by S. M. Shade
“How do you feel?”
“Better, just tired.”
“Lightweight,” I tease.
“Drugs always hit me hard. I took a Valium once and slept for two days.”
She’s a bit more alert when we get on the ground, and I make sure to get a pill from the attendant for the trip home, so she can take it ahead of time and maybe spare her the same situation.
A taxi takes us to our beach house and I’ll say this much for Sully, he knows how to pick them. A spacious living room with large plate glass windows faces the ocean, and the back deck has a hot tub I can’t wait to fuck her in. We’re far enough away from the other houses that we won’t have to worry about prying eyes, but not far enough to feel completely isolated.
“Wow,” Kinley breathes. “This place is amazing.” She heads over to the large windows. “You can hear the ocean from here.” She looks much better, alert and happy.
“How do you feel? We can rest a little before—”
“Let’s go out! I want to stick my feet in it,” she says, interrupting me in her excitement.
Her eyes were fixed on the ocean from the second it came into view, and I can’t wait to show her up close. “Okay. Let’s get changed.”
I hop on my phone while she’s getting ready and I’m happy to find a small restaurant within walking distance. I’m starving and I’m sure she will be too once the excitement wears off a bit.
When she walks out in a bikini, I’m tempted to throw away all future plans. It takes every ounce of self-control not to strip her with my teeth and fuck her into next week. “Christ, bug. Are you trying to kill me? I need a warning before you come out like that.”
An unsure smile crawls across her face, and she looks down. “Is it too skimpy? I can change into another.”
Her top is a bit more modest, covering her tits and only showing a bit of cleavage, but I can’t take my eyes off her plump ass that’s barely covered by a scrap of fabric. “Don’t you dare. In fact, you should wear only this the entire time we’re here. Scratch that. Forever. You should wear it forever.”
She rolls her eyes at me and grabs her beach bag. “That might get a little cold.”
“Even better.”
She takes a deep breath when I run a finger over her nipple, making it harden. I can feel the tiny ring and if I look close enough, just make out the piercing through the fabric. Her fingers move to run down my abdomen, over the scar on my navel, tracing the happy trail, and stop at the waistband of my shorts.
“We’d better go, or we won’t be leaving this room,” she murmurs.
“Tonight, I’m taking you in every room,” I promise, stepping back. If I don’t get my hands off of her, we’ll never make it out. “Now, grab something to wear over that because there’s a restaurant down the beach and you’re going to need some sustenance for the night I have planned.”
She heads for the bedroom where we left our suitcases and tosses a smile back over her shoulder at me. “Fine. But I’m blowing you in that hot tub tonight.”
I’m never going to survive this woman.
We walk down to the shore and then along it, letting the waves lap at our feet. It’s quiet for a while, but not in an uncomfortable way. Kinley’s face is filled with joy as she takes it all in and neither of us wants to break the serenity.
She sits at the edge, where the water just reaches her legs, and I join her. “I could stay here forever. It’s so beautiful and peaceful.” Her shoulders drop, and she leans her head back. “Thanks for bringing me.”
I have a sudden urge to show her everything she hasn’t seen before. To take her to see mountains and canyons, caves and waterfalls, anything she hasn’t experienced. I grew up poor, but we moved around a lot and dad took us on some great vacations once I lived with him. I never realized how lucky I was to have seen so much of the country until now.
“Do you have a place you dream of seeing?” I ask, bumping her knee with mine. I expect to hear her profess a dream of going to Paris or Rome. Instead she grins and replies, “I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon. Maybe camp out next to it so I could watch the stars. What about you?”
It’s a natural response, but I’m still not prepared. “I’ve never really thought about it. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
“Of course,” she giggles, lying back. Her stomach is stretched flat, her skin glowing in the sun. “Famous rock star. You’ve probably been everywhere.”
It takes me a moment to think of a way to answer her. “I’ve seen the inside of a lot of hotel rooms.”
“Not as fun as it sounds, huh?”
“Not really. Are you ready to grab some food?” Changing the subject seems to be the best option, before we get onto a subject I’m not ready to discuss.
“I’m starving.” She gets to her feet, and I take her hand as we head down the beach.
The restaurant is small, but busy. We request a seat out on the deck and I’m glad we manage to get through lunch without anyone recognizing me. A haircut and board shorts seem to be a decent disguise, especially when no one expects to see me here.
We spend the rest of the day on the beach, relaxing and occasionally venturing into the waves. Kinley’s skin turns pink under the sun, and her eyes glint with happiness. It’s the most relaxed I’ve seen her.
We sit out on the deck that night, smelling the salty ocean air, wrapped around one another in a chaise lounge. I love that we can sit in silence without it feeling awkward, that we can just be with each other and enjoy the night.
Her phone beeps, and she reaches for it.
“Everything okay?” I ask, running a finger over her collarbone.
“Yeah, it’s Anavrin. She was supposed to get us tickets to the Hate To Love concert, but they sold out too quickly.” She laughs and picks up her phone again. “And that’s Foster complaining about the same thing.”
Placing the phone on the table beside us, she tilts her head up. “Nothing important,” she murmurs, and brings her lips to mine.
She’s right. At this moment, nothing is more important than taking her to the bedroom and licking every scrap of her.
Chapter Nine
Kinley
Two days in paradise just isn’t enough, but with Holt, I’m not sure any amount of time would be enough. We’ve swam and built sand castles like kids. Walked hand in hand down the beach, watching the sun disappear beneath the water. The hours I spent just talking to him with my toes buried in the sand. Small surreal moments, like time carved out of someone else’s life.
We only have a few hours until our flight back to Foxhaven, and Holt comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “One more walk on the beach?” he suggests, kissing my neck.
Something occurred to me last night, and I decide to bring it up. “You bring your guitar everywhere.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He presses his lips just below my ear.
“But I’ve only heard you play a little, and never heard you sing.”
He rests his chin on my shoulder as we look out the window at the rolling waves. “You want me to play for you?”
“I’d love that.”
He steps back, grabs his guitar, and we head out to the deck. He licks his lips and glances at me as he settles the guitar on his lap. “It sounds…different in person. The Jilted songs, they go through production, autotuning, et cetera.” He twirls his hand.
The man who plays in front of thousands of people is nervous to sing for me? He’s so adorable in his self-doubt I want to change my mind and drag him to bed. “Play whatever you want. Anything.”
After thinking for a moment, he brings his fingers to the strings. I recognize the song instantly, but the sound of his voice as he begins nails me to my seat. His albums do him no justice if he’s capable of this.
Deep, almost mournful, but clear and powerful in a way that throws goosebumps across my skin, his voice fills the air, doing justice to Hozier’s “In the Woods Somewhere.”
His voic
e walls us off from the rest of the world, removes all the stress and noise, and makes me feel in a way that’s somehow beautiful and devastating.
As the last note fades, his gaze meets mine, his eyes intense in the failing light. It looks like he wants to speak but keeps hesitating.
“Holt….that was…I don’t have the words.”
His lips curl into a small smile.
“Your voice is amazing. So much deeper and smoother than you sound on the radio.”
Shrugging, he sets the guitar aside. “Different genre.”
“I loved it,” I murmur, climbing into his lap.
“I can see that.” He grins down at me, running his hands under my shirt.
“Quickie before we catch the plane?”
I’m exhausted in the best way when we get back to Foxhaven, and Harriet grins at me as I step behind the front desk. “I don’t know whether a weekend of sex or sun put that glow on your cheeks, but you look good.”
“Both,” I laugh, skimming through the reservations on the computer. “Wow, we’re booked solid for the Labor Day Picnic.”
“No surprise there.”
Tessa flashes me a smile. I’m glad to see that hiring her has worked out. She adjusted quickly and seems to be happy here, and those are the best employees to have. “You had a few calls over the weekend that weren’t urgent. The messages are in your office.”
“Thank you. I’ll get to them in the morning.” Yawning, I walk around the desk. “I’m headed to bed.”
I’m almost to my room when Holt texts me.
Holt : Get your ass up here.
Oh no. He’s a monster. I can’t take any more.
Kinley: Not tonight. I’m dead and going to bed.
Holt: So am I. So get up here and sleep with me.
It’s probably not a great idea. We just spent the whole weekend together, but one thought of my empty bed has me heading toward his.
Kinley: On my way
After a short debate with myself over whether to stop by my room for something to sleep in, I decide against it. T-shirt and panties it is. I’ll be asleep as soon as my body hits the bed anyway.
He’s already stretched out with the sheets and covers pulled back when I arrive, waiting for me. It’s so unfair for one human to be that attractive, and even in my near zombie like state, I can’t help but ogle his long, lean body.
“Uh-uh. None of that look if you want any rest,” he cautions with a sleepy grin.
His eyes never leave me as I strip off my shorts and socks, then pull my bra off from under my tee shirt. The bed is soft, and his body is warm as I cuddle up with him. “Thanks for this weekend. I had an amazing time.”
His lips press to my temple. “Me too, bug.”
A groan wakes me, and I hear my alarm blaring.
“It’s six a.m. What kind of hell is this?”
Chuckling, I sit up and silence it. “I have catching up to do after three days away.”
His arms wrap around my waist, pulling me back. “No, you’re warm and comfortable, you can’t leave.”
“If I lie back down, I’ll sleep all day.” I scrub my palms over my face.
“Good plan. Let’s do that.”
His palms wander over my bare thighs, and I remind myself I still have a job to do. “You have to be in the studio today, remember?”
He groans again when I roll out of bed.
“I’ll see you later,” I promise, dropping a kiss on his lips and dodging his final attempt to pull me back into bed. I’d be happy to stay there all day with him, and it’s taking a lot of willpower to get moving.
He’s snoring again as I dress and let myself out of his room.
An hour later, after a shower and a massive cup of coffee, I’m settled at my desk and ready for the day. Before I can check my messages, my phone rings with a call from Anavrin.
“What the hell are you doing up this early?” I laugh. She is the worst morning person ever.
“Ugh, some old biddy just had to have a perm at the crack of dawn this morning. How was your weekend?” The teasing lilt in her voice makes me smile.
“Satisfying.”
“I’ll bet. I have another client due here in just a minute, but I want to hear all about it Saturday.”
Booting up my computer, I ask, “What’s Saturday?”
“Uh…your birthday? Foster and I have already taken the day off.”
Leave it to my friends to remember my birthday is close before I even realize it. “No clubbing,” I warn.
“Nope, how about mixed drinks, music, and board games at your place?”
A grin appears on my face. They really do know me. “Sounds great. Don’t buy me anything and tell Foster the same.”
“Fuck off with that. My client is here. I have to go. Love ya.”
“Love ya.”
I switch to my work phone and start going through messages, listening to voicemails. A couple of vendors have questions about the Labor Day Picnic, a local propane company wants to talk about a discount they’re offering to fill our tanks cheaper than their competitors, and the painters I hired to spruce up some of the buildings and gazebos remind me they’ll be starting tomorrow. It’s nothing out of the ordinary until I get to the last message.
An unfamiliar voice plays after the beep. “I’m trying to get a message to Kinley Matthews and since I can’t get past your gate, I guess this is the way. Kinley, this is your mother. I just got out and I need to talk to you. Call me at…”
She reads off the numbers, but I barely hear them. My heart beats in my ears, and I slam the phone down like it might infect me.
Okay, calm down, Kinley. It’s just a scam. It has to be. My mother has been dead since I was a baby. It’s just some lowlife after money or trying to get their face on T.V. since they’ve seen me in the gossip papers. Still, it’s unnerving. What kind of psycho does something like that?
My first thought is Clark. He can investigate and find out who she is, so we can keep her off the property. It barely takes him five minutes to show up at my door when I text him that I have a job for him.
Concern creases his brow at the sight of me. “Kinley, what is it? Did someone threaten you? If that asshole Singleton—”
“No, nothing like that. I got a weird message and, well, just listen.”
Clark’s lips press together as I play the message for him, and he takes a seat.
“She must be some nut case. Can you find out who she is?”
His heavy sigh fills the room and regret inundates his voice as he responds, “I know who she is. Your father swore me to secrecy, along with Harriet. I’m sorry.”
Nothing is connecting in my brain, but his reaction has my hands shaking and my stomach tight. He’s sorry for what?
“I don’t understand,” I whisper.
“He did it for your own good, Kinley. She was a terrible person, a greedy, malicious person who didn’t belong in your life.” He rubs his large palm over his jaw.
He can’t mean that…she can’t be…
“Her name is Heather Lanken. She’s your mother.”
The words seem to hang in the air until they slam into me, stealing my air and changing everything I’ve ever known in an instant.
My mother is dead.
She was killed when I was a baby.
I have no family now that my dad is gone.
I’m all that’s left.
There isn’t much in life I’m sure about, but that I know.
“My mother is dead,” I snap, glaring at Clark. Why is he doing this?
“No, honey, she’s not.” Harriet’s soft voice carries from the doorway where she lingers. Clark must’ve texted her. “Your father thought you’d be better off never knowing.” She sighs. “I told him this day would come, but he didn’t believe it.”
Silence dominates while they give me time to think, but my thoughts are so jumbled. Finally, I mutter, “Why? Why did he lie?”
Clark glances at Harriet, and she nods, ent
ering the room. She takes a seat in the chair next to Clark, across the desk from me. “Heather embezzled a lot of money from Foxhaven. It was in the beginning when the resort was struggling to find its foothold. He ended up having to put a second mortgage on the place just to hold onto it, and it was a close call. When he told Heather he wanted a divorce, she took off. Everyone expected she’d be back, but after a year, he filed, and the divorce was granted. In her absence, the court gave your father full custody.”
All this happened when I was a toddler. So much I never knew. Never had any idea.
“He never heard from her again?”
Clark’s regretful gaze meets mine. “A few times over the years, she’d contact him, ask for money, threaten to take you away if he didn’t capitulate.”
“So, he paid her?”
“No. No court would’ve given you to her after an abandonment and with her criminal record. Last I heard, she was in prison for credit card fraud and identity theft.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“It’s true,” Harriet adds, making me realize I said the words aloud. “How you deal with her now that your father is gone is up to you, but you should know the truth. If she’s trying to get in touch with you now, she wants money, Kinley, I guarantee it.”
Scoffing, I sit back, anger overwhelming my other emotions. “I should’ve known the truth from the fucking beginning! Who else knows? Am I just a damned laughing stock around here with a hotel full of employees who know more about my family than I do?”
Harriet gazes at me for a few moments before replying, “No, Clark and I are the only ones who know. We were here when everything went down, and your father knew we loved you and considered you family.”
Getting to my feet, I exclaim, “Then why didn’t you tell me? After he was gone, you could’ve told me! At least let me know I’m not alone!”
Harriet rushes up to me and grabs my hands. “You aren’t alone. You’ll never be alone. Your father swore us to secrecy and I thought it wasn’t my place.” She sighs and swallows hard. “Maybe I was wrong.”
