by Hayes, Piper
“I knew something was wrong,” Blake says. “Alex had always been outgoing, protective, funny, everything you could ask for in an older sister and friend, but she was becoming quiet and reserved. She wouldn’t talk to me about things.”
“I had decided I would put up with it long enough for Blake to get away to college. Then I would end things with Jacob, but even that wasn’t soon enough. One night, when Blake was supposed to be staying over a friend’s house, Jacob came over…”
“It’s okay, Alex, you don’t have to talk about this part,” Blake says. He leans over the bar and holds his sister’s hand.
“Jacob raped me,” she says. “He was drunk, and he forced himself on me when I didn’t want it, and I tried to fight back, and he beat me. He tried to force me into the bedroom and gave up at the top of the stairs. I can still see the stupid pink carpet soaking up my blood from when he punched me in the mouth.”
I feel like someone has punched me in the gut, like the world has tilted on its axis. “Oh my God,” I say. “I’m so sorry.” And I am sorry, sorry that it happened, and sorry that I’m forcing her to dredge up these painful memories because I won’t trust Blake.
“It’s okay,” Alex says. “Sometimes I think that if that night hadn’t happened, if Blake hadn’t forgotten a book and come back in the middle of it, I’d either still be with Jacob, or I’d be dead.”
“I had no idea. You don’t have to say another word,” I say. I turn to Blake. “That’s why you left?”
Alex snorts. “That was just the start. Jacob was forty at the time. He was in peak physical condition. I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop him. He also owned half of the town and had the police bought and paid for. He used to brag about it. I knew there was nothing I could do. Then, as Jacob was finishing up, Blake came home.”
“Oh no,” I say. “Blake killed him, didn’t he?” I feel the color drain from my face.
“No,” Blake says. “I should have, though.”
“Blake beat the hell out of him. I was trying to cover myself up, and I was shouting at him to stop, trying to tell him that he didn’t know what he was doing.”
“So you’re wanted for assault?” I ask. “That’s what all of this is about?”
“No,” Blake says. “There were no charges filed. We kept checking the newspaper online, waiting to see if anything came of it. It was reported two weeks later as a home invasion. Jacob claimed he was inspecting a rental property when he was assaulted by three armed men. He said two of the men wore masks, but he gave a detailed description of the third.”
“Let me guess, Blake.”
“Yeah. When Blake hit him, Jacob’s eyes lit up. I remember him saying he was going to kill Blake, that he was going to kill Blake and then he was going to kill me. He shouted it over and over again as Blake beat the hell out of him. He said he was going to throw Blake down the flight of stairs. Jacob still had his pants around his ankles. Instead of knocking Blake down the stairs, he tumbled and fell. I can still hear the sound his skull made when it smashed against the floor. We thought he was dead.”
“Blake was the one who grabbed me new clothes from the bedroom and packed a bag. By that point, Jacob was moaning at the bottom of the stairs. He had regained consciousness, and he was slurring something about Blake and jail and stabbing before he passed out again.”
“We left him there, lying on the floor. Blake wanted to bring me to the hospital, but I wouldn’t let him. I stole Jacob’s wallet and keys. He had twelve hundred dollars in cash in his car. We ditched the car in Atlanta and took the first bus we could get north. We spent a night at a hotel in DC. I remembered a friend who had moved to New York. I called him and told him we were in trouble. Two days later, we moved into the loft.”
“And now we’re here,” I say.
“And now we’re here,” Alex replies.
“Why not just say what happened?” I ask. “You wouldn’t have to hide anymore.”
“We’re not hiding,” Alex says. “We aren’t those people anymore. Blake was a kid, and I was too young to think anything through. It’s in the past, and it needs to stay there.”
“What happened to Jacob?”
“He never got over it,” Blake says. “From what I’ve learned, we’ve turned into an obsession of his. So far nothing’s come of it, but he’s still looking. I doubt he’d recognize me if he saw me on the street, but he’d probably recognize Alex. I’m not interested in finding out. I’m not coming forward about your father’s company, and I’m not putting anyone else in harm’s way.”
“At least let me talk to Ben,” I say. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“It doesn’t matter what I’ve done,” Blake replies.
There’s a loud knock on the door. “As fun as this trip down memory lane has been, let’s wrap this up,” Alex says. She pours herself a drink and downs it fast. She turns to Blake. “Should I worry?”
“No, everything is under control,” Blake says. “No one is coming after you.”
We sit there at the bar as a few people make their way in. Alex greets them with smiles and jokes. Just looking at her, I feel like the most selfish and stupid person alive. At my age, she started her life over and raised Blake. She had been through worse than I could ever imagine. And Blake, I think he’d rather die than betray his sister’s trust. That’s family, that’s love. I don’t know what I’d do for my family. I don’t know what they’d do for me.
“You with me, Cat?” Blake asks. “How about we grab a drink and disappear into a dark corner for a while.”
“Funny, I thought we already had disappeared into a dark corner, one called Brooklyn.”
“We have to make sacrifices for the people you care about, Cat,” he says. “I know you want to get back to Manhattan, but it’s not like we’re in Nebraska here. Just be strong. We’ll make it through this.”
He doesn’t know how right he is. I have to suck it up and be strong. I need to make sacrifices, even if Blake will hate me for it. I have to do what’s right. I have to go behind his back. It’s the only way to protect him.
I pull out my phone and start texting. Meet me at The Bird. Come alone. I press send, and I watch Blake pace back and forth across the room. I don’t want to hide anything from him, but it’s not like he’s telling me everything either. He doesn’t want my help. I know that. I set my phone to silent right before Ben’s reply comes in.
Just tell me when, and I’ll be there.
CHAPTER 6
BLAKE
It’s early in Brooklyn. The morning light filters in shafts through the dirty windows. Cat’s asleep, and she’s beautiful. Her chest rises and falls under the sheets in a slow rhythm. She’s smiling in her sleep. Just barely, but it’s impossible to miss. I hope she’s dreaming of me. Waking up next to her feels like a dream in itself. I hated every minute away from her, and now that we’re back together, I can’t imagine letting go again.
Everything in my life is moving so fast, but my feelings for Cat have moved fastest of all. I’ve fallen for her completely, and by now I’m sure I’d do anything for her. I watch the little smile on her face as she sleeps. She’s beautiful and she deserves more than I can give her. I want to tell her everything. I want to confess every secret, to turn over every stone in my past. I want her to know the real me, not just the person she thinks I am but the true me. I want those two things to be one and the same.
There’s a desire deep in my gut that glows like an ember, threatening to set fire to my entire being. I have to tell her the truth about my past. I have to tell her the truth about my plans for the future. There’s no other way to prove to her that she is my world. I just don’t know how to do it without crushing her, without bringing our whole relationship crashing to a halt.
I need time alone with her. Not holed-up-in-a-loft-in-Brooklyn alone. Truly alone, somewhere where we can forget about our problems for one day and live like normal people. I’d love to go for a walk or go out for dinner without worrying a
bout who might see us. I’d love to know I wasn’t putting her at risk by having her with me. A thought pops into my head. It’s perfect. I’ve been planning a trip for her birthday based on something she told me not long after we met. It’s exactly what I need, what we need. I slip out of bed.
I grab a burner phone off the counter and step out into the hallway. The call goes straight to voicemail. “Move the rental up to this week. Tell them double rate, cash.” I end the call and step back into the loft.
Five minutes later, I get a text. “Done. Key’s under the mat.” I crawl back into bed and wrap my arms around Cat. She’s so warm, and I love the way her body feels against me. I nuzzle against her neck and inhale. She smells like flowers and fresh rain, or cinnamon, I don’t know. What I do know is that I love the way she smells and the way she feels against me and the way she grumbles softly as she turns and kisses me on the cheek.
“What time is it?” she asks. She kisses me again before I can answer, long and soft. Her lips are warm, and she’s completely relaxed. The kiss is so good, it catches me off guard. I forget everything else and lose myself in her kiss. She slides her tongue against my lower lip and slides her hand against my hip, and that desire bursts to life inside me. I want her. I need her.
She’s beautiful and sweet and she doesn’t deserve to get dragged into my mess, but I can’t help myself. I can’t let her go.
“We’re going for a trip, just you and me, somewhere outside the city.”
“Is it the Hamptons?” she asks. “And how are we going to go for a trip when we have no way of getting out of the city?”
I laugh. “I guess we could take my car.”
“You have a car here? And you haven’t told me until now?”
“I only use it coming and going from the city. It’s registered to a friend. It’s not connected to me in any way. It’s nothing flashy, but it will get us where we’re going.”
“What kind of car?” she asks. “I don’t really see you driving a Kia.”
I smile. “A Porsche.”
“Not fancy?”
“It’s understated.”
She shakes her head, rolls out of bed and gets dressed. “You owe me breakfast on the road.”
“It’s a deal,” I tell her.
Half an hour later, we’re on our way out of the city. I avoid the main highway and take the Merritt Parkway through Connecticut. It runs parallel to 95 but has more twists and turns. We stop for breakfast somewhere outside Greenwich, stocking up before hitting the road again. Cat rests in the passenger seat, nodding off as I make my way through Southern New England. We pass Boston around lunchtime, and we stop just south of the New Hampshire border to stretch our legs. We walk around and for the first time in a while, I’m not worried about anyone noticing us.
When we start making our way up the coast of Maine, Cat realizes where we’re headed. “Did you somehow rent out my old summer house?” she asks.
“No, but it’s in the neighborhood,” I tell her.
“You’re crazy,” she says.
“It’s not the Hamptons,” I tell her, “but I thought you might like it.”
“It’s perfect,” she replies. “I’ve always meant to come back here, but I’ve just been too busy.”
We buy groceries in an oceanside town north of Portland. There’s a chill in the air when we get out of the car, and I let Cat pick the food. I pick the wine. She flirts with me every step of the way, laughing and holding my hand and making me feel like the luckiest man in the world. I ask her if there’s anything else she’d like to do before we head to the house. She whispers something in my ear that makes my heart race. I pay for the groceries and get back to the car as fast as possible. I speed the rest of the way.
When we reach the house, it’s late afternoon. The light is golden and heavy in the air. The house is hidden from the road by a small, wooded hill. The maples and the birches are alive with color. Their orange and yellow leaves line the driveway like a sheet. The house comes into view as we take the final turn in the driveway. It’s a cape with clean modern lines. It’s nothing compared to my place in Manhattan or Cat’s family’s place up the road, but it’s perfect for us.
“I’ll see you inside,” Cat says. She grabs a bottle of wine and runs ahead. I can hear the pea stone crunch underfoot as she makes her way to the door. I gather the groceries and our bags as I watch her disappear into the house. The lights flick on inside. I’ve never been to this house in my life, but knowing Cat’s inside makes it feel more like home than I’d ever have guessed.
When I reach the door, she’s waiting. She has two wine glasses in one hand and a wine bottle in the other. The top button of her dress is undone, and her eyes are wild with excitement. When I think back to her promise in the shop, I become excited, too. I toss our bags into the house, but she kisses my neck before I can put the groceries down. I know what she wants, and I’m already hard.
She moans as she kisses my neck. God, her lips are so soft and perfect. Then she kisses me on the lips. It’s a long, searing kiss. I feel like the heat between us could melt steel, and I want her more badly than ever. She rocks her hips against me and I feel the weight of her pelvis as she presses against my cock. I want to rip her dress off, pull down my pants and just have her there in the doorway, but Cat kneels down before me, places the wine and the glasses down and unzips my pants.
She has my cock in her hands before I realize what’s happening. She slides me into her mouth and takes me deep. Her lips and her tongue feel amazing and I swear under my breath as she plays with me.
“What was that?” she asks.
“I said you’re fucking incredible.”
She locks her eyes on me. She’s like a goddess, and I want her in every possible way.
“You don’t have to do that just for me,” I say. “I want you so badly.”
“I’m not doing this for you,” she says. “I’m doing this for me. I’ve been thinking about it all day since you kept it from me this morning.” She slips me back into her mouth while keeping her eyes locked on mine. I tense my body and try to hold back a grunt of pleasure.
I run my fingers through her hair. I tense my hips, my abs. I hear her moan in excitement as she pushes me deeper. “I need you now,” I tell her. I need to feel her skin against mine. I need to sink inside her, to feel her body race against mine. She rubs my cock as she stands up. Then she kisses me again, and we try to make it to the bedroom.
We make it to the living room. I kick off my pants and Cat kisses my neck again, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. I slide my hands underneath her dress and rub her bare thighs. I slide her underwear down over her knees and pull her dress up over her head. I want to dive into her. She’s only in her bra now, and she’s a vision. I kiss her chest and her stomach and slide my hands up and down her thighs as I kneel before her.
I’m so hard it hurts, but I want her to be just as excited. When I slide my tongue between her legs, she cries out in delight. Her cries fill the room. She tenses and shouts and tells me to lie down. I pull her down with me, tumbling to the floor in dizzy anticipation. When we’re settled, she’s on top of me, removing her bra as I pull her against me.
She kisses me as I rock my hips and sink inside her. Each motion of our bodies against each other is wonderful. We’re connected, moving as one. Our breaths overlap until they’re in sync. Our hearts and our mouths move in rhythm as we come closer and closer to climax. This isn’t just sex. This is connection, pure and thrilling and complete.
When she cries, I cry. When she moans, I moan. It’s as if I can feel exactly what she’s feeling. It’s incredible and overwhelming as we both race toward climax. I close my eyes and deepen my thrusts. Cat digs her fingers into my skin, locking her body against me. She shouts as we both drive over the edge into climax, and I feel a wave of satisfaction roll through my body.
She relaxes on top of me, pressing her chest against mine. Her cheek feels like it’s burning against mine. She’s the best
thing that’s ever happened to me, and I wish in this moment, as I feel so connected to her, that we could stay like this forever.
CHAPTER 7
CATHERINE
After dinner, I lean back on the couch as I watch Blake build a fire in the fireplace. I feel like I’m in a fairy tale. Between my pajama-pants-and-sweatshirt combo and Blake’s body heat, I don’t really need the fire for warmth, but it’s so damn pretty that I’m not going to object. The idea of drinking wine or eating dinner by the fire sounds pretty good too.
“Where’d you learn how to do that?” I ask. I let my gaze wander to the ocean view through the windows. There are islands in the distance, and I can see the lights starting to flicker on along the shore.
He waits until the fire is really going and turns his attention to me. “YouTube,” he says.
I smile back at him. I’m physically drained. Maybe drained is the wrong word. I feel warm and tired and happy. The wool blanket I’m currently cuddling under is scratchy but warm. Blake stands up and goes to the window. “I thought we could go for a walk along the beach in the morning.”
“I’d like that,” I say. This is all a fantasy. It’s more than anyone could ask for, and yet I do want more. I want this to be more than a moment. I want this to last. I wrap the blanket around me and find the bottle of wine, pouring two glasses before returning to the couch. By now the fire is roaring, and I can feel the heat against my face. “Do you think something like this could ever last?” I ask him.
“The wood should be good for a few hours,” he says. He takes a glass and wraps an arm around me as he sits down. He clinks his glass against mine and kisses my cheek. It’s hard to believe he’s the same cocky guy I met crashing a party.
He takes a sip and stares at the fire.