Razing Kayne

by Julieanne Reeves

  Del met them at the garage door. “Your Mama wants you all inside right now,” Del told the kids. “Kayne, you might want to give her a few minutes, she's a bit hot under the collar over the whole phone incident.” Once the kids scampered off, Del added, “Apparently she intercepted several phone calls from other women.”

  “Shit!” It was probably his sisters calling to wish him a Happy Birthday. “I need to go talk to her.”

  Del held up a stopping hand. “I wouldn't do that, if I were you. She's getting everything ready for the party.”

  Kayne’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Doesn't she need my help?” He looked up as the walk-in freezer door slammed shut.

  “Nope, I have everything she needs.” Cody smiled smugly. He disappeared back into the house with several bags of ice.

  Kayne didn't miss the duality of his statement.

  “Go get changed, give me a few minutes, and we'll clear the kitchen out so you can talk to her without an audience.” Del all but shoved Kayne down the back stairs so he could bypass the kitchen altogether. “I'd be quick about it. Never a good idea to keep an angry woman waiting.”

  Great, just fucking great. He couldn't imagine what was going through Jess’s mind. She probably didn't even realize it was his birthday, and knowing his sisters, they'd probably started in with the third degree without bothering to introduce themselves. Would she give him a chance to explain, or would she just assume he was as faithless as Jarred had been?

  Obviously, she was struggling if she’d needed space today, but surely she wouldn't give up on them that easily, would she?

  That thought hurt far worse than Kayne had expected. Damn it all, he didn't just want Gracie, he wanted them all. It all—Jess, the kids, this whole crazy life. Though only a couple weeks had passed, Kayne couldn't imagine going back to his lonely existence. He couldn't imagine pulling Gracie out of this happy life or having to see her only part time. Somehow, he had to make this work. He knew that. Had known it since the moment he said, I do.

  Kayne took the stairs two at a time and quickly changed into a T-shirt, jeans, and his tennis shoes, leaving his church clothes where he'd tossed them on the bed. All the while, his heart raced and his gut rolled in fear of the fight that lay ahead. He made his way to the kitchen and paused before the entry, trying to quell his nerves and calm his racing heart.

  He took a couple deep breaths and slowly let them out before he stepped around the corner and through the doorway.

  “SUPRISE!” a sea of people shouted.

  Kayne took a staggering step backward and stood there in shock, looking around the room at all the smiling faces wearing party hats. A huge banner reading “Happy Birthday!” hung from the ceiling, surrounded by streamers and balloons. This was the absolute last thing he'd suspected. He couldn't remember the last time he’d celebrated his birthday. It had probably been his twenty-first, if he had to guess. As a child, he'd had little opportunity to do so because of Nina's choices. Of course that had all changed with Ben and Luann.

  But he wasn't really focusing on the past—he was too busy studying his wife’s bashful face. The woman who'd missed church and let him foolishly believe she didn't want to be with him instead of ruin his surprise. The woman he'd been so afraid was going to call it quits before ever giving it a chance. He was such an idiot.

  Kayne stood there, his eyes flashing from person to person then back to Jess, again and again. Finally, he managed to thaw out enough to move. He crossed the distance, headed directly for his wife as he fought the moisture that tried to form in the corners of his eyes. He had to touch her, hold her in his arms. He'd scared the hell out of himself with thoughts of her leaving him, and now he needed to know she was there. Seeing her with his eyes wasn't good enough.

  Kayne all but wrapped himself around Jess as he captured her lips with his. God, he could so easily get lost in her. He wanted to drag her off and make love to her right now. To let his body speak the words he couldn’t say. In that instant, he had absolutely no doubt that's he'd fallen head over ass in love with her. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

  Ash and Isabelle's exaggerated gagging, and Maddy and Tiffany's giggling reminded Kayne they had an audience. He dragged his lips from Jess’s to whisper in her ear, “I'm so sorry, baby. Thank you.” He kissed her once more, softly, then regrettably stepped away, when what he really wanted to do was throw her over his shoulder and haul her off somewhere for a very intense private conversation.

  Resigned to the fact that he had a house full of people, Kayne turned to the kids. “All right, where are the rest of my birthday hugs and kisses?” Crouching down to their level, he added, “I believe I deserve them for your...ahem...behavior. Though I suspect you may have been put up to it,” he said glancing at Jess.

  “I would never...” Jess couldn't even get the sentence out with a straight face.

  Yeah, the little imps had been in on it, stalling their exodus from church.

  Five rambunctious children, Tiffany included, had no qualms about tackling him backward onto the kitchen floor, where they proceeded to tickle him mercilessly. Still laughing so hard he could barely breathe, he looked up and saw a familiar face he hadn't expected to see. “Mama?”

  Sure enough, there Luann Dobrescu stood, quietly crying. Behind her stood a hulk of a man, with his arms wrapped around her, smiling down at Kayne, his own eyes misty. “Pop, what the heck are you guys doing here?” He glanced back and forth between them and Jess as he carefully extricated himself from the kids.

  He scooped his mother up in a bear hug. “Mama, it's so good to see you.” It had been nearly two years since he'd seen them. They'd been there after his children had died of course, stayed to help when the detective was trying to pin the murders on him, but after that he'd kept his distance. He couldn't deal with a constant reminder of everything. So he'd made his excuses and even kept the phone calls to a minimum. Until Jess.

  “Did you see her, Pop?” He hugged his father, who still had a good two inches and forty pounds on him. “Did you see Tasha, meet the rest of my kids?” They had only met Tasha once. She'd been only two months old, but they had doted on Nikolai and Natalia, and the kids’ deaths had hit his parents as deeply as it had him.

  “Gracie has been talking Nanna and Po-pop's ears off since she walked in the door,” Jess said.

  Nanna and Po-pop. It's what all their grandchildren called them, what Nikolai and Natalia had called them. God, he was going to embarrass himself by crying like a baby in front of all these people.

  “We met all four of them, son.” Ben’s voice and gaze were as steady as the man himself. “They are beautiful. Perfect. Like this wonderful little wife of yours.” He laid a burly hand on Jess's delicate shoulder. “Your mama cried for near an hour after Jessica called her, inviting us to visit for your birthday. Wild horses couldn't have kept either of us away.”

  “I'm sorry, Pop.” Kayne hugged him again. His father was no dummy. He knew Kayne had been avoiding him, and with the forgiveness Kayne saw shining in Ben's eyes, Kayne knew he'd never fooled him for a moment. “I'm so sorry,” he repeated and held on tight for a moment longer.

  “Mama.” He hugged her tightly in an apology he couldn't begin to put into words.

  “It's okay, son. We understood,” she whispered.

  Kayne pulled back, wiping at his eyes with the palm of his hands. What a profound statement. Luann had always understood him, even when he didn't understand himself. Both her and Pop had.

  “This is incredible.” Kayne looked around while he fought to get his emotions under control. He reached down and picked up Isabelle, who was clinging to his leg. “Did you help with this 'Sabella?”

  Isabelle bobbed her head, then tucked it tightly under his chin. While Gracie was happily chatting with anyone willing to hold her, Isabelle was on stranger overload.

  Now that he could breathe again, Kayne noticed how much he'd missed. Like the smell of Jess's lasagna cooking, the trays of food on the counter, and the cak
e. “Cake? You made me a cake?” He asked looking at the huge cake with his name on it.

  “That's black cherry-filled chocolate cake. And there will be homemade vanilla bean ice cream when it gets done churning,” Luann said

  It all came into perspective. All last week Jessica had been asking him about his favorite types of food. Now, looking around, he understood. This wasn't some last minute party; she'd planned this well in advance.

  “Yes, yes, there's enough food here to make an army sick.” Jess blushed. “Why don't you all head downstairs, take those last few trays with you. The game is going to start shortly. I'll send the rest of the guests down as they arrive.”

  Kayne took a hard look around and noticed most of his squad was present, some of the off duties with spouses and children in tow. The on-duty fire-medic crews for both Payson and Hellsgate. Other faces stood out: Dr. Mark Oberly, Trace St. Moritz, Nick Astenbeck, Rafe Chatham, and of course Joe, who’d apparently brought the pre-school teacher.

  Kayne reached out and snagged Jessica around the waist. “You are amazing,” he whispered. “You've made all of my favorite foods. I'm sure hoping a gym membership is among those presents.” He motioned to the table. Kayne still couldn't believe she'd gone to so much work for him. For the children, he expected that, but not him.

  “I'm not giving you any hints, Officer Dobrescu,” she said saucily. “Well okay, one. Eat whatever you want. I plan on making you work those calories off later.”

  Kayne growled low in his throat. “To hell with later.” Surely no one would notice if they disappeared for a while.

  “Oh no you don't.” Jess dug in her heels when he started tugging her toward the nearest exit. “There’s a house full of people,” she argued. “And there are presents to open and a cake to cut before the game starts.”

  Reluctantly, Kayne gave in and followed her downstairs.

  After everyone had finished eating, Jess got their attention, and made Kayne take a seat.

  “The kids want you to open these first.” Jess handed him a stack of handmade cards. “I've mixed them up so they are in no certain order.” Jess emphasized, looking at the kids, who groaned. Apparently they'd been fighting over whose got opened first.

  Kayne opened each card—even Tiffany had made one for him—reading the inscription out loud, fighting really hard not to let his emotions get the better of him again. Gracie's was last. He couldn't have gotten the words out if he'd wanted to. In her baby scrawl, she'd managed to trace the words that had already been spelled out: Love you, Papa.

  Kayne cleared his throat. “Thank you. I’m going to keep these forever and ever.”

  “You're not done yet, there's more.” Jess pointed out.

  “Nope, take the rest back. Nothing could be better than these.” And he honestly meant it.

  He'd never understood how Ben and Luann could love him unquestionably. Practically from the moment they met, they'd become his parents in their mind. It had taken Kayne nearly a year before he realized they weren’t letting him go, before he realized they truly loved him. They had fallen instantly in love with the near-wild Russian boy. Looking into the eyes of Jess's children—their children—Kayne now understood.

  He looked up, catching Ben's eyes. Ben nodded and winked. Pop knew exactly what Kayne was thinking, like he always had.

  “I don't know, son, I think you should at least take a look,” Del said. “I hear some of them are non-returnable.”

  “Well, if you insist,” he said, feeling his cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

  Jess looked questioningly at Kayne. “This one is heavy and breakable, maybe—”

  Ben stepped forward. “Let me get that. You stay where you are so Luann and Polly can get their pictures.”

  Jess was right; the large, near-flat rectangle weighed a good forty pounds. Kayne frowned. “What on earth?”

  “Just open it and quit speculating,” Jess urged excitedly.

  Kayne's jaw nearly hit the ground when he saw the signed jersey that had been worn by Shane Dorn. Complete with authentication. “Are you kidding me? When? How?”

  Jess pointed at herself and nodded exaggeratedly. “I am a woman of many talents.”

  Kayne loved this playful side of her. “Yes, yes, you are.” He gave her a salacious grin, bringing a round of cat calls and wolf whistles out of the adults.

  Blushing profusely, Jess handed him his next gift.

  Kayne pulled the paper back to reveal a custom-matted picture. In the very center was a large picture of Kayne, Jess, and all the kids at the hockey game, with their backs to the glass. He'd forgotten how he'd asked the man sitting behind them to snap the shot. He was stunned to see how much they'd looked like a family even back then.

  The photo was surrounded by various candids of Kayne and the kids with the team. There was one empty spot that Kayne realized was for the ticket she'd asked him if he was going to keep.

  “I'm in serious trouble. I'm never going to be able to top this,” Kayne mumbled. He handed the collage off to be passed around and pulled Jess down into his lap.

  Framing her face he said, “Thank you.” He repeated the words at least a dozen times and punctuated each one with a kiss. “This is perfect. Absolutely perfect,” he whispered again, but this time, he wasn't talking about the party, but about the woman he held in his arms. How in the hell had he let himself fall in love with her?

  TWENTY-FIVE

  The Coyotes won, 5-2, sending them to the semi-finals. Kayne and Jessica spent the afternoon with her friends and his family, and the lines between the two easily blurred to nonexistent. It sure as hell was hard to remember why there had even been a battle in the first place. Apparently fear and love made people go batshit-crazy.

  Later that night, with the kids finally tucked into bed and Ben and Luann settled in, Kayne set out to find his wife. “Baby, you in here?” he called as he entered the small sitting room off the master bedroom.

  “In bed.”

  His heart gave a hard thump, rolled, and began a heavy beat that rapidly pumped blood south at the sound of her sultry voice. When he turned the corner to see the bed, his heart all but stopped.

  Spread out for his viewing pleasure on a set of pewter silk sheets laid his wife. She wore nothing but a large red bow and a pair of fuck-me, red stiletto heels. The silk ribbon wrapped around her breasts like a strapless bra, knotting in the valley between her very aroused nipples, before cascading down her center to barely cover her sweet little sex.

  Kayne gasped in a breath, not realizing he'd been holding it. Christ, she was so beautiful. Long golden hair, with its dozen shades of blond and brown and copper, fanned across her pillow as she shifted to prop herself up on one elbow. The movement dislodged the bow's tail from between her thighs revealing...Mother of God.

  “You waxed?” All that remained was a strip of trimmed, light-brown curls, her pretty pink lips bare and already glistening.

  Jess nodded, a sweet blush covering her chest and face. “You like?” she asked, biting that plump bottom lip of hers. Only one thought came to mind:

  Happy Birthday to me!

  ***

  On Monday morning, Kayne was sitting at the kitchen counter, his head resting on his crossed arms while he waited for the coffee to finish brewing when his father walked in. “Hey, son, you're up early.”

  Up early? It felt like he'd never gone to sleep. Holy Christ, Jess had gone down on him. She'd knelt there on the bed in that bow and those heels and told him she'd never done so before, but that she wanted to. So he'd stripped for her, which had made her laugh, thankfully with him instead of at him. She'd plumped up a few pillows, and he'd gotten comfortable against the headboard, and then she'd had her way with every damn inch of him.

  He could still feel the tentative touch of her lips as they slid over the head of his cock, the way her tongue had wrapped around it, the enthusiastic way she'd sucked him right to the edge. He’d tried to stop her, tried to warn her he was about to lose his ev
er-lovin’ mind. But she’d been unmovable and relentless, and he’d exploded with one of the most intense orgasms of his life. He'd reached for her again and again through the night, and he was already half-hard just thinking about it. Kayne shook the thought out of his sleep-fogged mind.

  “You seem happy,” Ben observed.

  Kayne laughed at his father's subtle way of saying he looked like he'd been well laid. “She's good for me, Pop. She's such a good mother. She's patient and gentle. I've never seen her lose her temper with the kids, not even in the grocery store.”

  “And she's sexy as hell.” Ben laughed

  Kayne straightened in his chair. “Hey, now, that's my wife you’re talking about.”

  Ben shook his head and laughed harder. “Bet you haven't gotten a good night’s sleep since you met her.”

  “Isn't that the truth?” He accepted the cup of coffee Ben handed him. “She's had me tangled since the night I stopped her for speeding. Talk about the hand of fate.”

  Ben took a sip of his own coffee. “It's good to see you in love, son.”

  Kayne stilled, his cup halfway to his lips. “Excuse me?”

  “It's written all over your face, plain as day. It's obvious she feels the same about you.”

  Kayne sat the mug back down. “Is it?” he asked doubtfully.

  “Son, that girl’s got it just as bad for you.”

  “She's still in love with her dead husband,” Kayne replied looking away.

  “Loving someone and being in love are two different things. You of all people should know that. Don't assume you know how she feels until you ask her. You might be surprised.” Ben began rummaging through the refrigerator and pulling out items to make breakfast.

  “I know that, Pop. Trust me I know that,” he said, then added, “Hey, I'm supposed to fix breakfast this morning.” Sundays and Mondays were Kayne's self-appointed day to fix breakfast, and then on Mondays, he kept Gracie and Isabelle while Jess did her volunteer work.

  Ben glanced over his shoulder. “I'm doing it this morning. Like old times.”