by Cali MacKay
Skimming through her bio, he was relieved that she kept most things vague. She mentioned that she lived in a cute town in New England, but it wasn’t really enough for someone to track her down. And then he saw the links to all her social network profiles, and it got him wondering… “Do you ever use your phone to log in to these profiles?”
“Yeah…sometimes when I’m out and about or if I’m out of town. Why?” Her brow furrowed with worry, and he hated that she had to go through any of this.
“Depending on the settings of your phone, your apps, the sites you’re on—you might inadvertently be giving away your location. Every time you post a picture or update, there’s a good chance you’ve tagged your location. Even digital cameras use GPS to tag where each photo is taken, unless you go into the menu and manually turn off that feature. The same with your laptop.” With so many settings and menu options, it was far too easy to accidentally miss one along the way. “Until we get all this sorted out, I don’t want you posting anything online.”
“I need to be able to work, Keane. That’s how I do all my promotions—it’s how I keep in touch with my readers. I can’t just drop off the face of the earth—and I’ve got conventions I need to go to. Book signings…”
He hadn’t expected her to look quite so panicked. Keane didn’t quite understand everything that went into her writing career, but he was sure there was quite a bit to it that he hadn’t even thought about.
“You’ll still get to write—and once we go through all your settings and make sure your laptop is clean so that Sirius can’t track you here, you’ll be able to go back online, though I’d appreciate you keeping it to a minimum. As for conventions and signings, hopefully we’ll get this all sorted before you have to make any public showings.” As crazy as things had been, he never got to see the emails Sirius had sent her. “Do you have his emails to you?”
“Not all of them, but most—especially once they started to get weird.” Reaching over to access her keyboard, she leaned into him, her curves brushing against him as her sweet scent filled his head. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath, his eyes slipping shut for just a moment as he fought to keep from ravishing her. “Right here in this file.”
He clicked on each email and sent them to his printer, figuring it’d be easier to deal with them. “I’m going to forward these to Hadley and her security team. Hopefully it won’t take them long to track down the bastard.”
She got up and went to the printer, returning with the stack of emails. “Here you go. They go back about three months. Before that, he was getting a little more personal, but he was just coming across as overly friendly instead of creepy, so I didn’t keep them.”
Keane took the stack she handed him, and started going through them, his anger escalating with each one he read as she paced the floor, looking nervous. The man was fucked in the head. Of that, Keane had no doubt. It wasn’t just the intimacy Sirius was projecting toward Lilly; it was his conviction that they would be together forever, that he was the hero in her love story, that no one else was right for her but him. And when she stopped returning his emails, things escalated.
Fuck…he wanted to punch something. “I can’t believe you’ve been dealing with this on your own.”
“I kept hoping that if I ignored him, he’d go away. But he didn’t—he just got worse. And he got angry.” She wrapped her arms around herself as if to somehow shield herself from the monster lurking in the shadows.
Needing to comfort her, to protect her, he crossed to her side and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly to him. The fact that she didn’t push him away was an indication of just how worried she was. Yet, holding her close only ignited the fire between them, so it was like trying to hold back a raging storm. He pulled away just enough to look at her, his heart hammering inside his chest as he fought back his need for her.
He paused for a moment, his eyes locked on hers as he cupped her face, but then, unable to resist her, he hauled her to him, capturing her mouth in a kiss, his actions slow and purposeful, unable to hold back any longer. His kiss deepened as she held onto him, kissing him back, his tongue finding hers as his body instantly recalled what it was like to have her, to claim her, to have her tight body wrapped around his hard cock.
She slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, giving him hope as her body pressed against his in a remembered familiarity—but only for a moment more. As if coming to her senses, she turned away from him and pulled out of his arms. “I’m sorry…I can’t do this, Keane. Sex was never the problem—but trusting you…that’s still an issue.”
“I know I hurt you, but you can’t keep pushing me away when you know we’re meant to be together.” He pulled her back into his arms, his head bent to hers, breathing in her scent with his arm tight around her waist, needing her to see that the only way for them to find happiness was with each other. “It was one mistake, Lilly. And I know it was a big one, but haven’t we suffered enough? I was an idiot—and I’ve paid dearly for it. But that’s no longer me. I’m loyal—and I’m still in love with you.”
“Loyal? That’s yet to be proved—and I’ve moved on. I’m sorry, but I’m just not interested.” Yet there was little conviction in her voice, and he knew she was just being stubborn because he’d already hurt her once before.
“You know that’s nothing but a lie. You’re not married or engaged—hell, you’re not even dating anyone.” Which made him damn happy, since the thought of another man touching her made him fucking insane.
“You don’t know that. I could have a boyfriend, Keane.” Her eyes flamed with frustration and anger, and though she could certainly have any man she wanted, he doubted there was anyone.
“You don’t, Lil. If there was another man in your life, you’d have turned to him for help, or at the very least mentioned him when I brought up having you stay with me. But you didn’t do either of those things—because neither one of us has truly moved on.” He’d dated plenty, but he never had any interest in his partners beyond satisfying his sexual needs. And even then, he’d never managed to get much relief or satisfaction, when he couldn’t help but compare every experience to what he’d had with Lilly.
She let out a frustrated sigh, though she’d yet to fully step out of his arms. “That’s because I don’t trust men after…what you put me through. I thought we were happy; I thought things were serious between us. That we might eventually get married and have a family.”
“I wanted that too, Lilly… But I panicked and fucked things up—even though I loved you.” One fucking mistake that ruined his life.
“You could have just talked to me about it or broken things off, but you didn’t. You betrayed me—and now you’re asking me to trust you again and I don’t know that I have it in me.” Yet she was so close, as if she couldn’t bear to pull away, couldn’t truly deny what was between them.
“Stop overthinking it, Lil.” He nuzzled her and bit her lip, his heart hammering against his chest. “I know I was the one to break you—but I’m now asking you to let me ease your heartache and make you whole again. Let me put the pieces back together—let me love you. You have my word I won’t ever hurt you again.”
“Keane…” But then he was kissing her, his tongue bullying its way past her lips as her hands fisted his shirt and pulled him close.
Their kiss deepened until his head was spinning and he could think of nothing but having her once again, eager to erase their years apart and make up for lost time. With an arm around her waist and a hand on her ass, he lifted her up off the ground, her legs wrapping around his waist as he turned her toward the kitchen table mere feet away, kicking the chair aside.
Desperate to have her, even the bedroom seemed too far away in that moment, and there was no way he was going to risk giving her even a second to overthink what was between them. Because he knew he was right—they were meant to be together, even if he’d yet to convince her of it.
With his mouth still hard on her
s and his cock pressed against her heat, he let his hands skim down her body, pausing to cup her breasts and tease her nipples, loving how she arched her back in response. She made his head spin when she reached between them to stroke his hard length, making him groan in response, her hands finding their way to the buckle and zipper of his jeans as he followed suit.
Too impatient, he yanked her jeans off, making sure to take her panties with them, so she was bare from the waist down, his cock aching at the mere sight of her. Desperately needing to have her, to taste her, he dropped to his knees, happy to worship before her after years spent wanting her, reliving in his head what they’d had between them, living off his memories of their time together.
He ran his hands down her legs and pressed her knees back to open her up to him, giving him full access to all she had to offer. It’d been so long…so long since he tasted her, touched her, it was all he could do to not ravish her like a man starved of all nourishment.
He nipped at her inner thigh, his stubble rough against her soft skin, each bite eliciting a needy gasp from her lips as he worked his way to her sweet sex, before running his tongue along her slit. “You’re so fucking wet for me, Lil.”
“It’s been so long, Keane…” Her hips tilted toward him as he sucked her clit into his mouth and teased it with his tongue, her taste salty sweet and all her own. He feasted on her, while slipping two fingers deep inside her, slowly fucking her as she dug her fingers in his hair and pulled her to him, her legs wrapping around his shoulders. And when he curled his fingers deep inside her, and pressed another finger to the slick bud of her ass, he knew he had her on the verge of coming, his name a needy cry on her lips.
Not that he was ready to let her come just yet.
Chapter 7
Lilly cursed Keane to a million hells as he pulled away from her, and yet she couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone more. On the verge of coming, she was frantic for him to fuck her, and it may have been a cursedly long time since she’d last been with him, but it was hard to forget just how good a lover he’d been—and he’d clearly only gotten better during the years they were apart.
She could taste herself on his lips and tongue as he covered her mouth in a bruising kiss, her hands reaching down between them to stroke his hard cock, everything about them frantic and frenzied. All logical thought was erased in an inferno of passion as she teetered on the edge of coming, desperate to have him even as he pushed his hard cock into her, forcing her body to stretch around his generous length. “Fuck, Lil…I love you.”
Pausing for just a moment, he gave her body a chance to adjust to the intrusion, and then started fucking her as she held onto him, helpless to do anything but wrap her legs around him and give in to everything he could offer her. Swallowing her needy moans with his hungry kisses, he continued to take her, one hand fisting her hair, and his other hand gripping her ass so he could pin her in place as he drove into her.
He took her rough and hard, claiming her, marking her as his, down to the marrow of her bones, her orgasm crashing over her, though he didn’t slow—not until he, too, was coming with a primal grunt, his cock pulsing his hot cum deep inside her as she clung to him.
They stayed there, locked together as their breathing eventually slowed back to normal, his head bent to hers as he covered her face in tender kisses, making her heart hitch. What the hell had she just done?
She tried not to panic. Tried to tell herself that it didn’t mean anything, that it was just sex, and she’d been desperate because the only sex she’d had in years needed batteries or a recharge. Yet how could she not panic when his cock was still inside her, and his hot cum was slowly slipping out of her and onto her ass cheeks?
“I love you, Lilly…” He kissed her once more, even as his cock slid free of her body, though he’d yet to let her go.
Her heart was racing with a sudden panic and it felt like she could barely take a breath. “We shouldn’t have done that. What the hell was I thinking?”
She tried to push him away, even as he held onto her, trying to calm her as he would a skittish animal. “Hush, love… It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not, Keane.” She pushed herself off the table, forcing him to give her some room. He zipped up his jeans as she grabbed her clothes up off the floor and held them to her, suddenly feeling far too naked. “Could you please turn around?”
He let out a frustrated sigh, but did as she asked so she could quickly get herself dressed, though each movement only served to remind her that he’d taken her hard—and she’d fucking loved every moment of it.
“Lil…” He turned back around, but when he took a step toward her, she took a step back, needing to keep some distance between them.
“I think I should go, Keane. I appreciate your help, but it was a mistake for me to come here.” She could stay at a hotel until the cops found Sirius. Or hire Hadley herself to find him. But staying with Keane clearly wasn’t an option when it had taken him less than twenty-four hours to have her coming in his arms as he fucked her.
“Woman, there’s no fucking way you’re going anywhere—not when you have a psychotic stalker who’s obsessed with you.” He took a step closer, forcing her to back up to the table. “Was it really so bad? That you’d rather take your chances with Sirius than be with me?”
“It was fucking amazing, Keane. Is that what you want to hear? That you’re the best lay I’ve ever had? Well, fine. You are. But it doesn’t change anything.” Damn him. He was infuriating—and the most stubborn and determined man she’d ever met.
“How can it not change things?” Closing the distance between them, he cupped her cheek, so she couldn’t help but lean into his touch. “But if you need more time, then I’m happy to give it to you—as long as you stop trying to push me away.”
Her eyes narrowed as she took him in, fully aware that he was twisting things around to his benefit. She wasn’t an idiot—and it may have been seven years since they were last together, but she could still read him like an open book. “Well, stop trying to pick up where we left off, and I won’t have to keep pushing you away.”
“Is that what you really want, though? Because I honestly don’t think it is.” With a seductive smile slipping onto his pouty lips, he gave her a smoldering look that played up just how sexy he was, her body’s reaction to him immediate in a clear betrayal of what her heart and head were saying. Now that she’d been reminded of what it was like to be on the receiving end of Keane’s attention and his magnificent cock, her body most certainly wanted a hell of a lot more, especially when she had more than a few memories to remind her of all he was capable of.
“What I really want is to not get my heart broken again, and to find Sirius so I can get back to living my life. I have deadlines and books I need to write, and my schedule is too tight to fit in this sort of nonsense. I don’t have the time or the energy to keep rehashing our past.” Because he’d already proved that she couldn’t resist him if she let him get too close.
“Well, I hate to tell you this, but I can’t guarantee that it won’t take some time to find Sirius, depending on how well he’s managed to cover his tracks.” He was right…she knew that, and yet she couldn’t help but panic on the inside. “I swear I’ll keep you safe, Lilly—but I can’t do that if you leave.”
“It’s not like I have anywhere else to go—and I do appreciate your help and letting me stay here. It’s just that…” It was all so overwhelming. Most of her days were spent living inside her own head, in the worlds she created, in scenarios she got to control. A world that was safe, where she couldn’t get hurt.
“You don’t need to explain. I know this hasn’t been easy on you.” When he knotted his fingers with hers and pulled her close, she let him, even if she knew it was dangerous to let him in. “Lil, I want you to do whatever you need to do to make this place feel like home. And I understand that you need to work. Just let me know what you need—an office, a desk…there’s a sunroom that looks out into the woods.�
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“Honestly, I can write just about anywhere. I just need a comfortable spot to sit and my laptop.” Which he still had so he could adjust the settings.
She thought of the manuscript she was currently working on—a manuscript which was likely still open if he clicked on Word. The thought of him getting his hands on her books and reading her writing was enough to have her panicking on the inside.
“I’ll finish up with it then. We’ll also need to get you a different phone, on the off chance he’s somehow accessing it.” The thought of Sirius tracking her via her phone had her wanting to panic…but he cupped her cheek just as her heart started to race, and surprisingly enough, his touch helped to keep her calm. “It’ll be okay…I promise.”
For some reason, she actually believed him.
***
“Here you go, love. It should be all set.” Relief washed over Lilly as Keane handed over her laptop.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” She sat down next to him, holding her laptop to her chest, as if it would somehow protect her from Keane’s charms. And then he pushed his sleeves up, exposing his strong muscular forearms and the ink that marked his skin, and she swore she felt her heart catch and her pussy ache for him. She tilted her chin toward his arms. Somehow, she’d missed them earlier while he’d had her half naked on the table. Must have been the distraction of his hard cock pounding into her. “Those are new.”
“Got them done a few years back. Along with these…” He pulled his long-sleeved tee up over his head, exposing enough muscles, skin, and ink to have her gasping as he sat there by her side, naked from the waist up. His smile kicked up as he watched her and the effect he’d just had on her. “What do you think, baby girl? Do you like them?”
