by Vi Keeland
“Can it be fixed?”
“She thinks I was with Mikayla. She doesn’t trust me.”
“Were you?”
Kennedy’s head shot to Lauren’s face. Daggers in his eyes. “No.”
“Did you tell her that?”
He picked up his glass and swallowed back the liquid. “I did, but she doesn’t believe me.”
“Why wouldn’t she believe you? How could she not trust you knowing how you feel about her?
Kennedy winced just slightly, but Lauren caught it. “You didn’t tell her how you feel about her, did you?”
Anger tempted his voice. “So it’s my fault that she doesn’t trust me?”
“I didn’t say that. But if she knew what she meant to you, then maybe she would understand that you could never betray her.”
Kennedy was silent for a moment. “It’s better this way, she was causing me to lose focus on my business.”
Lauren rose to her feet. “Kennedy Jenner, I’ve never known you to be a coward. You take on every challenge you can find and don’t give up until you win. But you won’t fight for her because you’re afraid.”
Kennedy stood and stared down at Lauren. “This is bullshit, I don’t need this.” Then he stormed his way through the house and drove home with his fists clenched around the wheel.
***
The next week passed in a frenzy. The Monet was sold out until long after New Years and the elite of the city held their corporate holiday parties at the hotel. More than 1,000 bold red poinsettias adorned the hotel and small white lights set the backdrop. The hotel looked magical during the holidays, but Hope didn’t notice. She worked seven days a week and attended to hundreds of details to make every event perfect.
“Hope, is everything okay with you?” George looked concerned.
“Yes, everything is fine. Did I miss something?” A look of panic on my face.
“No, no, you are doing a great job. I’m not even sure how you are managing it all. But you’ve seemed so….sad the last two weeks, I thought something was wrong.”
I attempted a smile to thank him for his concern. “I’m sorry George, I guess the holidays have me a little down since my boyfriend and I broke up. I didn’t mean to let it interfere with my work.”
“You’re doing a great job. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Maybe my two left feet could cheer you up if you will save a dance with me at our Christmas party next week.”
I smiled. “Sure, why not. That sounds like fun.”
***
Saturday night the grand ballroom was filled till 1am with drunken lawyers. The smaller banquet rooms were all filled with parties for three of the larger brokerage houses from downtown. At 2am the lobby of the hotel had turned into a drunken meat market where men in two thousand dollar suits huddled around the last of the women leaving. I said goodnight to the reception staff and made my way to the door in a fog. I was exhausted from all the long hours, and normally would have been more cordial to the man working to get my attention, but I was tired and sad and had no more energy left for men in power suits.
“I’m not interested; please step out of my way.”
The tall attractive man was obviously not used to rejection. He put his arm out to touch my waist. “Come on baby; let me buy you a drink.”
I kept on walking, ignoring him. But he grabbed my arm in a tight hold. “You fucking bitch.”
The doorman saw me approach and walked toward me. “Ms. York, is everything okay?”
I looked at the man who released my arm and then to the doorman. “Yes, I think it is. Thank you, have a good night Ray.”
Outside the street was quiet, and I knew I should probably take a taxi, but I had just splurged on a pair of ridiculously expensive boots on one of my ‘cheer up Hope’ shopping trips with Shauna, and walking was more in my budget than taxis.
A few couples passed by on the street and it pained me to see how happy they looked. Would I ever feel that way again? Two weeks had passed since Kennedy and I broke up, but I still thought about him in every spare moment. As I rounded the corner to make my way across town to my apartment, I was so caught up in my thoughts about Kennedy that I didn’t notice the footsteps behind me until I felt a hard tug on my arm.
“You know you want me.” The man from the hotel lobby pulled me by my elbow and pinned my arm behind my back. He pulled me close to him. I could smell the liquor on his breath. “You can’t ignore me now can you bitch.”
I was suddenly aware of his size and anger. The street was desolate. I panicked and pulled my knee up as hard as I could, smashing into his crotch with all my might. He released me and bent over. I watched for a second as he groaned and doubled over. Then I ran, as fast as I could. I was so focused on getting away from him before he righted himself, that I didn’t even notice the taxi turning the corner until it was too late.
***
I woke confused and disoriented. My vision was blurry and I had no idea where I was. There were tubes in my arm and a mask over my face and I heard the sounds of beeps coming from all around me. Someone was holding my hand, but I couldn’t focus enough to see their face. A woman walked over to me.
“Ms. York, do you know where you are?”
I shook my head.
“You are in the hospital, you were in an accident last night. You were injured, but you are going to be okay. Try to stay still and I’ll let the Dr. know you are awake and see if we can remove your mask so you can speak to your husband.”
My husband? I turned to the man sitting beside me and worked on bringing the face into focus. Kennedy was staring at me and holding my hand. “It’s okay beautiful. You are going to be fine.”
I was confused and wasn’t quite sure if it was a dream or not. I wanted to focus more but I couldn’t keep my eyes open no matter how hard I tried. The doctor must have walked over because I heard him speak.
“Don’t be alarmed, I gave her a sedative because she was so upset when she was brought in. She will probably sleep off and on through the night. It looks worse than it is. Her nose is broken and it’s normal for her to have two black eyes. There is a lot of swelling so she will probably have some trouble with her vision, but it will improve as the swelling goes down. We had to remove her spleen because of the internal bleeding, so she is going to be sore for a while, but other than that, it looks like she was lucky she didn’t suffer any permanent damage.”
“Thank you Dr. As soon as she can be moved, I want her in a private room so she can rest.”
“I’ll let the nurses know, but I would expect she will be in ICU for another day or two for monitoring.”
***
I heard my Dad’s voice and opened my eyes. He kissed me on the forehead and whispered. “Everything is going to be okay baby girl.” I closed my eyes, caught somewhere between sleep and awake.
“Thank you for calling me, Joe.” Kennedy still held my hand at my side.
“Of course. Did you just get here?”
“I got here about 6am.” Kennedy spoke quietly over me to my dad.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were in the city when I called.”
“I wasn’t. I chartered a plane and came straight here.”
Dad nodded. “How is she?”
“Doctors say she is going to be fine. She was in the operating room when I got here, they had to take out her spleen, but they say it went smoothly and she will make a full recovery.” A minute passed and then. “I should have been with her. This is my fault.”
“It isn’t your fault, son. You are here now, and that’s what matters.”
***
By the time I woke up it was the middle of the night the day after the accident. Kennedy was still sitting next to me, holding my hand. I watched him sleep for a minute and then his eyes fluttered open as if he sensed I was looking at him.
“Hey beautiful. Can you see better now?” He reached over and removed the mask from my face.
“Yes.”
He stood and ho
vered over me close, looking into my eyes. Then he kissed me gently on the lips. “I’m so sorry Hope.”
“Why are you sorry, I’m the one that ran into a taxi?” I tried my best at humor but my throat was dry and sore and the words were barely audible.
Kennedy poured me a glass of water from the pitcher on the tray next to him and held my head up to sip the straw. “Sip”
I did and it burned but felt good.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I love you sooner. You didn’t believe that I would never cheat on you because I didn’t let you know what you meant to me. If I was honest with you, instead of afraid, then you would have understood that I couldn’t ever be with another woman again.”
Tears stung my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. He gently wiped them away with his thumb. “Please don’t cry Hope.” He looked into my eyes. “I love you. You are going to be fine. We are going to be fine. I’m not letting it happen any other way.”
***
The next morning I was moved to a private room and some of the tubes from my arms were removed. Kennedy had gone to go get some coffee, and I decided it was time I looked in the mirror. I called for the nurse and asked her to help me to the bathroom. An older woman in a nurse’s aide uniform came in to help me. We moved slowly and I was a bit dizzy from spending days in bed. But I almost fell when I saw my reflection in the mirror. My face was shades of black and green and my nose was swollen to twice its size. I had to reach out and touch the mirror to make sure it was my own reflection staring back at me.
The nurse’s aide saw my face. “It usually looks worse before it gets better, but you are healing nicely. And I wouldn’t worry honey, that husband of yours doesn’t see what you just saw. He looks at you like you are the only woman in the world. And I’ll admit that more than one of the nurses have looked his way, that boy of yours sure is a looker. But he doesn’t even notice them. Now he’s a keeper. We don’t see many of them around here.”
I smiled. She put my mind at ease. I tied my robe and steadied myself for the trip back to the bed. As we exited the bathroom, another bed was being rolled into the room. “I thought this was a private room?”
Kennedy walked into the room and came to help me walk with the aide. “It is, but I was tired of sleeping on a chair.” He gave me a devilish smile and I rolled my eyes in response playfully.
The Doctor entered the room. “Mr. Jenner made a generous contribution to our clinic and it was the least we could do to thank him. “
***
Being in bed resting all the time had thrown my body’s internal clock into a tailspin. Kennedy had set up his laptop in my room to try to keep up with his work, and I noticed he went outside to make phone calls whenever I fell asleep. But for the most part, when I was awake, he was right there next to me. After the nurse came in to take my vital signs at 2am, I was wide awake and so was Kennedy. He quietly closed the door and gently pulled back the covers and climbed into bed next to me.
I put my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. He stroked my hair softly. “Kelly was my high school sweetheart. When we were 15, we had a fight over a cheerleader. Girls had started to notice me and I hadn’t learned how to handle the attention yet. I liked it when other girls flirted with me, and I was starting to learn how to flirt back. I think my heart belonged to Kelly, but I was a 15 year old boy with raging hormones and no self control. She took off by herself after our fight and I never saw her again. There were signs of a struggle, and my own investigators watched a suspect for years, but she just vanished.”
I felt him struggle to continue. He stopped stroking my hair and wrapped his arm around me tight. “I didn’t protect her. It was my fault. I’m not going to let anything happen to you ever again Hope.”
My heart broke for the 15 year old boy inside him. I looked up at him in the darkness. “It wasn’t your fault. You were 15 and you couldn’t have known that something would happen to her after a fight. That’s what all kids do. They flirt and fight with their girlfriends. Her disappearing had nothing to do with your fight.” I squeezed him hard even though it was painful because of my incision.
He kissed my forehead. “You are the first girl I loved since Kelly. You are the first woman I’ve ever loved. I don’t know how to do this, but I’m going to figure it out. I never wanted anything more in my life.”
I looked at him, his face so raw with emotion. “We will figure it out together.” Even though I had literally been run over by a car, I had never felt better in my life.
Chapter 24
The next afternoon Charles was waiting out front as Kennedy wheeled me to the hospital exit. “Glad to see you are feeling better Ms. York.”
“Thank you Charles”
Kennedy helped me into the back of the car and I looked out the window at the people walking down the sidewalk as we made our way to my apartment. “Do you think the police caught the guy that grabbed me?” We hadn’t really discussed the night in detail, although Kennedy was by my side when I gave my statement to the detectives.
I saw his jaw tense. “I think you feel better than he does right now.”
My brow creased and I turned to him a little nervous to hear his response. “What does that mean? Were they able to figure out who he was?”
“It’s taken care of.”
“Did the police arrest him?”
“They arrested him and he made bail the same day. They charged him with assault, but that wasn’t enough.”
Oh. My. God. “Kennedy, what did you do?”
He moved closer to me and put his arm around me. “You should be more worried about what I am going to do to you when I finally have you alone.” His words sent shivers down my spine for more reasons than one.
***
“I really want to take a shower.” It felt good to be home and I wanted to wash away the hospital.
Kennedy gave me a devilish grin and started unbuttoning my shirt. When he saw the bandage covering my incision, he reached down and gently kissed all around it. “You aren’t supposed to get this wet, so I’ll help you.”
My face was less black and blue and more yellow and green, but Kennedy didn’t seem to notice how horrible I looked. He undressed and we left our clothes in a pile on the floor outside the bathroom. My bathroom shower was small for just me, no less adding six foot two inches of broad man to it. He turned on the water and set the temperature. I stepped in and dropped my head back letting the water run over my hair.
Kennedy stepped inside in front of me and held his hand clasped around my back as I arched into the water. The water felt incredible on my head and my position kept the bandage from being soaked under the water. It also left my entire torso open to Kennedy. His head reached down and gently took my nipple in his mouth. A soft moan escaped. His tongue flicked and licked gently as the water beaded over my head behind me. His gentle licking hardened my nipples and he sucked hard in response to my body’s reaction.
I lifted my head from the water stream and he turned me. He removed the shower head from above and carefully directed it to wet my body all over, being careful to keep my bandages dry. He soaped his hands and washed my wet back. His hands were firm and he rubbed as he washed. My body relaxed to his touch. He kissed down the back of my neck and he repositioned the showerhead in his hands to rinse me. He turned me back around and gently eased my legs apart. He positioned the shower head so the water pulsed steady against my clit as he lowered his head to my neck and slowly kissed his way up to my ear.
I whimpered, the water was pulsing hard and desire pulsed through my veins. He bit my nipple and a tremor went through me. The weeks of deprivation from his touch, and days filled with tension, were being released and it was all too much to handle. He positioned the shower head back above and I missed the pulsing stream immediately. I opened my eyes and found him watching me. He put his hands on both sides of my head and pressed his hungry mouth over mine. I was completely under his control. His tongue stroked mine and he sucked on my to
ngue harshly before breaking the kiss. We both panted loudly.
I gasped at the loss of his mouth and watched as he kneeled in front of me. “Kennedy….” I wasn’t sure I could hold myself up to his touch.
“I have you beautiful.” He gently positioned my legs spread apart and then his arms tightened around my upper thighs. He positioned his face below my sex as I stood and gently stroked my clit with his tongue. I felt weak, but his arms kept me in place. His tongue drew strong circles around my swollen clit until it was almost too much to bare. I moaned deeply and he flicked and sucked my clit until I came calling his name.
My body felt spineless, and I thought I might lose my balance, but he repositioned me and moved his head further between my legs. Then his tongue was plunging into me deep and hard. I gripped his shoulders and leaned down to deepen the penetration. I came again when he pushed two fingers into me and I looked down. “Good girl. Watch me eat you. I’m going to suck every last sweet drop from you.” And he did.
If his hands weren’t supporting me, I would have fallen. As he stood up, he reached around the back of my legs and scooped me up, holding me. I could feel his firm cock pushing up against my ass as he carried me to the bed. He gently placed me down in the center of the bed and then hovered over me. His arms on both sides of me bore the brunt of his weight. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I need to be inside you.”
I reached down and stroked him leisurely, letting him know I wanted him as much as he wanted me. He took my mouth and I felt his hot body lightly against me. I needed him inside of me more than I ever needed anything. I lifted my hips to him and he looked into my eyes as he pushed his long, thick cock inside of me in one strong even stroke.
“God I love how tight you are.” His voice was hoarse. He began a firm rhythm in and out, in and out, being careful to keep his weight off of my torso. I rocked my hips up, allowing him to go deeper and he responded with a growl and grinded his hips into me as the root of him pressed firmly against me. His heavy balls slapped hard into my ass as he sunk into me with each forward stroke. I felt him grow harder and then his cock contracted and I felt him fill me. “Fuck.”