her breath hitches, but she doesn’t pull away.

“You keep me calm too,” she whispers. Our uneven breaths intertwine, our bodies inching closer. “Yeah?” I pull her to me, pressing her front against mine.

“Although I’m not very calm right now.” I hum as I lean in, the tip of my nose brushing her cheek, earning me a shiver. “Tell me how you feel,”

She smells like mine.

😍😍⭐

“Are you…?” Another shiver. “Are you sure we should be doing this?”

“Do you want me to stop?” I mutter against her skin. “No,” she breathes out, pulling me closer by the back of my neck. That’s my girl. I take my time breathing her in, savoring her intakes of breath and the delicious way she arches her back. Slowly, I drag my lips from her collarbone to her neck, to her jaw, to her cheek. And then I stop. A choice.

A breath later, our lips collide, and I recognize her touch as if we’d kissed a thousand times before. My chest expands, her light slipping through the cracks I never thought would be mended. It starts out slow, tentative. Nothing more than a peck we’re too scared to turn into more. But unlike last time, she parts her lips, and my tongue meets hers.

She pulls me closer by the collar of my shirt, sighing against my mouth like she’s been waiting ages to do this. Because I have, I cradle her face with both of my hands gently, so at odds with the way we’re devouring each other. Mine, mine, mine. When we pull away, breathless, I’m the one who hoists her up until her legs are wrapped around my middle.

I’m the one who pushes her against the nearest wall, cradling the back of her head so she doesn’t get hurt.

My other hand rests on her waist as she holds my face, deepening the kiss neither of us should’ve started. “Reed,” she whimpers, pulling away. The sight of her red, puffy lips makes me want to kiss her again, repeatedly, until I run out of air. “We should stop.” My breaths are labored. “All right.” A beat passes, and her lips are on mine again.

We kiss furiously but tenderly all at once, because we’re running out of time. Because the second she leaves my house tonight, I won’t get to have her like this again.

“Fuck, Lila,” I grunt, pressing my hard-on against her softness. Her breath hitches, and my cock jumps. “Look what you do to me, angel. Do you feel it?”

My grip on her waist tightens; I want to mark her but know she isn’t mine to claim.

As much as I feel like hers, as much as she feels like mine, she can’t be.

I kiss her again, slower this time, before carefully setting her back on the ground. Twenty minutes or twenty hours could’ve pas...

“Promise me something, though,” I say.

“Don’t get awkward around me now, little criminal. All right?”

“I said you’d never get rid of me, remember?” I choose to believe her.

“Li.” Shit. “I’m listening,” I rush out. My dad sends me a knowing look. “Is that why you gave me a pack of shredded mozzarella instead of the parmesan I asked for? Because you were listening?”

“Do you want the shop?” My heart stops. “What?”

“Do you want Inkjection?” he repeats.

“Are you asking me if I want the tattoo shop?” He nods, confirming my suspicions. “And do what with it, Dad?”

“I don’t know. Sell it. Find new management. Your call.” My dad has lost it. One thousand percent. “Dad, what’s going on?” I ask, fearing his answer.

“Nothing’s wrong, but I’m not getting any younger. You didn’t expect me to work until I dropped dead, did you?” “Of course not, but…” “I was thinking of retiring next year. In the summer, maybe.” I knew this, so why am I freaking out? “Okay” is all I can give him.

“Smells good in here.” “I’m not ashamed to admit my husband is the better cook out of the two of us,”

“Are you going to ignore me all night, little criminal?” I bite my lower lip, taking advantage of the fact that my back is turned. “Funny how you seem to be on the exact same mission, Dr. Abner.” Is that a grunt?

His fingers brush my hip, making me jump.

Reed leans in until his breath is caressing my ear. “I don’t like it when you ignore me.”

“Is this the game we’re playing now?” “I have no idea what you mean.” But his eyes hold a challenge in them. One I’m eager to accept.

I’m playing with fucking fire. But the desire to get burned scorches my last traces of common sense, so instead of retreating to the dining room with Grace and Cal, I stay with their daughter in the kitchen.

Enthralled—that’s what I am by this woman. To the goddamn bone. Minutes feel like hours when I can’t touch her like my body is begging to.

“Surprising to you, maybe.” Lila gives me a taunting smirk. “I knew she’d love it.” My own lips tilt. “Not all of us can be a puppy guru, I suppose.”

“Your daughter is great with dogs, apparently.” Lila walks right into my bait. “Apparently? Put some respect on my name.”

“It’s fine. I can handle her.”

my own smile widening until I feel it. Lila’s socked foot is rubbing my shin under the table, moving farther up until it rests on my lap.

My movements come to a halt. The rim of my glass is pressed to my lips, but I can’t drink from it because she chooses that...

“What can I say? Talent runs in my veins.”

“Love your humbleness, Dad.” “Just speaking facts.” “Sure, honey.”

I like that Lila grew up with so much love, even if it shaped her into the little minx she is today. A minx that is driving me insane.