“That was me, idiot.” Sheldon rolled her eyes as she toweled off Kennedy.

“Since Keenan abandoned us to live out here, why doesn’t he pick a place?”

I sent Dash a look to fuck off and packed up the bag that Sheldon had packed for Kennedy. “I don’t live around here so I wouldn’t know.”

I turned to Sheldon just in time to see the play of emotions on her face before she covered it up with a blank expression. Could it have been the reminder that I left or that I’d created another life? When we began our trek back up to the resort, I shrugged it off. Whatever we were before now no longer mattered.

Back at the resort, we agreed to meet in an hour for dinner before going our separate ways. “Are the three of you in the same room together?” Lake asked after the rest had left. Her expression turned down into disapproval.

“Yes, we are.”

“But you haven’t told Kennedy,” she continued while looking between the two of us. “Won’t that confuse her?”

“Believe me, I’ve tried to tell him,” Sheldon griped.

Kennedy was already half asleep on my shoulder and wasn’t likely to notice anything, but I saw Lake’s point even though the last thing I wanted was to agree with her. I struggled to gain leverage and looked toward Keiran for help, silently communicating with him.

“We’ll take Kennedy since we’re already showered.” He lifted her from my arms and took a hold of Lake’s elbow, steering her down the hall.

Sheldon watched them walk the short distance to their room before angrily jamming the keycard into the lock. After about three unsuccessful attempts, I brushed her aside and opened the door.

“I’ll shower first so I can get Kennedy ready,” was all she said before disappearing into the large bathroom and slamming the door. The walls vibrated from the force of her anger causing the gold framed artwork to rattle on the walls.

I waited until I heard the shower run before I stripped away my swimming trunks and followed after her. It had been torture watching her glisten as she played in the sun and water and not be able to touch her. I figured since she was mine, I may as well indulge.

When I stepped inside the bathroom, steam was already beginning to form, but I could still make out her silhouette in the large shower stall made for two. I took a moment to admire her naked frame through the glass door before opening it.

She jumped and let out a low gasp before her amber eyes turned dark with anger. “Get out.”

“No.”

It was all I could muster before I gave in to the lust pounding through my veins straight down to my dick. I sealed any further protests by sticking my tongue as far down her throat as I could get, and surprisingly, she took me.

I soon learned, however, that the pleasure of her surrender didn’t come without a little pain. She raked her nails down my chest. I flinched at the same moment my cock surged to life, becoming harder than before.

When I finally let my lips drift down to her neck, she whispered, “I can’t seem to deny you and more terrifying is that I don’t want to, even though this is all we’ll ever have. I hope it’s enough for you.”

“Shelly, I’ll never get enough.” I lifted my head to meet her eyes. “So I guess I’ll have to keep fucking you.” I lifted her leg and hooked it around my hip so I could enter her slowly. I couldn’t stop until I was seated inside her fully, and I loved the flash of pain in her eyes just before she surrendered to the pleasure.

“Keenan, you fill me so full,” she moaned just before her eyes fluttered closed.

“And you still own me, baby. Fuck you.” My hips slammed into her until it became frenzied fucking. Her gasps and moans were so guttural that I could feel them travel up my own spine until it eventually came out through my throat with a grunt. “It’s never been like this,” I growled against her neck before biting down onto it. I wanted to hurt her more than I wanted to breathe, so I bit down harder until she cried out for mercy.

It was too bad I had none to give.

Blood rushed through my body heightening my need. I found myself yanking her up higher around my waist, but when that wasn’t enough, I anchored her against the shower for my cock to have its tortured way with her.

Her pussy sucked me even deeper even when her little whimpers begged me to slow down.

“Keenan!”

Her scream made my cock twitch inside her. I fucking loved my name on her lips, and I’d give anything to keep it there.

“Don’t ask me to stop, baby. I can’t.” I tightened my arms around her and gave her the friction she needed to propel her over the edge and straight into orgasmic bliss. Just as she started to come down, I pushed deeper inside her body for my release.

“You can’t come… inside me… again,” she panted. I released her and turned away.

“Aren’t you on birth control?”

“No, I’m not.”

I took the time to grab soap and lather before responding. “We’ll schedule an appointment when we get back.”

“That’s all you have to say?” she snapped and snatched the soap from my hand. “What if I get pregnant again?”

“Then I’ll be here for you.” Even to my own ears, it sounded more like a threat than a supportive gesture.

“That won’t happen. You ruined my life once. I won’t let you do it again.”

“Are you saying my daughter ruined your life?”

“Yes—no. I’m saying you ruined my life. Kennedy is the best thing that ever happened to me. I just wish you weren’t a part of her.”

The ferocity at which her statement hit me caused my self-control to explode. I ripped open the shower door and dragged her out behind me—soapy skin and all. She didn’t attempt to get away, and so I was able to easily sit her on the marble vanity.

“Spread your legs.”

I don’t know if it was the tone of my voice, the scowl on my face, or the possibility of another mind-blowing orgasm, but she spread her legs without argument, and I quickly gave her every inch of me inside her pussy while swallowing her cries.

“I’m going to make you regret that.”

* * * * *

An hour had passed a long time ago I realized when I checked my phone and saw a message from  Keiran stating that they took Kennedy out to eat along with an address to the restaurant.

“Are we done fighting for the day?” she asked. Her voice was hoarse and weak from hard sex and sleep. I didn’t notice when she began to trace my chest with her fingers. Over four years, I collected tattoos on my chest as a way to forget the night my entire life became a lie, and I started living in the nightmare instead. Each tattoo, all of them meaningless except for one, covered the six bullet wounds I carried from that night. I would always hear how I was lucky to be alive though I felt far from lucky.

“They’re gone,” I stated harsher than I meant, but I constantly found myself in a state of frustration when it came to her.

“No. It’s here…” She kissed the spot near my lungs before moving on and making her way up my chest. “And here…” She pressed another lingering kiss over the spot where my heart lay. I felt a drop of moisture and looked down to see another tear escape. “They will never be gone. Tattoos won’t fix the pain. It’s so much deeper than your skin.”

She looked up and met my gaze once more, but this time she held it. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re searching for something.”

“Because I am.”

“And what are you searching for?”

“Him.”

“Him?”

“The boy I fell in love with.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I’ve wanted to tell him for a long time now that I still love him.”

My ears rang with the force of my heart pounding in my chest. I searched for sincerity or for a sign that it could still be a lie.

She still loved me?

No... Not me.

Him.

“What?”

“I want him to come back. If not for me, then for Kennedy.”