Forever We Fall: Broken #4 (The Broken Series) (26 page)

Lee

"Kyle…" I knew I was screaming my head off but I didn't care. "Kyle." 

I couldn't breathe.

Oh god, my whole body spasmed as every nerve in the lower half of my body sizzled, zapped and electrocuted me. The feeling only intensified, lengthened, when I felt the heat of Kyle's release spurting into me.

Burning heat flooded through me, tickling and tormenting my sensitive flesh and I grinded my hips until I was so overtaken by my release that I collapsed on his chest, a trembling bundle of satisfaction and utterly spent.

Neither of us spoke for an age while we caught our breaths. I snuggled against Kyle's chest, his cock still inside of me, pulsing and rising. He stroked my back gently.

"You still with me?" I heard him whisper as he placed a kiss on the top of my head. I smiled against his chest and nodded. "You know I'm late as hell, princess."

I laughed softly. "Good. I didn't want you to go anyway."

Kyle sighed heavily. The arm he had wrapped around my back tightened, squeezing me to him. "Lee, you know I hate leaving you as much as you hate me leaving..."

"I know," I conceded. It wasn't Kyle's fault he was so busy. It just was. "I guess this is what I get for marrying a hotel tycoon," I muttered, smiling to myself.

"Don't," he replied in a gruff tone. "I'm not a tycoon, baby. I'm an accidental entrepreneur."

"Thank god for sleeping babies," I said in a light tone trying to change the subject and keep Kyle with me for as long as I could. I knew he'd leave soon and maybe it was selfish, but I wanted to keep him with me all the time.
Every hour of the day.

"Thank god for
these
babies," Kyle teased, rolling us so that I was on my back underneath him. He cupped my breasts with both hands, touching me almost reverently. "The best fucking creation since the donut."

"Oh, so that's what your heart desires, is it?" I teased, patting his messy hair back into place. "Donuts and women's breasts."

"One woman's breasts," he corrected with a grin as he tweaked my nipple gently. "And if we're talking about sweet tasting desserts, with a mouth-watering center, then absolutely."

"Gross, Kyle." I squirmed, shoving at his chest. "Uh, you do realize you've just ruined donuts for me?"

He chuckled against my neck and it was a deep, gravelly sound. He nuzzled my neck with his nose as he stroked my shoulder and hip with his hands. "You know I hate to do this…"

"But you have to go," I finished for him. I didn't even try to make my tone sound light or carefree. We'd barely had a moment to ourselves since we'd got married and I was growing agitated. I knew it sounded selfish, but right now, the only two people in the world I was willing to share him with were Hope and Derek. I was sick to death of faking smiles whenever Kelsie called to 'talk business' or Cindy stopped by to 'reminisce,' and all the other people in our lives who demanded my husband's attention. "I want time with you, Kyle Carter."

"We have time," he joked as he slid out of bed. I instantly missed the heat of his body on mine and curled into a ball. "You have another sixty or so years of looking at my
tight ass
."

I tossed my pillow at him as I watched him dress. "You know what I mean."

"Just bear with me, Lee," he said in a serious tone as he re-did the buttons on his shirt and zipped up his fly.

Leaning over the bed, he pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. "Everything I'm doing, baby, is for the three of us." He strode over to the bedroom door. "I'll call you later, Mrs. Carter."

I watched as Kyle closed our bedroom door and swallowed the word I'd been about to say.

****

"Does that guy ever stop moving?" Derek asked as soon as I entered the kitchen. "He's turning into one of those workaholics."

"Tell me about it," I muttered, setting Hope down on the floor, where she immediately starting crawling around like a baby crab, before rounding the counter and grabbing the much appreciated breakfast Derek had prepared. "He's late for a meeting at the hotel."

I took a bite of one of Derek's homemade blueberry muffins and practically melted on the spot as the sweet taste soaked onto my tongue. "Mmm, Derek, this is amazing."

"Yeah," he agreed as he swallowed some cereal. "I added the slightest pinch of cinnamon. Taste the way it falls apart in your mouth. It's like an orgasm on your tongue."

I discretely lowered the muffin. "Yeah," I spluttered. "Orgasmic muffins and sex donuts."

"What?" Derek asked, laughing loudly.

My cheeks reddened. "Nothing."

"Okay," he scoffed as he rose from his stool. "Whatever you say, Mrs. Carter." I grinned like a cat.

Mrs. Carter…

Two months later and I still couldn't believe it.

"Just so you know, Lee, you really have nothing to worry about with Kyle," Derek said from the doorway. I looked up in confusion, causing him to smirk. "The walls are thin and you two are loud as fuck. He's not sticking his hands in any other cookie jars," he chuckled before adding, "or
donuts
."

Oh my god…
"So, you heard everything?"

Derek grinned.
"I wanna make you come, Kyle."
He fluttered his eyelashes.
"Hard."

"Ugh." I flinched and covered my burning face with my hands. "Can we just pretend this conversation never happened?"

"Sure thing, ice," he chuckled. "Oh, yeah, I left the mail by the toaster," he added before strolling off.

"Let this be a lesson to you, Hope," I muttered as I popped two slices of bread in the toaster then grabbed the mail. She crawled along happily, following my every move with wide, curious eyes. "Never move in with men –any men," I grumbled, moving over to the table to sit down. "They pretend to be all laidback and dozy, but
nothing
passes them."

"Doggy," Hope squealed, alerting me to the fact that Kevin had cruised into the kitchen with his cute little tail curled up.

Hey Kev," I crooned, patting my lap. Kevin automatically jumped up and curled up in a ball, his wet nose nudging my hand. Giving in to his not so subtle demands, I scratched Kevin's favorite place to be scratched, behind his left ear, and was rewarded with a pleased, yodeling moan.

"Doggy," Hope cried as she pulled herself unsteadily to her feet, scaling my chair in a bid to get her hands on Kevin. "Mama."

"Okay, okay," I chuckled and placed Kevin on the floor. "Here you go, sweetie."

Hope let go of her grip on my chair to clap her hands and wobbled slightly. She quickly steadied herself, took two adorable waddling steps in the direction Kevin had gone, before losing her balance once more. Leaning forward, she placed her two chubby hands on the floor and then lowered herself onto her knees before crawling after him.

"Clever girl, Hope," I praised, watching my eleven-month-old as she quickly gained on the tanned colored shiatsu bounding around our kitchen. Eleven months… It seemed so surreal. It felt like yesterday when she was a tiny newborn baby, curled up on my chest…

The doorbell rang seconds before the front door opened and my mother's voice called out, "Good morning, girls." My mom stopped by most mornings now, so I wasn’t in the least bit surprised to hear her voice.
I welcomed it…

"Maw-maw," Hope giggled in delight, quickly changing her course, as she crawled in the direction of the kitchen door.

My heart squeezed when my mother walked through the doorway and stooped down to scoop Hope up. "Hello, Hopey-bear," Tracy crooned and I smirked to myself – Derek's nickname for my daughter was beginning to catch on. "Hello, Lia."

"Hey mo…Tracy." I blushed and went beetroot red. "How was the traffic…" My words trailed off when I noticed the envelope sticking out amongst our other mail.

"Lia," Tracy asked, gently placing her hand on my shoulder. "What's the matter?"

"She's doing it again." My fingers gripped the envelope so tightly I was in fear of tearing it.

"Who?" Tracy asked as she sat down next to me, setting Hope back down to crawl around after Kevin.

Inhaling a deep steadying breath, I placed the envelope on the table and smoothed my hand over the words written on it. "Rachel," I whispered. "She used to send these weird letters to Kyle, but he hasn’t received one since before Christmas."

Turning my head, I gazed at my mother's concerned expression as anxiety ate through my heart. "Why now?" I choked out. "Why is she doing this again?"

"I don’t know," Tracy mumbled. Picking up the envelope, she handed it to me. "You need to talk to Kyle about this."

"Yeah," I sighed, pushing my chair back. "I do."

****

Chapter Twenty-Three

Kyle

"Marcus, this is a really bad time for me," I muttered, feeling like a dick for blowing him off, but I was running nearly an hour late for a meeting. "Can we catch up later?" I offered as I hurried down the corridor towards my office.

"You know, I don't know why I bother," he snapped before turning around and storming off in the opposite direction.

Shaking my head, I inhaled a calming breath before opening the door of my office and stepping inside.

"So good of you to join us, Kyle," David immediately commented dryly and I had to force myself not to react.
He saved your wife. He saved your wife…
"Busy morning?"

"You could say that," I muttered, walking around my desk to sit.

"Give him a break," Mike chuckled, winking at me, as he lounged in one of the chairs on the other side of my desk. "He's a newlywed."

"Ah, yes," David mused. "You've accumulated a wife." Shifting in his chair, he crossed his leg at the knee and clasped his hands together. "Should I offer my felicitations, or would I be overstepping the line you so obviously keep me behind?"

"Felicitations?" I shook my head and muttered, "Why the fuck do you always have to talk like you've swallowed a dictionary." Tilting my head to one side, I studied the blank expression on David's face.
Fucker would make a great poker player…

"Is that a crime?" he asked wryly.

"More like a nuisance," I shot back, fighting down the urge to go head to head with the douchebag. Jesus, I hated these quarterly meetings. "I've been to college too, David," I added, my jaw straining from the effort it was taking to keep my voice low and calm. "Graduated with honors, top of my class, and I don't talk like I'm a fucking robot."

"Should I take the credit for those brains of yours?" David asked, smirking.

"You really shouldn't," I managed to choke out through clenched teeth.

"Breeding beats feeding, Kyle," David mused. "You know, blood is thicker than water. I would like to think you inherited at least some of my attributes."

"I don’t think so, David," I spat. "Blood is overrated. In my experience
water
is given freely. Blood has a price tag."

"Can we get this over with please?" Mike muttered, red-faced. "I'm not in the mood to play referee."

"Sorry, man," I told Mike. It wasn’t fair on him to start shit up with his daddy. He'd been a fucking savoir these past few months. "Have you got the financial reports for Denver?" I asked, focusing on our father.

"Of course," David mused, leaning forward to push a neat folder towards me.

"
Thanks
," I growled. "Did you bring the report on the…"

The office door burst open, halting me mid-sentence, and Lee came thundering in, pushing Hope in her stroller. "Kyle," she puffed, clasping her side." I need to talk to…oh." Her cheeks reddened when she realized I had company. "Sorry," she mumbled, mortified. "I'll wait for you…in the restaurant."

"You can stay, baby," I chuckled, taking in how cute she looked all flustered.

"No, no," she conceded as she backed out of my office with Hope. "You guys just…do your thing. I'm starving anyways."

"I misjudged that girl," David said quietly as soon as she had closed the door behind her. My head snapped up in confusion. "She's not who I thought she was," he added. "She's a good girl."

"Yeah," I said stiffly. "She is."

"Kyle," David groaned. "Can you please, for one conversation, remove that chip on your shoulder? I am not trying to argue with you," he added in the most honest tone I'd ever heard him speak. "I'm merely admitting I made an error in judgment. Your wife is special."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Because she's got a heart that's too fucking pure." Shrugging I added, "She sees the good in the most despicable of people."

"Meaning me," David said flatly.

I shrugged. "If the shoe fits."

"God," Mike hissed, standing abruptly. "I don’t know which one you is worse," he muttered as he stalked over to the door and threw it open. "You're both as pig-headed as the other."

"I helped you, Kyle," David said in an even tone when Mike had left. "I don't make a habit of helping many people."

"I don't owe you anything, David," I retorted. "Consider it child-support for the eighteen years you forgot to pay, and the twelve I spent fucking homeless."

"I regret not claiming you," he admitted. "I made a poor decision."

"Ah well," I sneered. "You never lost sleep over it when I was a kid, so why start now?"

"Perhaps I've grown a conscience?"

I shrugged. "Look, thank you for what you did for Lee. I appreciate it," I muttered begrudgingly. It fucking pained me to thank him for anything, but I was grateful he'd been there for Lee when I hadn’t. "I also know you pulled some strings with the DA to get Jimmy put away, so thanks for that too, but that changes nothing between us." I exhaled a sharp breath. "I'm not Mike," I told him. "I'm not the squeaky clean son who's gonna roll over when you want to pat his belly. I'm the fucked up one, with more issues than you could even begin to imagine."

"Issues with me?"

"With the whole damn world," I chuckled humorlessly. "Don't try to understand me because you never will."

"Fine," David said softly. "But give me a chance to get to know my granddaughter."

"No," I replied immediately.

"Come on, Kyle," he argued with a hint of passion in his voice. "If you won't give me the chance then give her the chance. She deserves to know me."

****