by Tara Thomas
While he talked, Knox was listening very intently and nodding with what he said.
“I’d like to create a division within Benedict Industries to give back tangibly to our community. It’s not only in India that people need help. It’s right here in our backyard.”
“Damn,” Knox said.
“What?”
“People call me the saint and look at you.” Knox waved toward him. “Creating a charitable division of Benedict Industries.”
“Do you think Kip will go for it?”
“It’ll create a lot of good PR. He’ll care about that and he’d like to help people, too. Do you plan to do this all on your own?”
“Probably. To start with, at least. I was going to put a proposal together for Kip. Will you look at it before I give it to him?”
Knox nodded. “I think it’s a great idea and you definitely have my support. After you write the proposal, we’ll approach Kip together.”
It was the outcome Keaton had hoped for and he felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off him. He could work for the family business and do something he felt passionate about.
* * *
After Elise left to go shopping, Tilly ventured out of the bedroom. Benedict House was so familiar and yet, oddly different at the same time. She strolled through the hallways, remembering snatches of her childhood she hadn’t thought of in ages.
Eventually, she found herself in the kitchen where Lena was preparing lunch. Tilly remembered her from years past. “Can I help?”
Lena turned around with her hand over her heart. “Tilly. Lord, it does these old bones good to see you in my kitchen again.” She held out her arms. “Come here.”
Tilly walked into her embrace and held back tears as Lena whispered how much she’d missed her. And even though she’d known Elise had lied about no one really wanting her at the Benedict House, it felt good to have that assumption proven wrong. Being held by Lena wasn’t the exact same as being held by her mother, but it was a second and the closest she would be able to find on earth.
“I know you’ve had some trouble the last few days,” Lena said. “But it’s so good to see you again. This place was never the same without you and your mama.”
“It’s so good to see you.”
Lena took a step back and looked Tilly up and down. “Look at you. Beautiful.”
Tilly’s cheeks heated. “Lena.”
“I mean it and you can tell you’re just as beautiful on the inside. Unlike that high-and-mighty Elise.” Lena shook her head. “That girl is nothing but bad news and trouble, mark my words. Mrs. Benedict would never stand for Mr. Keaton to marry such a ball of fluff.”
“Keaton told me he had no intention of marrying Elise.”
“Good, he needs someone like you.”
Tilly shook her head. “I don’t know, Lena. We’ve only just met again.”
“When something’s right, it’s just right. Time won’t change that.” She turned back to the stove. “Now enough of that jabbering, you said you wanted to help?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How about you make a nice salad for lunch? All three of my boys will be here and Mr. Knox likes salads. Mr. Kipling needs more greens in his diet. Mr. Knox says it’s lack of nutrients that makes his brother so ornery. I told Mr. Knox, it had nothing to do with diet and greens, but that Mr. Kipling needs to get laid.”
“Lena!” Tilly laughed. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“Why? Because old people don’t know about getting laid? Please, child. How the hell do you think you got here?”
Being in the Benedicts’ kitchen was the closest to feeling as if she was at home than anything she’d experienced in years. She stayed with Lena, making lunch, talking, and laughing until she heard Keaton return.
Lena laughed at the way she dropped her knife when the side door of the house opened.
“Sorry,” Tilly said. “Let me finish.”
“What? And risk you chopping off a finger or getting blood all over lunch? No way. You go see what Mr. Keaton is up to. And don’t you worry about rushing back for lunch. It’ll be at least two more hours on this bread.”
“Thank you,” Tilly called over her shoulder as she hurried up the stairs to the bedroom.
She paused outside Keaton’s half-closed door, unsure if she should knock or not. She’d done her best not to think about what he’d said before he left. It had been easy when she was in the kitchen with Lena, but now that she was alone with her thoughts, she remembered his whispered promise.
“There you are,” Keaton said, pushing the door all the way open. “I was getting ready to come hunt you down.”
“I was in the kitchen helping Lena with lunch.”
He dragged her into the room and closed the door behind them. “I bet she loved that.”
“Yes, she did.”
He grabbed her hand and tugged her to sit down beside him on the small loveseat at the end of bed. “What else did you talk about?”
She picked at imaginary lint on his shirt. “Oh you know … this and that.”
“This and that?”
“Yes,” she said, knowing he wanted her to admit they talked about him, but wanting to tease him. “Did you know she has seven grandchildren?”
“I did.”
“And she still calls you and her brothers her boys?”
“She’s as much a Benedict as we are.”
She was suddenly very nervous, which she told herself was stupid. This was Keaton. She’d known him forever, even if she hadn’t seen him in years. She knew him.
Maybe that’s why she was nervous, because she somehow knew this moment would change everything.
He pushed a piece of hair out of her face. “Hey, where did you go? You’re thinking about something awfully hard.”
His eyes were so sincere and calm, she felt she could dive into them and stay forever. She had the oddest thought that this building they were in, this house, was not home. Rather, this man in front of her was.
And that made her even more nervous.
“I feel as nervous as a teenager on her first date,” she admitted.
“Why?”
Why? He asked her why? When he was sitting there, all handsome and good and smart and perfect, and she was just Tilly? She shook her head. “It seems as if the last few days have been a dream. Is this really happening? For real?”
He scooted closer, but instead of answering, he put his hand behind her head and leaned in for a kiss.
Heavens above, what the feel of his lips on her did to her insides. One touch and she was a quivering pile of goo. She took hold of his shirt and fisted it in her hands, holding him close and not allowing him to get away.
He pulled his head back and whispered against her lips. “Real enough for you now?”
“Not in the least,” she said. “I think I need more reassurance.”
“Mmm, do you? Let’s see what I can do.”
He reached down and gently pried her hands away from his shirt. “What would be more real to you? Your shirt off or mine?”
He wanted to play, did he? Well, two could do that. Instead of answering, she drew her shirt off over her head and dropped it on the floor. Her eyes never left his, so she didn’t miss the seductive grin that covered his face when he realized what she was doing.
“Is that the way it is?” he asked, and within seconds his shirt was on the floor beside hers.
Her eyes bulged out at the sight of his chest. Holy shit. He obviously did more than jog. There was no way jogging alone would result in a chest that looked as if it belonged on the cover of a magazine. She had to resist the urge to reach out and touch it.
Soon, she told herself. She would touch it soon. Not only that, but soon she’d be pulled in close to it. Just the thought of her body being pressed against that hard plane of muscle was about enough to make her body tremble with need.
It was damn scary what he could do to her without even laying a finger on her.
His head tilted. “What are you thinking?”
She saw no reason to lie or be coy. “How much I’m looking forward to feeling you against me.”
He didn’t say anything, but rather held out his arms and drew her into his embrace. She sighed at the sensation of feeling him skin on skin. But it wasn’t enough. She ran her fingers down his back, learning the feel of the muscles there.
He hummed in pleasure. “Your hands feel so good. So right.”
Everything about the moment felt right. His hands, his touch, his smell. He slowly stood to his feet and she followed, not wanting to go a second without touching him. He walked her backward, until the back of her legs hit the edge of the bed.
“I want to see you,” he whispered. “All of you. Will you show me?”
With anyone else she would be self-conscious, but for some reason it felt completely natural to lay down on the bed, move to her back, and lift her hips so he could take off her pants. His touch was electric as he tugged her jeans down her legs until all she wore was a tiny pair of panties.
Keaton looked appreciative over her body. “My God, you’re beautiful.”
She didn’t argue with him because under his gaze, she felt beautiful. When he dropped his head and lightly brushed his lips across her belly and called her sexy, she felt that way. It was beyond any fantasy she’d ever had. She dug her fingers into his hair as he dipped lower and lower.
He placed kisses over the silk fabric covering where she ached for him and even the tiny piece of fabric was too much between them. Keaton, however, seemed to be in no hurry.
“Lena said lunch would be ready in a bit,” she said, hoping he’d move faster.
“Doesn’t matter,” he answered, barely lifting his head. “I could stay here the entire afternoon, just doing this.”
“I need you,” she begged. “Please.”
“You know, I never thought you’d be the impatient type.”
“Only when it comes to you being inside me.”
And still he didn’t speed up or move. He kept on teasing her through the silk. When she tried to close her legs, he put a hand on each knee and kept her spread. Begging did no good, but she tried it anyway. Just when she thought he actually would stay put for the entire afternoon, he pulled back and ever so slowly, ran a finger around the edge of her thong.
“Fuck, you’re so wet,” he said.
“I know.” She shivered at his touch.
He pushed his finger under the silk and teased her. She jerked at the sensation of him finally touching her skin to skin.
“Oh yes,” he said. “I can’t wait to feel you. Is that what you want?”
“Yes, please,” she said in a broken whisper he almost couldn’t make out.
He came up on his knees, still not moving from his spot between her legs. She wasn’t sure how he did it, but within seconds, his pants were gone and he was stroking himself.
“Oh my God,” she said, because as he stroked, he seemed to grow thicker and longer.
He dug in his discarded pant pocket and fished out a condom. She tried to sit up. “Can I?”
But he pushed her back to the bed. “Not this time. I’m afraid if I have your hands on me, I’ll lose it and that’s not what I have in mind for today.”
“What do you have in mind?” she asked, her fingertips dancing across his back.
“I’d rather show you.” Without waiting for her to reply, he lined his sheathed cock with her and very carefully began to push inside her.
“Keaton.” Her eyes drifted closed as she tried to contain the feelings he evoked in her body with his penetration. “So full. Damn.”
“Just about halfway,” he said, and she arched her back and lifted her hips to help him sink deeper. “Yes,” he said.
He shuddered when he filled her completely and she realized how much he’d been holding back. She lightly touched his shoulder.
“You feel so good.” She moaned when he swiveled his hips.
One eyebrow lifted. “Not too much?”
“No.”
“Mmmm,” he hummed and started a slow rocking rhythm that had her seeing stars.
“Ohh, yes.” She tightened her legs around his waist.
He pulled out slightly and then drove inside her with a moan. She gasped in pleasure and clawed at his backside to try and get him deeper.
“Yes,” she said in a half moan. “Again.”
It was all he needed and he started a faster rhythm that had her panting in pleasure. She felt it was almost surreal that this was happening. How often had she imagined being in this very spot? And yet, even with as many times as she’d pictured it, the reality was so much more intense.
She could admit to herself that through the years, she’d held Keaton up as a yardstick against which she measured all men. Of course, it hadn’t been the real Keaton, but one she’d made up in her mind. The other men hadn’t even come close and now that she knew what the grown-up Keaton was like, he totally blew them out of the water.
She opened her eyes so she could watch him. She was in awe that it was her body that made him grow hard. Her hips that he dug his fingers into as he rode her. And her lips that he kissed just because he could and because he wanted to.
“You feel incredible,” he said, going faster.
She wanted to tell him that he was the incredible one, but at that moment, he changed his pace, going slower, but being more deliberate, and in doing so, hit a spot within her that made her eyes roll to the back of her head and rendered her speechless with pleasure. God, she’d never felt anything like this. He had been her ultimate dream and now he was her present reality.
The feel of him was incredible. The way his weight pressed against her, pushing her into the mattress, bringing them both pleasure. Truly, when she thought about it, he gave so much more than he took and if asked, she’d give him anything.
Thoughts like that used to frighten her about other people, but no longer. Not with him. Together they were more than they were by themselves. Something inside her knew that was how it was supposed to be. It was what her parents had. What she’d always wanted, but never thought she’d ever have. And now, it was so close, she could almost feel it in her hands. She realized in some ways that was even more scary: to have it within reach and to somehow lose it. Which would hurt so much more than if she’d never allowed herself the possibility of finding it.
“Tilly.” He ran his hands up her side, leaving goose bumps in their wake.
Her orgasm was quickly approaching, which was a surprise because she never came that fast. Never. And, if she was reading his body language correctly, Keaton was close as well. His hands fisted on either side of her head. His breath came out in pants.
She planted both feet on the mattress and used it as leverage to meet him, thrust for thrust.
“Yes,” he said. “Give it to me.”
She came on his next thrust, feeling herself shatter around him as he held himself deep within her and released into the condom. Even after, he continued to surprise her, pulling her to him and holding her close. She couldn’t help but think, I could get used to this.
He surprised her even more by holding her for several minutes before getting up to dispose of the condom. “Stay here,” he said, as if she had the energy to move.
He disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a washcloth. When she tried to close her legs, he simply said, “Stop.”
No one had ever cleaned her after sex and while it felt odd at first, she decided after a bit that she could definitely get used to being taken care of.
“How long do we have before lunch?” he asked.
She rolled her head and glanced at the clock on his night stand. “Just under an hour.”
“Good.” He threw the washcloth onto the floor and crawled into bed with her. “Because I’m feeling lazy.”
“You’ve never seemed like the lazy type to me.”
He pulled her close. “Maybe lazy isn’t the right word. I want
to hold you for a few minutes.”
“You won’t hear any objections from me,” she said, snuggling deeper in his embrace.”
He kissed her shoulder. “God, you’re beautiful.”
She lifted her head and their lips brushed softly. The burning passion had passed, though Tilly could still sense it boiling just under the surface. She had a feeling it would always be like that. She could never imagine getting tired of him.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, after a few moments of silence had passed.
She rolled over so she was on her side and pushed up on her elbow, looking down on him. “I was thinking about how content I am. It’s not a feeling I’m used to.”
He closed his eyes with a big smile. “I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”
She leaned down and kissed him, just because she could. “I’m happy, too. Happy and content.”
Yes, she could definitely get used to this. She leaned her head back, trying to remember the last time she felt this way. It was hard. Maybe before her mom died? It didn’t make a lot of sense for her to feel it now. After all, two people she knew had been murdered, her apartment was a wreck, and though she was staying in the house where the guy she was dating lived in, a crazy debutante was also living there.
But none of that took away from her happiness.
She drew a finger across his chest and made lazy figure eights. His eyes were still closed.
“I do like the feel of your fingers on me.” He chuckled. “Though I’m not sure I like it better than the feel of your legs around my waist.”
“Evil,” she said. “You’re completely evil.”
He cracked open one eye. “Sweetheart, you haven’t even seen my evil yet and I can’t wait to show you.” He shut the eye. “Maybe after lunch.”
“Now I see where the lazy comes in.”
Moving so fast she yelped, he grabbed her and rolled her to her back. “Lazy? I’ll show you lazy.”
He then proceeded to kiss her until she was once more a raging ball of need and desire.
She put her arms around him. “I think lazy is my new favorite,” she said between kisses.
“Excellent,” he said with a laugh. He leaned down to kiss her again when a bloodcurdling scream broke the silence.
