Razing Kayne (22 page)

***

Kayne fought to keep his legs under him and failed. Slowly, he sank to his knees,
taking Jess with him, her back still against the door, his body still connected with
hers. He'd never been so out of control in his life.

He pulled back enough to see her face. “Christ, baby, did I hurt you?”

Jess opened her eyes enough to look at him like he'd lost his mind, and then she giggled.
Her muscles clutched and caressed his still hard shaft, and he shuddered
.
“I bit you, and you're asking if you hurt me?” She giggled again.

Yeah, she'd bit him, and it had so surprised and inflamed him that he'd come before
he was ready. He'd wanted to ride out her orgasm, make it last as long as he could.

“Have I created a monster?” He gave her a few lazy strokes before he regrettably had
to pull out. They didn’t have time for the round two and three his body was up for.

Jess whimpered in protest.

“You could come with us. We could sneak off for a little while tonight.
You and me, naked on a blanket under the stars.”

“With a hundred kids and their fathers within hearing distance and a million mosquitoes
wanting a taste of me?
I don't think so.” She playfully looked down her nose at him.

Speaking of kids, theirs were bound to start looking for them at any moment.
Theirs
?
Kayne tucked that thought away for later consideration.

“Sunday night, top of the east tower, you bring a blanket, and I'll bring that citronella
lotion. I'll be sure every perfect inch of you is protected from anything that would
nibble on this beautiful skin but me.”

“We'll see. We still have to get out of here without anyone noticing what we were
up to.”

“Yeah, baby, that's not happening.” He lifted Jess off his lap then stood and began
helping her right her clothing. Kayne was sure Cody had returned from grabbing his
gear long ago. He’d take one look at them and know they'd been screwing like bunnies.
Truth
be
told, Kayne’s gut was screaming that he needed to mark his territory where Cody was
concerned.

He walked out first whistling
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,
from
Song of the South.
If looks could kill, he’d be a dead man
.
Cody was one furious bastard.
My oh
my, it certainly was a wonderful day.

The deep laughter from behind froze Kayne midstride. He swung around to see Joe Sutton
standing on the other side of his truck, giving him an all too knowing smirk. “Interested
in one more?” He glanced suggestively at Jess.

Something of the
“Not-on-your-fucking-life”
and
“Over-my-dead-body”
retorts that he hadn't actually voiced must have shown on Kayne’s face, because Joe
laughed outright. “You, my friend, have a dirty mind. I like that, but I meant the
camping trip.”

Kayne shrugged.
“Sure, why the hell not?”
He went back to whistling as he finished packing the truck.

TWENTY-THREE

At the sound of an approaching engine, Jess stepped out of the Tahoe and looked up.
She watched as Kayne’s truck pulled into the bay and parked. Joe opened the passenger
door and stepped out. “Hey, gorgeous, miss me?” He winked.

Jess laughed. “Like a sore tooth.” She adored Joe, always had. They’d been friends
since his first day at Payson High School, when they were just sixteen. Though he’d
been nearly as big then as he was now, he’d seemed heartbreakingly lost. She knew
something had happened, but to this day he’d never talked about it. It was as if his
life before Payson had never existed.

He cocked his head and studied her thoughtfully for a moment. “You can’t dwell on
the past sweetheart, it will eat you alive.”

Jess jumped at his words. After all this time, she should be used to them. He’d always
had the uncanny ability to read people as if he had direct access to their thoughts
.

He opened the back door, and out spilled three magpies disguised as little girls,
all chattering at once.

“We canoed.
In a boat!”
Tiffany bounced excitedly

“We climbed up a mountain!” Isabelle chimed in.

“We repelled off a cliff!” Maddy added.

“We had s’mores!” They chorused.

With that, they headed toward the house, pulling Ash and Gracie along with them.

Kayne inhaled deeply and slowly let it out. “Ah, silence!” He shut the driver’s door
and rounded the front of the truck.

Joe laughed
.
“I think I’m permanently deaf from all the screaming.”

Kayne pulled Jess close and wrapped his arms around her. “So,
did’ya miss
me
?” he asked softly.

“Of course not,” she huffed. Some emotion crossed his face but was gone before she
could identify it, replaced by a knowing smile.

He leaned in and whispered in her ear.
“You sure?”

His hot breath sent a delicious shiver through her body. Blushing, Jess planted both
palms against his chest and shoved, though not hard.

He laughed in response, the sound dark and dangerous, but he didn’t let her go. “Yeah,
that’s what I thought.”

“Smug bastard”

Eyes dancing with laughter, Kayne tucked her into his side and brushed his lips across
her temple, the gesture surprising, yet familiar at the same time. Her face on fire,
Jess looked at Joe. She’d been mortified when she walked out of the utility room to
see not only Cody but Joe standing there as well.

Joe simply winked at her.

“So uh, where’s Cody?”

Kayne’s eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her face. “Worried we left him in the
wilderness?”

Joe laughed. “Nah, she’s trying to decide if she should call a defense attorney for
us or start packing to move to some non-extraditable country.”

That’s exactly what she’d been thinking. Jess huffed in exasperation. “I hate it when
you do that!”

“You’re too easy to read. Everything you’re thinking is right there in your eyes,
if someone takes the time to look.”

“We dropped him off at his truck. He had a thoroughly miserable time.” Kayne shared
a meaningful look with Joe, both far too pleased about that.

Jess didn’t want to know.
Plausible deniability, and all that
.

With a kiss on her cheek and a fist bump to Kayne, Joe bid them goodbye, grabbed his
gear, and left
.

***

Jess was in the kitchen cutting vegetables when Kayne walked in a while later. He’d
volunteered to put the kids to bed, and she’d happily let him. “Hey, baby, how about
after I take a shower, we snuggle up and watch a movie?”

Jess bit her bottom lip.
“Umm, sure.”
 

Kayne cocked his head thoughtfully. “Did you have something you need to do? I'd be
happy to help when I'm done.”

No, the stuff she needed to do he couldn’t help with. But she couldn’t tell him that
either.

Before she could think of something to say, Kayne stepped closer and whispered, “Or,
you could come help me.” He nuzzled her neck, traced her ear lobe with the tip of
his nose. “I know how to be very dirty with a wash cloth and soap.”

Jess gave a nervous laugh but didn't move away. In fact she felt paralyzed. He was
so much man.
So alpha-male.
Dark, dangerous.
Sexy.
He was worldly and adventurous, and so out of her league. But oh how she loved the
things he did to her.

Kayne proceeded to described in vivid detail what he would do to her in the shower.
By the time he was done talking, her breathing was shallow and her panties wet. How
the hell could he do that to her with just his voice?

Even as Kayne took her hand, pulling her along as he walked backward, he whispered,
“Come,” and
Oh, God
, she wanted to. The thoroughly male smile of satisfaction that he was getting his
way quickly died when she reached out a bold hand and cupped him through his jeans.

“Shower.
Baby, I need a shower, first. I smell like lake water and sweat.”

“You smell like heat, and sex, and man. The shower can wait. I want you inside me.
Now.”
For a fleeting moment, she wondered if things could have been different with Jarred,
if she'd just tried harder. But she quickly pushed the thought away. It was disloyal
to both Jarred and Kayne to be thinking of him at a time like this.

Jess turned, tugging Kayne into the closest unoccupied room, the library. The moment
the door lock clicked into place, they began stripping each other of their clothes.
And then he was taking her to the ground, right there on the plush carpet amid the
smell of old books and wood polish. His hands were everywhere. He sucked and stroked
and kissed until she was right on the
edge, and then he entered her, hard and fast, the feeling so gloriously consuming
that her emotions threatened to spill over. She quickly closed her eyes.

But then he stilled and commanded, “Look at me, baby.”

Jess hesitantly opened her eyes, fighting back tears she didn't understand.

“Okay?” He studied her face intently.

Unable to put names to the emotions swirling within her, she simply nodded and pulled
his mouth down to hers, letting the feelings free in the only way she knew how. Though
she tried to encourage him to move, he remained still, devouring her with his lips.

“Kayne, please!
Move!”

Which he did, but suddenly she was on top, looking down into eyes as dark and passionate
as a summer storm. Déjà vu struck hard. She’d done this before. Straddling him like
this, her hands on his chest, staring into his storm-tossed gray eyes like she had
in that dream so very long ago. She swallowed against the lump of emotion threatening
to choke her. “I don't know what to do.”  She was pretty sure the statement encompassed
far more than sex.

His brow furrowed in confusion. “What?”

She motioned between them. “I've never...”

Kayne jackknifed up, taking her in his arms, even as his mouth came down on hers.
He nipped at her bottom lip one last time and pulled back to look in her eyes. His
gaze searched hers. “I like that I'm your first…for this.”

Jess looked away, unable to hold his gaze. “You're my first for a lot of things.”

“Explain.” His voice was commanding yet gentle.

“I've
never...I couldn’t…
not while.” Jess stammered as she motioned to where their bodies were still joined.

Kayne captured her chin between curled finger and thumb, forcing her to look at him.
“You never came during intercourse?”

“No. Not before you. I’ve never had sex any place other than in bed before either.”

Kayne's growl was low and deep, full of possessive satisfaction.

“Everything is new with you,” she added softly. “Better.”

Anything else she might have added was forgotten when he kissed her.

***

After a long shower and several hours of sleep, Kayne woke up to an empty bed. He
reached over only to feel Jess’s side of the sheets cool to the touch. His heart did
a slow roll and dipped into his stomach. Where the hell was she
?
It was well after midnight, and damn it, he wanted her by his side
.
He'd never been like this before. Never felt this overwhelming urge to possess someone.
To claim them, body and soul.

He felt as though time was running out, and when it did, he'd have nothing but memories
of this time with her. God, he couldn't go through that again. Everything was different
with Jess. Everything was...
more
, and that scared the ever-living shit out of him, because it defied logic.

While Kayne didn't love Jess,
wouldn't
let himself love her, he still felt things for her that he’d never felt for anyone
before, and he was certain he would never feel for anyone else. He quite simply couldn’t
explain the gut feeling that said that this precious life he was living in was set
to blow up around him, and he knew to the very soul of his being, that if he lost
Jessica, it would raze him to the ground. He wouldn’t survive a second time. Not without
her.

With those dark thoughts parading through his mind, his heartbeat an accompanying
drum, Kayne threw the covers back and pulled on his shorts. He needed her in his arms.
He'd worry about analyzing his feelings later.

He found her in the laundry room, sorting clothes. “What are you doing, baby?”

Jess started at the sound of his voice. “I thought you were asleep.” She glanced over
her shoulder at the laptop computer on the counter before looking back to him.

Wondering what she looked so guilty about, Kayne leaned against the doorjamb, crossed
his arms over his chest. “I woke up, and you weren't there.” 

Jess motioned to the pile of laundry, but then asked, “Did you guys come home for
any reason? I forgot to mention the alarm wasn't set when we came home tonight, but
I thought for sure I set it when I left Friday.”

“Everything was okay?” He walked to the wall monitor and keyed in his code to access
the history, but stopped when she spoke again.

“Yeah, everything looked fine. I must have had a brain freeze and forgot to turn it
on in my hurry to get out the door Friday night.” Jess shrugged.

Kayne let thoughts of the alarm go. She knew how it worked far better than he did.
“Come back to bed, baby.” He held out his hand to her.

Jess shook her head, took a step back. “I can't. If I don't get this done now, it
won't happen. I'm so far behind.”

Damn it!
“You need to let me know what you need help with around here, Jessica.” He tried
to keep the anger out of his voice
.
He captured her hands and pulled her close. “I want to help you. We’re supposed to
be a team. Let me help.”

Jess studied him for a moment as if she was weighing his words, then she shook her
head. “Kayne, I'm really OCD about the laundry. I check every article of clothing
before it goes into the washer for stains, rips and tears, toys, crayons, live animals—”

He barked out a laugh. “
Live animals?
” He was sure she had to be kidding, but she'd said it with such a straight face.

Jess bobbed her head, her eyes full of laughter. “Ash forgot he'd put a garter snake
in his cargo pocket once.”

He leaned his back against the wall, pulling her into the
V
of his legs. “You're kidding, right?”

“I wish I was.” She chuckled, shaking her head, obviously remembering the incident.

He ran his hands up and down her bare arms. He just had to touch her. “What did you
do?”

Jess shuddered. He wasn’t sure if it was because of him, or her memories.
“Screamed.
Contemplated doing it in for biting me.
Then I realized it wasn't poisonous, so I captured it in one of the pollywog nets
and set it free.”

Kayne laughed. “Oksana would have been on top of the washer, screaming for help until
someone showed up, no matter how long it took.”

Jess’s smile faded at the mention of his first wife. “I used to be that way too, especially
over spiders. I hate spiders. I learned it doesn't do you any good, when there's no
one around to help anymore.” She gave him a weak smile. “You just have to learn to
be both parents and do everything yourself. Let me tell you, there have been some
huge,
huge
spiders around here. May they rest in
peace.
”

Kayne laughed over the solemn tone in her voice. He cupped her face and kissed her
forehead, the action so natural.
So
right.

Jess reached up and caressed his jaw, running her hand against the grain of his stubble.
“I'm also not a fan of insects or frogs, but I've found myself knee-deep in mud, hunting
polliwogs and crawdads, and capturing insects for school projects.”