Chapter Twenty
Faye
Neither of us feels like going back to the house yet, so we grab some takeout and head to Ky’s lake. It’s not quite evening yet, and there are a few families and couples milling about. Ky spreads a blanket on the ground in front of his favorite tree, and we sit cross-legged with our backs against the tree trunk as we eat.
After, I settle between his legs with my back against his chest. His strong arms wrap around my waist, and I link our fingers together. We stare out at the placid lake, swathed in the second blanket Ky brought from the car, and I figure this is as close to heaven on earth as it gets. I could quite happily stay here like this forever. I sigh contentedly as he plays with my hair, planting delicate kisses along my face and in that tickly place just behind my ear.
Gradually, the other people disperse until we are alone. Day is transforming to night, and slashes of red, orange, and yellow are fading in the purple-blue evening sky. “It’s so beautiful here. So peaceful,” I say. “It reminds me a little of home. Dad was big into nature, and it wasn’t uncommon for us to trek for miles through forests and up mountains during his weekends off.” I stare off into the distance as memories flood my mind. “One of his favorite places to visit was Blessington Lakes. It wasn’t too far of a drive from our house. It has tons of walks and trails, and the views from the lakes are spectacular. He would’ve loved it here.”
“Do you think, if your parents hadn’t died, would we have ever met?” He caresses my cheeks with his fingers.
I turn around in his arms so I can see him. “I’d like to believe we would have,” I reply with conviction, smiling.
“Because this feels like fate?”
“Yeah.” My smile magnifies.
“What?”
“You’re really quite the romantic.” I kiss his cheek.
“I have my moments. Just don’t tell anyone.” Smirking, he leans in and kisses me, slowly and sweetly, and my arms curl around his neck.
“I love you, Kyler Kennedy.” I pull back, staring into his eyes. “So, so much.”
“I love you, too, and I want a future with you, Faye. If I haven’t been clear about that before, I want to make sure there is no confusion now.” He palms my face. “We’re a team. Wherever you go, I go, and if that means we move to Ireland so you can go to Trinity like you planned, then that’s what we’ll do.”
I sit up straighter, still hanging onto him. “You would do that for me?”
He tweaks my nose. “Yes! I don’t really care where we go to college once we’re together.”
“What about your plans? Where do you want to go?”
His eyes wander, and he stares off into empty air. “It’s always been assumed that we’d go to Harvard. That’s where Mom went, and her father before, dating all the way back to her great-great-grandfather.”
“You don’t want to go there?”
He shakes his head. “That’s not it. I kinda thought I’d be on the pro circuit. College didn’t really factor in my plans.”
“And now?” I run my fingers through his silky hair.
“Now I’m not sure whether I want that anymore.”
“Because of your father?” I say, remembering his previous comments on the subject.
He kisses my forehead. “Yeah. It’s all become interconnected, and not in a good way.”
“You might feel differently in time.”
He shrugs. “Maybe.”
I kneel in front of him, taking his hands in mine. “Can I say something and you promise you won’t get mad?”
He pauses before replying. “I’ll try.”
“I think you should see a therapist and sooner rather than later. You can’t make life-altering decisions regarding your future until you’ve dealt with the ghosts of the past. I did some research, and I found a lady in Boston with great credentials. I think she could help you, and no one else would have to know. I could go with you and”—I place my finger on his lips as he opens his mouth to speak—“this isn’t me telling you what to do. This is me letting you know you have options, ways of dealing with everything going through your head, that you aren’t alone in it, and I’ll support you whatever you decide.” I draw a lengthy breath, dipping down to kiss his cheek. “Okay, shutting up now.”
He leans his head back against the tree, pulling me in close to his chest. His hands run up and down my arms, heating me on contact. “I’m grateful for your help, and this isn’t me saying no, just that I need time for stuff to sink in.”
“I get that. Honestly, I do.” I rub my hand over his chest.
“I couldn’t have gotten through this last week without you, and your support means so much. Thank you. I can’t believe I ever thought I could push you away, leave you behind.”
“That was idiotic, all right,” I joke.
He starts tickling me, and I scream, wriggling around in his lap. Without warning, I’m flat on my back, and he’s hovering over me. “You really shouldn’t have started something you can’t finish.” His teasing eyes are inflamed.
“Who said I have any intention of not finishing?” I smooth my hand over the growing tent situation in his jeans, and the ache down below multiplies tenfold. I pop the button on his jeans and slip my hand into his boxers. He’s rock hard, and I love how much I turn him on.
“Faye, stop. We can’t.” With a tortured expression, he removes my hand from his boxers.
I pout, reaching for him again. “Why not?” I look around, and the place is desolate. “There’s no one here, and no one is likely to arrive at this late hour.” I push up and straddle him, forcing him flat on his back. Planting my hands on his chest, I stare earnestly into his eyes. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned these last few months, it’s that you don’t know what’s around the corner. What new curveball is waiting in the wings. Life is for living, Ky. For taking risks. For following your heart. For throwing caution to the wind. Hell, I could throw out a hundred other clichés, but they all mean the same.” I run my thumb along his lower lip. “I don’t want to have any regrets. My parents are dead. I almost died. There isn’t much else I’m afraid of, except something happening to you.”
“I don’t want you to worry about me.” He places his hands over mine. “It’s my job to worry about you.”
I grin at him, slowly rubbing against his arousal. “That’s sweet, but unnecessary. Worry and regret and risk, they are all strong emotions, but I’m done expending so much energy on them. Life is for living. I never really got that before, but I do now. Life is too precious to waste a single second worrying about something that may or may not happen, or being too afraid to take a risk. I’m not saying I’m going to be stupid about it, or that me almost dying is something I’m even close to getting over, or that I don’t miss my parents, but they would want me to be happy, to move on in my life, to be the person they raised me to be.” I pause momentarily, wetting my lips.
“So, I’m going to make decisions that I feel are right for me and own them. I’m going to get to know my birth father, and if he’s someone I need in my life, then he’ll be in my life.” I lean down and kiss him. “I’m staying here and going to Harvard with you or I’ll go to Harvard and follow you around the circuit in my free time.” He opens his mouth to speak, but I shake my head. “I’m not done.”
He swats my ass, and I laugh.
“Being with you is the most normal I’ve felt in a long time. I don’t care what anyone says. That we’re too young, or it’s still gross because we’re related by marriage, that we don’t know our own minds, blah, blah, blah.” I pull up the edge of his sweater, palming the sculpted contours of his ripped stomach. “I know what I want and it’s you. Everything else will get figured out along the way. So, mister”—I lean down again, planting a needy, hard kiss on his mouth—“if I want to do you out here in the open, I’m going to do it, and I don’t care if s
omeone catches us. Fuck being sensible. Fuck following rules or acceptable social norms. Just, just … fuck it.”
He has me pinned on my back in record time, his mouth crashing against mine as we frantically devour one another. “Awesome speech,” he murmurs, pushing my sweater up and planting his hot mouth against my equally hot skin. “Very motivational.” His hand creeps into my knickers, and he dips two fingers inside me.
I moan, sliding his jeans and boxers down his legs as his fingers pump frantically inside me. I wrap my hand around him as he whips my jeans off in one smooth move. My knickers follow and then he’s rolling on a condom and he’s inside me, thrusting hard in one stretching motion as I beg for more. My legs suction around his waist, and I rock my hips up, grabbing his ass and pulling him in closer. Our tongues are tangling violently, and I’ve never felt such overwhelming all-consuming need before. He’s giving me everything, and still I want more.
He stands up, our bodies joined together, and presses me against the tree so he can thrust deeper. I moan and scream as he pounds into me, sucking on his neck and digging my nails into his back. It’s raw and rough and needy and I’m loving it. I don’t even feel the sting as my back chafes against the bark. There is only toe-curling bliss as Ky rocks my world. We jump off the cliff together, exploding in a fireball of heavenly pleasure.
“You okay?” he asks, when he finally has his breathing under control.
“Never been better,” I rasp. “That was hot.” I grin manically.
“That was fucking incredible. Jeez, baby.” He kisses me passionately. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.”
“Good.” I extract my aching legs from around his waist, and he helps steady me. “I don’t want you to get enough of me.”
It’s completely dark by the time we arrive back at the house. “What the hell?” Ky exclaims, and I follow his line of sight. Courtney is pounding on the front door with a thunderous expression on her face.
“Damn, this can’t be good.”
Ky brings the car to a halt and hops out just as the door opens and James appears.
I follow him, both of us hanging back a little.
“You can’t shut me out!” Courtney shrieks at the top of her lungs. “I won’t let you.”
She beats on James’s chest, and he reaches out to grasp her wrists. “We’re over, Court. I will never be with you again, so please just accept that and back off, move on. You got what you wanted, so let the rest go.”
“No!” She wrestles against his grip. “Let go of me!” James releases his hold on her. She prods a bony finger in his chest. “You’re a part of this, and I won’t be happy until I have it all.” She stabs him in the chest with the tip of her long, sharp nail. “You. Belong. To. Me.”
He bats her hand away. “I don’t belong to anyone, least of all you. Consider yourself lucky, Courtney, and cut your losses.”
She laughs, shifting slightly on her feet. “You think you get to call the shots? I’m in control here, babe, or have you forgotten?”
Panic flares in James’s gaze, and his eyes dart briefly to where Ky and I are standing. Courtney notices, swinging her gaze around to us. “Well, well. Look who it is.” She smirks, her gaze roaming my jeans and sweater combo in blatant disgust. “Like father, like son, I see.” Her eyes pierce Ky. “You are making all the wrong choices too, Kyler. It clearly runs in your DNA.” Evidently, she hasn’t been reading the news lately. Throwing back her head, she laughs hysterically. “Gosh, the irony!” She sniggers but none of us are in on the joke.
“It’s time for you to leave, Courtney. I’d prefer you to show yourself out, but I’m happy to call the station and organize a police escort for you.” James folds his arms unsympathetically.
She shakes her head. “What the hell has gotten into you? You’re not even with her anymore and you’re pushing me away?” She closes the gap between them, running her fingers up and down James’s folded arms. “We’re good together and you know it. You are letting her cloud your judgment, as usual.”
James’s eyes narrow to slits as he removes her hands. “Whether I am with Alex or not makes no difference. There is no us anymore, Court. Deal with it and move on. Now, leave and don’t come back, or I’ll have you forcibly removed.”
“Don’t threaten me, James.” Her voice has turned to ice. “There will be consequences. I’ll release it. I’ll tell the world and laugh as everything you hold dear crumbles underneath you. Don’t test me. I’m warning you.”
James grabs her by the arm, hauling her toward her sporty blue car. “You’re hurting me!” Courtney screams. “Stop it!” She wrangles her arm free, stumbling and almost losing her balance. “You’ll be sorry you did that, James. I’m going to call my publicist right now.” She sends him the evil eye, and I half-expect an eerie cackling sound to reverberate across the rolling nighttime sky.
He puts his face in hers, calm anger etched across his features. “No, you won’t. Because if you do, then you’ll lose everything, too. Now get your skanky ass off my property, and don’t come back.” He bumps her into the driver seat, slamming the door shut.
Courtney glares at him, before narrowing her eyes. “You were a lousy lay, anyway. It won’t take me long to land a new conquest.” She turns lust-filled eyes on Kyler. “Anytime you want to sample a real woman, give me a call, sugar.” She blows him a kiss, laughing wildly as she cranks the engine and the car jerks forward down the drive.
James scrunches handfuls of his hair, watching until she is out of sight. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that, but she’s not going to be a problem anymore. I’ll make sure of it.”
“What was she talking about?” Ky asks. “What did she mean she has all the control?”
James slaps Ky on the back. “She’s delusional. Honestly, I think she needs psychiatric help, but she’s not my problem any longer.” He musses up my hair playfully, smiling as if the showdown with his ex-mistress hasn’t just occurred. “Come on, let’s head inside. Ky’s got school tomorrow, and I want you up as usual, studying from home. Being suspended is no excuse for falling behind.”
Ky and I exchange wary glances as we walk into the house.
Yeah, he’s buying that deflection about as much as I am.
Chapter Twenty-One
Faye
“She’s never going to leave us alone, is she?” Alex asks from the top of the stairs, and we all look up. Dressed in lacy silk pajamas, she’s holding a glass of red wine in her left hand.
“She got what she wanted.” James is sullen and avoids looking Alex directly in the eye.
“I know you’re still pissed with me,” Alex says, setting her glass down and descending the stairs. “But we need to work as a team if we’re to defeat her once and for all.”
Ky frowns, exchanging another loaded look with me. I wish they’d tell us what’s going on with Courtney, and why she seems to have dug her claws in so profoundly. She is obviously holding something over them, but what?
“Pissed?” James glares at his wife. “Pissed doesn’t even being to describe how much I despise you,” he snaps. “Courtney is dealt with. Move on, Alex.” He strides down the corridor toward the guest room he’s been staying in, leaving us standing awkwardly in the lobby.
“Kyler,” Alex says, gulping. “Could we talk, please?”
Ky crosses his arms, scowling at his mother. “I have nothing to say to you.” Taking my hand, he moves toward the corridor, but Alex steps in front of him.
“You can’t avoid me forever. Hate me forever.”
“Wanna bet?”
“I’m sorry, son! I’m so sorry. Please, please forgive me.”
“I told you I need space, Mom, so please back off and give me some.”
The air is laced with tension, and Alex looks on the verge of tears.
“Okay,” she says after a bit, placing her arm on mine.
“Faye, could I have a word, please?” Her smile is sad.
Ky looks at me with a perplexed expression, and I hate feeling like piggy in the middle. “It’s fine.” I kiss him briefly. “I’ll be down shortly.”
We walk up the stairs and into her suite. Alex gestures for me to sit on the chaise, and I plop down onto it.
“I want to ask for your help again with Courtney,” she says, getting straight to the heart of the matter.
“But James just said—”
“I know what he said, but he’s wrong. Courtney will not back down until she gets everything she wants,” she cuts in, pacing the floor in front of me.
“And what else does she want?”
“Him, among other stuff.”
I twirl a lock of hair around my finger. “I don’t understand, Alex. Why are you bowing to her? Giving her such a powerful promotion and allowing her to get away with this, whatever this is?”
She drops down beside me, taking my hands in hers. “I’d like to be completely upfront with you, but it’s better if you don’t know. Courtney has something on us, something that could ruin us, and she’s resorted to blackmail. That’s all I’m at liberty to say.”
“Is she really going to become VP?”
Alex sighs, and her lips turn down. “I still have one week until the promotion is official, and I’m working a few angles.” She looks down at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. “I want to avoid it, but it involves taking huge risks, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to go there yet.” She gulps, staring absently at the wall with an anguished look on her face.
“Why is she doing it?”
She shrugs. “Why does anyone resort to blackmail and fraud? Money, power, and control. I don’t know much about Courtney’s background, but she didn’t come from money. Oftentimes, those who grew up without wealth think it’s the solution to everything. Little do they know, it causes worse problems.”
Keeping Kyler (The Kennedy Boys Book 3) Page 18