My body moved on its own, muscle memory working overtime. All I could think was who was this bastard to tell me what to do? Who the fuck did he think he was? And what right did he have to say what he did about Lydia? My arm pulled back, hand clenched into a tight fist. I let it fly at his jaw in a roundhouse punch.
I’ve still got it, I thought to myself with a smirk when just one punch had him knocked flat on the ground. He looked up at me, his expression molded to one of surprise, and I could have laughed.
“You’ll be the one leaving Lydia alone, you hear me?” I told him.
He gaped up at me, one hand going to where I’d punched him. Before I could gloat some more, we both heard a gasp that had us turning around. It was Lydia coming out of the house. I pursed my lips, worried she’d be angry with me, but not regretting what I did. She came over to where I stood, and I hurried over so she wouldn’t get too close to that bastard.
“Lydia, was this man bothering you?” I asked, holding onto her shoulder and stopping her from going further. She trembled under my hand, and I frowned in slight concern. “Is something wrong? I can get rid of him for you, if you’d like?”
She shot him a look that was part angry, part uncertain. Instead of answering, she latched onto my arm and tugged me behind her.
“Just... come on, come inside with me.”
I was reluctant, throwing a glare at the guy that was just picking himself up off the ground, but I let her tug me behind her.
“I’ll be back, Lydia,” the man called, making both of us stop. “And next time, I’ll bring the law with me, so think carefully, alright?”
I was about to go back to beat the bastard black and blue, but Lydia didn’t let go of the hold she had on my arm. Instead, she kept dragging me inside, then closed the door behind us and leaned back against it. She had her eyes closed, and she took in a deep breath that she let out slowly, before opening her eyes to look up at me. I was still expecting her to blow up at me for what I did, but she smiled instead.
“Thanks for that,” she said, looking impressed. “I didn’t think that idiot would show up here. Thanks for warning him off.” She grimaced. “Now, if only he’d stay gone.”
“I thought you’d be mad at me for it,” I admitted sheepishly, running a hand through my hair.
Her eyes widened as they followed my hand, and she grabbed it as I went to drop it down. I saw what the problem was when I noticed the mess my knuckles were. I grimaced.
“He had a hard jaw,” I explained. “I hit him with full force. I forgot I didn’t have boxing gloves on.”
Lydia gave me an amused look before fretting over my hand.
“Come on,” she said, leading me again, this time up the stairs and to her bedroom.
She directed me to sit on the bed, then went looking for something.
“I’m sure I have a first aid kit around here somewhere,” she muttered.
“You don’t have to treat it. I can just wash it with cold water, maybe put some ice on it. It’ll be just fine after that.”
She shot me a frown. “You sit there and wait for me. Don’t complain. You did something for me, so let me do the same for you, okay?”
When she said it like that, I couldn’t refuse.
“So, who was that guy, anyway?” I asked, curious and still annoyed.
Lydia sighed as she came back to the bed with the first aid kit in hand, dragging a seat to her vanity table and setting it down in front of me. She didn’t take my hand immediately, just sat there staring down at the box in her lap, holding onto its sides tightly. She looked miserable as she finally looked up at me.
“That man,” she said, “was my husband. Ex-husband,” she corrected. “He came to tell me that he wants his son back.”
My jaw dropped, eyes growing wide as her statement sunk in. No fucking way. The same man Adam and I thought was dead? Adam suspected it more than I did, since he was a cop and he went according to evidence. I’d refused to think Lydia could have done anything like that, even if I’d been a little distant because I couldn’t help but worry about it silently. All my walls crumbled, because now I was certain she hadn't done it.
The bastard was alive and well. Before I punched him in the face, anyway. And he was even back and causing problems for my…
I paused as I tried to find the right word. I’d thought of her as my Lydia. What exactly was she to me? A girlfriend? Lover? I’d called her mine before, even if it was only in my thoughts, but I felt awkward now because I wasn’t sure I deserved to call her that. We hadn't talked about what we were to each other yet, just how close we were…
And now, with her ex-husband back and looking for rights to the kid, I regretted not thinking about this before.
I sighed as she cleaned my knuckles for me. She was about to wrap them up when I held my hand up to stall her.
“It’s just bruised, Lydia,” I reassured her. “I can handle this much. It’ll go away in a few days.”
She pouted.
“Besides,” I continued, “I want to have a shower, and it’ll only get in the way. I’d have to take them off right away, so what’s the point?”
She gave me a curious look. “Busy day at work?”
I groaned, stretching out my back at the remembered ache between my shoulders.
“Like you wouldn’t believe. I hope things get to calm down soon…”
I stood up, moving to the side so I wouldn’t crowd her. Then I shrugged off my jacket, and reached for the hem of my t-shirt, pulling it off. My eyes met Lydia’s and I saw the way she stared at my bare chest. I smirked in satisfaction at her fascination before I held my hand out to her.
“Would you like to join me in the shower?”
She must have been more shaken than I thought. She was still shy sometimes, especially when I asked her to get naked with me for anything other than jumping straight into sex. This time, my adorable little kitten didn’t even hesitate. She stood up and started undoing the buttons of her shirt with a challenge in her eyes.
I was so stunned I stood there for a moment, confused, but then I caught on and started to strip quickly. Lydia was faster, taking off the blouse and skirt, and rushing to the bathroom with her underwear on. She threw a look at me over her shoulder, winking as she slid her panties down her hips. She turned away and undid her bra, tossing it behind her back in my direction. I nearly stumbled getting my jeans and boxers off as I joined her in the bathroom. She was already in the shower enclosure, completely naked and waiting for me.
“Do you know how much you drive me crazy?” I said, stalking my way into the shower with her.
I ducked a hand under the shower, but it was still cold. I ignored the water and instead backed her against the shower walls. She jumped, then shivered, when her back came into contact with the cold surface. I pressed right into her, her shocked gasp not just from the cold of the wall now. She looked up at me, the challenge in her eyes now shaded with delight.
“About as crazy as you drive me, perhaps?” she said, arching her eyebrows as she slid her arms around my waist, her hands clenched at my ass to pull me against her tightly.
I slanted my hips over hers, and she moaned, parting her mouth readily for my tongue. My tongue slid into her mouth to explore, running over every crevice I could reach, and she tilted her head, angling it to make it easier for me. She teased her tongue against mine, licked the underside until I stuck it out further in response. Then she sucked on it and I felt the sensation go straight to my cock. I rolled my hips against her, nudging my erection into her abdomen, reminding her why I was in the shower with her.
“Ken,” she moaned my name when our lips parted so we could breathe. Her hand went down between our bodies and found me rock hard and waiting for her. She gave me slow gentle strokes, strokes that stole my breath as she kissed the hard edge of my jaw.
I hummed and kissed a line down her cheek, then down her neck, taking a bit of flesh between my teeth and sucking on it. I pulled back and looked in sati
sfaction at the mark I’d left on her neck. She’d have more of them before we retired for the night. This was only the beginning of our fun, after all.
“If you keep that up, Lydia, I’m going to come in your hand. I’d rather come deep inside of you, wrapped in that beautiful pussy of yours.” I heard her gasp and her hand stilled on my now throbbing cock.
I looked down at her, our eyes locked in a moment I couldn’t quite define. Was that love in her eyes? Could she see it reflected in mine? I moved, in need of distraction from the ache that began to swell in my chest.
The shower was only to get the sweat off me from earlier, so I was fine with just staying under the warm spray. I tested the water again, and when I found the temperature satisfactory, I shifted us over so it would pour over us. Lydia sighed and leaned into my shoulder so the water wouldn’t get into her mouth. She nestled there, content.
“It’s been way too long since we did this,” I murmured against the top of her head, my hands kneading the flesh at her hips. “I’m going to be taking some time off work soon. I hired someone for a reason after all.” I placed a kiss over the latest mark I’d made when she moved her head to look up at me.
Lydia just chuckled in between gasps. “That’s good because work will be slowing down for me soon. Tell me you’ll be here?”
“Of course,” I said with no hesitation. “Where else could I possibly want to be?”
I found her lips once more, both of us taking a moment to go over ground we hadn’t touched in weeks, slim shoulders that haunted my dreams, her hips that filled me with an ache I could not appease, even with work. Her hands found my flat stomach, and lower she found me hard and ready for her. Her other arm moved around my neck, tugging me down and holding me to her as she gave me a deep, wet kiss that I returned with a moan.
“I told you, I didn’t want to come in your hands. Perhaps your mouth later, or all over those beautiful tits of yours, but right now, it’s that tight pussy of yours I want the most.”
She let me go with a gasp of desire as I caught the back of her thighs, and she hopped a little as I lifted her and wrapped her legs around my hips. I braced her body against the shower wall, and we both shivered as my cock pressed against her sex.
We’ve done this before, I thought, whilst leaving her mouth to place frantic kisses on her neck. Sure, we’d fucked in her bathroom in a lot of positions, I’d had her exactly like this a few weeks back. It was hard to forget since it was the closest to making love we’d ever been.
Like she remembered it, too, Lydia’s touches were suddenly more desperate. She bit down on my neck, one of her hands reaching down between us to grasp my cock to guide me to her heated entrance. I realized we were both holding our breath when air exploded from us as I thrust into her deeply, all the way to the hilt.
We stalled for a moment, both of us taking in the exquisite sensation of being joined together, then her hands were tugging at my hair, and she molded our lips together. I started moving my hips, slowly at first as I sighed into our kiss, her slick walls already clenching at me, not wanting to let go. I groaned through the sensation, my jaw locked as I tried to hold back.
It had been so long, I’d had so many dreams about her, so many filthy fucking fantasies, that I didn’t think I’d last long. I wanted to, for her, for both of us. When her gasps became sultry moans I picked up the speed and rhythm until we were both panting and gasping, our voices becoming deep groans from me and helpless whimpers from Lydia.
I pounded into her, my thoughts on nothing but the sounds she made and the pulse of her wet heat around me. I ached deep inside, an ache that blossomed until it became unbearable, and I cried out her name, wanting to spill the words of love perched on the tip of my tongue, but I stopped myself.
Lydia brought my face to hers in a deep kiss, swallowing the words that threatened my secret, and I touched her, her sensitive nipples, and down to her clit, teasing the throbbing organ until her nails dug into my shoulders, dragged down my back, and the sting made me move even faster and harder against her.
“Ken!” she gasped one last time, just before I felt a strong vice take hold of my cock and knew that my Lydia was exploding around me. I pushed into her one hard, final time, letting her fluttering take me over the edge to follow her, milking my release.
We stayed locked together until the water started growing cold. Then we got out, toweled each other dry, and moved our play to the bedroom.
18
Lydia
After we dried off we went to bed, exhausted. Ken was good at pushing my limits, but I knew I wouldn’t be up for more. He didn’t look like he would ask for more, but he still wrapped his arms around me to hug me close and hold me to his chest. We’d cuddled before, but I found it especially soothing this time, especially after the encounter with Mike.
I sighed as I thought to myself, remembering his last words to me. I’d known Mike for years, and I knew he wasn’t the kind of guy to say things he didn’t mean. He’d probably just come back to talk and mention the law again if I continued refusing him.
The last thing I needed was the law getting involved. He’d left us, true, but I didn’t know why or where he went, and he was still Bryson’s father. More than anything, I felt insecure. I knew my boy would still want his dad, and it would be cruel of me to try and get in between them.
But he didn’t deserve to walk back into our lives and take my son from me! My mind cried out against the very idea of it.
Sadly, I was a lawyer myself, and I knew all the things that would be taken into consideration. There was plenty for me to worry over. I was on my own and struggling, and life was only just settling to where I could spend time with my son without worrying about our financial situation. If Mike could provide better, he could be considered the better choice.
No fucking way would I just let him have my son.
“What exactly did that man say to you?”
“Hmm?” I looked up, resting my chin on Ken’s chest, to find him looking down at me.
“Your ex-husband,” he emphasized with a sour look.
It would have been funny if I wasn’t so shaken up. “He wants Bryson. I didn’t let him explain things, so I’m not too sure exactly what he wants, but he at least wants to see Bryson.”
Ken frowned. “Don’t take this as me taking his side, but would that be so bad? He may not have been the best dad around, but he’s still the boy’s father.”
I sighed. That was exactly what had me so worried!
“You don’t understand because you weren’t here when he first left. Bryson was so distraught when his dad just disappeared without a word. It was a chore getting him to eat every night, and he suddenly got quiet and withdrawn at school. His grades didn’t suffer too much, but they still dropped. I was worried, his teachers were worried…”
“He doesn’t look that bad now.”
“Of course not, because he adjusted. But what happens when he sees Mike now, and Mike decides he needs to leave again? I don’t know how it’ll affect him. And what if Mike tries to take him from me altogether?”
Just the thought had me shivering, but this time with anger. I couldn’t just bury my head and pretend the possibility wasn’t there, not this time.
“Do you think he wants to take Bryson from you?”
I focused on Ken’s face. “What?”
“He hasn’t told you specifically what he wanted right? Maybe he just wants to stick around and be a good dad for his son. He might not want to take him away from you. Besides, is there any judge in this town that would just hand your son over to his dad after years of zero contact?”
“You can never know for sure,” I muttered under my breath. “Stranger things have certainly happened. And I don’t think Bryson would hate his dad, no matter how long he’s been gone. He still insists on making him a card on Father’s Day even when the man himself isn’t there to receive it.”
Mother’s Day had warmed my heart, but that? That had frozen it. It mea
nt my little boy was still waiting for his father to come back. He’d probably be ecstatic that his father was back. If I were a good mother, I would have told him already and helped them meet. But it was because I was a good mother that I hadn't done it yet because I didn't know Mike’s plans. Hopefully, he wouldn’t just go looking for Bryson himself, before I could talk to him. Though the idea was slim, it was possible Mike could have changed in the time since he’d left.
“And you have no idea where he went the whole time he was away?”
I shrugged again. “Absolutely no fucking idea. It’s not like he even told me he was leaving. The divorce was done with, so I didn’t think too much about it until I needed him to help me at least talk to Bryson, only his number wouldn’t go through. He could have been anywhere…”
I wondered what he’d been doing when his son and I struggled back home. Had he been on vacation? Did he get a job out of town that kept him away? Or had he been busy exploring the entire time?
Whatever it was, it had taken its toll on him. I thought back to when I saw him on my doorstep, remembering details I’d put out of my mind before. He’d looked worn. Though it had only been a few years that he’d been gone, his appearance had made it seem like he’d aged about ten years. He must have just arrived in town and shown up, because he had a trace of beard on his chin and jaw, and unless the years had changed him a lot, he normally liked to be cleanly shaven.
Then, there was Ken. Kenji. He’d told me about the stigma behind his name, and while I understood that part, I didn’t know why he hated his name instead of being proud of it, and damn whatever anybody else said. I’d become a little interested in it after his story, and I’d searched online to try and figure out why his parents would have named him that way.
When I did find out, I thought there couldn’t be a better fit for Ken’s warrior spirit. I remembered him punching Mike out, and while I probably shouldn’t have encouraged it, the fact he did it in my defense had brought me out of the funk Mike appearing so suddenly had nearly sent me into.
Boxer Next Door Page 12
