Beneath Your Beauty

by Alexa Keith

  I whispered clearly, “There he is.” Then, I pointed a finger in the direction of the dance floor.

  Josie gasped and asked in amazement, “Holy shit, that’s your boyfriend?”

  “Yes,” I said proudly as I watched my gorgeous man dance with my aunt.

  The enormous smile on Aunt Sally’s face had me smiling just as huge. The crowd of people clapped the minute Steele picked up Aunt Sally under the arms and swung her in a circle. She threw her head back, laughing, while Steele presented his panty-dropping white-teeth smile.

  “Wow…where did you find him?” Josie breathed next to me, her eyes fixated on my man.

  I disregarded her question and watched the show.

  The song ended and ran right into “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” and Steele snatched my mom’s hand as she stood on the edge of the dance floor. He was careful not to swing her around because of her ankle. My smile brightened when Mom giggled, grinned, and danced with the only man I ever loved.

  All the tension ran from my body. Seeing him with my boys earlier and with my aunt and mom now, I knew we could get through anything together. I stayed where I was, watching the spectacle Steele and Mom were putting on.

  Josie’s friends circled around us, and she informed them that the hot-ass guy on the dance floor was my boyfriend. I vaguely heard the gasps. I was too engrossed in watching my man to care about what they thought. When the song ended, Steele kissed my mom and held up his hands. He jogged to the DJ and talked in his ear. Everyone still held their place in the now huge circle around the floor.

  “I have a request, ladies and gentlemen,” the DJ said over the speakers with a smile. The loud chatting in the backyard turned to quieted voices, and then the DJ said, “Princess, this one’s for you.”

  A shudder of anxiety ran over my body.

  Steele stood in the middle of the dance floor, and his eyes came directly to me. It was as if he’d sensed where I was. He crooked his finger, and all eyes came to me. A blush came over my face, and my body felt like lead.

  Josie ripped my cup from my hand. “Go.” She pushed me.

  I started on numb, heavy legs down the stairs. The hooting, claps, and hollers began.

  I hit the grass, and whistling started over the speakers. Then, “It Girl” began to fill the night air. I smiled when Steele started bouncing his shoulders to the beat of the music, a devious grin playing on his face, while crooking his finger at me. When I hit the edge of the dance floor, his hand came out and snatched mine. He pulled me flush against him and began to rotate his hips. He put a hand at the very low part of my back, his fingers splayed on my ass. His other hand came up and cupped the back of my neck.

  Steele’s voice was low and deep as he sang the words in my ear, only for me to hear. At first, the intimacy of our dancing made me focus on the group surrounding us. Our bodies were tightly fused together from torso to hips. His hot breath was in my ear. His voice sang to me, rumbling through my body and leaving sparks to ignite in places. That’s when, I melted into him, letting everything around me fade. He kissed right below my ear, and I was lost in him.

  I pulled back and welded my lips to his. He opened and deepened the kiss. It wasn’t until the catcalls that I was brought back. Breathing heavily, we pulled apart from each other.

  “I love you, my, it girl.” Steele looked deep into my eyes.

  I stared into his smiling blue ones and whispered, “I love you.”

  He grinned big.

  After Steele’s time in the limelight, the cake was brought out. We sang, “Happy Birthday,” and Aunt Sally blew out the candles on her three-tiered hot-pink cake. I danced with the boys—well, mostly Dalton. Jeff wasn’t a big dancer, but between Dalton, Steele, and me, we got Jeff out there a few times. We all danced, ate, and had a good time. Oh, and we drank a lot. I caught the boys at the bar one too many times. Steele told me I needed to chill. That bought him a ton of points from the boys. We all threw each other knowing glances from time to time, but nothing was said.

  I was sitting on Steele’s lap as he was talking to Josie and her friends. They weren’t really listening to him, but it was more like gawking at him. They were hanging on his every word and asking him questions. I was getting ready to end the stupid conversation about how hot the girls thought motorcycles were when I eyed Bull and Mom on the dance floor.

  Night had fallen, and white lights were hanging from the trees. Tiki torches lined the yard, and red lights glowed on the dance floor. My mom and Bull slowly swayed in one another’s arms to “At Last.” My breath hitched, and a numbing sensation poured down through my body.

  “What’s wrong?” Steele quietly asked.

  I didn’t think my reaction was obvious, but then again, I was beginning to realize that Steele was in tune with my emotions. I couldn’t speak, so Steele followed my gaze.

  “Looks like she’s having fun,” Steele said.

  Bull whispered in my mom’s ear, and she laughed. That was when the tingly burn of threatening tears hit the back of my throat. I swallowed them down.

  While keeping my eyes glued to them, I quietly said, “That’s my Mom and Dad’s wedding song.”

  “Does that bother you?”

  I looked at Steele when I answered, “I don’t know.”

  He smiled at me and looked back over to them. “Doesn’t look like it’s bothering her.”

  He was right. My mom looked like she was floating on a cloud. She had never looked happier since my dad passed than she did at this moment. So, I held my emotions in and watched them.

  Bull pulled his phone out from his pocket and viewed the screen. He kissed my mom on the cheek and brought her over to a table. He scanned the area, and his eyes found mine. Bull’s thick long legs ate up the distance in a flash. Steele lifted me off his lap and placed me on my feet. He rose and put an arm around me. It wasn’t until he folded me to his side and squeezed that I felt the air change. As Bull got closer, I could see the look of panic all over his face.

  “What’s going on?” Steele asked harshly.

  Bull rubbed his forehead, blew out a heavy breath, and leaned into us. Then, he told us quietly, “Marco’s dead.”

  Steele

  I felt her slip from my arms and rise from the bed. Keeping my eyes closed, I listened to her bare feet pad across the floor. The door shut quietly, and I opened my eyes. I flipped to my back and stared at the ceiling. I was giving her fifteen minutes of alone time, and then I would go after her.

  Once Bull had stated that Marco was dead, we’d headed to the front of the house. We’d sat on the porch, and he’d told us what happened. Apparently, Marco had a heart attack while in bed with one of his mistresses. All I cared about was whether we still had to fuckin’ pay. That was when Bull had told us the story. He’d said the only reason Marco had come after Kayden was because he was furious about losing Mary. He was in love with her, and the last time he’d seen her, she had promised to be with him. Then, she overdosed. So, he had been taking out years and years of frustration of losing Mary on Kayden. Therefore, the debt we had owed died along with Marco.

  Bull had flown back to take care of business. He told us to call as soon as we got back, so we could get together.

  He’d also exchanged phone numbers with Lisa.

  Now that just left the tension of finding out about Dalton and me. After, I had given this much thought. I had come to the realization, I was not too fuckin’ happy about it. Would I do right by it? Of fuckin’ course. But when I pictured the mother of my children, I saw Kayden. Even if I were his father, I could still have those firsts with Kayden. After all, Dalton is eighteen.

  My phone buzzed on the table. I reached for it and saw a new email. My heart started to beat faster as my fingers worked quickly to open it. When my lawyer’s name appeared and the subject line said, Contract, my heart slowed down. Every fuckin’ time my email went off, I just about had a goddamn heart attack. I didn’t even read it. I wasn’t in the mood to.

  Turning
to my side, I watched the dawn of the day glow through the window. My phone buzzed again, and I thought, Doesn’t anyone fuckin’ sleep anymore?

  Reaching out for it, I groaned, and opened my emails again. I had expected to see another message from my lawyer. So, when the sender’s name said, County Hospital, my body went numb. I slowly read the subject line four times, DNA Results. With none of my limbs willing to work, I stared at it. I knew I should go run and find Kayden, but I didn’t.

  I tapped the screen and opened the email.

  I threw the covers back, slipped into my shorts, and headed for the door. Taking the steps three at a time, I landed at the bottom and looked around. I wanted to scream out to Kayden, but I didn’t want to wake anyone. My heart was pounding so fast that it caused pain in my chest. As my breaths came quicker and quicker, I searched the living room and then the kitchen. Looking out the sliding glass doors, I saw Kayden down at the dock.

  I slid the door open with force, causing it to bang and bounce on the track. Jogging down the steps and then across the lawn, I stopped at the pier, my heavy breaths echoed in my ears. Kayden was standing and watching me. I held my phone up, and she put her hands to her mouth. We stood there for a few beats, staring at one another.

  Then, I shook my head.

  Her eyes went wide, and her hands fell from her mouth. She asked hesitantly, “No?”

  “No,” I replied, shaking my head.

  I didn’t know who started moving first, but we met in the middle of the pier. When I was within arm’s reach of her, I grabbed her and wrapped my arms around her.

  She let out a gasping sob. “Thank God,” she said before breaking down and crying.

  I held her tight and agreed, “Thank fuckin’ God.”

  We hadn’t needed to say it before. We had seen it in each other’s eyes. Neither Kayden nor I would have been happy if the test came back positive. It would have changed all of us.

  Now that we knew I wasn’t Dalton’s father, we could finally breathe and start our lives together.

  Kayden

  I sat in the small coffee shop at the airport. My eyes watched Dalton as he devoured his bagel.

  “You sure you’re okay?” I asked again for the millionth time.

  Jeff took his eyes from his phone and looked to Dalton. We both waited as Dalton wiped cream cheese from the corner of his mouth.

  “Yes.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Like I said earlier, yes, Mom, I’m okay.”

  “Dude, you have to feel something?” Jeff probed.

  He must have been reading my mind because I had been thinking the same thing all morning.

  Once Steele and I had gotten ourselves together, we had gone inside and up to the boys’ room. We’d woken them up and read them the results. Jeff had been the first to let out a sigh of relief.

  Dalton had stayed quiet for a minute and then said, “Good.”

  That had been it.

  I’d followed him around the house all morning as he was packing and getting ready to leave. I’d kept asking if he was okay, and all he would say was yes.

  “God, you two are a pain in my ass,” Dalton muttered through a bite.

  Jeff and I sipped our coffees at the same time while watching Dalton.

  He dropped his bagel onto the brown wrapper, wiped his mouth, and looked at us. “Okay. Honestly?”

  I quickly answered, “Yes, that’s all I’m asking for.”

  Dalton took a deep breath as he leaned back in his chair “I’m fucking thrilled.”

  “Language,” I snapped at him.

  Dalton rolled his eyes with a small smile. “You’ve been my mom and my dad. I don’t need another. At this point in my life, I don’t give a shi—crap who my dad is.”

  “Me either,” Jeff added.

  I looked to Jeff, and he was nodding his head at me.

  “I just wanna finish school, find a girl, and do things the right way,” Dalton said.

  Jeff kept nodding his head, agreeing with everything Dalton was saying.

  “I just worry about you,” Dalton said, eyeing me.

  I waved my hand at them. “I’m fine.”

  Jeff searched, “Are you, Mom?”

  I tilted my head to the side and looked up to the ceiling, examining my feelings. “Yeah, I am,” I answered with a whisper and a smile.

  After fifteen minutes of promising the boys that I was fine and happy and that we would talk every night and see each other more, their flight was called.

  With tears in my eyes, I watched my boys walk down the corridor. I wasn’t crying because they were leaving. It was because they had turned out to be great men.

  I thought about what my life was going to bring. Of course, I couldn’t answer that question. No one knew for sure what ones future holds. You tried to be strong when you felt weak. You tried to hold your ground when you felt it rocking. You tried to say no, but the words wouldn’t fall from your lips. When your heart was in the game, it played for you. It played every position of your life. You could only hold on and take what it gave you.

  I did know one thing.

  I wouldn’t be alone. I was bone deep in love with Steele. And when you loved someone so deeply, it ruled you.

  I knew we still had things we needed to work on. I was sure it would not be easy, but life was never easy. In the end, I was glad I’d let my heart play the game.

  “Oh God, it’s so good to be home,” I said, standing in my kitchen. I inhaled the familiar scent of home, cinnamon and vanilla.

  Steele came up behind me. He circled his arms around my waist and put his chin on my shoulder. He whispered, “It sure is.”

  I placed my purse on the counter beside us. I positioned my arms over my head and folded them around his neck. He nibbled at my neck as his hands came up and cupped my breasts. He began to massage lightly, and every so often, he’d graze his thumbs over my nipples. On the third swipe, my knees started to shake, and the tingly rush I was becoming acquainted with flowed through my body. I moaned and arched my back, pushing into his hands.

  His hands left my breasts and went to the bottom of my shirt, and then it was gone. His hands came back, and he was pulling the cups of my bra down. He rolled each bare hard nipple between his thumb and index finger. I whimpered at the shock it sent straight to my core, and I gripped the counter for support.

  “I’m gonna bend you over this counter and fuck the shit out of you,” Steele rumbled in my ear.

  “Mmm…” I breathed out.

  Steele nibbled a path down my back while working the button and zipper of my jeans. He hunched behind me, took my sneakers off one at a time, and then my jeans and panties disappeared. His hands nudged my ankles.

  “Spread, baby,” he said in a husky deep whisper.

  I did as he said and held on tight to the edge of the counter. His hands smoothed up the backs of my legs while he laid kisses to my lower back and onto my cheeks. I pushed my backside out to him. He growled, grabbed my ass, and spread, and ran his tongue through my wet sex.

  “Ah…” I moaned, arching my back.

  His tongued worked at me while his hands roughly gripped my ass. I was certain that I was going to have bruises in the morning. Steele’s tongue dipped inside me, and an intense sizzling rush took over my body. My legs began to quiver as my orgasm built.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” he said with a smile evident in his voice.

  “Steele…” I whined.

  He bit my ass cheek, and I yelped from the sudden pain. That for sure was going to leave a mark. I looked over my shoulder at the sound of his belt. He grinned that sexy smile as he undid his pants. They fell to his thighs, and without warning, he drove into me. I clutched the counter so tight that my hands were throbbing.

  “Oh God…”

  He set a rhythm of hard, deep plunges, and I began pushing back into him, meeting his thrusts. His hands came to mine on the counter, and his heavy breathing caressed my neck.

  “God, I love you wrapped around my cock,�
� he grunted.

  I whimpered loudly at his admission because I loved it, too. The heat came back, roaring through my body. His one hand left mine and went between my legs. Circling my bundle of nerves with his finger, he pounded into me. The sound of skin slapping together, heavy breaths, and moaning filled the silent house.

  Steele groaned into my ear, “Come with me, baby.”

  He lightly pinched the sweet spot, and I fell over the edge with him following me.

  I had just emerged from the shower, leaving Steele behind to finish. Staring at myself in the mirror, I smiled and continued to dry my hair. The water shut off, the doors opened, and I turned. This beautiful man, my beautifully naked man, grinned at me. He toweled off, keeping his eyes glued to mine. Once he stepped from the shower, he came to me. He twisted us to face the mirror. Enclosing his arms around my naked body, we held gazes.

  “You still scared?” he whispered.

  I whispered back, “No.”

  “Me either.”

  I held his arms that were holding me, his blue eyes staring at my brown eyes.

  He squeezed and mouthed, I love you.

  I mimicked, I love you, back.

  Then, we smiled at each other.

  Seven Months Later

  Steele

  I tossed my phone onto the table. Hunter had just sent the lights, camera, and action text. Kayden was due home in six minutes and two seconds, if she didn’t hit any lights, or eight minutes and seven seconds, if she did. I knew this because I’d timed that shit fourteen times.

  I went out onto our incredible lanai. I scanned the area, ran my fingers through my hair, and let out a huffed breath.

  “Fuckin’ again,” I grumbled and walked to the other side of the pool.

  Carefully drawing the water toward me with the skimmer, I grabbed the floating candle. I put the skimmer aside and ignited it. Praying that it would stay lit, I let the candle drift away in the water. I counted eight floating white candles, one for every month we had been together. I glanced over the area. Small red lights lined the top of our enormous screened-in pool area. Candles lay on the tables, the bar, and even on the large pillars placed around the slate tile floor. The glow of red lights and white flickering flames complemented the red, pink, and white roses. A bottle of champagne sat in a bronze ice bucket, and two rose-colored glass flutes were next to it.