Talking to Eric took forever, and a lot of scotch, but we finally finished up around eleven. I left him talking to Dad and made my way upstairs, shocked to almost walk straight into Lilith, who appeared to be returning to her room from the bathroom.
I shook my whiskey-addled brain and tried to hold her gaze as she stopped suddenly and looked at me, the expression on her face as shocked as I was sure mine was.
"What are you…?" I asked as I tried to look at her face and not down at her body that was clad in a soft, grey nightie-type thing. I don't know what they were called, nightie sounded like something your grandmother would wear. This most definitely was not something my grandmother, or my mother, would wear. It looked like it was made out of t-shirt material, lined around the neckline in a small band of black lace. It was clingy and very short, and her tits…fuck me. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. She was going to fucking kill me.
LILITH POV:For my son, I had tried to keep my emotions at bay, but I wasn’t sure how much more my heart could handle. I could do anything for my son to be happy and healthy and loved. But I wasn’t sure how much more I was capable of giving while my heart was being trampled on.How could a smart man like Kai be so stupid and thoughtless and think that his actions wouldn’t invoke some sort of reaction in me? That kiss… It was brief but beautiful.I ran towards the greenhouse which was the farthest from the house, needing to find some space away from everyone to help calm myself down. And if I was honest, to yell and scream as my anger grew by the moment.“Lilith?” I heard Kai’s desperate yelling as I passed through the door.A few moments later, I heard his footsteps on the concrete floor. “Lilith? Sweetheart?” he continued as I kept my back to him, my arms wound around my middle as if trying to
Our kiss lingered, slow and breathy, hot air, hands loosening to soft caresses as the emotion of my outburst dissipated and I let the realization of what it all meant settle into the depths of my heart. Could we be together? Truly together like a normal couple? It was all I had ever really wanted and now that I had it within my grasp, I was letting it get away from me with self-doubt."You look worried." Kai's face was full of concern as his eyes studied mine, so close. Shining with an emotion I hadn't seen in so many years.“I don’t know where to go from here. Which is absurd, considering I have had years to think about it. I just never thought that you cand I could ever be like this,” I rambled as I motioned between our bodies. “I’m still not sure we can—” He gently pressed a finger over my lips."We don't have to have all of the answers now, my love. Our lives couldn't be further apart and as much as I hate to admit i
After my morning outburst, I felt completely drained for the rest of the day. I kind of just went through the motions as I was reintroduced to Eric and Daniella. They were both pleasant enough, though the atmosphere was a little uncomfortable. I mean, we'd all met before, so it was odd being reintroduced under a different name. Their little boy Ed was adorable, and clearly very loved by his Uncle Kai.Kaiden seemed to take to Ed quickly, coddling him and looking after him like he was his own little brother. The age difference didn't seem to matter to him as he played his games and with his toys in the sandpit.At lunchtime, Kai and I snuck away for a private picnic. On the one hand, I wanted to jump him… immediately. But on the other hand, it was important to put some physical distance between us while we talked about the past, the present and I guess our future.After we ate our lunch, Kai was resting lazily on the rug that we had spread under a massive
[Warning: Sexually explicit content up ahead. Read at your own risk!]KAI POV:My day had ended up entirely different from where it had begun. After our encounter in the greenhouse, our picnic, and then the afternoon and dinner with the entire family, I could see that Lilith was exhausted. So instead of monopolizing more of her time, I left her to go to her room with Kaiden for an early night. Kaiden wasn't used to all of this family, so I was sure he probably needed some alone time with his mother. The two of them were understandably close, and I could only imagine it was difficult, for both of them to suddenly share so much of their time with people who were, for all intents and purposes, strangers.So, it was with a ridiculous amount of teenage level glee that I found myself in the kitchen at 3 am in the morning, watching Lilith's figure as it was silhouetted in the light from the fridge. Her arms were outstretched as she held the door open with one and propp
"So, are you and Kai together, or are you just fucking?" I don't know why, but I was taken aback by Daniella's question. "You know... because there's quite clearly something going on again. Not that I'm surprised, he was a mess after you left."Daniella exhaled as she lay back on her sun lounge and pulled her sunglasses down to cover her eyes. I stilled beside her as I tried to figure out whether she had an agenda here or not. We'd been polite to each other since their arrival, not really having the opportunity to be alone, until now. So, I wasn't entirely sure where I stood with her.Daniella turned her head towards me and smiled ruefully as I remained silent.“Does that surprise you?”I snapped my mouth shut quickly, glad she couldn't see my eyes. "Um, no I guess not. I was a mess too when I left."“So, why leave? Why didn’t you just ask Kai to protect you?” she asked in a bored tone.“Can you imagine wh
KAI POV:It was time for Lilith and Kaiden to leave. I was agitated and moody, my mind wandering to places I didn't want it to as I thought about the last time I said goodbye to Lilith here in such a situation.It was over eight years until I had laid eyes on her again. And while I knew deep down this was not the same situation, I was edgy about the two-week separation. I was definitely looking forward to being with them at Lilith’s house. I already had my assistant hire someone to look for properties there for me to buy. I couldn't very well do it myself yet, it would set too many alarm bells ringing and I wanted Lilith to have a look at a few while she was back in the city, before the people found out and life became crazy for her.I walked them to the car, hugging Kaiden to me and kissing him goodbye with the promise of speaking to him every day. I pulled Lilith into my arms and held her for an inordinately long period of time. I never wanted to let her
LILITH POV:Ah, the capital of the country. I loved being there, and from the looks of it, so did Kaiden. This was his first trip, and I reveled in watching his face light up as he looked at his surroundings, taking in the familiar buildings and sights that he'd seen on television. We were on our way to Kai's condo. He would be joining us in two days, while Esme would be joining us tomorrow to help look after Kaiden while I was at the book events for the book launch and the charity auction.Dave drove the big black SUV slowly past Kai's building. He pointed it out to us from the front, before driving around the block, telling us he was pulling into an underground parking garage, the entry being around the back of the building. He said he was also on the lookout for photographers of which he said there were none. Not surprising, given that Kai wasn't expected back in the country for two days.Getting through the security gates in the garage looked like no easy fe
“Lilith.” He cleared his throat. “Lilith.”My eyes remained glued to the black screen. I sucked in a deep breath and exhaled through narrowed lips.“I was going to tell you,” I responded as calmly as I could.“How much of that statement is actually true?” he asked.Finally, I turned to face him. “I have a son—”“I know that much, Lilith. I am referring to the rest.” He paused. “I am not going to ask you why you never told anyone about who your son’s father was. Your private life has always been that: your private life. And I have never wanted to interfere. How much of the rest is true? Because this is about business.”I opened my eyes and held his gaze firmly. “Kai… Kai Rivera is my son’s father.”His expression didn’t change. There was not even the slightest shift in it.“We met when I was younge