Behind the Scandal

by M.A. Stacie

  Libby had a lot of people trying to help her, far more than she’d ever had. It made her sad that the one person she’d like to rely on had no idea where Libby was. She couldn’t risk getting her mom involved in the mess. Her mom was safe not knowing where Libby was, not knowing she had a grandson.

  “He didn’t last long.”

  Libby twisted around and nodded at Taylor. Her stomach flipped when she looked at him.

  He leaned against the doorframe of Levi’s bedroom, his arms folded across his chest. He’d showered and changed, and a damp lock of dark hair flopped forward into his eyes.

  “I read three pages and he was out. It’s been a long few days for us all, I guess.”

  Taylor’s lips turned down. “He’s having fun. He likes my brother and Dale. I think he’ll be upset when they leave.”

  “Which is when?”

  “Couple more days. Kyran has sorted out the cash, so now we wait for the douche to call you.”

  Libby flinched. Taylor referred to the plan like it was nothing more than a transaction, as if he were going to the store for milk, but she found it hard to believe paying off Chase would end all her problems.

  Libby exhaled as she stood and walked from the room. Taylor closed the door, careful not to make any loud noises.

  “I checked the land again. I still don’t feel safe.”

  “I know.”

  “Does Josh know you’re over here?” she asked, slumping onto the couch and letting her head flop back.

  Taylor took a seat next to her and lifted her legs onto his lap. She tried but failed to suppress a smile when he pulled off her socks and began to massage her feet. “You’re the first person in my life ever to do that.”

  “Good. I like being your first. And yes, Josh knows exactly where I am.”

  “All men like to be first. I think it spans back to when you were cavemen. You feel the need to conquer and protect what’s yours.”

  His fingers stilled on her feet. “And you’re mine, are you?”

  She snorted and knocked her shoulder against his. “Funny. I don’t know what we are, do you?”

  He stroked his fingers along her jaw before pushing them into her hair at the back of her head. “I have an idea, but I’m too much of a gentleman to push a lady.” He smirked, and her blood pressure cranked up. The way his fingers caressed her skin didn’t help.

  “A gentleman? You forget, I’ve seen every side to you. I know exactly who you are. And just how ungentlemanly you can be.”

  Taylor reached for her hip and pulled her along the couch before easing down on top of her. He lowered his mouth to hers, humming when she slipped her arms around his neck. His lips were gentle at first, his tongue sliding against hers and sparking a surge of goose bumps to break out across her flesh.

  He tightened his grip and tugged her hips closer, rolling his own and making it clear where he intended the connection to go. Libby sighed into his mouth, letting the strands of his thick hair flick through her fingers. She could stay with him like this forever.

  She felt safe with him. Safe in his arms.

  “Are you okay with this?” he whispered against her lips, pressing his forehead against hers.

  “Earlier, when you said it wouldn’t be a problem if I was pregnant . . . I told you, I can’t have any more children. I found out while I was pregnant with Levi that my fallopian tubes are twisted and full of scar tissue. They said it was a miracle I’d gotten pregnant at all.” Her heart hurt. “And you’re not here to stay, Taylor. So it would be a bad thing. A very bad thing.”

  He shook his head, shifting himself until he was sitting again. He ran his fingers through his hair and scowled. “Don’t go getting carried away. I was only sticking up for you. My brother was being an asshole, and I wanted to show him I’d changed. Lib, I know having a kid wouldn’t be right for us. I’m far from stupid.”

  “I never said you were.” Libby sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. “It’s just that you’re the first person I’ve been with since him, the only person I’ve trusted with the truth, and eventually you’re going to leave me.” She lowered her voice until it was barely audible. “You’re going to break my heart.”

  “Ah fuck,” he groaned. “I never set out to do that. I don’t want to do that.” He reached out to touch her but pulled his hand back.

  She sighed. This was never going to end well. Her few months of fun were about to turn to shit. On reflection, she couldn’t even recall the moment she’d decided doing this thing with Taylor was a good idea. Sure, the attraction had been there from the start, but she could have said no and carried on with her life. She’d have saved herself the pain when it came time for Taylor to return to Sea Pointe.

  “Whether you intended it or not, the outcome is still the same. You’re going home in two months. You’re clean, and everything you had before will be waiting for you. You’re leaving with much more than you came with, but me? I’m left with a broken heart and a son whose best friend will be living miles away and who he’ll probably never speak to again. Added to that is the knowledge that I allowed all of it.” Her breath hitched. “I let you in and gave you permission to hurt us.”

  “Jesus, Lib, you can’t control every fucking aspect of your life. You can’t tell yourself you won’t have feelings for another person just because they might leave. You’re foolish to think you can lock yourself away forever.”

  “And you’re foolish for thinking you can come here to hide. When you get back to Sea Pointe, your problems with your father and brother will still be there. And so will your drug dealer.” The words tasted like acid on her tongue.

  “Don’t turn this on me!” He stood up and began pacing the floor.

  “Can you not raise your voice? My son is asleep.” Libby closed her eyes, tears prickling against her lids. “Actually, I think you should leave. This isn’t doing either of us any good. You think I’m a coward, and if I’m truthful, I think you are, too.”

  Libby stood to escort him from her cottage, but Taylor didn’t move. Instead, he stared at her and folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not a coward, Blue.”

  “Just leave.”

  “Nope.”

  Swallowing, she battled back the tears. “Please. I can’t do this. Too much hurts right now. I have so much swirling through my head that my temples are throbbing. I know you’re helping me, and I am thankful for that. I’m just backed into a corner, and I wish I didn’t feel the way I do.”

  His brow creased and he let his arms drop to his sides. “What are you saying? You feel something. For me?”

  Libby lowered her head, letting her hair shield her face from him.

  “Don’t you think I deserve to know?”

  Her composure snapped and fury flared. “Why?” she asked. “Will it make everything better? Will it make you stay in Hunter’s Hollow?” She lowered her voice. “Will it make you stay with me?”

  They stared at one another, only the sound of their heavy breathing breaking the silence. The tension between them heightened, the crackling air causing a fluttering low in her belly. Her fingers itched to touch him, but she stayed on the spot, glaring at him.

  Taylor took one step forward, raising a brow as he silently baited her. Libby shook her head and took a step back to keep the space between them. It didn’t stop her skin heating, or the rapid speed of her heart. She had no idea when or how it happened, but she was falling for him, hard and fast.

  He removed the space between them, cupped her face in his hands, and crushed his lips to hers. Her gasp of surprise was captured in his mouth as he devoured her. Libby clutched at the front of his T-shirt, whimpering when Taylor’s tongue slipped against hers.

  He grunted, shuffling them backward until he pressed her against the wall. Continuing the kiss, he lifted her leg and hooked it around his thigh. The closeness made his intentions clear, his hard length straining against his jeans. Rolling her hips against him, she buried the voice that told her to stop. They’d so
lved nothing, and tomorrow they’d be in the same place—one day closer to his leaving.

  Her soft whimper morphed into a whine of desperation when Taylor hitched her thigh higher and shifted his lips to her neck. As his teeth nibbled down her throat, he undid the buttons of her shirt one by one, increasing her lust as each sprang free.

  “Tell me this is okay.” He kissed the crook of her neck, then licked it. “I need to know this is real—that it isn’t just me.”

  Her throat closed with emotion, because she could hear the anguish in his tone.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, it’s real.”

  Taylor kissed her lips once before dropping to his knees. He reached for the waistband of her jeans, undid the button, and lowered the zip. His gaze locked with hers in the low light as he pulled her jeans down her legs. She felt the urge to hide herself even though she wasn’t naked; Taylor hadn’t even taken her shirt off, and she still had her bra and panties on. Yet she felt utterly exposed. Taylor had crept past her protective walls, and she hadn’t even noticed. He’d conquered so many things since he’d arrived in Hunter’s Hollow, she just hadn’t known she’d had been one of them.

  “You’re the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” Taylor said, placing a kiss on her panty-covered sex.

  Libby giggled. “There is no way white cotton can be your thing. I bet you’ve ripped far frillier ones off a woman.”

  “The past doesn’t matter. You are who I want.”

  Her mind added the words right now, but when he hooked his thumbs into the sides of her panties and peeled them down her legs, she forgot her reservations. And when his mouth met her sex, she all but forgot her name.

  Taylor licked a slow line along her wet slit. Libby rocked, wanting his tongue to delve into her core. She needed the completeness she felt only with him, and she didn’t want to wait. She bucked her hips forward and received a deep chuckle from Taylor.

  “Demanding, huh?”

  “Please.”

  Parting her folds, he circled her throbbing clit with his thumb. Her thighs shook, and to gain better access, he moved her leg to rest over his shoulder. He licked, sucked, and toyed with her clit. He swirled his finger against her entrance, easing into her with a soft push. Libby found it difficult to contain her noises because Taylor’s assault on her senses was driving her crazy. Waves of lust lapped at her body as his tongue flicked against her slick flesh. Her whimpers turned to moans, and she grasped his dark hair in an attempt to ground herself. “Oh, yes, Taylor. Yes.”

  When he pressed his tongue flat against her swollen bud, she had no choice but to hold her bottom lip between her teeth to muffle her scream. She gasped when he withdrew his fingers from the sheath of her body, still panting as her orgasm subsided. Every inch of her body hummed with bliss. The stress of their earlier conversation faded into insignificance.

  Taylor looked up at her, a smile lighting up his face. Libby stroked his hair, feeling rather awkward with her leg still over his shoulder and his face so close to her groin.

  “I can’t get enough. You bring me to my knees.”

  She laughed and lowered her leg. “Literally.”

  Snickering, Taylor stood, kissed her, and removed the shirt and bra from her body. She licked her lips, aroused as she tasted herself, and when he pressed his still-clothed body against hers, she sighed. “You’re wearing far too much. You do realize I’m naked, right?”

  He smirked. “Sure do, babe, and the sight is fucking outstanding.”

  “You have a way with words.”

  “You know it. And you”—he tapped her nose—“can’t get enough.”

  “Seems that way, but I’m not telling you. Your head will only inflate further.”

  He brushed his lips against her temple. “You can tell me how you feel about us anytime you like.”

  Libby smoothed her hands down his neck and ran her thumbs along his jaw. “That’s a big step, Taylor, considering we were talking about your leaving before . . . before this.”

  “This isn’t finished.” He lowered his forehead to hers. “God, Blue, I wish I could promise you the world. I wish I could give it all to you—everything you deserve. You should have more than a junkie with daddy issues. More than a shell of a man who resents the world around him, who’s confused with how the hell to move his life forward without you.”

  “You’re not any of those men,” she said.

  “I am, but you choose to see the man who’s helping you.”

  “That’s the only man I know. That’s the man I want.” Libby kissed him hard and tugged his T-shirt up. They were getting nowhere with the conversation tonight. Maybe they would never get anywhere. So for once, she would live in the moment and take what Taylor could give.

  Chapter 18

  “Doesn’t it bother you when Kyran comes home bloody?” Libby asked Dale as she folded the laundry.

  Dale flicked her hair over her shoulder, before reaching for another clean top to fold. “It takes some getting used to but, in truth, Ky’s good at what he does. He doesn’t get hit too often.”

  Libby frowned, halting her movements. “And . . . and you knew this about him before you guys . . .”

  Dale grinned then nodded. “Yeah, I knew all about what he did for fun. I get that it’s strange to some people, but when you understand Ky, you understand why the boxing works for him. He needs the stress relief, that’s all.”

  “It’s a weird kind of relief—getting punched, I mean,” Libby said.

  “I understand why you’d think that. I suppose you’d have to see Ky before and after a fight, to see how it calms him.”

  Libby wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure I could stomach that.”

  Dale shrugged. “Dealing with Ky is no different than dealing with his brother.”

  Touching the base of her throat, Libby stared at Dale. “I’m not sure what you mean. Taylor’s a bit cocky, and when he arrived he was angry, but he hasn’t been too difficult.”

  Dale quirked her dark brow. “Really? But Taylor came here to . . . well, he . . .” Dale bit her lip, and Libby could tell she was unsure what she could talk about.

  “I know why Taylor was sent here. He had his bad times detoxing, but the man wasn’t a complete wreck. He dealt with most of it by working on the ranch, and I’m so proud of how much he’s changed. I’m amazed at the strength he has. He needed it all to get clean alone.” Libby pressed her lips together, knowing how snide she sounded. She didn’t care.

  “Wow,” Dale said quietly. “So he’s passed on his resentment to you.”

  Libby pulled the laundry basket closer to her and started to pair socks. “Taylor didn’t need to pass anything on. I watched him purge the cocaine from his system with my own two eyes. I saw him vomit and sweat, tried to make light of his nosebleeds, and winced right along with him when he had bad stomach cramps. His brother and father didn’t see any of that.”

  Dale frowned as she twisted the diamond ring on her finger. “How did he cope?”

  “He did okay. Sometimes he’d hide in his room. Other times he’d do something physical around the ranch. At first, he was mean—aggressive—but I saw through it. I see that malice for what it was now.”

  “He felt abandoned.”

  Libby nodded, then placed the folded clothes back into the basket and lifted it onto the table. “He knows he was out of control, but I think a part of him hoped you’d all care enough to check on him.”

  “Kyran called him. He paid off his debts. He does care about Taylor. He’s even organized some therapy Taylor can do over the phone or Skype. It’s a start.”

  “You’re telling the wrong person, I’m afraid.”

  An awkward silence filled the kitchen. Libby wasn’t in a rush to end it. She wanted to fight in Taylor’s corner, but she couldn’t overstep the mark, as they could be her one way to safety from Chase.

  She could feel Dale watching her as she got up to grab flour and eggs from the pantry. As she pulled the mixing bowl from t
he shelf, Dale cleared her throat.

  “Are you baking?”

  “I promised Levi a birthday cake. He’s had a homemade one every year, and what better time to bake it than while he’s out riding his new bike?”

  Dale laughed. “I’ve never seen a kid so excited. He really loved his present. I wish we’d known it was his birthday. Ky and I would have bought him a gift.”

  “You didn’t need to do that.” Libby weighed out the flour. “You don’t know us. Besides, you’re doing enough. Levi is more than happy with his bike.”

  Dale pushed back her chair and walked across the kitchen to stand beside Libby. Their shoulders bumped together as Dale began to sieve the flour into the mixing bowl.

  Libby paused and wrung her hands. “Can I ask you about Tori?”

  Dale’s shocked gaze met Libby’s. “What about her?”

  “Well, um, did she hurt him badly? I mean, was she the reason he started doing cocaine?”

  Dale blew her hair out of her face and began adding the milk to the dry mixture. “I wasn’t around when Tori was. Maybe you should ask Taylor. I’ve seen the way he is with you. He’ll tell you.”

  Libby nodded. “So she was the reason, huh?”

  Dale shrugged. “Taylor wouldn’t like us talking about him behind his back. Ask him. It’s his story to tell.”

  “Whose story? What?”

  Both women froze as Taylor stepped into the kitchen. Libby’s heartbeat sped up.

  “Kyran’s,” Dale said. “About his boxing. Libby is sort of repulsed by the idea, but she wondered why he started.”

  Taylor’s bare feet padded across the floor, and dirty, worn jeans hung low on his hips. He clutched his T-shirt in his hands, hiding some of his muscled torso. Libby’s mouth grew dry as her gaze raked over his body.

  “You okay there, Blue?” Taylor asked, raising his brow as he smiled. The man knew exactly what her issue was.