Hammers & Heartstrings (The Riley Siblings #3)

10. Noah

Chapter Ten

NOAH

I f I hadn’t already been so fucking in love with Aggie, this past weekend would have made me fall for her in a heartbeat.

It wasn’t the way my small gesture of friendship we didn’t even get to enjoy moved her to tears.

It wasn’t the way she kissed me then continued to do so despite the doubt she still clearly harbors over what I want from her.

It wasn’t even the way she totally understood and said Clover was our priority when we had to stop the hottest make out sesh I’ve had since Aggie and I were making out on the regular.

No, it was in all the ways my kitten showed me that she meant what she said by helping me care for my sick peanut all weekend without ever having to ask. Successfully solidifying the fact that I’m madly in love with her and want her to be in my life permanently as my wife and Clover’s mother forever.

That shit sealed the deal.

After I showered off my daughter’s puke that gave The Exorcist a run for her money, I went to check on my girls and when I walked into the bathroom with clean pajamas in hand, my heart did this weird little flutter-stutter-stop-kickstart thing.

Seeing Aggie actually in the tub with Clover, holding my peanut like that, cradled to her chest while she sang to her in her smoky as fuck voice, Jesus, I was seconds away from professing my love for her right then and there. And I wasn’t stupid enough to ignore how beautiful her body is when they got out, Aggie in nothing but a sports bra and boy shorts that barely left anything to the imagination.

It was sexy as fuck watching her mother my baby while she was in her underwear, and I loved the fact that she didn’t give two shits about getting puked on or taking a bath in her clothes because Clover is her priority.

While I got my peanut all dried off, in fresh jammies and settled in my bed with Disney+, Aggie gave Jax and Vin an update, grabbed clothes for herself then showered in Clover’s bathroom. She came to check on her immediately after that and when she saw my baby dozing, Aggie gave her a kiss, told her she loved her, and went to leave.

Something I desperately did not want to happen and thankfully, it didn’t.

Clover, the most amazing child ever to live, reached out and grabbed Aggie’s hand and asked her to stay with us. And because she really does love my daughter as much as I do, she stayed.

Aggs looked to me for permission, then climbed into my bed on the other side of Clover, and the three of us stayed like that for most of the weekend. Tank even got in on the action and slept at the foot of my bed.

It was perfect and incredible, and I never want it to end because that’s exactly how I woke up this morning.

A big ass snoring dog snoozing at my feet, my peanut snuggled up like a burrito in her favorite blanket with her two favorite stuffed animals between my big ass and my best friend in the entire world, the woman I want to spend the rest of this life and the next with. Fucking perfect.

Clover’s fever broke Saturday but I’m paranoid as shit, so I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead, then grin as she scrunches her little button nose.

Cool as a cucumber.

Aggie taught me that trick when my peanut was teething, the thing with kissing a forehead to check for a fever. Said Linda used to do it to them all the time, and it’s more accurate than any thermometer ever created, and she was right.

I watch my baby sleep, the way she seems so peaceful and content just lying in bed without a care in the world. Her doctor came out for a home visit last night and gave her the all clear, but moments like this make me want to keep her home, slow down time and have her stay three and a half forever. I can’t, though, and that’s why my daughter has to get up.

“Peanut.” I push her hair out of her eyes. “Clover, baby, you have to get up.”

She burrows further into her blanket, just her eyebrows and messy mane showing.

I smile. “Come on, Princess, time to get up and go rule your kingdom.”

“I don’t wanna gets up,” she mumbles.

“You have to, baby. The doctor said you’re all better, so you need to get up for school.”

Clover disappears into her Thor blanket completely. “But Daddy, mys tummy hurts.”

I snort as I roll my eyes. She’s been trying to weasel her way out of going to school since yesterday morning when she found out neither of us have to work today.

“Then I guess you won’t be able to eat my special pancakes for breakfast,” a raspy, sleep riddled voice mumbles from the other side of the bed. “Tank can have yours.”

One stormy blue eye peeks over the top of the blanket, looks at me, then Aggie, who’s still lying on her side, facing us. “The ones with peanut butter chips?”

“Mmhmm.” My kitten sighs. “And banana. With whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.”

“I feels much better!” Clover’s whole face appears, a big toothy smile beaming at us before she shoots to her feet in the middle of my bed. “My doctor is a goods doctor! I feels super!”

“No kidding.” I chuckle as she jumps down. “A real miracle worker.”

Clover nods like crazy as she runs to the door. “I’m gonna gets dressed! I’m starving for special pancakes!”

We both laugh as my peanut darts into the hall with Tank on her heels, leaving just me and my kitten all alone in my bed.

“I think her sweet tooth is even worse than yours.” Aggie smiles as she rolls onto her stomach, stretches like a cat and buries her face in my pillows. “At least those pancakes are super healthy with the way I make them.”

“Mmhmm.” I close the space between us, throw a leg over Aggie’s fantastic ass, and wrap her in my arms. “We won’t tell her that though, she might not want to eat them if she knows they’re good for her.”

She turns her head and gives me a gorgeous, sleepy smile. “What are you doing, Thor?”

“Nothing.” I grin, then put our bodies as close as possible. My head is on her pillow, we’re almost nose to nose and when my hand slides over her hip to cup her perfect butt, I yank her to me so she can feel what I might be doing.

“Clover is going to come racing back in here after she’s dressed,” Aggie all but moans when I reposition so my thigh is between her legs, my super hard dick nudging her core.

“I know.” I smirk in her face, squeeze her ass and grind into her just a little. “But I’ve been dying to get my hands on you since Friday night. Gotta take the opportunity when it presents.”

Aggie’s eyes flutter closed when I do it again and run my nose up the column of her throat. “Is this really how you want to teach your daughter about the birds and bees?”

I grin against her creamy skin, then nip at her pulse before my lips barely brush hers. “Clover will never ever be allowed to even hear about that, but it doesn’t mean I can’t do a little hands-on learning myself with the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

She smiles, but when I go to kiss her, Aggs jerks her head back and slams a hand over her mouth.

I frown. “While I would love nothing more than to kiss every inch of your body at some point today, I didn’t intend to start with the back of your hand.”

“Morning breath,” she mumbles. “You can’t kiss me with morning breath.”

Thank fuck that’s all it was.

And it makes me grin. “Aggie, kitten, I don’t give a fuck about that. I want your kiss and I want it now.”

Her eyes narrow, but her hand doesn’t move.

“Agatha...”

One brow lifts in challenge.

So, I roll my hips, grind my now almost painfully hard dick against her and watch as Aggie’s pupils dilate.

Hell yes.

Then I decide to test the waters further, to see if my kitten is still the wild and kinky girl I was privileged enough to call my first and only all those years ago.

“You gonna give me what I want, Agatha, or am I going to have to take it?”

Her pupils grow wider, those gun metal grey eyes become a little hooded, but she still doesn’t move her hand. Just arches her brow and waits.

I’m on her in the blink of an eye.

Aggie is on her back so fast she doesn’t have time to react, both of her wrists are above her head in one of my hands while the other travels up her body, skimming one of those big, beautiful tits before it lands on her throat. She gasps as I pin her with my hips, line my cock up with her core perfectly, and apply just a hint of pressure to her delicious throat.

“You gonna give me what I want now?”

And the little minx rolls her lips between her teeth and gives me a curt shake of her head.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to take it.” My hand slides a little higher and I use my thumb to free her bottom lip. I trace that soft plump petal, then push my thumb between her lips, and groan like a motherfucker when they close around it and suck. I rock my hips against hers, my dick dripping with pre-cum each time I move just right to hit her clit. Aggie releases my thumb and tilts her head slightly, offering me her lips and her throat as she locks her ankles across my ass and pulls me harder against her.

I dip my head but stop less than a centimeter from her mouth. “You are mine, Agatha, and it’ll work out better for both of us in the end when you accept it.”

My fingers close a little around her throat as I tease her lips, nipping and pulling, licking that perfect Cupid’s bow mouth. And when she arches her back and squeezes her thighs around my hips, I give us a taste of what we both want and kiss her nice and fucking slow. “Mine, Aggie.”

She smiles as I look her in the eye, lifts her head for one more kiss and fucking bites my lip before dropping back to the pillow. “We’ll see who belongs to who when it’s all said and done, Thor.”

Hell yes, we will.

“You staying home with me today?” My fingers smooth over her skin and stroke the column of her throat, her neck, and jaw.

She nods. “I am, just have to take Clover to school first.”

“Good.” I plant a hard kiss on her lips, then release her so I can flatten my body on top of hers. “I’ve missed you, kitten. I need some one-on-one time.”

Aggie lifts a hand to my cheek and traces under my eye with a delicate finger. “I’m sorry I’ve been so distant.”

She has, and I know exactly why, but that changes today. Hell, it changed Friday, maybe even years ago when Clover was born, we just didn’t have the chance to make good on it because my peanut needed us.

“No more, right? No more distance, no more walls. Just Aggie and Noah, Noah and Aggie.” Another kiss to her lips and a bump of our noses. “The way it was, the way it always should be.”

Tears fill her eyes as she nods. “Gotta throw in a punk and a Tank, but yeah. No more distance, no more walls. Just us like always.”

“Good.” And I seal it with a kiss.

That’s basically a legally binding contract in my eyes.

“Are yous kissing my Gigi?!”

I grin against Aggie’s lips as her entire body stiffens, legs still locked around my hips, hand on my face and everything.

God, I love to see my kitten squirm.

“I’m just admiring how pretty your Gigi’s eyes are without her glasses.” Yeah, my lips are still against hers, so what.

Clover is gonna need to see some of this sooner or later and kisses are about as far as I’m willing to let that go. These kinds of kisses anyway, my daughter doesn’t need to see her dad playing tonsil hockey with her future mommy on the regular.

“Are not!” Clover squeals as she comes bounding toward the bed. “Yous kissing my Gigi right on hers lips! I seen it!”

I chuckle as Aggie sighs and asks. “Is it okay for daddy to kiss Gigi on the lips?”

My peanut climbs onto the bed dressed in another Bleak December ensemble complete with tutu and tiara. “Yes!” Clover giggles as she jumps on my back. “I wants kisses too!”

Very strategically, I disengage my happy dick, shift around so Aggie is still blocking it, then I reach behind me and swing Clover around so she’s on top of her.

Then my amazing and intelligent as hell best friend wraps my baby in her arms, rolls away from me and starts tickle-kissing and blowing raspberries all over Clover’s face and neck.

“You want kisses, punk?” She snorts against my baby. “Kisses for a little princess punk?”

“Yes!” Clover screeches through her laughter. “I wants the kisses too!”

Aggie starts tickling my peanut’s armpits as she keeps getting her neck. “All the kisses?”

“Yes!”

“Every last one?”

Clover is laughing so hard, the way she laughs when it’s just the three of us. “Yes! Daddy, helps me!”

“Helps you?” I do a discreet dick check and sigh in relief that the thing is finally back to normal. “Helps you, you say?”

“Yes! Yes, Daddy, helps me! Save me froms the tickles monster Gigi!”

So, I do.

I grab Aggie around the waist and pick her up, toss her back on the bed, and put myself in front of Clover like a wall.

“You wanna get to the Princess, you’ll have to go through me—” I scream like a bitch as Aggie dives at me, goes right for my thighs and behind my knees.

Damn her for knowing my ticklish spots.

I know hers too though, and before I know it, Clover and I have ganged up on our favorite woman ever, have her trapped on the bed while we get her sides and feet.

Aggie is practically in tears by the time she yells, “I surrender! I give up! You win! The tickle monster is retreating!”

I flop down on the bed next to her, all of us a little out of breath but happy. “You put up a good fight, kitten. Gave it your best.”

She swats at my chest and rolls her eyes. “I’ll win next time.”

“Never!” Clover shouts as she stands between us. “Vinctories will be mines!”

Fuck, this is perfect.

It’s perfect and beautiful and right.

I want this every single day, want this happy family we’ve created over the last few years for all the rest of them.

“You hear that.” I turn to Aggie and grin. “ Vinctories will be hers.”

“I heard.” She grins back seconds before she snatches Clover by the tutu and pulls her down on top of us. “How about vinctories will be ours ?”

My peanut giggles, nods, and nuzzles between us. “Okay, my Gigi. Theys can be ours cause you’re ours. We can share.”

I watch Aggie’s nose wiggle, watch as her eyes well with tears again. Hopefully those are happy tears she’s about to shed because if not, I need to get my plan B into gear ASAP.

“Thanks, punk.” Aggs sniffles.

Clover nods, takes her face in her tiny hands and plants a loud smacker on her Gigi’s lips. “Can you makes the special pancakes now?”

“Sure, baby.”

My daughter goes to get off the bed, but I tug her back. “What am I, chopped liver?”

“Sorry Daddy.” She giggles as she gives me smooches, too. “Now yous kiss my Gigi and we cans all kiss Tank then have special pancakes.”

While I’m not sure I will be kissing the dog anytime soon, I will absolutely listen to my daughter and kiss her Gigi.

“You heard the woman.” I smirk in Aggie’s face as I take her chin between my thumb and index. “She has decreed we kiss in order to commence the pancake making.”

My kitten just smiles as I erase the space between us, press my lips to hers and give her a little less than chaste, languid kiss.

So fucking sweet.

“It’s just like Cinderella,” Clover whispers.

“That being said…” I kiss Aggie one more time because I have to. “You, my punk rock princess peanut, are going to turn into a pumpkin if you don’t get your little butt to school.”

I can only hope I’m Aggie’s Prince Charming because she is my happily ever after