Winter's Heart

by Warneke, A. C.

  “Sweetheart, you’re our son,” she murmured. “Besides, you’ve really turned your life around since then. From everything we’ve read, Melissa seems like a very nice, young woman.”

  “She is,” he said, the words tasting like ash on his tongue. Swallowing the dust down, he added, “You’ll be meeting her tomorrow. As well as my, um, my son.”

  Her eyes widened in her head as she stared at him in wonder, “I have a grandchild?”

  He nodded, “His name is Storm. But things are… complicated, mom. No one knows he’s mine.”

  “That’s insane,” she scoffed, too excited at discovering she had another grandchild to consider the logistics.

  After sitting with her for another hour, visiting hours were over and he stood up and stretched, his muscles and joints popping from sitting in the car for so long and then sitting in the chair. “Do you have a place to stay or will you be heading back home?”

  “I’ll probably get a room at the hotel so I can be near your dad,” she said wistfully as she gathered up her things and gave her husband a kiss on the forehead.

  “Um, you can stay with me,” he offered. “My, er, friend got me a room. It’s paid up for the week.”

  “Where will your fiancée and son sleep?” she asked, tilting her head to the side and looking older than he remembered. She had probably aged ten years in the last ten hours.

  “Um, Storm will stay with us but Missy will probably want a room at the Regency,” he stammered, not sure how to explain the mess that was his life. It was so much simpler with Flynn.

  “Is it because of me?” she asked, worried. “Because I wouldn’t mind getting another room. In fact, I insist on it. I won’t have my son thinking I’m a prude because I won’t let him share a bedroom with his fiancée.”

  “She’s not….” He tried to tell her that Missy wasn’t his fiancée but his mother ignored him.

  “Yes, I think that will work just fine,” she said, pleased with herself as she looped her arm through his and led him out to her car.

  “Mom, it’s right across the street,” he chuckled, nodding towards the hotel.

  “But I don’t want to leave my car in the hospital parking lot. Someone else might need the spot,” she explained, even though the lot was virtually empty at that time of night. So they drove the hundred feet to the hotel and parked once again.

  He crossed his fingers that they were booked but the stupid man behind the desk found a room for his mom so he was forced to smile and walk her up to her room on the second floor before making his way up to his room. Digging his phone out of his pocket, he left a message on Missy’s voice mail to let her know which room he was in and what was expected of her.

  With a sigh, he flung himself back onto the bed, the elusive scent of Flynn teasing his nostrils. Tomorrow, he’d be back to playing a role that no longer fit. It was only for another five months. He desperately wanted to call Flynn but she was driving that rusty piece of crap and he didn’t want to be a distraction. Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep, where Flynn awaited him in his dreams.

  Chapter 12

  “Wake up, sleepy head,” Fallon called out, pushing the curtains to the side and letting the sun spill into the room and stab Flynn in the eyes.

  Groaning, Flynn grabbed her pillow and put it over her face as she rolled over, “I didn’t get in until almost five this morning, Let me sleep.”

  “It’s almost ten,” Fallon sang out, tugging at the pillow and wrestling it free. Anticipating Flynn’s next move, she grabbed the blankets and pulled them off the bed, leaving Flynn with nothing to cover her head with. “It’s time to get up.”

  “My legs feel like lead,” Flynn whined, her brain punching against her skull. “And I have a killer headache. If you want me to get out of bed, give me some aspirin.”

  “Ooh, someone is Miss Grouchy Pants,” Fallon taunted. But she went to the bathroom and brought back a couple of aspirin and some water to wash it down. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Fallon grinned from ear to ear, “So, I’m going out with Harry tonight.”

  “That’s great. So doesn’t that mean you have some sexy time to squeeze and pluck for?” Flynn managed with a mouthful of water. Swallowing, she collapsed back onto the bed and groaned as her pelvic muscles protested in displeasure. “Remind me to make a doctor’s appointment sometime this week.”

  “Why?” Fallon asked, the concern apparent in her voice. “Are you sick?’

  “No, I just plan on having lots and lots of sex with Winter and I figure I should get on the Pill or something,” she blurted out, the verbal diarrhea surprising even her. Prying an eye open, she saw Fallon’s flabbergasted expression and smiled, “You saw us at his house, Fal. Do you honestly think we won’t be honking geese the moment he returns?”

  “Honking geese?” Fallon asked before a giggle spilled out.

  Flynn frowned as she re-thought her words. ‘Honking geese’ made no sense at all so where the hell did that come from? “Knocking boots, tipping cows, pushing the dog down the slide….”

  “Jesus, you are really tired,” Fallon laughed outright, grabbing a blanket and laying it over Flynn before closing the curtains. “I think you should sleep until you start to make sense. Though I think I’m going to start using ‘pushing the dog down the slide.’ What do you think it means?”

  “Deep throating,” she grunted, a smile tilting her lips as she closed her eyes

  Even though Fallon was quiet, Flynn knew her sister was still there and while she desperately wanted to go back to sleep, she waited to hear what Fallon had to say. Her sister did not disappoint as she stated in a contemplative voice, “You know? I think the reason you held off for so long was because you were waiting for Vitali Marcos.”

  “Maybe,” Flynn conceded, her brain too tired to be anything but honest. Rubbing her hand over her face, she yawned before she said, “But when I look at Winter, I don’t see a five hundred year old vampire, I see Winter. Since the moment I’ve met him, I’ve only ever seen Winter.”

  “You are a rare girl indeed, Flynn,” Fallon murmured. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too,” she managed before she drifted back to sleep.

  A few hours later, feeling a million times better, Flynn walked into the living room and paused when she saw the stricken expression on her sister’s face. “What is it?”

  “Look,” Fallon said, turning the laptop around to show her a picture of Winter. He was wearing sunglasses and his black hair gleamed in the sunlight. Holding onto a bundle that was covered with a blanket, his tight shirt showcased his incredible physique and her heart trembled in her chest at the sight of him. He was outside of the hospital and she realized that the bundle he was carrying was Storm and the woman walking behind them was Melissa.

  “It says that they spent the night together,” Fallon said. At Flynn’s blank expression, she continued, “In the same hotel room. Together.”

  “They’re not together,” Flynn said calmly, looking at the picture and seeing the rigid set of Winter’s shoulders, the way he angled his body away from Melissa. A frown creased her forehead because it was apparent he was uncomfortable and his head wasn’t in the game. Swallowing, she looked up and met Fallon’s eyes, “Trust me, Fallon. They’re not together.”

  “The article says that she’s supporting him in this difficult time,” Fallon continued, unconvinced. “Why aren’t you the one comforting him?”

  “It’s complicated,” she hedged. “He wanted me to stay but, well, it’s complicated. And if I had stayed, it would have been a disaster.”

  “Why?” Fallon asked, anger making her voice shake. “Because you’re the other woman?”

  “No,” Flynn denied. “Because it would have been made obvious that I am the only woman and that’s not the way they’re playing this out. Winter has promised me that all of the deception will be over once Storm’s birthday party is done but for now… well, this is the way it has to be.”

  “You’re taking th
is awfully well,” Fallon growled. “If it was me, I’d be demanding his public acknowledgement all over the planet.”

  Flynn laughed at her sister’s fierceness, knowing it was on her behalf. She appreciated it but it was only going to cause problems if her sister kept it up. “Look, Fal, he and Melissa are friends and they’re doing it this way to bring closure, when the time is right.”

  “Well, if he does anything to hurt you, I’ll kick his ass,” Fallon vowed sternly. Then her eyes twinkled as she added, “After I’m done filming my part in his movie.”

  “Ha ha,” Flynn grinned as she walked into the kitchen to grab a bowl for some cereal. As she was standing on her tippy toes with her finger on the bowl, she heard the familiar ring of her favorite celebrity. ‘I wanna have sex with you, baby. I wanna do dirty things to you. I wanna make you scream, baby. I wanna make you cream, baby.’

  “Oh, fuck,” she said, the bowls crashing down around her as she raced to get to her phone before Fallon did… Her sister picked up the phone and Flynn could only watch in horror as color flooded her sister’s face.

  Fallon looked up, her jaw against her chest as she held Flynn’s phone with the picture of Winter’s erection. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “Yes?” she squeaked, crossing the room and grabbing the phone to answer it. Holding Fallon’s eyes, she couldn't help but smile, “Hey, you.”

  “Hey.” Winter's sexy voice warmed her heart. “I waited as long as I could before I called to ensure you got enough rest but I couldn’t wait any longer. How are you?”

  “I’m good,” she grinned, watching her sister’s mouth open and shut a few times in shock. “How’s your dad?”

  “They’re going to release him Monday,” he told her. “And then I’ll be spending a few days with my family.”

  “That’s really great.”

  “They want Melissa to come, too.” He was silent but she knew he had more to say so she waited. “Mom would put us in the same room.”

  “I… see,” she stammered.

  “Missy is going to come up with some excuse to leave Monday morning,” he said in a rush. “But I wanted you to know….”

  “That your parents think you’re with Melissa,” she said numbly.

  “My parents think I’m with Melissa,” he confirmed, his voice resigned. “It doesn’t change anything but with my dad still recovering….”

  “Yeah, whatever,” she said, interrupting him before he could make any more excuses. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Flynn, don’t do this,” he pleaded. “You’re the world to me.”

  “I know.” She turned away from her sister, afraid Fallon would see too much. “It’s just that it’s so easy to forget about Melissa, about your false world, when you’re near but it’s so much harder when you’re so far away and there’s pictures of you online and you’re telling me your parents think you’re with her….”

  “Is he really that big?” Fallon finally managed to gasp from behind her. “That’s pushing down an entire horse.”

  Scowling at her sister over her shoulder, Flynn went into her bedroom where she could talk with Winter in peace. “Explain it to me again, Winter. Tell me why this is the way it has to be.”

  She heard him moving around and then a door closing, so she assumed he was going somewhere where he could talk. When he spoke, his words were softly spoken, as if coming from a distance even though she knew he was speaking into the phone. “When I first came to Hollywood, the world was at my feet, Flynn. I was an eighteen year old kid and I had beautiful women throwing themselves at me. I had businesses sending me gifts, expensive gifts, in the hopes that I’d endorse their product. People offered me anything I wanted, and things I never even knew existed, and I did some things I’m not especially proud of….”

  “Do I even want to hear this?” she whispered, dreading the confessions that might spill forth.

  “It’s nothing illegal, just… reckless,” he explained. “Driving too fast, drinking too much, blowing off shoots… fucking in public.”

  She was quiet for a moment and the only thing she could think of to say spewed from her lips, “So the world is probably already aware of your kinkier tendencies.”

  He choked on a laugh. “Yeah, but my dad didn’t see it that way and being an eighteen year old know-it-all, I flaunted my excesses. I was a real shit, Flynn.”

  “But only with a dozen or so women though, right?”

  “Yeah but sometimes it was with more than one at a time,” he confessed.

  “I really don’t want to hear this.” But, perversely, she did. Settling down on her bed with her back against the headboard, she said, “Go on.”

  He laughed but it was a desolate sound. “I’ve never told anyone this, Flynn, and I’m finding it difficult.”

  “Take your time.”

  “I don’t want you to hate me.”

  “I know the man you are now, Winter,” she told him. “And that has everything to do with the man you were then so I could never hate you.”

  He let out a ragged breath and she simply listened, giving him the time he needed to cut open his guts and spill his deepest, darkest secrets. If she knew anything about secrets, they usually took on a diabolical life of their own to the person keeping them but were less scary when exposed to the light of day. It was why confession was good for the soul. “I had been in Hollywood for a few months, living the fucking life, you know? And when I was nineteen, I went home during hiatus and I wanted to… God, this is embarrassing.”

  “You wanted to rub it in everyone’s faces a little bit, didn’t you?” she offered, a slight smile on her lips as she thought about the arrogant boy Winter had been.

  “Yes,” he said on a long exhalation of breath. “I was this weird theater geek, Flynn, and all of the sudden I’m this huge Hollywood star and three of the girls who made fun of me in high school suddenly wanted to fuck me. And, of course, I let them.”

  “All at once,” she supplied with a grimace.

  “They were so very eager to please and I was so angry,” he confessed. “And instead of forgiving them for being silly girls, I punished them in varied and sundry ways. All over town. I humiliated them because I could.”

  “Because they let you.”

  “I guess.”

  “I can imagine you left a trail of condoms. Unless you went without?”

  He snorted a laugh, “No, there were a lot of condoms. I probably bought out the entire town because there was no way I was going to have unprotected sex with those three. Hell, I’ve never gone without…. Oh, fuck, we didn’t use a condom.”

  “Um, it’s okay,” she told him. Her period was due in a day or two so the timing was all off anyway. And once she went to the doctor’s, there’d be no cause to worry any longer.

  “Did I hurt you? Because I know my size can be a little much even for experienced girls and I know you aren’t very experienced, so did I hurt you?”

  “Only the smallest amount,” she fudged. It had hurt some but at the time it would have hurt more if he hadn’t had sex with her. It was only now that she felt the ache of being stretched too far.

  “Damn it,” he swore and she could picture him scrubbing his fingers through his hair in agitation. “That’s why I wanted to give you three months to prepare yourself for me. I never wanted to hurt you.”

  “It was worth it,” she whispered, shifting slightly as her muscles twinged in remembered pleasure. “Now, get back to your dark past, Winter. I want to know what happened next.”

  An uneasy chuckle slipped past his lips. “Where was I? Oh, yeah, the trail of condoms. It was awful, Flynn. I was awful. I brought them into my parents’ home with absolutely no consideration for my family. My brother thought I was a fucking rock star but my dad was furious.

  “‘You’re an embarrassment,’ he said to me. ‘Have you thought about how your actions affect your mother? Right now she’s up in her room crying because we could hear you all. Night. Long.’” Winter t
ook a shuddering breath. “I scoffed at him, calling him an old man, and then I went out and got drunk, like really drunk.”

  “Oh, no,” Flynn breathed, her heart going out to the lost little boy who was trying to find his place in a strange and all-too-tempting world.

  “Yeah,” he huffed a humorless laugh. “I got arrested and when I called my dad to come and bail me out of jail he told me that I made my bed and I can fucking embrace it. Of course, I was a hot commodity so the agency sent a team of lawyers to get me out and sweep it all under the rug. Instead of going back home and apologizing, I stormed in, grabbed my bags, told my dad to go fuck himself and stormed out. How could I face them again after all of that?”

  “But that’s not who you are anymore.”

  “It isn’t and it’s not who I’ve been for a very long time,” he said, wariness in his voice. She wished she were with him so she could hold him as he laid bare his soul. Of course, it was probably easier to confess over the phone. “Melissa saved me, Flynn. That’s why I just can’t turn my back on her now, not when we’re so close to the end.”

  She also heard the unspoken words: he didn’t want to be a disappointment to his parents again. Unshed tears clogged her throat and threatened to spill over because she loved him so damn much and she just wanted to hug the boy he had been and hug the man he was now and just hug him until the end of time. In a shaky voice, she croaked, “Tell me how she saved you.”

  “Are you crying?” he asked with palpable concern in his voice.

  “No,” she lied. “How did she save you, Winter?”

  “I told you about laying the bike down on my leg.” At her sound of agreement, he let out a jagged breath. “It was so much worse than I let on. I hadn’t spoken with my family for almost two years and I was numb from this life. A... an associate brought over some coke and it was sitting there on the table and I was so tempted, Flynn, so fucking tempted. I was drunk as all fuck and that little white line was calling my name….”

  When he trailed off, she asked in a hushed whisper, “Did you?”