Protective Love (Hidden Secrets)

by P. J. Belden

  Larry and Eli – still holding David against the door – looked at Kayla. She walked up and stood behind Eli’s back. She was close, but not close enough for him to even breathe on her.

  “How did you know?”

  “I… when… I…” he struggled out. “When I went to the police department on another case, there were a few guys talking about it.”

  “Why?”

  He looked at Larry and Eli.

  “Because I was being kicked out for the family. A friendship wasn’t good enough anymore. I was being forced into retirement so Eli can spread his wings.”

  Larry stepped back.

  “My asking you to retire had nothing to do with Eli stepping up. He would have been doing that regardless. My asking you to retire was because you were falling asleep during trials and not finding details that needed to be added to a case. That is why I had asked you to retire. If you felt this way, why not come to me? Why go after my daughter?”

  “It would hurt you more. Besides, she’s one fine piece of ass,” he sneered.

  I flew past Kayla and decked him in the face again. Larry walked over to the phone to call the police. Within minutes the police had arrived, taken statements, and left, hauling David off to jail.

  Eli shut the door and rested his head against it. Larry walked over to Kayla and wrapped her in his arms. I almost felt like I should have left.

  “I’m so sorry Kayla. I understand why you flew in here that day. But it still hurts to think that you thought we would discuss any of this with other people.”

  “I’m sorry daddy. It was just after I had that conversation with you…”

  “What’s the more part?” Eli asked, finally turning around.

  Kayla stepped back from her dad and looked at me. I had a very bad feeling I wasn’t going to like what was about to be said. She began to talk about the night I was taken into surgery and the things that Dale had said to her, and then Larry and Eli would chime in on all the things they had found. My mind was swimming with all the new information. I walked over to the couch and sat down, putting my head between my legs.

  I saw Kayla’s legs come into my view and then felt her hands on my legs.

  “I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be, but can’t you see why I couldn’t tell you until now?”

  As much as I wanted to be angry about being left out of something extremely important, I couldn’t be. Not when I understood why she was keeping it from me. She wanted me to make up my own mind about my job and she didn’t want to add anything on me while I was recovering.

  “I understand Kay. And I hate myself even more for earlier. Knowing that this prick is aiding him and I hurt you because of it… God, Kay I’m so sorry.”

  She leaned up and kissed me. It was short, but it was all I needed to know that she forgave me and understood why I did what I did as well. When I looked up at Larry and Eli, they were both smiling.

  “What?” Kayla asks defensively.

  “You’re in love. My little girl is in love,” Larry said.

  Kayla blushed and I laughed. She smacked me in the arm and then fell against me, smiling. I decided that moment was as perfect time as any to make sure her family knew my intentions with Kayla were honorable.

  “I love your daughter very much, Mr. Williams. Never in my life have I ever felt this way.” I turned and looked at Eli, who was grinning from ear to ear. “I know you know my past and you still gave me a shot to be near your sister. I will never be able to thank you enough for that.”

  “Wait a second. He knows your past and I just found out today?”

  “Kay, I checked in on him. He didn’t tell me.”

  “Oh,” she said as she sat down on the couch. “So what do we do now? We can’t very well run anything through the police station because I’m sure he has other minions.”

  “She’s right. At this point, we have Nate, and that is it. We need to figure out how to do this, assuming we have no police support what so ever.”

  The rest of the afternoon was spent going over details and trying to map out how to catch the sorry son of a bitch, and the Captain, too. By the time we were headed home it was well after dark. We stopped and picked up dinner before heading back to Kayla’s. One day I want to take her to my house.

  Suddenly a planned formed in my mind. It would take a few weeks, but I know just when I would bring her to my house.

  We ate supper and Kayla filled Carson in on everything. I could tell he was trying hard not to go cave man on her. I laughed when he asked if we beat the shit out of him.

  “Yeah, he will not forget for a minute, but I think he was more scared of your dad and your brother when they found out he was the one who attacked Kayla at the hospital.”

  “Well, he wouldn’t be walking if I was there and could fight,” he mumbled.

  Kayla reached over and squeezed his hand.

  “I know Curry.”

  “Okay, I have to ask, why Curry?”

  Every time I heard her call him that I wanted to know.

  “It’s because of her,” Carson said, trying to act angry, but I could tell he liked the nickname.

  Kayla laughed.

  “When I was little and wanted to play with him, he would pout and move at a snail’s pace. I would always say ‘Carson hurry’ so much, and one day I was so excited to go swimming that they ran together. It just stuck after that.”

  She shrugged, but beamed at her brother.

  “No one but family calls me that, but it grew on me. Most call me CJ or Carss.”

  I nodded my head. As I watched them picking on each other, I found myself wondering what it would have been like to grow up with siblings. My childhood was not a bad one, but it was lonely. If I didn’t have any friends around, I had no one. It wasn’t often that I had friends over or stayed with friends because of how far outside of town we’d lived. My dad always needed help so leaving for a night or two wasn’t always in the cards.

  “What’s wrong?” Kayla’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

  “What?”

  “You had a sad look on your face just now. What were you thinking about?”

  “Oh, uh, I was just thinking about what it must be like to have grown up with siblings. Nothing big,” I laughed, then got up to clear the table.

  Kayla lets it drop and I was grateful. When she got Carson in bed with his meds, she came back into the room. She was smiling at me. It had me curious. I raised my brow at her.

  “What?”

  “This is the first night of going to bed and saying ‘I love you’ to each other,” she smiled.

  “Your first night, not mine,” I stated without realizing it.

  “What?”

  “I waited every night until you fell asleep so I can tell you I loved you before I fell asleep. Corny, I know, but I wanted to tell you and I didn’t think you were ready to hear it. It was the best solution,” I shrugged.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  ~KAYLA~

  I stared at him for several seconds before opening my mouth, only to have nothing come out. I repeated a few times before I was finally able to put two words together. That was exactly what I put together two words.

  “You did?”

  “Why do you sound so shocked?”

  “I don’t know,”

  The words echoing in my head right then were not his words, but Mary’s. Her speech about oral sex she gave me before I headed back to the hospitalpopped in my mind. Why the words chose to come back to me right then, I didn’t know, but I wanted to try it.

  “Can I blindfold you?” I blurted out.

  I could see the shock on his face and I didn’t blame him. Hell, I couldn’t believe I said it myself. What the hell was I thinking? I was thinking that I didn’t want him to see me try it and then laugh. Just when I was about to recant what I said when Jason moved to the bed and laid down.

  “Okay, blindfold me,” he smiled at me.

  My brain was telling me that he k
new what I was going to do, and he was just playing along for my benefit. Taking a deep breath, I walked over and pulled his shirt up over his head and tied it around his eyes.

  “Now hold the bed frame.”

  “Ooh, what will you do with me?” He smirked.

  I swallowed hard and tried not to look up at him. Straddling across him, I lean down and kiss him. As I deepen the kiss, he moans. I run my hands up and down his chest. I trail kisses from his mouth up to his ear.

  “If you’re patient you’ll find out,” I whispered, then nibbled his ear before moving down his neck.

  Jason moaned again and I smiled. For someone as inexperienced as I was, I seemed to do something right. I got to his chest and kissed my way to one nipple, swirling my tongue around before taking it between my teeth and biting gently. I kissed my way over to the other one, repeating the process. Jason moaned loudly.

  “Sunshine,” he breathed.

  Kissing my way down his stomach, my tongue following all the lines of his muscles, I felt him shiver beneath me. Reaching up, I lightly drag my nails down his chest and over his nipples as I continue to move down his stomach.

  Damn this man is in great shape!

  I could feel the effects of my kissing and tongue pressing into me. Moving my hands to his boxers, I ran my hand over his erection. Jason moaned and jerked his hips up. I wouldn’t look up at him. I was afraid of what I would see on his face, so I kept my head down. Pulling his boxers down and off, I saw his erection for the first time.

  Wow! Just wow!

  Mary’s words again echoed in my head, telling me what to do. She swore that it was an amazing thing to do for a man. I was nervous about the taste. The girls around the office had mixed feelings about it; some hated it and some loved it.

  Wrapping my hand around him, I slowly moved my hand up from the base to the tip. Then I slowly move my hand back down to the base. I repeated this a few times before I got up the nerve to lean in and lick from the base up to the tip and twirl my tongue around the head.

  Jason sucked in a breath through his teeth.

  “God, Kayla…”

  I began stroking him as I sucked his balls into my mouth. Jason moaned and jerked his hips up. Letting his balls fall from my mouth, I ran my tongue back up his shaft to the tip, twirling my tongue around the underside of the tip. A bead of white oozes out as my hand stroked up to the top.

  Time to find out if I can handle the taste.

  I moved my tongue over to run in the hole and taste him. It wasn’t the best flavor in the world, but it wasn’t horrible either. Moving down and just taking the head in my mouth, one hand stroking him and the other playing with his balls, I twirled my tongue around and sucked on the head like a lollipop.

  “Oh Shit! That feels so fucking good!” he panted.

  My confidence was growing by the minute. Slowly I started to lower my mouth, taking him in inch by inch. When I felt him hit the back of my throat, I tried to push further and I managed to get him all in my mouth without gagging.

  “FUCK! Kay-lahhhh,” he panted out.

  I pulled back a little, then pushed back down. His hips started to move up pushing himself into my mouth a little further. He was groaning loudly and I looked up at him. I froze immediately. Pulling back so fast I almost fell off the bed.

  I needed to forget it, create new memories.

  “Sunshine, are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I want you to take your blindfold off and move your hands.”

  He did as I asked and I could see the look in his eyes. I didn’t want to ruin our moment any more than I already had, so I leaned back down and took him back in my mouth. A clanging noise echoed in my ears and I looked up to see that his head had fallen back. It was the sexiest sight I have ever seen. It brought me back out of my head and into the moment.

  Gently, I began to play with his balls again while taking him all the way into my mouth. I moaned at the feel of him growing in my mouth. After a few more moments of bobbing up and down, I felt his hands in my hair and his hips moving faster.

  “God, Kayla! Fuck! Shit!”

  He grunted with each thrust.

  Oh God! I’m doing this to him. I’m driving Jason wild.

  He pushed harder and faster into my mouth. Something told me he was getting close and I had already made up my mind that if I was going to start it, I was going to see it all the way through.

  “Shit! Kayla, I’m going to cum,” he breathed.

  I pushed down until I had him all the way into my mouth and I could feel the first tremors of his orgasm. As weird as I thought it was, Mary said it would intensify his climax. As I felt him start to jerk beneath me, I began to run my teeth on his shaft.

  “OH FUCK!”

  I pushed down fast and harder taking him all the way back. He continued to jerk and cuss. Finally, his movements slowed and then stopped. I licked him clean. He shivered a little more when I reach the head.

  Sitting back at the foot of the bed, I bite my lips and can’t seem to bring myself to meet his eyes. I heard the sounds he was making and the things he was saying, but were they good things? I just didn’t know.

  I jumped a little when I felt his hand under my chin. He lifted my head until my eyes met his. He was smiling and in his eyes, I saw love and satisfaction.

  “What’s wrong, sunshine?”

  “I just didn’t know… I wasn’t sure if… I’ve never done that…” I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head.

  “Hey,” he said as he pulled me to him and held me against his chest. “That was amazing. I’ve never had one that good - ever. I’ve never had one that intense before either. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

  He was quiet for a moment.

  “Kayla, can I ask why you did it?”

  I stopped breathing. How was I going to explain it to him and have him understand what I was saying. He wasn’t pushing me to answer. It was almost as if he understood that I needed time to get my thoughts together. I sat quietly and thought for a minute before taking a deep breath.

  “Because I can’t give you what you want. Mary told me some of it and I just winged the rest. I don’t want you to be deprived because I’m not ready for that yet,” I shrugged.

  “Sunshine, I love you. I’m not with you for sex. That’s only a physical connection. What I’m with you for is this,” he said, placing his hand on my chest over my heart. “I just want your heart. I find it only fair since you have mine.”

  He tipped my head up and leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. When he tried to deepen it, I pulled back. He gave me a confused look. I swallowed and smiled sheepishly at him.

  “If you want a better kiss, I need to go brush my teeth first.”

  Before he could answer, I jumped off the bed and head to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth, I tiptoed down to check on Carson. He was laying on his back and the blanket was off him. Since he wasn’t wearing a shirt, I could see the wound. Without realizing what I was doing, I began to trace my finger lightly around it. Tears sprung to my eyes.

  “I’m so sorry about this, Curry. All I wanted was help. I didn’t want you to get hurt.” I whispered.

  Leaning down, I pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

  “I love you so much, Curry. One day I will be able to thank you for everything you have done for not giving up on me. For being there even when I didn’t think I needed you there. You could have turned away from me and never looked back. It would have… thank you, and I love you, Curry,” I whispered and choked back a sob.

  Turning to head back out of the room, I jumped practically out of my skin when Carson’s hand reached out and grabbed my hand. I let out a small scream.

  “Carson! You scared the shit out of me!”

  He laughed and held his stomach, groaning. It hurt him to laugh, but it certainly didn’t stop him from having a good laugh at my expense. He finally stopped laughing and put on a serious face.

  “Kay, I would never turn my back on you.
You’re my sister. Family stands behind and supports each other, no matter the problem. The only thing I regret is that you didn’t say anything sooner. To think of everything you have gone through… damn sis, I’m so sorry I didn’t open my eyes sooner. I failed you as your brother and as a friend. My job was to protect you. Not only did I not protect you, but I brought this fucking psycho to you!”

  He turned his head away from me. He didn’t turn it fast enough. I saw the tear roll down his cheek. I moved over to his bed and sat on the edge. I couldn’t stand him blaming himself. None of this was his fault any more than mine.

  “Listen to me. Even if I had a chance to go back and change it, I wouldn’t. This was and is my burden, not yours, not the others, and not Jason’s. The only reason you all know now is because I was caught in a moment of weakness. If Jake hadn’t come at that moment, I wouldn’t have told you. It’s just not your burden to carry.”

  “If you honestly believe that we don’t carry anything you go through, then you don’t know us at all. We were carrying your burden before we even knew what it was. You have never been alone, Kay. You just haven’t let us close enough to you to see us. Nothing you tell us or how far you let us in is ever a burden. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? We have been carrying this with us since you started shutting us out and pushing us away. Why would you want to go through this all alone when you have our unconditional support? You’re not alone. Don’t push us away because you’re scared to be vulnerable. You’re not weak, Kay. You’re the toughest and bravest woman I know. Now go back to bed. I’m sure your man is asleep after the release he got.”

  My mouth dropped open and I stared at my brother. I could feel my face heat up, so I knew I was blushing.

  He heard us? How could he have heard us? Was he that loud?

  “Oh yeah, I heard. When I heard him yell ‘shit!’ I started getting out of bed. Then I heard him say that it felt damn good, or something to that effect. I promptly got back in bed. Go to bed. Love you,” he said, chuckling.

  I mumbled an ‘I love you too’ back and walked out of the room, making sure to close the door. Thinking about everything Carson said brought tears to my eyes. I loved my family and all the silent support that they had given me even without me knowing it. How could I have ever doubted it?