He finally removed his fingers. Kai dragged me out of the chair and threw me on the bed. Hovering above me, he asked, “You’re still angry?”
I nodded with a frown. “Why didn’t you call?” My lips touched his as I spoke.
He caressed my cheek. “We went swimming, and my phone fell into the river.”
I instantly felt like an ass. “Oh.”
He smiled and dropped a peck on my lips. “I’m getting a new one tomorrow, so I came to meet you because I missed you.”
“Good.” I threaded my fingers through his hair, bringing his head to mine for a kiss, and our lips met.
Getting to know each other …
Starting a dance …
Creating music.
The passion I felt on my lips coursed through my body like nectar. His mouth moved fiercely against mine, and my body sought proximity like it couldn’t get enough. I pulled his T-shirt at the same time his hands grabbed my ass and pulled me up to him. I sighed raggedly. Not wanting any gap between us, I wrapped my legs around his waist. Without breaking the kiss, his body moved.
Once.
Twice.
Heavens.
“Oh, God …” He swallowed my moan in his kiss. I felt his muscles tense, and a groan escaped him. He abruptly broke the kiss and rolled himself off the bed. At that moment, I felt like a magnet—my body wanted to submit to the attraction and launch myself at him again. But then I smiled knowing that we’d have gone further had he not stopped the kiss. And by further, I meant lots of moaning and noises that would land us in trouble with Daddy and Dad. But more importantly, we were keeping sex out of our relationship for another month because we didn’t want to rush anything. It would be the first time for both of us.
My fingers touched my lips as they continued to tingle, missing the taste of Kai. “I wrote something,” I told him after a long pause to catch my breath.
“A song?” he asked.
“Few lines ...” I placed my head on the edge of the bed so that our gazes were in line with each other.
“Sing it for me,” Kai whispered.
I shook my head. “I haven’t added music to it. I just have the words.”
He sighed. “Still, sing it for me. In whatever way you want.”
A stupid smile teased my lips, and I agreed. “Okay.” I cleared my throat, closed my eyes, and started to sing in a low voice.
You came like a silent storm,
With colored rainbows,
Screaming chaos
While Cupid shot arrows
Through two lonely hearts,
Making ’em one, like a piece of art
And I scream silently in my hand,
Wondering what the hell happened,
You belong to me, screamed my heart
Stupid girl, stupid girl
What’s keeping you apart?
Slipping to the end of the bed, I hung my head off the edge and looked at him. His body was upside down, and the first thing I noticed was how this position made his eyes look bigger. “That’s all I have,” I whispered. My heart pounded loud. “Can you hear my heart beating?”
He brought his hand to my neck and whispered, “I can hear our heart beating.” His answer made me smile.
“I want another kiss.” The desperation in his voice tugged at my heart, and my body slid halfway off the bed to join my lips with his. The upside-down position confused our lips, but they danced and danced and danced until the door shoved open and I slid off the bed, falling on Kai.
“What the hell?” Daddy boomed, making the connection I was feeling with Kai fly out the window.
I raised my head and peeked over the side of the bed to see Daddy standing near the door, his eyes firing arrows behind me—shit!
“Hi, Daddy.” I waved trying my best to smile, but damn, there was no escaping this.
“Who’s this?” he asked, pointing toward Kai.
Kai got up, but I remained on the ground, content with peeking over the bed. “I’m Kai, sir,” Kai greeted, sounding calm.
Daddy looked behind me and asked Kai with a frown, “How the hell did you get in?” His gaze swung to me. “Phoenix, get up from there.”
Kai grabbed my arm and pulled me to a standing position. “Er … the window,” I said with the tiniest voice I’d ever used.
Kai blurted, “Sir, we weren’t having sex,” and I mentally face-palmed. Daddy’s eyes grew wider, and he looked pale.
“We weren’t, I swear,” I added in haste. Hell—he looked paler.
Daddy gripped his hair. “Goodness, you were having sex.”
“What? No, no, no, we said we weren’t,” I said.
Kai nodded. “We weren’t, sir.”
Daddy narrowed his eyes and hissed, “I was young once, too. When you say you weren’t having sex, it means that you were having sex. In my goddamned house.”
“Daddy, you cursed,” I interjected, realizing a little late that it wouldn’t make him forget the matter at hand.
“And you were having sex.”
I looked at him incredulously. “We weren’t. See, our clothes are still on. The basics of sex require taking them off.” Not exactly true but I hoped it diverted his attention.
“I know the basics, okay?” he shouted again. “Please tell me you aren’t pregnant.”
A blow struck my stomach, and Kai gripped my arms so that he didn’t fall. “What? No, why’d you say that?” This conversation was getting out of control.
He pointed at Kai. “You! Did you sleep with my daughter?”
Kai shook his head. “No, sir, not yet.”
Fuck—second face-palm.
“Not yet? Not yet? Do I look like a fool to you?” Daddy asked, his face getting redder. Shit!
“No, sir, you don’t,” answered Kai, looking a little green.
I spoke up before the conversation got any further out of hand. “Daddy, please listen to me.”
And as if on cue, Dad ran into the room followed by Madison, both looking at Kai like he was some alien. “Who the hell is that?” asked Dad while Madison shook her head. You’re in big trouble, she mouthed to me.
“They were having sex, Adam.” Daddy added fuel to the fire.
“What?” Dad’s eyes widened as his body turned to stone. “Having sex? Are you pregnant?”
“What? No! Why do you people think that I’m pregnant? And no, we weren’t having sex.”
“We were not, sir. See”—Kai emptied his pockets—“no condoms.”
“No condoms!” they shouted. Madison blocked her snicker with her fist. “No condoms?” Dad asked again with a hand on his forehead.
“It’s the first thing you need,” Daddy argued, not paying attention that we were openly discussing sex. “God, we’re such bad parents.”
“No condoms!” Dad repeated, still shocked.
“No, you’re not bad parents,” Madison tried to explain, but our dads were too busy being drama queens to listen.
“They’re not using condoms. Should we give them some?” Daddy asked.
“WHAT?” Dad barked.
“Listen to me,” I shouted, finally gaining their silence and thankfully their attention. “Dads, this is Kai Eastwood. We’re in the same class, and he’s kind of my boyfriend.” Kai turned his head toward me, and I looked at him, butterflies fluttering in my belly. His lips twitched, and his eyes went soft.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop staring at her like that, right now,” Dad shouted.
“What do you mean by ‘kind of’ your boyfriend?” Daddy asked.
“It means we’re dating, and we’re boyfriend, girlfriend. And we weren’t having sex.”
“Does your family know you are dating our daughter?” Dad asked Kai.
Kai shook his head. “Just my brother knows.”
As soon as the word “brother” left Kai’s mouth, Daddy turned to Madison. “Then you knew too.”
Madison nodded shamelessly. “I knew they were dating, but I didn’t know that he was in her roo
m.”
“Of course you didn’t. You wouldn’t have let us come to this room if you knew he was here,” Daddy admonished.
Madison gives a slight nod, but Daddy’s attention was already back on us.
“I’ll have to ask you to leave my house right now,” Dad said, crossing his arms. Kai gave an abrupt nod. He walked to the window and opened it. Feet first, he tried to climb out when Daddy asked, “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Kai pointed to the window. “Out?”
Daddy ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “Please, we have a door. Use it.”
Kai brought his feet back from the window and walked out of the room. I followed him to the door, followed by a parade.
Once we reached the door, Kai turned around to face us. “Er”—he ran his hand over his hair—“goodbye.” He leaned toward me, dropped a quick kiss on my lips, and ran.
Laughter erupted from my chest as Kai dashed to his car, leaving my dads shocked.
First meeting of my dads and Kai—that wasn’t so bad.
KAI
Present
A chuckle escapes my lips as my thoughts wander to that night. “We were such brats.” I close the diary and place it on the table next to the bed. “We were so careless back then. I loved climbing into your bedroom at night, and I loved sleeping next to you. No sex, just the feel of you while I held you in my arms.”
Heaviness forms in my chest. I feel a need to take her in my arms like I used to, but I can’t. And I want her to tighten her arms around me and sigh like she used to, but she can’t.
I lean down and drop a kiss on Phoenix’s lips. “Love you …” I whisper, hoping with all my heart that she’s hearing it somewhere. I pick the guitar up. “I love that song you wrote, and I’m glad that you completed it. It describes us best.” My fingers strum the strings. “Want me to sing the song for you?”
Deep down, I know that the answer is yes, so I drop another kiss on her lips before starting the song.
CHAPTER 9
KAI
In a hurry to reach the hospital in time, because Madison is joining us today, I leave the rehearsals early. With the guitar and bag in hand, I walk to my car when I hear someone calling my name. I wince, recognizing the voice.
I turn around to face her. “Hey, Sydney ...” I paste a mild smile on my face as I bring my guitar in front of my body so that she doesn’t get any closer.
“Kai, it’s so good to see you. Gosh, each time I see you you’ve gotten sexier,” she appraises, sweeping her gaze over my body. “Very hot.”
I laugh lightly. “Thanks, look, I need to be somewhere. We’ll talk another day, okay?”
Her bright eyes dart between me and my car. “Um, I’m going to the salon, so if you’re going in the same direction, maybe you could give me a lift,” she drawls, running her fingers on the V-neck of her top.
And now I’m looking at her cleavage—shit! I bring my gaze back to her face to see her sporting a satisfied smile. “Well, I’m going to the hospital.” I shrug.
She furrows her brows. “You’re ill?” She steps forward and lays the back of her hand on my forehead before I have the time to step back.
“No. I’m fine,” I explain. “I’m going to meet Phoenix.”
The moment I utter Phoenix’s name, her jaw tightens, and she removes her hand. “Phoenix? She’s still alive?”
I take a staggering step back. Her words blast into my ears, pouring hot anger into my veins. Bitch. “Yes, she’s very much alive,” I growl, feeling the muscles tick in my jaw.
She shrugs. “I’ll never understand why you’re still after her. Like she’s in a coma or something, right? Kai, c’mon. She may never wake up and—”
I turn and walk away as fast as I can. Sydney continues calling my name, but I ignore her and slam the car door. With the guitar and bag in the backseat, I start the car, letting the purr of the engine invade my senses. Sydney’s words are playing in my head, and I hate each one of them.
She’s still alive?
She may never wake up.
Phoenix was right about her. She’s a fucking bitch.
I switch on the music and turn the volume up until it’s louder than Sydney’s voice in my head. I move my watch up my wrist and rub my tattoo, smiling, remembering the day we got our tattoos of the first words that we wrote together—I’m a song. You’re my lyrics. This helps me breathe better.
Once in the hospital, I hurry toward Phoenix, my love. “Hello, babes,” I greet softly placing the guitar near the bed. “The day is beautiful outside, and we have a concert next month. Brian’s cousin, Kylie, wrote a song, and I helped a little, and we’re going to perform that song at the concert. Isn’t that amazing?” My lips touch hers, lingering, savoring the feel. My fingers stroke her hair trailing to her cheek and slowly down to her chin.
“Goodness, leave her the hell alone, Kai.”
I smile, hearing Madison. She comes nearer, and I notice she’s brought Emmanuel with her. “Hey, man.” I slap Emmanuel on the back.
“I see that you’re hell-bent on being the sleeping beauty. But let me tell you, you’re missing out on so many things. Most importantly, the sex,” Madison says, making us laugh.
After our hellos, we all take our places. I get on the bed and flip open the diary. “Madison enjoys porn.”
Madison gasps audibly, and my lips spread in a wicked smile.
“Whoa! Yes, please. Let’s hear this one today,” Emmanuel shouts.
“What? No. Give the diary here.” Madison jumps to snatch the diary from me, but Emmanuel grabs her waist and pulls her on his lap, while I hold the diary away from her.
I shake my head, smiling. “No freakin’ way. I think we need to read this one. I came across this the other day but didn’t read it because it didn’t feel appropriate. Today seems to be a perfect day for it.” I wink at her, and she gives me a middle finger salute.
MADISON ENJOYS PORN
PHOENIX, 15 years old
17 October 2011
In my previous foster homes, I was like a deer in the jungle. Each move, each impulsive step, could be fatal. But here, it’s different. Adam and Eric are not only harmless, but they love me—they love us, me and Madison. Coming here was the best thing that could have happened.
Making sure that I closed the door behind me, I took the stairs to my room without bothering to check who was home. As soon as I was in the room, Madison jumped up, rushing toward me.
“I have to show you something very important,” she whispered quickly.
“Why are you whispering?” I asked. “Is someone home?”
She stared at me. “It’s good no one’s here because you’re going to have a heart attack with what I have to show you.”
She had my undivided attention.
She pushed me down on the bed and shoved the laptop in my face. “Here, look at this.” The video started with a soft music. We were shown a woman, lying on her stomach on the bed, with her back arching in a sexy way. She was wearing nothing but a red throng. A man, wearing only his briefs, came and sat on the bed’s edge. He trailed his fingers on the woman’s spine and started laying kisses after the trail. The music built up, and the woman started to let out lusty moans.
“Keep looking,” Madison urged. The guy flipped the woman, and he started massaging her giant breasts.
“Okay, what are we exactly looking at?” I asked, confused by why she was showing me this.
Madison’s eyes were ready to bulge. “They’re going to have sex.”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, it’s called porn, Madison,” I mocked, giving her a blank look.
“You knew,” she accused.
“Knew what?” I asked.
“You knew that this existed?”
“Yes, Madison, I knew.” I smiled. “People film themselves or others having sex and then post it on the web,” I explained.
“But why’d they do that?”
Why indeed? “Um, I’ve n
o idea. I know some of these videos are on sites where you have to pay to watch them, so some people make money out of it.” I shrugged.
“That’s stupid.” She scrunched her nose at me.
“I guess. These videos produce a lot of orgasms, so I think that’s a plus.”
“What’s an orgasm?” she asked innocently.
I almost choked to death on my shock. “It’s when they see the stars when they have sex,” I said with a slight exaggeration. “Goodness, asshole, where’ve you been living your whole life?” I asked.
“In foster houses, where we couldn’t speak about sex, so I’m expecting you to tell me everything.” Her eyes held such hope …
“But you should already know this. It’s, like, automatic.”
Madison shook her head. “No, I wasn’t born with this knowledge, so it’s not automatic.”
“I mean, someone must have told you about it, or you must have read it somewhere?” I asked, but Madison shook her head.
“Most of the houses that I’ve been to … well, I never even thought of the word sex in fear that someone might hear it.” Her eyes pierced through mine, and I understood what she was saying.
“Okay, so sex is when two people come together, and the man puts his pe—”
“God, Phoenix, I know how people have sex,” Madison shouted, looking at me like I’d sprouted two heads.
I blinked. “Then what the hell don’t you know?”
“That orgasm thing,” she whispered like a child asking for candy.
“Damn,” I cursed, contemplating how to explain an orgasm. “Okay, you’ll get it in theory because I won’t demonstrate it to you.” Madison nodded enthusiastically, and I laughed at her zeal.
After a full forty-five-minute explanation, Madison’s doubts were cleared, and she went to the bathroom to make herself come while I went downstairs trying to do anything but think about Madison up there making herself come. How did I get myself into a situation like this?
Thirty minutes later, Madison entered the kitchen.
“So …?”
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